Jay (Just Jay): Smoke Shop Owner / Proud Dad / Community Server and Protector

Sagewolf Interviews

The scene:
We are in Jay’s smoke shop - Cuzz - on Olive and Palm in Fresno, CA. This area is not for the faint of heart, but his shop is full of all the love. I met Jay a few months ago buying loose-leaf tobacco. I knew when I met him that he is a super solid human. And he wowed me even more in our interview. I was able to witness him in action in his community. He is wise, intelligent, protective, funny, and full of heart. Join us in the shop for his story and a real experience of this neighborhood we share together.
Highlights:
+ Have you ever hung out in a smoke shop for an hour?
+ “I’ve never seen so many tweakers” (meth)
+ Tell-tale sign: swollen fingers
+ It turns out that lawyers and policemen like meth too
+ “Asking for a friend”
+ Living in the TLs (Tenderloin in SF)
+ Not wanting to raise a daughter in a world like this
+ The smoke shop is a ways to a means
+ Building longevity for your children
+ Customer service is everything
+ People vibe because of who you are
+ Have a blessed day
+ Last job working for a boss: Aetna
+ Stacking bread with your hustle
+ Every hustle has an expiration date: death or lockup
+ Always get to know your neighbors
+ Partnering on a business with your neighbor
+ We pause the recording multiple times for “certain” customers
+ Someone taking a chance on you
+ Appreciation, being humble
+ Getting broken into and figuring out insurance
+ Selling your biz to your biz partner’s brother
+ Buying out your biz partner
+ Having a bad experience with an edible
+ If I die today, what can I leave my daughter?
+ Providing options for your children
+ If black lives matter, why are black people killing each other?
+ Showing young black men how to NOT be on the streets
+ You can lead a donkey to water…
+ Building a bond with your customer
+ It’s not the bong or blunt wraps, it’s the clothes that sell best
+ Shoutout to the Cookies clothing brand
+ He can sell snow to an eskimo
+ “Walkers” and the homeless
+ Tattoos and ankle monitors
+ Who you hang around is who you become
+ We don’t know why people hit rock bottom - be compassionate
+ Being desensitized to death from seeing so much
+ Open 7 days a week, 10am to 1am
+ Read the room
+ Competition builds business for both
+ “Baby mama” is not an acceptable term for him
+ People sleeping in closets and bathrooms - and being happy
+ Good people teaching you to not live for the moment
+ Serving Thanksgiving meals to the community
+ Protecting the community you business in
+ Dear younger self: INVEST
+ Learning how to build credit from a $300 card limit
+ Jail life is something some people look forward to
+ Fresno Bulldog gang family
+ “I know now that I can make $500 into two grand”
+ Street smarts = adaptability
+ Life is about chess - you’ve got to know who your knight is
+ “They are watching me all the time”
+ We’re all human, we’re a family
+ Audio of Jay in action with his customers
+ We discover Sevonty’s story together
+ Brain aneurism and stroke at 12, coma for a year
+ Learning how to walk and talk again, and write left-handed
+ How long were you dead for, what did you see?
+ Is it PTSD or just being cautious?
+ Family first
+ Jay asks for my story, so I share it
A taste:
“I like to give back to the community as well. So on Thanksgiving I was open, I worked and I had a whole feast right here. I fed everyone that needed to be fed. […] I think they respect me for that because I look out for people. […] You don’t know exactly why they hit rock bottom.”

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Love, Sagewolf xoxo