
Personal Bio
Rickey Colley, who is also known as Smart Money Rikk and Mr.Rikk, currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of , R$X&Co.. Born and raised in the South Central area of Los Angeles, California, he would miss out on a normal childhood due to the growing in the crack cocaine epidemic that plagued his community. It was the 80s & 90’s and Rickey was the oldest of four boys in a single parent household, which was especially impacted by the drugs. A product of their environment, Rickey's mother and several other family members began either using the crack or selling it. This would continue throughout his childhood, becoming a normal part of his days and nights. Forcing him to grow up before his time, this would also result in he and his siblings being moved from family members to foster homes, sometimes ending up together and other times being separated.
Throughout his early life, and because of his living situation, Rickey would attend seven different elementary schools. Still in foster care, he would finally stay in one school for more than a year during his junior year of high school, attending Audubon Jr High and then Dorsey High School in the Crenshaw district. As he reached the 9th grade, his mother would become sober and win back custody of all of her children. However, after three years, she relapsed, forcing him to yet again become the man of the house. In survival mode, and desperate to provide for his family, he began selling marijuana. It soon became his only way of caring for his brothers after his mother was no longer able to. Although it started out as a way to survive, it eventually developed into an opportunity for him to grow his skill as an entrepreneur. As a result, he turned his marijuana business into a multi million dollar operation, running it as if it were a Fortune 500 company, per the United States Government. At the start of his career in selling marijuana, he had only 1lb of his product. This weight would then grow to literal tons, allowing him to live a flashy luxurious life, that in turn caught the attention of law enforcement. Having spent 15 years as a dealer, this was his first time ever being in any real trouble.
Indicted in 2010, charged and convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering and Conspiracy to Distribute over two tons of marijuana, Rickey started his first prison stent. While in prison, and unable to turn off his entrepreneurial spirit, he created the company, Smart News Concierge, which provided daily news updates, on sports, stocks and gossip, keeping his fellow inmates up to date with the outside world. By doing so, he had seen a need in prison that the average business man couldn’t see because you would have had to been incarcerated. With firsthand knowledge of what it was like to be in prison, and wanting to help other inmates, he sought the help of family members on the outside and was able to officially start the subscription based company from his prison cell. Alongside this, he also created a concierge service, which made it possible for inmates to send gifts to family and friends. This would all be created from the federal prison's computers, which were open for inmates, giving them a Corelink account with email capabilities as well as a Money Gram account. This allowed him to do his research from the outside, which guided him in curating his company through email copy and paste. Through his continuous work, Rickey's company gained valuable exposure and was promoted through federal prisons across America, earning him 4 employees, a business partner, and over 1,000 subscribers for his $15 per month subscription service. As his almost 10 year sentence was reduced to 6 years, thanks to the Obama Clemency Initiative, he planned to continue building his business. Unfortunately, as he was released from prison on February 19, 2016, just 6 months later, FBOP sold Money Gram to China, which took away the only method for inmates to send and receive money, forcing him to shut down Smart News Concierge.
Afterwards, Rickey had no idea what he would do next. Whatever it was, however, he had decided that it would be an extension of himself, something he loved and that was apart of his lifestyle. In 2016, while on a plane coming back from Atlanta, he realized his next venture after coming up with the idea to sell his own brand of condoms. Bored with this idea, he instead decided to sell a complete package that he called, “Love Boxes.” These boxes would include everything buyers need for sensual encounters and were designed to awaken the five senses. Today, his focus is on fragrances which is known for igniting pheromones and can even act as an aphrodisiac. Following his goal to create such products, he sought the help of parfumes expert, Sarah Horowitz, who crafted his collection of products with the highest quality materials and ingredients. Inspired by her as well as other great parfumist and perfumes, including the ability fragrance has to affect the spirit and self worth, Rickey found his signature scent, calling it Drip and Promiscuous, which also led him to give his company the name,
R$X&Co.. The name would pay homage to his love of high fashion, jewelry, fast cars, mansions and beautiful women. While tireless in the growth and success of R$X&Co. , Rickey is also committed to restarting Smart News Concierge, which is now a possibility due to the prison system using Western Union. In each, it is his goal to hold successful black owned companies that can stand firm against the competition while earning the respect of others. Above it all, it is his mission to have a brand that not only provides a better life for his children, but that also has the power to encourage the use of aroma therapy, easing tensions, relaxing the mind, and serving as a cure for hate.