MiB: John Hope Bryant, Operation Hope

This week, we speak with entrepreneur John Hope Bryant, the founder and chief executive officer of Operation HOPE, which is the US’s largest not-for-profit provider of financial literacy and economic empowerment tools. Described as the “Conscience of Capitalism,” Bryant is also chairman and chief executive officer of John Hope Bryant Holdings, Bryant Group Ventures and The Promise Homes Company. Bryant’s founded organizations have provided more than $3.5 billion in capital for the underserved over the past 30 years.

He discusses how he became interested in entrepreneurship when a white banker spoke to his third-grade class and explained how banking worked. He recalls being genuinely shocked to learn there was a job that involved providing funds to risk-takers.

He describes the difference between being broke and being poor: Being poor is a disabling frame of mind and a depressed condition of your spirit. Bryant states that financial literacy is the most important Civil Rights issue of this generation.

We also discuss the Promise Homes Company, one of the largest minority-owned managers of institutional-quality, single-family residential rental property in the United States.

A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Ramit Sethi writes about money, business, and psychology. He is the author of NYT bestseller I Will Teach You to Be Rich and the host of the popular Netflix series “How to Get Rich.”