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Good morning, and welcome back to another edition of The Shift.
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I am Katherine E. Trotter, your host with Strategic Collaboration Network,
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and I am joined with doctor Faith workersin She's in
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the Richmond, Virginia area.
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She is the.
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CEO of Unlocking r v A. And yes, we're gonna
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unpack what is Unlocking RVA. We're gonna unpack who is
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doctor Faith Wilkerson and how she has and will continue
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to be making an impact in the community. So for
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those of you that are tuned in, you know you
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are tuned into the Shift, we want you to shift
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your fingers right now and share this link. Share it
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out to your community, share it out to your network,
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you can text them, you can forward it if you
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see it on social media. But regarding doctor Faith work
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person again, Unlocking our VA was founded with one goal
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in mine and I encourage you to check out the
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website to design and produce creative and unforgettable events for all.
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Welcome to the show, Doctor.
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Faith, Thank you for having me.
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Absolutely listen. We are shifting, and I know you are
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shifting years. We're shifting literally today.
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I know many young people are going back to school,
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so families are shifting right now, right, and tell us
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a little bit about who is doctor Faith before you
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even started the business.
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Yeah, so doctor Faith was a lot of things. She's
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she was and still continues to be an educator. She
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continues to be what I like to refer to as
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a bridge connector, and she is about supporting community, both
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business in the business sense and then in different initiatives
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that we see happen around the area that I live in.
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Yeah, and talk about it. So that you're in the Richmond,
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Virginia areas that where you're born and raised.
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Yeah so no, So I'm originally from Queens, New York City.
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I moved here to the Richmond area in two thousand
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to attend Virginia Comonwealth University, which is where I got
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all my degrees from uh to you know, and just
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decided never to leave. Honestly, that was the reality of
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it all. If anyone's watching this is from I won't
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just say New York, but any kind of northern areas.
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Moving south is kind of a thing that just happens naturally.
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You kind of want to get away from the hustle
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and bustle, and you know, probably paid rent and mortgage.
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That makes a little bit more sense for your paycheck.
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And so at this point, now, yeah, I've been here
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twenty six years, so Richmond's the longest place I've ever lived.
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Yeah, listen, I tell you, and you started a phenomenal company,
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Unlocking RVA. Tell everyone about that journey as to why
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you launched it. And according to the website, you launched
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it in twenty sixteen.
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Yeah, we did, so we turned this is our year
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ten of us being in business, and so launching the
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company kind of was a natural progression. So you heard
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me just say that I am and started as an educator.
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Part of that process was the jobs that I took
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fresh out of college were planning a lot of the
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large scale events that took place at the university. So
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I call it everything that the reason why we actually
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go to college, right, it's not chemistry one on one,
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it's because we want to go to the homecomings, we
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want to do the step shows, we want to do
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the back to school concerts, and you know all those things.
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And so I was a part of the group that
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was responsible for planning those things. And even when I
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was an undergrad, I was on student government, I was
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on our program board. And then when yeah, and then
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even when I take it a step further. In high school,
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I planned homecomings, I planned our prom and junior proms.
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So event planning was something natural that I didn't think
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of as a business because of there are any I
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would say eighties babies, and before we weren't raised to
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be entrepreneurs. We were raised to get a job, no
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excuse me, go to school, get a job, keep a job,
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and work that job right. Entrepreneurship was such a crapshoot,
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And so about ten years ago I saw there was
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a little bit of a gap just in terms of
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celebrating and sharing different events that were just naturally happening
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in the city. So the platform originally started because I
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wanted to share events, and then it became well, I
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can do that, and started doing events and putting on
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small things. So we started with just events where people
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were able to connect with local businesses as well as
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things that you can rent, if that makes sense. So
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everything in the spaces were rentable by any average person,
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from the DJ to the caterer, to the space to lighting, sound,
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whatever the case may be. So it ended up being
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just one big room of things that people can connect
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with if they chose to, and then eventually we just
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started growing year by year to where now we're doing
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full scare concerts and full scale food truck you know,
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rodeos and just different things. So it's very natural.
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I love the fact that you told the story even
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from high school to college.
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What was your undergrad and grad degree in?
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Yeah, so undergrad was masking munications. So I desperately wanted
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to host team Summit for again aging myself for the
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eighties and before babies, but I did. I wanted to
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be an on air personality. And then eventually though, just
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life just has a way of navigating you in a
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different direction. So my masters and my doctorate are both
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in higher education, and so that was to continue to
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work in the field and doing events and programs, but
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also I wanted to begin teaching as well. So that's
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why I said that being still in education is because
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I currently serve as a professor still for my alma
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mater and then other universities here in the city as well.
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But no, I think this is beautiful and for all
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this listening and for those that's going to share this,
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I think the fact of your foundation and and what
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I'm hearing from you is that you kept true to
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what was in your heart. You said in high school
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you love planning the events, and even though entrepreneurship may
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not have been spoken to you, but it was already
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in you.
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Yes, Yeah, for sure. And that's the thing that I'll
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always People say, you know what you have started unlocking earlier. Absolutely,
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I can only imagine where we would have been if
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nineteen twenty twenty one year old faith, you know, really
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had the notion to know this can be a company.
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Like what you do for this other plan, you know,
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this organization you can do on your own. But definitely
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always stay true to the roots. Even when I tried
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to do other things or maybe focus, it always came
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back to these events and how do I connect organizations,
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community and people.
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Yeah, and I think it's so interesting.
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Like with our company Strategic Collaboration Network, we love using
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the puzzle piece because we like to say we're all
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interconnected together. I'm your puzzle piece and vice versa. And
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this is what you're describing in what you're doing in
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your company. But even before your company got started, and
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even as an educator, what have you seen from your
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perspective as an educator, how you've been able to pour
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into the next generation.
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Yeah, for sure. It's been a wonderful journey, right because
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I went from from teaching students who kind of in
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this same generational, you know, moment that I grew up
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into now teaching kids who are growing up in a
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way different technological arena than I could have ever imagined.
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And so the things that I see the most is
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the creativity always has to remain the same. So in
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order to connect with any person under the age of
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twenty one, you have to be willing to meet them
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where they are. And so it's a constant commitment to
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just being on the internet doom scrolling and you know,
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understanding what's hip, even though we might sound a little
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corny when we say it, but being willing to you know,
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at least meet them halfway. I think that is what's
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most important to the youth that we are seeing is
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today they want to be seen and they want to
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feel like you're at least trying and not constantly judging.
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Right Because again, for those that grew up in our generation,
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it was you know, back in my day, and I
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don't ever want to make a student feel that way
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because back in my day is no longer the day
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we're in a different, you know, arena. We have shifted,
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We have shifted one hundred percent in how they learn,
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how they receive information as well as what that bar
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looks like. Right, the bar for them sometimes is really high,
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and it can cause a lot of anxiety, a lot
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of frustration, and sometimes just not really knowing how far
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they may want to go in life, because again, you know,
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we being an influencer is not a thing for us, right,
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and now there's so many different pathways students and kids
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can take that doesn't involve college. And also be mindful
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of that as well.
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Yeah, and I think, you know, it's interesting you talk
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about your undergrads in communications to your graduate and doctor
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and is in education.
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I mean, the two worlds married really well to Yes,
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you know.
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They did for sure. I realized that after a while.
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So Masscom gave me all of the I call it
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the base right of this pyramid, and so it allowed
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me to understand public relations. It allowed me to understand,
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you know, even things down to editing and how things
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should be shot and how things should look and how
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you write a press release, like all the things that
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you know I planned on using in some sort of
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career in media did translate because we do flyers, we
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do send up press releases. When I'm getting recap videos
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or telling my videographer or fortographer what the vision is,
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I'm able to use their language. And I learned that
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foreshore through my undergraduate degree.
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Absolutely, and I also notice only your site it says
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we create unique experiences that connect individuals, obviously enrichmentd local businesses.
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To make that impact.
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Talk about the impact that you've seen from your company
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and how it's made a difference in the community.
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Yeah, it's been awesome. Some days you see the impact
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right away. Some days it's years or months later. And
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I love when they come back and say, because of
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whatever event we did, whatever opportunity that I presented to
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them or gave them and a chance to do. And
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so even in the earlier stages of creating spaces and
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events where everything is bookable, we still keep that model.
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When we just did an event yesterday and everything out
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there was all local, and so even if it wasn't
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me saying hey this is blank, you were able to
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go up to that food and say, hey, how do
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I book y'all? You know what I mean? If you
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love the way you know the sound was you were
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able to find the sound man and talk to him directly.
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But also I feel like I always have a responsibility
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as well to speak for people when they aren't in
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the rooms, because people do call me a lot and say, hey, Faith,
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do you know someone who can do blank? And always
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making sure that I don't always pick the same person.
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Just try to kind of spread it around and make
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sure people understand that they are too then to pay
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it forward. And it ends up being a great way
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that we all get tied together because people, you know,
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will come up with some amazing ideas and if I'm
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able to at least a little bit, to your point,
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give them a piece of the puzzle to create their
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full picture, it means a lot. Yeah.
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Yeah, And you know you've done some phenomenal things that
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you already mentioned on your site. You've done Brunch on
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the Plaza, the Gardens Social and Silent Parties.
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Talk about some of those events.
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Yeah, So the Silent Party and Brunch on the Plaza
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probably are two largest in anchor events that we have
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at a time to our business. Each of them happened
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once a month and they're both Brunch is a fully
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immersive outdoor event. The Silent Party can go either inside
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or outside. So for those that are not familiar with
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a solid party, it's just literally the solid headphones. And
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what's true about that event is that we are able
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to place it in so many different places and spaces
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because there's no amplified sound, and so ideally everything all
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the music in sound gets pipeline into your headphones. We
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can put movies on one station, we can have music playing,
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you can talk on your microphone. But it allows people
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to kind of be in their own bubble. I tell people,
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imagine how you feel when you put your personal headphones
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or you know, earbuds in and you're just zoned out.
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This is the same thing. And then if you're like, oh,
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I don't want to listen to this DJ, you're able
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to switch and get a whole other experience. And then
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even though you can't hear what's going on, if you
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have full full max value and if you look at
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the other person and they're doing a different rhythm, you
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like what you're listening to, and then you switch and
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so you have this mulm connection that's super awesome. And
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that's one of our events that actually with that whole
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thought process in mind evolved because of COVID. There was
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a need to create events where I'm with you, but
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I'm away from you.
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Because they are in the same room or.
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We are in the same space. But when we originally
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started in COVID, we were in an open market, and
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so the range on the headphones was so wide. If
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you and whomever you were safe being around, wanted to
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be all the way over there, you could be over there,
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you could be over there. And then there was restaurants,
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so if you just wanted to go in the restaurant
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and just eat, it was just a great space for that.
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And so we do that once a month and we're
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able to be in the market every time. But then
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we jump around. We might go to breweries if there's space,
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people like, oh, I really, we're someone new about my space.
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I can bring the solid party there and we won't
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bother your regular customers and you don't have to stop
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doing your everyday business because we're coming in. But do
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tell your customers. At some point, somebody might yell too
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short to save the word. But it's all in love, right,
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It's all in love, and it'll come out of nowhere.
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But it makes for good time.
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You know, I think it's so powerful something that you said.
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You said during the time of COVID nineteen, that idea
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was birth out of you and your company started. In
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twenty sixteen, four years later the pandemic hit. And what
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I think is so powerful. And the reason why I
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say that is because you you shifted and you had
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to know how to shi to stay relevant and to
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keep your business moving forward. Talk about that from a
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business on a standpoint, that when you have because it
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was an out of all of our control what happened
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with the pendemic, but you saw, you got creative and
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you pivoting. Talk about the art of pivoting as a
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business owner.
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Yeah, that art of pivot. Every day is a pivot,
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especially for a small business owner. We don't have the
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luxury of losing money, and so I always stand by
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as long as the bills get paid and I'm not
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in a negative. It's a successful event. If everyone had
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a great time, and I don't owe anybody at that,
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we're great. And so the pivoting comes from being willing
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to take suggestions, being willing to be creative about Okay, well,
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if a happens, what's BCD sometimes even E or F
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And with COVID, what we discovered is we have to
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have more three sixty things that we offer. So in
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addition to you know, us doing events underneath our banner,
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people are able to hire us to do events and
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that can be anything from a virtual space to an
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in person space, small, medium or large. And that allowed
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us to again even if someone was doing something that
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they felt comfortable, you know, and we can still come
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in and do it because we were fine with wearing
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mask or whatever the case may be. But then also
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you know, bartering the knowledge that myself and the rest
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of my team have when it comes to business creation,
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when it comes to fiscal responsibility, fiscal management and all
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those things that you know small businesses kind of come in.
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But also being an idea generator that makes sense. And
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so during COVID, I started offering as well just one
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hour of brainstorming sessions because a lot of times people,
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I think we've all heard the phrase can I pick
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your brain? And my thing is yes, with an invoice attached,
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because I have a lot going on up here and
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it will make you a dollar if you take what
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I give, you will what you should see or return
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on the investment. So the pivot was really creating space.
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Is that if we're not able to actually do events
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because the world is all shut down, how do we
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still monetize in some way and to be one hundred
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percent transparent. Yes, that also meant faith as the owner
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probably has to have a couple of different balls in
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the air too. So unlocking is the main source, but
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there's other things that feed in, so as I e.
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The educational piece, So I'm always going to teach. I'm
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not against having a full time job. I don't now,
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but it's been something that I've always said, Okay, I
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have to keep something going because at any moment we
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could be right back talking on our computers again and
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with no social But you know.
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I mean, it's real, it's real. I mean, what you're
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talking about is real. As an entrepreneur and having a business,
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you have to have contingency plans. Again, no one knew
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what was going to happen with COVID nineteen. In that
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time period of from twenty twenty really to twenty twenty two,
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that two year period, a lot of businesses went under,
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and then some businesses got creative and reinvented themselves. Which
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is what you did with your team, And I think
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that's so important. We talk about the shift and this
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whole show. We invite leaders on, we invite business owners on,
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such as yourself, because we love to hear different perspectives
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on how you shift it.
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Because when you.
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Start business, from day one, day one to three years
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down the road, it's going to shift along the way, right.
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And then when you when you throw in something totally
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unpredictable and unexpected, what do you do? But I think
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that taught us a lesson in the entrepreneurial community. You
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need to make sure that you are going to be
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flexible and you have to know how to pivot. I
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think that taught not only is those in the entrepreneur community.
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That taught everyone. You got to know how to be
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flexible and how to pivot in real time so you
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pivot it. And now it's still something going on to today.
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Yeah, I mean we just did a brunch on the
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plaza yesterday. That is our outdoor I call it family
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reunion meets a backyard cookout. We literally take over a
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park and people can literally bring whatever they want and
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they do. They bring in tables, share is tense, food, drinks,
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we really push for it. We allow kids to come
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in for free because you know, we always stand firm
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if the kids are running around. How can you mad
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when you know little Robert has thrown his football with
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this cust friend, right, It creates a level of you know,
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we're all here to have a good time. And then
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you know, now the last three years, three or four years,
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we've had the pleasure like once a year we're able
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to really dial it up and have musical artists come.
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So yesterday we just got done with David Bannon and
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so that proven proved to be a wonderful. My new
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phrase for him is skippity duda if those have seen
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this viral thing. And so we're able to kind of
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bring these kind of artists that typically don't always make
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their way to Richmond because you know, access and affordability.
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That's the reality is, you know music artists, right, And
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so that allows us to kind of again every once
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in a while, just do a little a little dial
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up from the every month to month things that we do.
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No, I think that's powerful. I mean everything that I'm
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hearing you saying.
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For those that in the listening world as you're listening
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to this I encourage you to go to their website
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google them unlocking r VA again, that's unlocking our VA.
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And one of the reasons, you know, we had one
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of our interns and she was doing research because we're
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planning a business conference that's coming up, which I totally
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would love to invite you to and we can talk
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offline about it. But it's going to be at the
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BWI Marriott Hotel on Saturday, April seventeenth, and it's called
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Unlocked twenty twenty seven. Because we and that's why we
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have the synergy is here, because we believe that as
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we come together as one team, and that's what I'm
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hear in your heart, you're about oneness, we.
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All win at the end of the day.
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Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I can't do any any of
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what I do by myself before we got online, you know,
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I have two managers that so the typical day to
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day is faith. Most people here from me see me
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day of how you doing. My name is, you know,
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But to actually execute in a way that I don't
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have to be as stressed and have as much anxious,
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you know, feelings and energy. I have two event managers
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that I just got done texting like, you know, I
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know that I say to y'all, thank you, thank you,
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but thank you because a lot of times, you know,
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I get pulled away so much from things that I
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can't be in the weeds. And without the you know,
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without them, none of this stuff would be able to happen.
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And so I wish I'd to make sure this because
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faith is the one that gets the public praise. It's
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not just Faith doing it by herself. Yeah.
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And then so if someone wanted to book your company
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for your services, how can they go through that process?
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And if a client is not in Richmond and they
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need your services, how can they go about that?
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Yeah, so it's all going to be the same. I mean,
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I'm still a little bit old school. I love I
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love emails, but we do check you know, d ms
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and other you know, social aspects of people find us
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that way. But absolutely info at Unlocking RBA dot Com
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is the best way to kind of reach out. And
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you know, most people, I don't have a form or anything.
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Most people typically just are by telling me what it
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is they're looking for and then we kind of create
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something from there. So ideally people can email, they can
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shoot over a DM. Any of our events can be
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duplicated in any city, state location which we have our
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solid party has been you know, we travel with that
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all the time. And then if people not only that,
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but if people have businesses or services that so our
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VA for those that are not aware it stands is
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our abbreviated version of Richmond, Virginia, and so our VA
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for us, it's we consider ourselves Central Virginia. So what
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that means is we probably have about a two hundred
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mile radius that we're able to broadcast and promote to
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to where it's still kind of something that people might
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still want to see even though it's not you know,
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in the Richmond they might travel. And so where we
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are you know, of course you go into the Tiewater area,
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which is Virginia Beach in Norfolk and things like that.
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And so people want to utilize our online socials. We
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also provide a platform people can pay to promote their
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business or service or upcoming event that they have as well.
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Awesome, awesome, And what would you say to that budding
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entrepreneur that's out there that might be in their beginning phases?
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What words of wisdom or encouragement would you share?
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Yeah, take your time. We always. We live in a
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very fast paced, fast results world, and that doesn't always
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get you to the finish line in a first, second,
447
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or third place, right, So taking their time learning and
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absorbing and not being afraid of feedback whether it's good
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or bad, because you know, sometimes there is someone else
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that knows a little bit more than you do or
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something different than you do. But I think if you
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take your time and learn what it means to be
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a business owner first. So whatever the thing is that
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you do, amazing, wonderful, but how do you maintain that thing?
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And so that's what I mean by the financial piece
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is very important. How are you maintaining your customer base,
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whatever that customer base may be. How are you engaging
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with them, how are you providing excellent customer service? And
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how are you making them feel like whatever they paid
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you is worth it? And charge the rate you know,
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whatever you think you charge it. You never know that
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someone's going to say yes. And when they do that,
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now you have a standard of excellence. And that might
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mean starting at a dollar today and then eventually you'll
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get to ten dollars. But we tend to short change
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ourselves in our community a lot in terms of you
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know what, we'll charge people for certain things, and that's
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to be expected.
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But you know, I always though, why do you feel
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this like that? Culturally?
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Yeah, I think culturally it's just the whole sense of
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always us feeling undervalue to begin with as a community,
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and feeling like we can't compete with the big dogs,
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whomever the big dogs may be, because even here in
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Richmond there are big dogs. Like when I first came,
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I said, God, how could I ever do events like them?
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And now I'm doing events like them and with them,
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and I was always able to do so I just
479
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had to take my time to get there and also say, no,
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that my value. I'm just as valuable as whatever other
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company you may use. No, I may not have a
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team of one hundred, but I bet you will get
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it done, and we'll get it done in a way
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that's great. So I just think it's just it's society, right.
485
00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:31.880
Society has programmed us to think that we're not enough,
486
00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:34.440
and we are. We are one hundred percent enough. But
487
00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.039
it happens all the time. People you know, say oh,
488
00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.279
well I just only charge this, and then we'll hear
489
00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:41.720
another company they charged three times at and you know what,
490
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.000
they did paid it. So sometimes you just have to
491
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.039
go on a limb and just trust that people will
492
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:48.240
see the value and what you do.
493
00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:50.599
Yeah, and having confidence around it. I saw you know.
494
00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.079
Also, for those that's tuning in and listening and watching,
495
00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:55.720
I encourage you to reach out to that company, book
496
00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:58.640
them for their services. On your site it says that
497
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:01.480
you support small bus and says and create spaces where
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00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.359
people feel seen, connected and inspired. So for those that's
499
00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:09.559
listening to this show, Unlocking our VA is about the people,
500
00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:12.480
and I think you hear the heart of faith. You
501
00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:16.680
hear how she's sharing how they started the company, how
502
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.599
they had to pivot the company in the time of
503
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.319
when we didn't know what was going on. But also
504
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:25.599
you hear her heart as far as the team, right.
505
00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:28.880
And so if you're looking for a company where you're
506
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.640
going to be seen, if you're looking for a company
507
00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:32.720
that brings creative thought to the table, if you're looking
508
00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:35.680
for a company that can bring inspiration to your care
509
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:41.200
rated event, contact her, contact the team. We're in the DMV,
510
00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:46.440
as they say, right, so we're all one and I
511
00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:49.440
think it's been an honor to talk to you because
512
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:52.240
I hear your heart. Thank you you know, and I
513
00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:56.039
think that is where the connection lies. And for those
514
00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.319
that are watching, as you heard or just shared, don't
515
00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.960
under cut yourself. Know who you are on the inside
516
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:04.200
of you.
517
00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:05.559
You're not less than anyone else.
518
00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:08.359
And the thing is what I thought was interesting that
519
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:10.519
you said, though, whoever the big dogs are, but now
520
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:14.440
you're doing business with them, right, you were already the
521
00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:20.039
big dog. But it's having that connection point right coming together.
522
00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:23.240
But it all started from knowing who you are, what
523
00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.519
you bring to the table. And for anybody that's watching,
524
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.680
this is what we encourage you to know who you
525
00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:29.960
are and what you bring to the table. As we
526
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.680
get ready to wind down the segment, any other things
527
00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:34.880
you wanted to share, anything coming up that you wanted
528
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:35.240
to plug?
529
00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:39.119
Yeah, no, I mean sleep. I want to plug sleep.
530
00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:44.359
Can we? But so you know, this is kind of
531
00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:46.920
like when we have a slope, so our season picks
532
00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:50.160
up really heavy in February and then as you know, winter,
533
00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:54.039
as winter comes, as they say, we start going down,
534
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.400
But no, I think for me, we still have a seat.
535
00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:58.319
So we just had our August brunch. We have two
536
00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.519
more brunches on the plaza happening both in September and
537
00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:05.240
October our Silent Party. We have actually won this weekend
538
00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:08.799
as well, and then you know, overall, I think the
539
00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:11.079
next big thing that we have and this is actually
540
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:13.440
great for the folks in the DMV area. So we
541
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:19.319
go up to a winter resort called Massa Nutton. In January,
542
00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:23.759
we do an event with another local business and another
543
00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.559
good friend of mine, Kelly Lenon, to do an event
544
00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:29.519
called Heart and Soul and it's a Winterfest edition. Until
545
00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:35.759
we take over this entire what I want to call
546
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:39.359
it ski resort. That's what this entire ski resort over
547
00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:43.279
in the western part of Virginia where you know, every
548
00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:46.200
day we have different events and we encourage people to ski.
549
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:48.799
We encourage people to go to the Spa because it
550
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.359
is actually a four seasons ski resort and so it's
551
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:54.599
super nice and they have been so welcome in and
552
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:57.319
open and we have lodge parties and comedy shows and
553
00:27:57.640 --> 00:27:59.839
open mics and all those things. So that's actually coming
554
00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:03.640
up in January. And so if they click the tap
555
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:08.279
the link in the unlocking RVA bio on i'll say Instagram,
556
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:11.640
they're able to actually go there, join the list and
557
00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:14.079
get all the information. So they can start booking lodging
558
00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.000
and then stay tuned for the event tickets when they
559
00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:18.119
come out in about a month.
560
00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.039
Yeah, okay, so that's awesome. So that's what we need
561
00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:21.720
to plug into.
562
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:22.160
Guys.
563
00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:26.720
Those are the website Unlocking RVA. It's Unlocking RVA dot com.
564
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:29.640
It is, and we want you to go there. Click
565
00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:33.799
on the links get all the great information. Doctor Faith,
566
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:36.160
Thank you so much for your time, for your presence
567
00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:38.480
and your energy that you brought to this show. For
568
00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:42.160
everyone that's watching lock in April seventeenth, twenty twenty seven,
569
00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:45.640
it's all going down BWI Marriott Hotel. For more information,
570
00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.039
check out our website strategicc network dot com. Again, that
571
00:28:50.119 --> 00:28:54.200
strategiccnetwork dot com. And we're gonna see everybody at the top.
1
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Good morning, and welcome back to another edition of The Shift.
2
00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:09.919
I am Katherine E. Trotter, your host with Strategic Collaboration Network,
3
00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:14.439
and I am joined with doctor Faith workersin She's in
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the Richmond, Virginia area.
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She is the.
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CEO of Unlocking r v A. And yes, we're gonna
7
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unpack what is Unlocking RVA. We're gonna unpack who is
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00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:27.320
doctor Faith Wilkerson and how she has and will continue
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to be making an impact in the community. So for
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those of you that are tuned in, you know you
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are tuned into the Shift, we want you to shift
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your fingers right now and share this link. Share it
13
00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:38.960
out to your community, share it out to your network,
14
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you can text them, you can forward it if you
15
00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:44.640
see it on social media. But regarding doctor Faith work
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person again, Unlocking our VA was founded with one goal
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in mine and I encourage you to check out the
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website to design and produce creative and unforgettable events for all.
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Welcome to the show, Doctor.
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Faith, Thank you for having me.
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Absolutely listen. We are shifting, and I know you are
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shifting years. We're shifting literally today.
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I know many young people are going back to school,
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so families are shifting right now, right, and tell us
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a little bit about who is doctor Faith before you
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even started the business.
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Yeah, so doctor Faith was a lot of things. She's
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she was and still continues to be an educator. She
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continues to be what I like to refer to as
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a bridge connector, and she is about supporting community, both
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business in the business sense and then in different initiatives
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that we see happen around the area that I live in.
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Yeah, and talk about it. So that you're in the Richmond,
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Virginia areas that where you're born and raised.
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Yeah so no, So I'm originally from Queens, New York City.
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I moved here to the Richmond area in two thousand
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to attend Virginia Comonwealth University, which is where I got
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all my degrees from uh to you know, and just
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decided never to leave. Honestly, that was the reality of
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it all. If anyone's watching this is from I won't
41
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just say New York, but any kind of northern areas.
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Moving south is kind of a thing that just happens naturally.
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You kind of want to get away from the hustle
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and bustle, and you know, probably paid rent and mortgage.
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That makes a little bit more sense for your paycheck.
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And so at this point, now, yeah, I've been here
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twenty six years, so Richmond's the longest place I've ever lived.
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Yeah, listen, I tell you, and you started a phenomenal company,
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Unlocking RVA. Tell everyone about that journey as to why
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you launched it. And according to the website, you launched
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it in twenty sixteen.
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Yeah, we did, so we turned this is our year
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ten of us being in business, and so launching the
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company kind of was a natural progression. So you heard
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me just say that I am and started as an educator.
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Part of that process was the jobs that I took
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fresh out of college were planning a lot of the
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large scale events that took place at the university. So
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I call it everything that the reason why we actually
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go to college, right, it's not chemistry one on one,
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it's because we want to go to the homecomings, we
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want to do the step shows, we want to do
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the back to school concerts, and you know all those things.
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And so I was a part of the group that
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was responsible for planning those things. And even when I
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was an undergrad, I was on student government, I was
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on our program board. And then when yeah, and then
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even when I take it a step further. In high school,
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I planned homecomings, I planned our prom and junior proms.
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So event planning was something natural that I didn't think
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of as a business because of there are any I
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would say eighties babies, and before we weren't raised to
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be entrepreneurs. We were raised to get a job, no
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excuse me, go to school, get a job, keep a job,
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and work that job right. Entrepreneurship was such a crapshoot,
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And so about ten years ago I saw there was
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a little bit of a gap just in terms of
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celebrating and sharing different events that were just naturally happening
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in the city. So the platform originally started because I
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wanted to share events, and then it became well, I
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can do that, and started doing events and putting on
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small things. So we started with just events where people
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were able to connect with local businesses as well as
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things that you can rent, if that makes sense. So
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everything in the spaces were rentable by any average person,
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from the DJ to the caterer, to the space to lighting, sound,
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whatever the case may be. So it ended up being
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just one big room of things that people can connect
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with if they chose to, and then eventually we just
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started growing year by year to where now we're doing
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full scare concerts and full scale food truck you know,
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rodeos and just different things. So it's very natural.
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I love the fact that you told the story even
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from high school to college.
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What was your undergrad and grad degree in?
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Yeah, so undergrad was masking munications. So I desperately wanted
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to host team Summit for again aging myself for the
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eighties and before babies, but I did. I wanted to
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be an on air personality. And then eventually though, just
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life just has a way of navigating you in a
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different direction. So my masters and my doctorate are both
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in higher education, and so that was to continue to
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work in the field and doing events and programs, but
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also I wanted to begin teaching as well. So that's
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why I said that being still in education is because
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I currently serve as a professor still for my alma
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mater and then other universities here in the city as well.
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But no, I think this is beautiful and for all
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this listening and for those that's going to share this,
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I think the fact of your foundation and and what
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I'm hearing from you is that you kept true to
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what was in your heart. You said in high school
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you love planning the events, and even though entrepreneurship may
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not have been spoken to you, but it was already
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in you.
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Yes, Yeah, for sure. And that's the thing that I'll
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always People say, you know what you have started unlocking earlier. Absolutely,
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I can only imagine where we would have been if
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nineteen twenty twenty one year old faith, you know, really
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had the notion to know this can be a company.
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Like what you do for this other plan, you know,
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this organization you can do on your own. But definitely
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always stay true to the roots. Even when I tried
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to do other things or maybe focus, it always came
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back to these events and how do I connect organizations,
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community and people.
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Yeah, and I think it's so interesting.
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Like with our company Strategic Collaboration Network, we love using
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the puzzle piece because we like to say we're all
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interconnected together. I'm your puzzle piece and vice versa. And
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this is what you're describing in what you're doing in
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your company. But even before your company got started, and
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even as an educator, what have you seen from your
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perspective as an educator, how you've been able to pour
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into the next generation.
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Yeah, for sure. It's been a wonderful journey, right because
137
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I went from from teaching students who kind of in
138
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this same generational, you know, moment that I grew up
139
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into now teaching kids who are growing up in a
140
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way different technological arena than I could have ever imagined.
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And so the things that I see the most is
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the creativity always has to remain the same. So in
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order to connect with any person under the age of
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twenty one, you have to be willing to meet them
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where they are. And so it's a constant commitment to
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just being on the internet doom scrolling and you know,
147
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understanding what's hip, even though we might sound a little
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corny when we say it, but being willing to you know,
149
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at least meet them halfway. I think that is what's
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most important to the youth that we are seeing is
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today they want to be seen and they want to
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feel like you're at least trying and not constantly judging.
153
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Right Because again, for those that grew up in our generation,
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it was you know, back in my day, and I
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don't ever want to make a student feel that way
156
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because back in my day is no longer the day
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we're in a different, you know, arena. We have shifted,
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We have shifted one hundred percent in how they learn,
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how they receive information as well as what that bar
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looks like. Right, the bar for them sometimes is really high,
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and it can cause a lot of anxiety, a lot
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of frustration, and sometimes just not really knowing how far
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they may want to go in life, because again, you know,
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we being an influencer is not a thing for us, right,
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and now there's so many different pathways students and kids
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can take that doesn't involve college. And also be mindful
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of that as well.
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Yeah, and I think, you know, it's interesting you talk
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about your undergrads in communications to your graduate and doctor
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and is in education.
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I mean, the two worlds married really well to Yes,
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you know.
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They did for sure. I realized that after a while.
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So Masscom gave me all of the I call it
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the base right of this pyramid, and so it allowed
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me to understand public relations. It allowed me to understand,
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you know, even things down to editing and how things
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should be shot and how things should look and how
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you write a press release, like all the things that
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you know I planned on using in some sort of
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career in media did translate because we do flyers, we
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do send up press releases. When I'm getting recap videos
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or telling my videographer or fortographer what the vision is,
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I'm able to use their language. And I learned that
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foreshore through my undergraduate degree.
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Absolutely, and I also notice only your site it says
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we create unique experiences that connect individuals, obviously enrichmentd local businesses.
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To make that impact.
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Talk about the impact that you've seen from your company
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and how it's made a difference in the community.
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Yeah, it's been awesome. Some days you see the impact
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right away. Some days it's years or months later. And
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I love when they come back and say, because of
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whatever event we did, whatever opportunity that I presented to
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them or gave them and a chance to do. And
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so even in the earlier stages of creating spaces and
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events where everything is bookable, we still keep that model.
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When we just did an event yesterday and everything out
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there was all local, and so even if it wasn't
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me saying hey this is blank, you were able to
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go up to that food and say, hey, how do
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I book y'all? You know what I mean? If you
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love the way you know the sound was you were
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able to find the sound man and talk to him directly.
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But also I feel like I always have a responsibility
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as well to speak for people when they aren't in
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the rooms, because people do call me a lot and say, hey, Faith,
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do you know someone who can do blank? And always
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making sure that I don't always pick the same person.
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Just try to kind of spread it around and make
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sure people understand that they are too then to pay
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it forward. And it ends up being a great way
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that we all get tied together because people, you know,
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will come up with some amazing ideas and if I'm
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able to at least a little bit, to your point,
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give them a piece of the puzzle to create their
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full picture, it means a lot. Yeah.
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Yeah, And you know you've done some phenomenal things that
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you already mentioned on your site. You've done Brunch on
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the Plaza, the Gardens Social and Silent Parties.
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Talk about some of those events.
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Yeah, So the Silent Party and Brunch on the Plaza
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probably are two largest in anchor events that we have
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at a time to our business. Each of them happened
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once a month and they're both Brunch is a fully
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immersive outdoor event. The Silent Party can go either inside
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or outside. So for those that are not familiar with
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a solid party, it's just literally the solid headphones. And
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what's true about that event is that we are able
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to place it in so many different places and spaces
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because there's no amplified sound, and so ideally everything all
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the music in sound gets pipeline into your headphones. We
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can put movies on one station, we can have music playing,
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you can talk on your microphone. But it allows people
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to kind of be in their own bubble. I tell people,
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imagine how you feel when you put your personal headphones
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or you know, earbuds in and you're just zoned out.
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This is the same thing. And then if you're like, oh,
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I don't want to listen to this DJ, you're able
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to switch and get a whole other experience. And then
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even though you can't hear what's going on, if you
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have full full max value and if you look at
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the other person and they're doing a different rhythm, you
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like what you're listening to, and then you switch and
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so you have this mulm connection that's super awesome. And
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that's one of our events that actually with that whole
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thought process in mind evolved because of COVID. There was
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a need to create events where I'm with you, but
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I'm away from you.
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Because they are in the same room or.
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We are in the same space. But when we originally
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started in COVID, we were in an open market, and
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so the range on the headphones was so wide. If
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you and whomever you were safe being around, wanted to
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be all the way over there, you could be over there,
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you could be over there. And then there was restaurants,
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so if you just wanted to go in the restaurant
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and just eat, it was just a great space for that.
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And so we do that once a month and we're
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able to be in the market every time. But then
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we jump around. We might go to breweries if there's space,
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people like, oh, I really, we're someone new about my space.
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I can bring the solid party there and we won't
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bother your regular customers and you don't have to stop
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doing your everyday business because we're coming in. But do
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tell your customers. At some point, somebody might yell too
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short to save the word. But it's all in love, right,
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It's all in love, and it'll come out of nowhere.
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But it makes for good time.
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You know, I think it's so powerful something that you said.
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You said during the time of COVID nineteen, that idea
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was birth out of you and your company started. In
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twenty sixteen, four years later the pandemic hit. And what
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I think is so powerful. And the reason why I
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say that is because you you shifted and you had
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to know how to shi to stay relevant and to
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keep your business moving forward. Talk about that from a
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business on a standpoint, that when you have because it
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was an out of all of our control what happened
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with the pendemic, but you saw, you got creative and
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you pivoting. Talk about the art of pivoting as a
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business owner.
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Yeah, that art of pivot. Every day is a pivot,
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especially for a small business owner. We don't have the
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luxury of losing money, and so I always stand by
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as long as the bills get paid and I'm not
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in a negative. It's a successful event. If everyone had
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a great time, and I don't owe anybody at that,
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we're great. And so the pivoting comes from being willing
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to take suggestions, being willing to be creative about Okay, well,
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if a happens, what's BCD sometimes even E or F
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And with COVID, what we discovered is we have to
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have more three sixty things that we offer. So in
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addition to you know, us doing events underneath our banner,
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people are able to hire us to do events and
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that can be anything from a virtual space to an
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in person space, small, medium or large. And that allowed
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us to again even if someone was doing something that
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they felt comfortable, you know, and we can still come
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in and do it because we were fine with wearing
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mask or whatever the case may be. But then also
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you know, bartering the knowledge that myself and the rest
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of my team have when it comes to business creation,
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when it comes to fiscal responsibility, fiscal management and all
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those things that you know small businesses kind of come in.
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But also being an idea generator that makes sense. And
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so during COVID, I started offering as well just one
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hour of brainstorming sessions because a lot of times people,
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I think we've all heard the phrase can I pick
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your brain? And my thing is yes, with an invoice attached,
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because I have a lot going on up here and
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it will make you a dollar if you take what
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I give, you will what you should see or return
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on the investment. So the pivot was really creating space.
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Is that if we're not able to actually do events
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because the world is all shut down, how do we
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still monetize in some way and to be one hundred
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percent transparent. Yes, that also meant faith as the owner
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probably has to have a couple of different balls in
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the air too. So unlocking is the main source, but
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there's other things that feed in, so as I e.
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The educational piece, So I'm always going to teach. I'm
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not against having a full time job. I don't now,
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but it's been something that I've always said, Okay, I
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have to keep something going because at any moment we
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could be right back talking on our computers again and
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with no social But you know.
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I mean, it's real, it's real. I mean, what you're
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talking about is real. As an entrepreneur and having a business,
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you have to have contingency plans. Again, no one knew
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what was going to happen with COVID nineteen. In that
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time period of from twenty twenty really to twenty twenty two,
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that two year period, a lot of businesses went under,
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and then some businesses got creative and reinvented themselves. Which
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is what you did with your team, And I think
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that's so important. We talk about the shift and this
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whole show. We invite leaders on, we invite business owners on,
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such as yourself, because we love to hear different perspectives
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on how you shift it.
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Because when you.
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Start business, from day one, day one to three years
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down the road, it's going to shift along the way, right.
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And then when you when you throw in something totally
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unpredictable and unexpected, what do you do? But I think
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that taught us a lesson in the entrepreneurial community. You
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need to make sure that you are going to be
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flexible and you have to know how to pivot. I
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think that taught not only is those in the entrepreneur community.
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That taught everyone. You got to know how to be
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flexible and how to pivot in real time so you
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pivot it. And now it's still something going on to today.
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Yeah, I mean we just did a brunch on the
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plaza yesterday. That is our outdoor I call it family
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reunion meets a backyard cookout. We literally take over a
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park and people can literally bring whatever they want and
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they do. They bring in tables, share is tense, food, drinks,
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we really push for it. We allow kids to come
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in for free because you know, we always stand firm
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if the kids are running around. How can you mad
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when you know little Robert has thrown his football with
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this cust friend, right, It creates a level of you know,
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we're all here to have a good time. And then
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you know, now the last three years, three or four years,
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we've had the pleasure like once a year we're able
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to really dial it up and have musical artists come.
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So yesterday we just got done with David Bannon and
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so that proven proved to be a wonderful. My new
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phrase for him is skippity duda if those have seen
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this viral thing. And so we're able to kind of
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bring these kind of artists that typically don't always make
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their way to Richmond because you know, access and affordability.
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That's the reality is, you know music artists, right, And
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so that allows us to kind of again every once
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in a while, just do a little a little dial
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up from the every month to month things that we do.
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No, I think that's powerful. I mean everything that I'm
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hearing you saying.
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For those that in the listening world as you're listening
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to this I encourage you to go to their website
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google them unlocking r VA again, that's unlocking our VA.
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And one of the reasons, you know, we had one
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of our interns and she was doing research because we're
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planning a business conference that's coming up, which I totally
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would love to invite you to and we can talk
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offline about it. But it's going to be at the
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BWI Marriott Hotel on Saturday, April seventeenth, and it's called
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Unlocked twenty twenty seven. Because we and that's why we
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have the synergy is here, because we believe that as
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we come together as one team, and that's what I'm
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hear in your heart, you're about oneness, we.
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All win at the end of the day.
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Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I can't do any any of
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what I do by myself before we got online, you know,
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I have two managers that so the typical day to
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day is faith. Most people here from me see me
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day of how you doing. My name is, you know,
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But to actually execute in a way that I don't
398
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have to be as stressed and have as much anxious,
399
00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:05.920
you know, feelings and energy. I have two event managers
400
00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:07.759
that I just got done texting like, you know, I
401
00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:09.440
know that I say to y'all, thank you, thank you,
402
00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:11.640
but thank you because a lot of times, you know,
403
00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:14.119
I get pulled away so much from things that I
404
00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.400
can't be in the weeds. And without the you know,
405
00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.640
without them, none of this stuff would be able to happen.
406
00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:22.640
And so I wish I'd to make sure this because
407
00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:26.000
faith is the one that gets the public praise. It's
408
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:29.000
not just Faith doing it by herself. Yeah.
409
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:31.960
And then so if someone wanted to book your company
410
00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.279
for your services, how can they go through that process?
411
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.720
And if a client is not in Richmond and they
412
00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:39.720
need your services, how can they go about that?
413
00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.960
Yeah, so it's all going to be the same. I mean,
414
00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.559
I'm still a little bit old school. I love I
415
00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:47.319
love emails, but we do check you know, d ms
416
00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.039
and other you know, social aspects of people find us
417
00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:54.359
that way. But absolutely info at Unlocking RBA dot Com
418
00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:56.480
is the best way to kind of reach out. And
419
00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:58.880
you know, most people, I don't have a form or anything.
420
00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.880
Most people typically just are by telling me what it
421
00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:04.240
is they're looking for and then we kind of create
422
00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:07.640
something from there. So ideally people can email, they can
423
00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:10.839
shoot over a DM. Any of our events can be
424
00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:14.000
duplicated in any city, state location which we have our
425
00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:17.240
solid party has been you know, we travel with that
426
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.200
all the time. And then if people not only that,
427
00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:25.279
but if people have businesses or services that so our
428
00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.599
VA for those that are not aware it stands is
429
00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:31.319
our abbreviated version of Richmond, Virginia, and so our VA
430
00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.680
for us, it's we consider ourselves Central Virginia. So what
431
00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.000
that means is we probably have about a two hundred
432
00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.119
mile radius that we're able to broadcast and promote to
433
00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:45.119
to where it's still kind of something that people might
434
00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:47.160
still want to see even though it's not you know,
435
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.720
in the Richmond they might travel. And so where we
436
00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:52.160
are you know, of course you go into the Tiewater area,
437
00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:55.119
which is Virginia Beach in Norfolk and things like that.
438
00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.680
And so people want to utilize our online socials. We
439
00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:03.000
also provide a platform people can pay to promote their
440
00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:05.799
business or service or upcoming event that they have as well.
441
00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:10.160
Awesome, awesome, And what would you say to that budding
442
00:22:10.359 --> 00:22:13.880
entrepreneur that's out there that might be in their beginning phases?
443
00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.279
What words of wisdom or encouragement would you share?
444
00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:21.480
Yeah, take your time. We always. We live in a
445
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:27.279
very fast paced, fast results world, and that doesn't always
446
00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:31.720
get you to the finish line in a first, second,
447
00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:36.279
or third place, right, So taking their time learning and
448
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:41.680
absorbing and not being afraid of feedback whether it's good
449
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:46.240
or bad, because you know, sometimes there is someone else
450
00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.160
that knows a little bit more than you do or
451
00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:50.440
something different than you do. But I think if you
452
00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.880
take your time and learn what it means to be
453
00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:55.839
a business owner first. So whatever the thing is that
454
00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:00.359
you do, amazing, wonderful, but how do you maintain that thing?
455
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.720
And so that's what I mean by the financial piece
456
00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:05.640
is very important. How are you maintaining your customer base,
457
00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:08.880
whatever that customer base may be. How are you engaging
458
00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:12.279
with them, how are you providing excellent customer service? And
459
00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.759
how are you making them feel like whatever they paid
460
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:19.079
you is worth it? And charge the rate you know,
461
00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.119
whatever you think you charge it. You never know that
462
00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:24.160
someone's going to say yes. And when they do that,
463
00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:26.839
now you have a standard of excellence. And that might
464
00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:29.759
mean starting at a dollar today and then eventually you'll
465
00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:33.920
get to ten dollars. But we tend to short change
466
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.359
ourselves in our community a lot in terms of you
467
00:23:36.359 --> 00:23:40.400
know what, we'll charge people for certain things, and that's
468
00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:41.160
to be expected.
469
00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.920
But you know, I always though, why do you feel
470
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:44.880
this like that? Culturally?
471
00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:48.960
Yeah, I think culturally it's just the whole sense of
472
00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:53.920
always us feeling undervalue to begin with as a community,
473
00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:58.119
and feeling like we can't compete with the big dogs,
474
00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:01.880
whomever the big dogs may be, because even here in
475
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.319
Richmond there are big dogs. Like when I first came,
476
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.319
I said, God, how could I ever do events like them?
477
00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:11.119
And now I'm doing events like them and with them,
478
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:13.079
and I was always able to do so I just
479
00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.279
had to take my time to get there and also say, no,
480
00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:20.240
that my value. I'm just as valuable as whatever other
481
00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:22.599
company you may use. No, I may not have a
482
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:24.319
team of one hundred, but I bet you will get
483
00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:26.119
it done, and we'll get it done in a way
484
00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.640
that's great. So I just think it's just it's society, right.
485
00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:31.880
Society has programmed us to think that we're not enough,
486
00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:34.440
and we are. We are one hundred percent enough. But
487
00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.039
it happens all the time. People you know, say oh,
488
00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.279
well I just only charge this, and then we'll hear
489
00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:41.720
another company they charged three times at and you know what,
490
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.000
they did paid it. So sometimes you just have to
491
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.039
go on a limb and just trust that people will
492
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:48.240
see the value and what you do.
493
00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:50.599
Yeah, and having confidence around it. I saw you know.
494
00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.079
Also, for those that's tuning in and listening and watching,
495
00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:55.720
I encourage you to reach out to that company, book
496
00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:58.640
them for their services. On your site it says that
497
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:01.480
you support small bus and says and create spaces where
498
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.359
people feel seen, connected and inspired. So for those that's
499
00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:09.559
listening to this show, Unlocking our VA is about the people,
500
00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:12.480
and I think you hear the heart of faith. You
501
00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:16.680
hear how she's sharing how they started the company, how
502
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.599
they had to pivot the company in the time of
503
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.319
when we didn't know what was going on. But also
504
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:25.599
you hear her heart as far as the team, right.
505
00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:28.880
And so if you're looking for a company where you're
506
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.640
going to be seen, if you're looking for a company
507
00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:32.720
that brings creative thought to the table, if you're looking
508
00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:35.680
for a company that can bring inspiration to your care
509
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:41.200
rated event, contact her, contact the team. We're in the DMV,
510
00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:46.440
as they say, right, so we're all one and I
511
00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:49.440
think it's been an honor to talk to you because
512
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:52.240
I hear your heart. Thank you you know, and I
513
00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:56.039
think that is where the connection lies. And for those
514
00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.319
that are watching, as you heard or just shared, don't
515
00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.960
under cut yourself. Know who you are on the inside
516
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:04.200
of you.
517
00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:05.559
You're not less than anyone else.
518
00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:08.359
And the thing is what I thought was interesting that
519
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:10.519
you said, though, whoever the big dogs are, but now
520
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:14.440
you're doing business with them, right, you were already the
521
00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:20.039
big dog. But it's having that connection point right coming together.
522
00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:23.240
But it all started from knowing who you are, what
523
00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.519
you bring to the table. And for anybody that's watching,
524
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.680
this is what we encourage you to know who you
525
00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:29.960
are and what you bring to the table. As we
526
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.680
get ready to wind down the segment, any other things
527
00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:34.880
you wanted to share, anything coming up that you wanted
528
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:35.240
to plug?
529
00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:39.119
Yeah, no, I mean sleep. I want to plug sleep.
530
00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:44.359
Can we? But so you know, this is kind of
531
00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:46.920
like when we have a slope, so our season picks
532
00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:50.160
up really heavy in February and then as you know, winter,
533
00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:54.039
as winter comes, as they say, we start going down,
534
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.400
But no, I think for me, we still have a seat.
535
00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:58.319
So we just had our August brunch. We have two
536
00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.519
more brunches on the plaza happening both in September and
537
00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:05.240
October our Silent Party. We have actually won this weekend
538
00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:08.799
as well, and then you know, overall, I think the
539
00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:11.079
next big thing that we have and this is actually
540
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:13.440
great for the folks in the DMV area. So we
541
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:19.319
go up to a winter resort called Massa Nutton. In January,
542
00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:23.759
we do an event with another local business and another
543
00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.559
good friend of mine, Kelly Lenon, to do an event
544
00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:29.519
called Heart and Soul and it's a Winterfest edition. Until
545
00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:35.759
we take over this entire what I want to call
546
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:39.359
it ski resort. That's what this entire ski resort over
547
00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:43.279
in the western part of Virginia where you know, every
548
00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:46.200
day we have different events and we encourage people to ski.
549
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:48.799
We encourage people to go to the Spa because it
550
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.359
is actually a four seasons ski resort and so it's
551
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:54.599
super nice and they have been so welcome in and
552
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:57.319
open and we have lodge parties and comedy shows and
553
00:27:57.640 --> 00:27:59.839
open mics and all those things. So that's actually coming
554
00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:03.640
up in January. And so if they click the tap
555
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:08.279
the link in the unlocking RVA bio on i'll say Instagram,
556
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:11.640
they're able to actually go there, join the list and
557
00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:14.079
get all the information. So they can start booking lodging
558
00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.000
and then stay tuned for the event tickets when they
559
00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:18.119
come out in about a month.
560
00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.039
Yeah, okay, so that's awesome. So that's what we need
561
00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:21.720
to plug into.
562
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:22.160
Guys.
563
00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:26.720
Those are the website Unlocking RVA. It's Unlocking RVA dot com.
564
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:29.640
It is, and we want you to go there. Click
565
00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:33.799
on the links get all the great information. Doctor Faith,
566
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:36.160
Thank you so much for your time, for your presence
567
00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:38.480
and your energy that you brought to this show. For
568
00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:42.160
everyone that's watching lock in April seventeenth, twenty twenty seven,
569
00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:45.640
it's all going down BWI Marriott Hotel. For more information,
570
00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.039
check out our website strategicc network dot com. Again, that
571
00:28:50.119 --> 00:28:54.200
strategiccnetwork dot com. And we're gonna see everybody at the top.
