Episode 28: Making Your Mark as an Entrepreneur

00:34
Ashtyn Morris
Welcome to another episode of Marketing Moves. I am your host, Ashton Morris. On today's episode, we are going to discuss what it means to be a serial entrepreneur and brand builder. In our opinion, there's no one better to shed light on the peaks and valleys of entrepreneurship than our special guest, Kumar Arora, CEO of Aurora Ventures. Kumar is an entrepreneur, investor, creative mind and consultant behind top brands around the country, to name a few. He is co founder of one of the hottest restaurants in Cleveland, Sora, Sushi and clothing brands like Elfie. Additionally, he is co founder and marketing director of Futureland, annual two day conference to celebrate and amplify diversity in tech, small business, art and culture in northeast Ohio. Plus, he's a great friend of ours. Kumar, welcome to marketing moves.

01:22
Kumar Arora
Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

01:24
Ashtyn Morris
Of course. We're excited to have you on. I feel like this has been months.

01:27
Kumar Arora
I know I have to apologize because I know we tried all last year, but I was so busy with the wedding that I just couldn't get to you guys. But I'm glad to be here.

01:35
Ashtyn Morris
Honestly, I feel like it was better to wait now that we have the full studio and whatnot. You get the full experience. But congratulations. I know been married for some time, but looked beautiful.

01:43
Kumar Arora
Thank you.

01:44
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah, I know I gave you a little bit of an intro for our listeners, but we always like to have our guests talk about themselves a little bit. So can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background?

01:53
Kumar Arora
Sure. Yeah. I've been an entrepreneur now for almost 20 years and my journey of entrepreneurship has led me in a lot of different places, a lot of different industries. I've had my hands with a lot of marketing initiatives, built a lot of businesses along the way, lost a lot of money as well. So can always talk about that. But overall, my journey has been kind of an opportunity for self fulfillment. I'm always constantly searching for not necessarily the next best thing, but will, what can I do to make my community better?

02:23
Ashtyn Morris
I love that you are the best person to be talking about. Like I touched on earlier, the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. So you wear so many hats with so many different brands and businesses, which I know a lot of entrepreneurs can relate to. My first question may be a little loaded or hard to sum up, but can you take us back to the beginning 20 years ago for your entrepreneurial journey?

02:45
Kumar Arora
Oh, yeah. No, I'd love to. I didn't really know the term entrepreneurship when it kind of just fell into my lap. You know? I would say my mom and dad in some ways built me this way, but they didn't realize it. I was meant to go to med school and be a doctor, but my dad was a scientist. In some respects, he was a creator, thinking about new ideas and new inventions, while my mom was an artist. So I got my creative side from her as well. Both of them create, and I think that they always excelled and pushed me to do the same. Little did I know I'd be creating in business. Right? So from an early age in college, I was going from making graphic designs, making, you know, nightclub flyers, and then I eventually realized I could also promote those, too.

03:29
Kumar Arora
So my early beginnings really started in the nightlife scene. That's actually where I met, you know, kid cudi, machine gun Kelly, Jay, Sean, Mike Posner, and I began working with all those guys to amplify their careers. And this is nearly 1520 years ago. Luckily, I'm still in contact with a lot of them today. And instead of a nightclub flyer, now they're maybe wearing my clothes or attending my events or going to my restaurants. So it's been kind of a cool journey to see where I started to where I am today and how all the great people you meet come back full circle.

04:02
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah, you never know. Someone you meet on off chance can become a lifelong friend. But a business partner, whatever it may be, I think there's a lot of value in being visible and being out there and networking, which really is probably a testament to a lot of the connections you've made. So how did you know when to lean really into this route in terms of, okay, things are working the nightlife scene, but I want to expand into different ventures. What kind of pushed you to do that?

04:28
Kumar Arora
So it was 2008, right after college, I'm with my counselor, and I was trying to figure out what's going on. It was zero eight. It was a recession. Do I get a job or do I figure something out? And she had told me that if you can't get a job, you got to make one. And it was right at that moment I realized I've been an entrepreneur the whole time. Because I was already throwing events. I was working in a lot of different places, and I realized, like, I've been doing this. So it's not hard for me to take that leap of faith because I already picked up some of those skills at an early age. And from there, I just never let go and just kept building different businesses, had some exits along the way, and kept investing in my friends.

05:04
Ashtyn Morris
Wow. So I know you said your parents had a big influence on your journey to entrepreneurship, but early on, did you have a key mentor in your entrepreneurial journey?

05:14
Kumar Arora
I would say my dad. You know, I watched him struggle, you know, coming from India, being an immigrant father. You know, he was teaching at case we lived in little Italy. And I watched how hard it was for him to provide for our family and build here in Cleveland. And in some respects, I do that for his legacy, too. And he built a business in the early two thousands. I was around 1415. I got to watch that in real time and help along the way. He was my mentor at the time, you know, and I look at it now as an opportunity where I hope to do that for my children, too. And I think about, you know, the long term plan I have for my businesses as well.

05:55
Ashtyn Morris
Awesome. As a serial entrepreneur, you've successfully gained tractions with three big brands, among many others, but three big brands and three very competitive spaces, fashion, restaurants and events. For our listeners who may not know about Sora, lthi and Futureland, can you talk a little bit more about each of them?

06:15
Kumar Arora
Well, before we get into that, I want to say I feel like I'm cursed at times. I think many entrepreneurs feel that they're always working 24/7 there's rarely a work life balance. And I think that in some ways, while it is a curse, it can be a blessing because you're always thinking about how to fix something or how to do something. So I feel like I'm built this way to keep creating brands. It's who I am. That's my curse, you could say. But I also look as a gift to give to others. So whether it's Sora, my sushi restaurant that I just started now going on is two years Ilthy, which has been around for about 13 years, legion of followers. Legion of, I call them, in some respects, not just fans, but also family.

06:57
Kumar Arora
We made a lot of cool products along the way, everything from toys to skateboards to just really cool, elevated luxury here in Cleveland. And even with Futureland as a tech conference, promoting diversity, promoting our region, really, again, building a community and that's kind of what I'm always kind of about is how do we build these communities or tribes to support these initiatives? So for me, it's all about building something what other people need or want.

07:24
Ashtyn Morris
I mean, I can speak from my own experience of, I have either gone to these restaurants, events, or purchased from Ilthy and sold. Sora is an experience like no other in Cleveland. It's such a great vibe, and also the food is fantastic. I love going there in the flats. Ilfie, I love it. I love the elevated street wear. I feel like there's a lot of clothing brands out there that try to do what you're doing with ilfy, but they are not doing it well. So I really appreciate that. I know every time that what I'm purchasing, not only am I going to love, but it's great quality, and futurelam is great. I'm really looking forward to it. Coming back to cleveland next year. In your opinion, why did all these companies take off?

08:02
Ashtyn Morris
Is it that community based aspect of all your brands, or were there a lot of other circumstances involved with it as well?

08:10
Kumar Arora
I guess in my line of work, I mean, for every success, there's a failure behind it. So I've got those battle scars that you don't always see. Social media sometimes only shows you the highlight reel, but not the struggles that we go through. There's been times with even ILT where we had to shutter a store or COVID had happened. There's things that you can't really control. I think when it comes to those respective brands, it really is getting a team around it and then getting people to believe in what you do. In the case of Sora, which is a beautiful restaurant, if you get a chance to see it's all pink inside, and it's got a lot of meaning behind it, especially coming out of COVID where we can get back into elevated dining. There was a community around that.

08:55
Kumar Arora
They wanted that as well, just as much as I did. I wanted to bring a piece of La back to Cleveland. So that's why Sora exists. And I believe that it's not just about what people want, but they want to try something new. They want to experiment. They don't want to have to look at what the big cities are doing on Instagram. They want to experience it firsthand. So Sora is a testament to my love for Cleveland. It's a testament to my love for sushi and what we can do here in Cleveland, you know?

09:20
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. Can you pinpoint, or do you have any secrets to some of the repeatable successes that you've had with your brands.

09:30
Kumar Arora
I used to always chase in my twenties the idea. Right. Oftentimes, you always think that the light bulb is the idea and you should go for that. But really, it's about how you can turn it on and who you turn on with. I realize that it's the operators and the people that are around you who care about getting this light bulb on. That's what's important. So when it comes to my brands or the things I work on, I always look for who is the operator or who's the one in charge and who's around that person. So it's always about having that balance, because big business, good business, is built with teams, not alone. And I think that's a big thing that I look for now, is how can I motivate a group, a motivated team, to get behind my ideas?

10:17
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. And you touched on a lot of the points I want to talk about already in this podcast about the community building aspect of your brand. So can you shed a little more light on that in terms of what's your strategy with that? Is it engaging with people on social? Is it having events? Really? What is, what's your advice for people looking to emulate? The same with their business.

10:37
Kumar Arora
You gotta be in the business of selling love. That's what I say. You know, business can have emotions. It's okay. It's not always about money. It's not always about cash flow, but it's about finding a way to sell love. So I say that intentionally. Like, we go out of our way to put on events and give back. We find social impact causes that we care about. We give away free t shirts. You know, that's something that we do. And by doing that's how you build a community, because you're not seen as a business anymore. You're seen as something that's alive, you know? And I think that's my biggest form of success, is finding ways to give back. I'm a big marketer. You know, we have a paid media strategy. We have influencer marketing.

11:15
Kumar Arora
We do all those fun things, but in the end, community engagement. And again, selling love is how you get. You build that kind of fandom.

11:25
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah. Can you talk a little bit more about or touch on your successful calves? Drop with Ild. I mean, that. That was great.

11:33
Kumar Arora
It was so. That was a really fun project. We were talking with them last year, and they had seen our Cleveland Browns drop that we had did.

11:41
Ashtyn Morris
That was great, too.

11:42
Kumar Arora
It was fun. And so we did a follow up with the Cavs. It came out about a month ago, and it had everything from, like, a suede jacket to just really custom stuff, things that you don't normally see. We had this really cool, like, raised rubber on the silkscreen of the t shirts, kind of like fear of God. And it was a fun project. Cause it took us to another level of what you can do with such basic core items. And it was just a great reception. We threw a party at the center core at the team shop on a Monday at noon, and it was packed out. There was, like 150 people there, which, you know, again, is a testament to show how people care about what we do.

12:17
Kumar Arora
And for us to be able to put on a party, give away coffee from 27 club. We had sora there giving away sushi. I got all my friends and other small businesses to support it, and it was just an opportunity to kind of do something cool for our own.

12:30
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah, I think people always like those times. You can really connect with the brand past just purchasing a sweatshirt, whatever it may be, but you can talk to people behind it, really get to know the story and forge those deeper connections.

12:41
Kumar Arora
Yeah, it was definitely a full circle moment. When I first invested into Ilthi, it was 2011. The founder, Glennon Fonte, one of my greatest friends and someone I champion every day. He actually started the business off of a t shirt, which was related to the Cavs, and it was a t shirt of Delonte west at the time, holding a donut. There was this viral moment in Cleveland, and he made a shirt, and for us to go 14 years later to do an official partnership was. It's just such a great moment, you know? So I'm looking forward to where this is going to take us. We've got a great year ahead of us with more collabs and projects, and I feel like we'll be doing something with the Cavs again next season.

13:20
Ashtyn Morris
Great. I can't believe I didn't ask this earlier, but what made you come back to Cleveland? I mean, it seems like you have a lot of love, but, yeah, I've.

13:28
Kumar Arora
Always had a love for Cleveland. I moved away in 2015, 2016, and I always kind of came back a lot. I did a tv show on CNBC called Cleveland Hustles in 2016. We were the number two show on the network at the time, which was pretty cool. And I got to be one of the sharks on the show. It was very similar to shark Tank, but I've always had a love for Cleveland, but I was bi coastal. I was going from LA to Cleveland. And during COVID I had a moment to rethink my strategy and much of marketing and social media, everything was so remote anyways. It was more normal to FaceTime. People get on zoom calls during COVID So that was really the time I was like, you know what? I can build in my backyard. I don't have to be in LA.

14:09
Kumar Arora
And at the same time, a lot of my friends were moving home. And I just felt like, this is a great moment for us to rebuild our city. Why not find a way to create new ideas that haven't been done before? Again, whether it's a tech conference or a sushi restaurant, how do we find ways to elevate our own? And that's really why I'm so committed to Cleveland.

14:29
Ashtyn Morris
Do you get a lot of responses of I can't believe this is in Cleveland for other events or restaurants every day?

14:36
Kumar Arora
I love that feeling. Cause if people are impressed when they visit us or shocked when they see something, I mean, that's exactly what you want, you know? And it's an opportunity for us from not just a civic perspective, but also in small business to even the playing field, you know, to say, this can happen here, and we could do some great stuff.

14:54
Ashtyn Morris
I feel like Cleveland is, particularly lately, has been getting a lot of great press. And I always say it's just a little too late. I mean, in the sense we've known Cleveland is great, but it's now nice to see you on a national scale that more eyes are coming our way, because there's a lot of opportunities here, a lot of money is funneling in a lot of investments. So I think Cleveland's just now on the.

15:14
Kumar Arora
It's a great place to start a business. It's a low cost of living. It's on the rise. We've got a great waterfront. We have a great mayor. I think that there's a lot of change happening in a good direction. And for those who are considering a second office or a new place to be, it's very easy to build here in Cleveland. I believe it's, in some respects, America's best kept secret. We have so much going for us and people don't know.

15:38
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. Pivoting back a little bit to the discussions around content and marketing your content for all your brands is something that really stands out to me, is exceptional. How involved are you with the holistic strategy?

15:51
Kumar Arora
I would say I'm pretty involved. I'm a designer by trade. Like I said, making graphic flyers 20 some years ago in Photoshop two, I think it was 1718. And I think I look at things from a design perspective, a brand perspective. But I also love marketing. I call it the sun and the moon because they are so similar but they are so different. Branding is often trying to attract people, whereas marketing is you telling them. And I think that you have to have a blend of both in order to create good content. And I'm heavily involved, from the photo shoots to even the logo designs. I mean, I made the future land logo, I made the sora logo. I'm not shy about that stuff. I love design, but I have to sometimes wear other hats as an entrepreneur.

16:33
Kumar Arora
But I would say I'm very hands on. And I think that when you are hands on with your own product, it's not just about you caring about it, but it's also how you want to make sure that it's seen in its best light.

16:45
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. For as long as I've known you, I feel like you've been one of the loudest proponents of content. Content content and needing to have good quality content. Because if that's someone's first interaction with your brand, you want to make a mark and a good mark because nothing would be worse than showing your product in a less unfavorable light. And then they don't think about coming back.

17:06
Kumar Arora
There are absolutely no excuses for a business to not invest right now. There was a point in time 20 years ago where they couldn't afford to do radio or tv. Now investing in content and posting on your own channels is so much easier. The cost is minimal in comparison to big budget spending for advertising. Similarly, everyone's got an iPhone now. So there again, no excuses why you can't create content. It's more about intentionality on how you create it, why you're creating it, and how you can use that to build that two way street. Because if you want to get to your consumer, you have to post in order to get them to find you, and that's really important.

17:43
Kumar Arora
We never had that ability to be able to actually message a consumer or a potential consumer to get them to buy, to attend an event or to be a part of your company.

17:55
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. In terms of content here in Cleveland, where do you have a go to content resources? Do you leverage content creators a lot? How do you go about really paving the way for the great content you capture?

18:07
Kumar Arora
I'm very fortunate. I have an awesome team. So whether it's video editing, photography, we have it all in house. Some of my brands cross over in other places. So the team that might run the social media for future land is the same people shooting the content for Ilthi. So I'm very fortunate that I've been able to build a network that can support all of my initiatives, but there's also a huge ecosystem of freelancers and creatives out there who are looking for work. So I've been very fortunate to just have great relationships with videographers and content people over the years.

18:40
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. We've talked about the good, but it's also really important for us touch on some of the not so great parts of entrepreneurship. We've touched on that a little bit, but can you talk a little bit more about some of these setbacks you've experienced and how you've overcome them?

18:55
Kumar Arora
Definitely, yeah. I mean, it's those battle scars, I think, that are more fun to talk about. You know, it's easy to talk about the highlight reel, but sometimes it's that struggle you face where you can learn so much more, you know? Tell me about the lows. Not the highs, is what I say. But I did an investment. It was 2016 on Cleveland hustles, and it was a company called Old City Soda. At the time, I was, you know, really interested in the CPG market, consumer packaged goods, you know, whether it's or, you know. And I wanted to get in that side of things. And that business didn't quite work out. We were required to build a bar, which we did in Gordon Square, which is now Ninja City.

19:33
Kumar Arora
And were also trying to build not just the brick and mortar, but also the distribution side of things with the soda itself. At the time were in Heinen's and just, you know, giant eagle, were kind of making some strides. But it was very difficult being in LA while helping this business grow on two sides. It was a great learning experience. Unfortunately, the business closed. Just did not work out the way I hoped. But again, that's the battle scars you get for me. I look back at that time almost ten years ago now, and it was a learning experience for me because I still got back up and I built a bar within sora. I turned things around, and now I work with so many different packaging companies, like real good Foods and even sora.

20:13
Kumar Arora
I ended up turning that into, before it started was a ghost kitchen where I created a box, you know, so I was still able to find ways to do what I love and create products and then obviously still be in food service.

20:24
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. I feel like I know the answer to this question, but does your brain ever stop in terms of, are you.

20:30
Kumar Arora
All it's that curse like I told you? No, I do stop. I think that in the last couple years, I've really found a way to try to look for balance. You know, it could be something as simple as walking a dog, my dog, or traveling. You have to find ways to turn off, to reset. I think that's important. Having that silence allows you to come up with your next best idea or to look at things from a different perspective. So, yes, I do turn off. Yes, I can find that. But it can be tough as a business owner and entrepreneur.

21:01
Ashtyn Morris
Absolutely. I mean, as were talking about before we started recording, everyone has the same 24 hours in the day. It's what you do with it. But I think there's value in knowing when you need to step away a bit in terms of, okay, my creative juices need time to reset and, you know, just take some time away from the computer, get out a bit, and then you come back recharged and it could be exactly what you needed. Absolutely. What advice would you give to someone like myself, mid twenties, looking maybe to get into entrepreneurship and starting something?

21:31
Kumar Arora
I think that's a fun question to ask because I get it a lot and everyone has a different way to look at it. But I try to dilute it down to this one simple principle, and we'll look at it as two variables, a and b. A is what you loved when you were young, right? We don't quite know what that was. You might not remember it, but if you love drawing, there's chances are you will still. You still enjoy drawing as you grew up, right? A represents your origins, what you were maybe given by the universe or something that you picked up along the way, right? Your true passions that existed for much, your innocent childhood, right. B is a skill you learned that you got really good at along the way.

22:13
Kumar Arora
If you take a and b together, you have yourself a really great business idea, whatever that is, right? Easy example. We'll run through a scenario. So let's just say, let's go back to the idea of drawing. If you like drawing, but you've learned production, you might be able to start a brand, start a clothing company, because you've picked up two things along the way. I often tell people, if they're getting into business for the first time, look for a and b, and will lead you to your answer, which is c. It's not that complicated, you know, but you also have to have think about, you know, obviously, funding, finding a team, other things. But if you know a and b, you at least have the core idea down.

22:52
Ashtyn Morris
I think probably people could easily get intimidated by just getting started and figuring out the logistics.

22:58
Kumar Arora
Yeah, it's tough.

22:59
Ashtyn Morris
Do I have the capital to support this? Do I have the time? But, you know, if people really have a dream and a passion, I'd rather try and fail than to always have that in the back of my head of, oh, I love XYZ, but, you know, I just never gave it a go and have regret. You talked a little bit earlier about LinkedIn, and I think that's a really great tool for people, regardless if they're an entrepreneur or just building a professional network. And you're very active on LinkedIn. How would you say your strategy is on there to build up your network?

23:31
Kumar Arora
I would say, I mean, there's a lot of spam, unfortunately, on LinkedIn, I get a lot of it. I'm sure everyone else that's listening probably does, too. So, you know, not factoring all the spam that's there, it's like, I'll have a call with someone, the next thing I immediately do is I add them. On LinkedIn. It's just a common practice that it's a great way to stay in touch beyond just an email or a phone call, especially if they are not necessarily local to you. But I look at as an opportunity to not just promote what you're doing, but interact with other people, too. So not just congratulating them on their work anniversaries, which we see that a lot, too, but it's a chance to commemorate the hard work that they're doing.

24:08
Kumar Arora
I think that the other platforms, from a social perspective, are a lot different. It's not necessarily about work or your career. It's often lifestyle or what you're wearing, what you're eating. That stuff's not necessarily seen on LinkedIn. And I think that's why I love to, you know, pay my respects and shower people with excitement and, you know, and guide them the right way, too. So I do enjoy supporting others on LinkedIn.

24:33
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah, that's great. Looking ahead, what are some things you're excited about for your businesses and what should be on our radar?

24:41
Kumar Arora
So I just opened up my first Medspa with VEO. They're the fastest growing medspa franchise in the country. The first one opened in Charlotte, so that was my latest investment. We're opening another one in a couple of months. Should be open in May. So kind of excited to jump into a new space. They're one of my clients. And then also, you know, been doing a lot of their content, their social media and whatnot. So I love when I can also invest in my clients, too, and I think it's an opportunity for me to grow with them and show them my support. So excited to see where that takes me and into the aesthetic space and, you know, keep forging on.

25:15
Ashtyn Morris
Awesome. Yeah. I was going to ask what made you take the jump, but that's great if they were client relationship and building that from there. Last question before we go into our rapid fire round, what advice would you give other entrepreneurs looking to make their mark? I know we've touched on this a lot, but, like, the main piece you want to leave people with after this.

25:35
Kumar Arora
Episode, the one thing I could say about leaving your mark is also thinking about legacy. You know, what do you want to leave behind? Is no different from saying, how do you want to leave your mark? Right? What do you do differently in your city or your market? What is it that you want to create that's different from somebody else that you want to do with your fellow team members that can revitalize your neighborhoods or your community? You know, I think that's how you leave your marks. You have to think about what's important to you, what is your why. You know, if you figure out your why, it leads you closer to your successful business.

26:08
Ashtyn Morris
Amazing. Before we wrap up today's episode, I'm going to round things out with a few quick fire questions. Are you ready?

26:15
Kumar Arora
I'm ready.

26:16
Ashtyn Morris
Okay. Favorite social media platform?

26:19
Kumar Arora
Can't say LinkedIn again.

26:21
Ashtyn Morris
Yes and no.

26:23
Kumar Arora
I'll say Instagram.

26:23
Ashtyn Morris
Okay.

26:24
Kumar Arora
I mean, it's the default. I love it. But it's, It's just ever changing, ever growing, and it's the most dominant platform. I do love threads, though. I use it pretty regularly.

26:33
Ashtyn Morris
You are active on threads?

26:34
Kumar Arora
I'm very active on threads. I have no friends on it, though. But I do love threads.

26:38
Ashtyn Morris
Now is, the hot take. Everyone should get on threads.

26:41
Kumar Arora
Yeah, that's it. That's my answer.

26:43
Ashtyn Morris
Favorite brand besides my own? Yes.

26:47
Kumar Arora
I would say Adidas. I love some of their aesthetics. I like some of their collaboration. So I say I look at a lot of Adidas. I look at a lot of kith as well. Those two.

26:58
Ashtyn Morris
This might be an easy follow up dream collab for any of your brands.

27:04
Kumar Arora
You know what? I'm gonna say something different from what we talked about earlier. A dream collab would be Ninja Turtles. I am a total Ninja Turtles fan. Love just the entire universe of it all. There's a comic book they recently released called the Last Ronin, which is a much more darker, apocalyptic side of Ninja Turtles. And it would be really fun to do something with that.

27:25
Ashtyn Morris
I love that. I was not expecting you to say that. But then, best answer. Final two. Go to restaurant in Cleveland.

27:34
Kumar Arora
So I got two. And they're very close to each other. And they sound just like each other. I love Judith Cafe. It's pretty new. It's got kind of a french vibe to it. A little smaller cafe. And then there's also juneberry, which is my absolute favorite. More brunch style. Can't get enough of it. I always recommend it.

27:49
Ashtyn Morris
Those are both in Ohio State.

27:51
Kumar Arora
They're both on Lorraine in the Ohio state area.

27:53
Ashtyn Morris
Perfect. Last question. Favorite Cleveland coffee shop.

27:58
Kumar Arora
Favorite Cleveland coffee shop. That's a good one. There's so many. It's overwhelming. So Glen's girlfriend, she just opened one. It's called Dahlia Coffee in the pivot center. So I gotta show her some love.

28:10
Ashtyn Morris
It looks beautiful.

28:11
Kumar Arora
Yeah, it's awesome. So I would say that's definitely one of them. Gotta show her some love. Small business, right? Second one would be lucko coffee. I'm a big fan of their lavender and Ube, so I have to go there.

28:22
Ashtyn Morris
Great. Well, that about does it for us today. Kumar, thank you so much for coming in. This episode was well worth the wait. And I know that so many people will benefit from hearing your story. Where can listeners find you if they want to connect?

28:37
Kumar Arora
Sure. So it's pretty easy. My social media handle is just Karora zero seven. It's Karora zero seven. I'm on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram threads, MySpace, TikTok. So you could find me there. My website is Kumar Dash, aurora.com, where you can learn about my ventures and different kind of investments. And you can follow my journey there too.

28:59
Ashtyn Morris
Amazing. Well, thank you so much.

29:00
Kumar Arora
Of course. Happy to be here.