Everyone Said Detroit Was Dead. He Bet Everything It Wasn't. | Ep. 429 with Larry Brinker Jr.

0:00There's a city in America that's been counted out more times than anyone can remember. That's Detroit. The beating heart of black entrepreneurship in this country. A place people wrote off. A place people left. But when I went there to film One Man's Story, I found something so much bigger. Larry Brinker Jr. runs a company his father started in 1989. Just a carpenter with a goal to build something bigger. Today, the name is on buildings that brought this city back to life. The theaters, the arenas, the medical centers, billions of dollars in the Detroit skyline. I went in thinking this was a story about construction.

0:42It wasn't. I walked in the film of Founder. I walked out understanding a city. This is Larry Brinker. This is Detroit. This is Founder Story.

0:57The city of Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Detroit is on its knees. Family chose to move to Detroit, and they chose to move to Detroit during the time when a lot of people were moving out of Detroit. My father, I give him credit because, you know, over 35 years ago, he had this vision of what Detroit could be. And he had a belief in the community. He had a belief in the heartbeat of the city. and he chose to move his family to the city and he chose to move his business to the city. And so through the good times, the bad times, we've never left or deviated from our beliefs of what the city could be.

1:38So during those down times of 2008, 2009, when it was extremely tough or during the bankruptcy, we never wavered. We never thought about leaving. But what we really did was reinvest and we wanted to continue to invest in the city. So we intentionally put our office in an area of the city that didn't have a lot of investment at the time. But when you believe in something the way that my family does about Detroit, those decisions come easy. Let me tell you about a time that Upwork saved me. I had two hours to get a submission to a major media outlet, and I thought there was no way I'd make it. I jumped on Upwork, messaged someone, and within 10 minutes, they replied.

2:2290 minutes later, the work was done in my inbox, submitted on time. And here's the best part. Two years later, that same person still works with me today. Upwork is where businesses find highly skilled freelance professionals for specialized work, from software development and AI implementation to marketing design business operations. With Business Plus, you can access the top 1 % of talent on Upwork. AI shortlisting matches you to top freelancers in under six hours. And with over 170 ,000 five-star freelancers, you can hire with confidence. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free.

3:05That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U-P-W-O-R-K dot com Upwork dot com August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins and honestly, I can't think of a better place to start than my closet That's why I love shopping at Kintz Kintz is all about fewer, better pieces Their clothes are made from premium materials built to last and designed to become the ones you reach for day after day For me, that's a pair of pants and a shirt that have quietly become my favorite things to wear. I am not great at choosing good clothing, but my wife even loves it.

3:48And that's the part that got me. Once you feel it, the worn out basics in your drawer stop making sense. And the value is almost hard to believe. Everything at Kintz is priced 50 to 80 % less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. You're paying for quality, not brand markup. And it's not just clothing. Kintz has become my go-to for everything from hotel quality bedding to travel must-haves. Upgrade your everyday, download the Kintz app for app-exclusive offers, or go to kintz.com slash founders. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

4:27Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's k-u-i-n-c-e.com slash founders. Now a look at the future of Detroit and its economy. New Report finds good news is on the horizon when it comes to employment, wages, and income. I feel like it's a different life cycle within the city right now. Now, with the emergence of our tech ecosystem in the city, you're seeing more founders of color. You're seeing more first employees of color. We have all sorts of entrepreneurs. And there's just so much more opportunity now that doesn't box you into just the traditional entrepreneurship routes that we saw in the past.

5:08As long as you support the life cycle and you support the change in the community, good things happen.

5:20For 30 years, this building was the world symbol of Detroit's decline. Michigan Central Station, no windows, no doors, then Ford bought it, and Brinker helped bring it back, an award-winning restoration that turned a national symbol of despair into a beacon of what this city really is. It's the nicest station I've ever seen, for sure. When you think about construction, do you plan in the ability to keep something like the graffiti or the history of it? Oftentimes buildings like this, which are historically designated buildings, there's only so much you can change, right? But for instance, where we're standing now all of this marble for instance was the original marble like we couldn't tear this out we had to to redo it this is what the space looked like when uh the first day we walked in so graffiti everywhere and you look at that and you look up and it's unbelievable right and then even this tile there was one family that kind of came up with this design uh process to manufacture this tile and install it where there's no grout there's it all just kind of locks in.

6:31We actually track down the family to have them come in and help us redo this. But for Larry, this building isn't just a project. It's personal. In the 1960s, this station was the gateway from the south to the north, the last stop of the Great Migration. So my grandparents came through this train station. I migrated from Mississippi to Detroit. And then as it started coming back to life, we saw people literally stopping. August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins. And honestly, I can't think of a better place to start than my closet. That's why I love shopping at Kintz.

7:10Kintz is all about fewer, better pieces. Their clothes are made from premium materials built to last and designed to become the ones you reach for day after day. For me, that's a pair of pants and a shirt that have quietly become my favorite things to wear. I am not great at choosing good clothing, but my wife even loves it. And that's the part that got me. Once you feel it, the worn out basics in your drawer stop making sense. And the value is almost hard to believe. Everything at Kintz is priced 50 to 80 % less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen.

7:46You're paying for quality, not brand markup. And it's not just clothing. Kintz has become my go-to for everything from hotel quality bedding to travel must-haves. Upgrade your every day, download the Kintz app for app-exclusive offers, or go to kintz.com slash founders. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's k-u-i-n-c-e.com slash founders. Let me tell you about a time that Upwork saved me. I had two hours to get a submission to a major media outlet, and I thought there was no way I'd make it. I jumped on Upwork, messaged someone, and within 10 minutes, they replied.

8:3090 minutes later, the work was done in my inbox, submitted on time. And here's the best part. Two years later, that same person still works with me today. Upwork is where businesses find highly skilled freelance professionals for specialized work, from software development and AI implementation to marketing design, business operations. With Business Plus, you can access the top 1 % of talent on Upwork. AI shortlisting matches you to top freelancers in under six hours. And with over 170 ,000 five-star freelancers, you can hire with confidence. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free.

9:14That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U-P-W-O-R-K dot com, Upwork dot com. Crying in the front park of just bringing back memories of their own families and being able to use this space. When people saw it come back together, they're like, yeah, this is us. This is the fabric of who we are. And that's where that pride comes from, too. The beauty of construction is that our end product will stand the test of time, right? And I want my legacy at the end of the day to just be that I played a small part in being able to bring people together.

10:00Downtown, on the site of a legendary department store torn down in the 90s, stands the new Hudson's headquarters of General Motors, condos, a hotel, and the boldest statement yet of where Detroit is headed. Larry puts it simply, Book Tower was the restoration. Michigan Central was the reinvention. This is the vision. Detroit is safe. Like, you look at this. Like, this is our heart of our downtown. This is amazing. Right, you know. And it's not coming back, it's back. Like, that's the thing too, right? Like, look, man, we've been through some of the worst times. And we always bounce back, push back.

10:37Resiliency. Resiliency. That grit. Detroit grit. That's what we call it. The Pistons left the suburbs and came home, building their performance center in the heart of the city to bring the community into their space. For Larry, standing here means something no award ever could compare. I grew up pretty close to where the Pistons used to play in Northern Hills, and my high school was right across the street. So Joe Dumars used to come practice in our gym during the off season. I was in like junior high school and we used to get to school at like six o 'clock in the morning to peer through this window to watch him practice at our high school and then now to be able to like have the connectivity that I have with the team and see our name on the wall is something I don't take for granted it's really just a full circle moment that was great he's a natural August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins and honestly I can't think of a better place to start than my closet.

11:36That's why I love shopping at Kintz. Kintz is all about fewer, better pieces. Their clothes are made from premium materials built to last and designed to become the ones you reach for day after day. For me, that's a pair of pants and a shirt that have quietly become my favorite things to wear. I am not great at choosing good clothing, but my wife even loves it. And that's the part that got me. Once you feel it, the worn out basics in your drawer stop making sense and the value is almost hard to believe. Everything at Kintz is priced 50 to 80 % less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen.

12:14You're paying for quality, not brand markup. And it's not just clothing. Kintz has become my go-to for everything from hotel quality bedding to travel must-haves. Upgrade your everyday, Download the Kints app for app-exclusive offers or go to kints.com slash founders. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That's k-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash founders. Cool. After the towers, the arenas, the tour ends at a small house where many of your favorite hit songs were recorded. Diana Ross, you know, everyone started here. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder.

13:02This is the soul of Detroit. But this little building here has more to do with the Detroit culture than everything else we saw today. So when you think about the youth, if they're watching this, I know it's super important to inspire the next generation, right? Because this is all going to be left to them. What do you say? Yeah, so I talk to the youth a lot because I feel like it's my responsibility to give back to, you know, pour in what people poured into me through sponsorship, mentorship. But what I really tell the youth when I speak to them is that I make sure that I reinforce that their current circumstance doesn't necessarily predict their future potential or influence their future potential.

13:45Opportunity is something that isn't necessarily equitable, but talent is. And so if they can put the work in, they work hard. And when you're ready for that opportunity, as long as you can take advantage of it, good things happen. So no matter where you start doesn't mean that that's going to influence how you finish. But just for them to be ready for those moments when they happen, because usually those moments pop up when you least expect it. But if you put the work in, you'll be ready for it and you can take advantage of it. Detroit has really come back to life. And honestly, all I can say is amazing.

14:23I love Detroit. I'm moving here. Yes, sir.