Lifestyle Tip: Travel App inspired by the historical Green Book (1936–1966), which guided Black travelers during segregation.

The Steve Harvey Morning Show

iHeartPodcasts

Comedy, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lawrence Phillips.

Purpose of the Interview

Key Takeaways

Background & Career Shift
- Phillips studied Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech and worked at Accenture in IT consulting for nearly a decade.
- Despite career success, he felt unfulfilled and decided to pursue his passion for travel, leading to the creation of Green Book Global.
Travel Experience
- Traveled to 30+ countries across all seven continents, including Antarctica, in less than a year.
- Realized the need for a platform addressing “traveling while Black” concerns—safety, cultural acceptance, and inclusivity.
Green Book Global
- Inspired by the historical Green Book (1936–1966), which guided Black travelers during segregation.
- Offers city-level Black-friendly scores, road trip planners, and Black-owned restaurant recommendations.
- Over 150,000 app downloads in 2025; partnered with Expedia; strong social media presence.
Black Ambition Program
- Program provided funding opportunities and a transformative Evoke Wellness experience.
- His personal “why” statement:
  “I’m a protective and innovative steward of Black restoration and healing.”
Impact & Vision
- Advocates systemic change by partnering with destinations to improve inclusivity.
- Highlights the economic power of Black travelers (over $140 billion annually).
- Encourages Black travelers to explore global opportunities beyond U.S. racial constraints.

Notable Quotes

“You can be successful and still not be happy.” — On leaving a lucrative career for passion.
“I’m a protective and innovative steward of Black restoration and healing.” — His guiding principle.
“There’s riches in niches.” — On unapologetically focusing on Black travelers.
“Just because somebody said no doesn’t mean they said no to you—they said no at that time.” — On persistence in entrepreneurship.

#SHMS #STRAW #BEST

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast.
0:02.6	Guaranteed Human.
0:04.3	Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald.
0:05.5	I host this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show.
0:08.4	The interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.
0:12.1	It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
0:16.2	Now, if you want to be a guest on my show, Moneymaking Conversations Masterclass,
0:20.5	please visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations.com and click to be a guest on my show, Moneymaking Conversations Masterclass, please visit our website, Moneymakingconversations.com, and click the be a guest button.
0:25.4	If you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, influencer, a nonprofit.
0:30.4	I want you on my show.
0:31.8	Let's get started.
0:33.0	My guest is the founder of Green Book Global, the first and only travel review website and mobile
0:38.7	app that enables black travel to plan trips with confidence and less anxiety providing
0:44.2	them user-generated travel insights from the black perspective.
0:48.1	Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Lawrence Phillips.
0:51.2	How you doing, Lawrence?
0:52.2	Hey everyone.
0:53.2	I just happy to be here, so thank you, thank you so much just for the opportunity.
0:56.0	A black travel perspective insights, you know, give me a little black ground about me.
1:03.0	I've cruised a lot, 80 cruise ships, you know, I'm older than you.
1:09.0	So black people are here by family union. Black people love to travel in the summertime I know that for a fact you know why black travel app yeah why so it all started back in 2015 I was working at Accenture doing IT consulting
1:25.7	got promoted super excited like yeah got promoted so he was a career guy? Yes, yes. 40 hour a week? 60. Yeah, so I was actually flying back doing travel between Atlanta and San Diego. Okay. Going back and forth for about two years. So amazing project learned a lot, but I got burnt out. And so that's where I was like, you know what, guys? Thanks for promoting me, but I quit. And so I travel the world for about a year. I did 30 plus countries in all seven continents, including in Antarctica. So I was hanging out with them penguins. But as a black traveler, like it became very clear to me. I was nervous going to some places.
	...

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