“K&K Solutions, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re right. K&K Solutions, which stands for Kareem and Karina. That means we make the solutions in this motherfucker, and before this goes further than it needs to, my solution is to get you up out of here. Make sense now?”
The frustration on Bill’s face was evident in his demeanor. He stood, pulled on his suit jacket, and looked around at everyone, letting it sink in. He was embarrassed about being asked to leave in front of the entire board. If he hadn’t spoken out of turn, all would have been forgiven eventually, but since he didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, it was up.
“You too.”
I stood from my seat just in case either of them wanted to get buck. They had said more than I would have allowed in a different situation. However, I was a businessman, and I had to act accordingly.
“You know what? I don’t have to take this.”
Instead of replying, I simply stood my ground. I’d said all I needed to say. Repeating myself wouldn’t have benefited me.
“And don’t call me when it’s time to close this deal.”
“Bill, if you were good at closing deals, you’d have your own company by now. What are you? Sixty?”
I could hear laughter being stifled around the room at Ray’s joke. Leave it to my boy to make light of a situation. He would usually joke with me in private, but I was thankful for him making a joke at this moment. Hopefully, the rest of the board members could see the humor.
As soon as they exited, I gave Ray a nod so we could head out behind them. I needed to get away from these people and sit in my office for a minute to clear my head.
Ray nudged me as we walked out, so I knew he had more to say. I silently thanked him for holding it in.
“You’re on a roll with the firing.”
Ray started up as soon as we were inside my office. He was already laughing hysterically, as if two people weren’t being actively escorted out by security. He didn’t give a damn.
“People are on a roll with the disrespect. I’m just meeting them where they are.”
“Yeah, I was about to tell you some good news. As a matter of fact, let me go ahead and run it to you before you think about firing me next. You already know I’ll burn this place down before I walk out the door.”
I laughed at his goofy ass, but not because I thought it was a joke. I knew Ray was serious. I’d seen my boy in action plenty of times, but thankfully, we’d never been at odds and never would be. I owed him my life.
“It wouldn’t even be a door without you, man. I owe you my life. You never have to worry about me forgetting that.”
“You don’t owe me shit. Jumping in front of that bullet for you is one of the best things I have ever done with my life. I mean, look where we are now.”
Ray stretched his arms and turned in circles. He was right. If he had never saved my life in Afghanistan, neither of us would be here today. I was more than grateful for him.
“Enough of all that,” Ray said, pulling me back from going down memory lane. “Let me go over some numbers with you.”
He pulled out his iPad and sat across from me at the desk. He scrolled up a few times, clicked a few things, then turned it around and showed it to me. I didn’t know what I was looking at, so I squinted my eyes for a minute before coming out and asking.
“What am I even looking at, bruh?”
“Your social media is shooting through the roof. Ever since Karina and I have been posting about this new deal and how it will affect your company, you have been gaining followers left and right. You have over 300K on your business page and 100K on your personal page. That would be a lot better if you had more than just one picture on there. I’ve been telling you for years that you need to let me run that social media page so we can grow your following. We’ve got to get aggressive now.”
“That’s a personal page, bruh. I don’t need a following on there. As long as they follow the business page, that’s good enough for me.”
“Wrong. We’re moving into an era where brands are being run by personality first, so you should think about building your personal brand just as much as you think about building K&K Solutions. As we move into this new era, they are going to go hand in hand, man. How many times do I got to tell you that?”
“He’s right about that.”
Just as I was about to respond to Ray, Karina walked through the door. Not only had she walked in looking good as fuck, but she was also on Ray’s side. Hearing Ray tell me to build a personal brand was one thing, but hearing Karina solidify it for me was another.
“I hope that little blow-up in there wasn’t about me because I don’t want anyone else losing their job, Kareem. You don’t have to fire everyone who disagrees with me,” she said, referring to the situation with Bill.
“I’m firing people because they think they can disrespect you and that ain’t ever something I’m going to stand for.”
