Hey ba fam, Welcome to Brown Ambition. Today at the Brown Table. We have two incredible guests, and all I can say is that Brown Ambition we are not going to be the kind of podcast where you're going to get the latest news and headlines about the economy, about finances, about business.
This is where you're going to find hope.
This is going to be a space where I use this platform to tell stories that inspire, to tell stories and to give space to people who can help us all tap into that little tiny nugget of optimism that we need to be pouring into. We need to be watering that seed to get us through everything that we know is happening, all the fed up stuff we know y'all know, I know, bea fam, y'all read the news.
You understand what's happening in the world. When you come to Brown Ambition, I want this to be the warm, cozy blanket, the mug of tea, the glass of wine that your sister friend pours for you at the end of a long week, a long day, and for y'all to just feel like, Okay, when I'm here, I am going to feel poured into, I'm gonna feel inspired, I'm going to feel hopeful.
I'm going to get some value.
I'm gonna walk forward with maybe an additional tool, resource, or a bit of knowledge that can help make me more resilient in the face of what we will, what we've always had to endure, right and what we will continue to endure. So I just want to reset that tone for brown ambition. Let y'all know how I'm approaching this podcast, always have and will continue to do so.
And with that, let me tell you about these queens.
Okay, two incredible women join me on the show today. One is doctor Lakeisha Key Hallman, so you'll hear me call her doctor Key because we're cool like that. And she is the founder of the Village Market. Since it was founded, the Village Market served over one thousand, four
hundred and forty businesses. It has managed to create eight point eight million dollars in direct sales to black owned enterprises, and they have distributed eight hundred thousand dollars in grants to support the businesses that are part of this marketplace. If you're in Atlanta, go visit it, check out the vendors and the businesses that they feature. That's also a direct solution and answer to the economic disparities that we see among black business owners.
Tell me why.
Data shows black businesses in Atlanta. This blew my mind when I read this are valued at only fifty eight thousand dollars compared to LATINX businesses which are valued at four hundred and fifty seven thousand dollars, and white owned businesses which are valued at six hundred and fifty eight thousand dollars. I'm talking about if you're owned by a black owner in Atlanta, ten times less value to the marketplace than a Latin or white owned business. Like, I
don't make it make sense. So it is a struggle, right, It is a struggle to build a business in the best of environments. So imagine being a black owned business in Atlanta where you're dealing with this kind of disparity. Doctor Hollman is also going to talk about her book, and I want y'all to run out and get a copy, especially if you're someone who is feeling down at a time like this and you need a reminder of the importance of community. This is the book for you. Her
book is called No One Is Self Made. I'm going to put a link in the show notes and just wait till you hear her voice because something about doctor Key. I had to stop and ask her, like you got like Baptist preacher in your blood or what? Because when you talk, I just want to be like, hey man, it really brings out my roots, you know. And we are joined by the wonderful Renee blew It. So last time Tiffany and I hung out in person, Oh that's not true. I saw her in New Year's before that.
Tip invited me to this event in Brooklyn that she had been gushing about. She's like, girl, this is Black Girl Holiday Bazaar. It's only black owned businesses, mostly owned by women, and it's called that she did that bizarre And I was like, okay, I'm going to finally go see what this is all about. And they only host it once a year, the holiday market. So I packed the baby up, I went down to Brooklyn and had
my mind blown. It was such a beautiful event and Renee blew It is the founder of this incredible community. It's not just the holiday Bazaar. She's also working on expanding this to other marketplaces, like she's going to be doing a food and beverage marketplace in New York come
this spring. She's worked with the Culture con she's worked with curl Fest, and she'll talk about how she's built this business and how she, you know, transitioned from her career in PR to now sort of being this through line between black owned, minority owned, women owned businesses and the access to the community they need to thrive and also to the customers they need to thrive, and to
the business opportunities that they need to thrive. And I just I love this conversation because you'll hear Renee doctor Key, who didn't really know each other that well before we started this conversation, just support one another. It's just amazing to be witnessed to that. I hope y'all are left feeling encouraged if you're someone who has a business and you're struggling and you feel like you're the only one struggling, or all you hear about is how difficult it is
to thrive as a business owner. But walk away from listening to this episode of Brown Ambition having an action plan for how you're gonna build community. You're gonna go research she did that. You're going to go research the village market in Atlanta. You're going to look these women up, you're going to buy doctor Key's book, You're going to find out how you can be a part of those communities.
Or if you're not in Atlanta or New York, which I know many of y'all aren't, there are other incredible entrepreneurs and marketplaces like this that maybe even in your own local area that maybe one thing you do after you listen to the show is you go look them up. You find out how to become a vendor, you find out how to get in community with them, to attend one of their events, and just leave here understanding that, like doctor Key says in her book, no one is
self made. We all need support and community to achieve these incredible dreams ambitions.
That we have.
And so I'm really proud to bring this episode to y'all today.
Be a fan. I hope you enjoy it.
And here are Renee blew It and Doctor Key Holman joining me at the Brown table.
I took a gamble, I took a risk.
This is the first Brown table I've ever had where the two guests didn't know each other really before. But I just had a feeling. I'm like, there's no way that these two women have been doing the work that they're doing and haven't like crosspaths or at least at the very least support one other is doing. So we have doctor Key Hollman, who is joining us from Atlanta. Welcome, And we have Renee is it blew It?
Yes, blew it, Renee blew It. Who You're in New York right?
Yes?
In Brooklyn, based in Brooklyn where all the black girls happens.
It's fine.
I'm just over here, just fading away in Westchester. But we're so far, so close, yest, so far. Welcome to the Brown Table. Welcome to Brown Ambition.
Thank you so much for having us, Yes, thank you.
Yeah, to be a great conversation.
How are y'all feeling. Let's just start there. How are y'all feeling right now at a time like this in the country. And what's kind of giving you hope right now?
Doctor Key? Y'all start with you.
Good thing.
I'm first, thank you for asking. I'm feeling the multitude of things I can say presently in my body. I'm a balance of anxious but also calm. I have both a sense of hope and resolve, and I think I can operate in this dualities because I really am serious about boundaries, and that's boundaries of how much news I take in, how much social media taken, because I have to be well in my body and spirit.
But it's a lot of operations going on over here.
But what gives me hope is being able to have conversations like this with like minds.
This is where our superpower exists.
So I'm feeling very hopeful all this brown girl magic that's happening. It really feels my cover.
Nae, how are you doing?
Thank you for.
Asking too, I appreciate it.
Similar to doctor Hallman, quite a few feelings happening over here. I will start with, you know what a lot of people are feeling, which is a bit of overwhelm. You know, I would not be human if I didn't identify that feeling.
But also incredibly activated right now. This is our time, you know, and it's unfortunate that, you know, things are unfolding the way they are, but the people who are doing this work are not shocked, and in moments like this, I'm really proud of myself, proud of women like doctor Hallman, because we have been doing this work long before it was a trending topic, and we've been committed to this work in a way that you know, when moments like
this happened, it's just like, okay, it's time to double down, like heard, you got it. And so that's you know a little bit of what I'm feeling right now. And these conversations, like she said, are so empowering and just really give me the fuel to keep going. So I'm looking forward to digging in.
Yeah, there's no need to call what we've done like I've been doing this for ten years with Brian Ambition, and it's like y'all have been in the game for a long time too, doctor Kie, you've been When did you start villaging?
Almost ten years ago? So ten years the idea came to me fifteen. I launched it in twenty sixteen.
And you know the rest of the sister Yeah, no special initiative post twenty twenty, like this is you know and independent too. When y'all started your ventures, Renee, it started for you, Ah she did that? Was that the documentary that was the beginning? Or was it the bizarre?
No?
Actually fun fact it started with me within her shoes. I had a blog back in the day. In two thousand and nine.
I launched this blog.
Okay, I was blogging about black women founders. You know, when the blog is sphere was relatively new, when all of your favorite blogs were about gossip, fashion, you know, sports style, all those things beauty. But I was really focused on talking about black women entrepreneurs. So that website
is still alive to me. It's almost like an archive of Black women entrepreneurs and our journeys, and every once in a while, I'll go back just to kind of reflect on who we were featuring back then and what they're up to now. But my work started then, and In her Shoes led me to she did that?
Okay, So how was that transition and did you were you treating In her Shoes as a business, were you, like me, making money off of that or were you working corporate at the same time.
So when I launched In Her Shoes, I was working in a PR agency doing PR in like the multicultural space in a general market agency, and then I was also moonlighting as a consultant to a lot of black women own beauty brands. Back when the natural you know, hair movement, well, I don't want to call the movement because it's just a lifestyle, but when the whole natural hair conversation started. I was doing pr for a lot of your favorite natural haircare brands, and that was kind
of my I would say. The blog was kind of like my you know, I had my nine to five and then I had my five two whenever, And it did get monetized a bit, but quite honestly, I didn't start it for that purpose. I did it because I just wanted to share more black women founder stories. Back then, we were way like under represented.
We were not in.
This space now where entrepreneurs are like rock stars, right. Like the women that I was writing about back then were doing the work but not getting the exposure they needed, and that was the inspiration behind the blog.
Yeah, they couldn't go on TikTok and go viral and no no fair. I feel like crossroads when it comes to launching a business, where it's like where does the service and capitalism where do they marry? Like how can we create brands and businesses that serve? But then also like can support ourselves with it? You know, if you get those types of questions like where do I merge my need to serve with my need to put food on the table.
Yeah, I'm a social entrepreneur, so you're you're talking to how I started my business. I have a book coming out Fibru or Fourth No One is Stuff Made, and I write in one of the chapters that those that do the work should also be economically liberated. I am working to ensure the entrepreneurs that that's a part of the village market, that's a part of our village name it, that's a part of my retail stor village retail, are
economically liberated. I also need to be economically liberated to continue to further the work and the mission and also the trajectory of the generational wealth that I'm hoping to leave to my nephews and their children and their children children and so on and so forth. But there is a sense of conscious capitalism. I think that we have to be for those that are producers in creating things and selling things. What I am more called and drawn to is asking and what are you creating? Is it
healthy for the mind? Is it conscious? What people are wearing on their bodies? Is it good for the body? Is it good for the soul? That is the charge that I push for all the brands in the village market. I want us to have high quality, organic products that's not harmful to the skin, to the body, so on and so forth. If we're making a pair of it should be conscious. Everything for me is about being our best and highest vibrations, and so I take a holistic approach.
But yes, for entrepreneurs and for folks like Rene and I, we need to make money. And for every entrepreneur that we serve, they should have a we have a social impact lens. I push entrepreneurs to also have a social impact lens because it's not just good for us to individually do well.
It has to flow to the community as well.
And how does that help with the profitability?
Yes? Quality, Uh, yeah, absolutely quality.
You know, the thing is, I don't know if we go into certain retail stores and we even question the cost of it. We just know that this is a quality brand and we buy it. When you go to you know, high end retail stores, because I work with retailers high end retail stores, we maybe we question the const but not really because we know that we're getting something that's high quality brand and also unique.
So we don't know necessarily.
Over explain, explain why something costs what it does. What we do is produce a high quality experience high quality a product and people are more so excited to have it. We in the village retail, we're not really seeing people that's saying, why does this candle cost that much?
They know that it's a good quality candle.
I have recently become an adult in my candle purchases, Like they're not all the five dollar ones. I get a home goods like a quality candles expensive renee. When you walk into the she did that holiday bazaar, you felt that. I love the way that you had. You had this like greenery, you had the boys section. He did that, you had the little shame moisture section. I'm
sure that's evolved over time. But what kind of how important is it to you as well to like create that experience where you're like, you know, you're creating like like doctor Key said, an environment where it just oozes.
This is high quality. No one's in a question.
It's very intentional.
In fact, every year when we're curating, you know, the brands that are participating, that quality, that intention, that love that these founders are pouring into their products is really the top of the list when we're thinking about who
we want to invite into this community. It's I'm a virgo too, so I'm very like I know what I like, Like it just feels good to walk into a room and just know that, like, wow, a black woman created this with love, and you know, now I get a chance to purchase it and bringing it into my home. But before I go further, I just want to stop and thank you for pointing out that.
What was the term you use.
I think you said you want the brands that you feature and also yourself to be economically liberated.
Yeah, that was a word.
That was a word that resonated with.
Me because I think the misconception is that people like us who are of service to our community are like, you know, doing pro bono work. You know, like like ye, if the brands are monetized and need to be profitable, so do the platforms and organizations that are elevating them and pushing them forward and creating opportunities and bridging the gap. And so when you said that, I was like, oh my gosh, we probably have to have an offline conversation about that because I'm constantly.
I feel like I am constantly.
Making that clear that like wait wait wait, wait, wait pause, this is a business.
Right, So you're not, like, so, is that because vendors don't want to pay for placement at the bazaar?
Sometimes are they question it?
It's not even so much the vendors, But it could be a plethora of things. It could be a brand, for example, inviting me to come and speak during Women's History Month or Black History Month and not really having a budget for it. Like this time of year, and I'm sure you're inbox is also flooded. We have Black History Month coming up, we have Women's History coming up.
And I am just.
Floored every year by some of the requests. I'm like, okay, wait, you want me to leave my home, which I love. You want me to leave my city, You want me to leave my work for the day of travel, the day of your event, the return, and you don't have a budget. Make it make sense, you know? And so don't get me wrong. Not everything that I do has to be transactional. There are a lot of things that I do that are just you know, because of the heart that I have for the work that I have
committed my life to. But at the point where brands are asking you to leave your city and leave your your business for a couple of days, I'm like, oh my godness, there has to be a disconnect here about the fact that this is, in fact my career.
This is how I make a living.
And I think it's the like, are we humanizing right? I think it's important for folks to know that we're real people. We're in the service of something that is much higher than us. It's a calling we're fulfilling, almost like a spiritual obligation that everyone gets the vision to create these models, to create bizaarres, to create marketplaces, and we do so for the betterment of our people. But if the vessel is never filled or supported, then the
visionary the visions will begin to dry up. That is not what we are aiming to do here. But we're full of people with responsibility with people that also rely on us. I am one of the centerpieces for my family, and so I think what I lead with it is just that I'm a human being serving a higher calling.
But because of that, this is now my career pathway.
I am one of those that if I had if I was so fortunate to do it for free, i would.
But I'm not so fortunate.
I have to be able to survive, and I don't want survival to be the end goal for any of us. We should be in a consistent place of thriving. That is the vibration that I want us to be on.
Yes, thank you for saying that.
I want to talk a little bit about how community and how y'all have harnessed I know, doctor.
Key, your bookt one is self made. Thank you. Hold it up for people.
No one is, so congratulations, Wait, hold it up a little bit longer so I can take a little good screenshot for social Okay, no one is self made. Build your village to flourish and build it and bussiness and life.
Okay.
This is the thing that I will not shut up about is how post election, how do we you know, how are we coping?
What are we going to do? Community? Community? Community?
And I want to hear from y'all like how has community driven business success for you? And yeah, say a word on that she did that would.
Not exist without community, like point blank period. And the beautiful thing about the community that we've built around this brand is that we are in service to each other all year round, you know, Like there's so much connection that happens behind the scenes, so many collaborations, so much support and Council.
It makes me proud.
You know, every time I hear about one of the brands that we're working with doing something in partnership with another brand, I'm like, yes, that is what we're here for.
Like every single time a CEA is planted.
And you know, it flourishes, whether it's immediately or later, I'm just grateful that the work we're doing is really
making an impact. And the thing about community that I want a lot of us to remember is that it's not something that we tap in during times of need, right, Like we have to be mindful and just very committed to consistently checking in with people, not when they are doing something for you, not when you need something, but just in general because you just never know, you know what can come out of those connections, what people are going through, and how you can really just help someone
to move forward.
Yeah, and also don't wait until they like doctor key you holding up the book. It's like I wrote a book and then you get a flurry of text like congratulations, d da da da. I'm like, where were you like ten months ago when I and I'm writing a book right now, So sorry to project this on you, but I'm like where were you at four am when I was down here hiding from like trying to get my two hours of writing time for the kids wake up,
and like struggling fighting for my life. I could have used like a go girl, you.
Know at a time like that, you know, peekbag on something that Renee said, I think, what's so beautiful when you build community when we are experiencing times that we're experiencing now, we're not searching for anyone, We already have each other. You build community as to be proactive, not reactionary, because those reactionary communities are not sustainable. We're here too, we're all mad at the same time, we're all hurt at the same time, but we want healthy, viable relationships.
So it what's so beautiful about have a community. It gives you this safe place to land. For the entrepreneurs of the village market, I wanted it to be a multi prong multi vested approach. I shouldn't be the only person that they see that's talking about entrepreneurship and helping them to think through brand and I did any identity and things like that. I have foot soldiers of other like brilliant, brilliant people who are part of the fortress
of the village. So these entrepreneurs are not relying or not seeing anyone as a singular hero, none of us. That should not be our goal. When when people think of the community, they should be thinking of Renee, doctor Key, and we can name a litnia of other people. But the community is built for viability, so we can be there during those dark hours. And also moment is a celebration because everything about the community is not dark. Everything is not about community is only being in a place
of her. I can tell you my community. Thinking about this book, everybody's so excited because I've been nurturing this relationship for years now. And so the central focus of the book is community. How to build it, how to build it responsibly, How to make sure you do your own healing and self work so you can be an active participant in the community where it's not just strictly transactional, not when you only communicating with people because you want something from them.
But community.
How do we build it, how do we sustain it, How do we grow our economies, how do we grow our overall the beloved community that doctor Martin Luther King talked about, it takes to stay focused. In my book, chapter by chapter talks about that, and every chapter ends with reflection questions. Because I'm a former educator, I don't want to just talk to talk. I think you have to give people a blueprint on how to and what are the outcomes if we stay consistent, discipline and focus on building.
What tips would you guys have or what are some like, you know, concrete steps someone could take today if they feel like they haven't built the community that will help them thrive yet.
One thing I would say is when you are looking to build community and whatever word we want to use in place of network, because I know for some people that's cringey. I like to always think about approaching these people with something in hand, right, Like you know how we were raised to if you're coming to someone's home, you're going to bring something.
You're not going to come empty handed. The same thing should.
Be applied when you are reaching out to someone and you're ready to make a connection with them, think about what is it that you can bring forth to add value to what they're doing, to maybe provide some additional
insight or support. I think that is one of the best ways to kind of like unlock those type of relationships because so often I think we've been conditioned to think that, you know, if you're networking, especially when you think about platforms like LinkedIn, people like us are getting flooded with you know, inquiries and I'd love to connect and there's no context there, and it's like I wish
I had time to connect with strangers. But if someone is reaching out to me and there is something that they could do that, you know, it could possibly help me move my mission forward, the chances of me looking at that and responding, you know, even if there's no connection, it's significantly higher, because, as you mentioned before, entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. It can be overwhelming at times.
And whenever we feel like there is some level of support there, we're likely to open the door and at least like peek our head in and see, like who is this person, and you know, what are they about and what are they working on and how can we support each other?
And I'm also thinking about the importance of like making a memory with someone and I talk a lot about so I hear what you're saying, Renee, and I think when the bit of resistance that I imagine some people feel is like, well, I don't know what to offer, and like how do I even offer it? Am I going to run into someone? It's like we'll put yourself in a situation where you could encounter that person and like.
Have some don't even focus on what.
To give them or like what you could like where this could lead, but try to be so present, like just have a good interaction in the women's bathroom, you know, Like that's what I'm talking about.
Just like I love your shoes.
That's amazing, Like forget almost like you know what the future can hold, and just like have a really good experience and then you know, if in six months you've run into each other again or you come across it's like, oh, I know you.
You know at that event you.
Mentioned you're working on this, I just had an idea and you have that like a little bit of a seed of a connection, you know.
I like that.
I like that, and I like the thought of taking the time constraints out of it. I think that we we do live in a world of like instant gratification, so we think that the first time we see someone, you know, this is like the beginning of this relationship.
How about just seeing them and like you said, Mandy, having an authentic, genuine, real conversation and then seeing them again somewhere and then maybe you see them on social you know, like we shouldn't put so much pressure on ourselves and other people to like immediately make this connection. And like you, like, I meet so many people that I'm more likely to remember that face that i'm seeing, like oh you showed up at my event, or now I'm seeing seeing you on Instagram or on TikTok or
at this event. And so those are the ways that, like I think we could really make those genuine connections that could lead to something.
Bigger or not.
And I think that we have to trust abundance, right, I think when we meet people and we feel that we have to get it all out right now, and I think we're afraid it would never see those people again or we'll never have that opportunity again. So we have to trust abundance. Yeah, we have to recognize scarcity. We have to recognize that if you met this person, it's a good chance if you make an impression, a
genuine connection, you will see that person again. But I know, and I have a great deal of empathy, you know, for people who are in a state of survival right now. When you're in the state of survival, you feel like I have.
To be time bound.
I'm going to go to the future today and miss the present moment of even asking them how they're doing, the present moment of actually fully seeing them.
So I have empathy for that.
But I want to encourage all the listeners to trust abundance, to trust that if you are cross paths, you make that genuine connection, you will see these people again at a time when you have something more to offer. And also life is about balance. There are some seasons where you have more to give and other seasons whereas you
have the more to receive. We just when you're in a position when you don't have much to give as far as something tangibly you have to make, you have to be dedicated to when your situation changes and you meet someone that's in the same position as you, that you give them the same humility and humanity that someone offered you. That is how we sew a greater seed, because I think sometimes we get to the place and
we forgot where we were. Remember where you were when when you get to the pinnacle of your success and still recognize the people that's on their growth journey.
Yeah, I mean, I wish I'd had that little pep talk right before I went to this really fancy dinner at Afrotech and I was sitting across from like some incredible women, and I got a little scarce.
I'm not gonna lie like the key. I was feeling that pressure.
I'm like, this dinner's going to be over soon, and I haven't talked to everybody, and no, no, no, and I lost it. And I've been reliving that, you know, anxious mind. I'm working on it. But thank you for reminding us. I almost think anytime you're about to go to one of those events, just just say, I'll save this.
Little portion of this podcast and just like play it.
Remember you may encounter them again.
And remember you were at the table.
I know, I forgot. I was at the table. I really could not.
I could not find my feet, man, I probably because I were really young people shoes.
And that was the point I do not talk about pandemic. I stopped.
I did not know how to wear a heel hardly before and certainly not after.
Definitely, And yeah, it's okay.
Though I was at the table there'll be another one.
Scare anybody off. Now, I wanted to ask.
I wanted to give you a chance to talk about the way that you've helped businesses raise capital. And you know we've I've heard many many an entrepreneur highlight the child. I mean, there's already been challenges trying to fund you know, get black owned businesses, minority own business is funded, right, And I want to hear how what your approach has been.
And if you cover that in the book, that's great, But i'd love to get y'all's take on how businesses can get the capital they need to grow at a time like this.
I was hesitating because I feel like I just had a long window answer. So will but but but what we do at the Village Market, one of the things I'm most proud of is that today we've been able to generate eight point eight million dollars in direct sales to black businesses. And the reason why I start with that is because there was a time where I couldn't assist entrepreneurs to give them grants, but I knew that
I could give them people. So my goal for the Village Market, and I know this is Renee go for the bazaars. I'm going you show up, you be operating excellence, have high quality, and I'm going to bring you some people that already value you, so you don't have to do all that overextending and all the stuff that we feel we have to do. I'm going to bring you people. And so my model for the Village market was to be people powered. And so we've had a big economic
push in the city of Atlanta. But since then, now I have a program under my nonprofit, our Village and named we work with entrepreneurs across.
Many many cities and many states.
And so we work with these entrepreneurs and incubator programs and accelerated programs. We bring funders to the entrepreneurs and so those funders can be CDA advise those funders can be investors, angel investors, things like that. But also at the end of our programs, we also have pitch contests and we disseminate grants.
It has been incredible.
Last two years, were close to a million in grants that we've been able to disseminate. And so I raise the money and then I do micro grants for the entrepreneurs we've been and yes, I write about this in the book. But this book is only the lived experience that I have. What I'm trying to inspire other folks like me. You don't do not not start an idea simply because you may not have the capital to be an investor today.
There is power in people with.
Money who are ready to spend in buy and who will be lifetime customers. Then also be innovative. Start partnering with the people with money, build it around programming, and then as I get grant dollars and I'm able to disseminate more grant dollars from the grant dollars that I received. Yes, I write about this in the book because I am also writing to who I was ten years ago with all these ideas of community, want to drive change and enact change, but there was no book for me to read.
And Tawny Morrison told is, when if there's a book that needs to be written and it's not out there, go write it. So I wrote that book.
O Renee, Is there anything that y'all you have picked up or any work that you're doing to bridge that gap between businesses that have ideas, they have product, services, whatever, they want to thrive, but they're missing like an investor.
Or. They think they're missing an investor.
Or.
They you know, they've.
Been doing all e commerce and maybe they're thinking of like doing a market place to expand their reach, and they're just not sure which channel to like press the gas on a little bit to increase their revenue, their customer base, all of those things.
A lot of the work that we dated in twenty twenty four what gave me an opportunity to really leverage like my PR and marketing experience, you know, brand connections and bridge the gap between these larger corporations and small businesses. And one partnership that I'm really proud of was and you saw part of it at the Holiday Bazaar, was
with Shame Oyster. We created the Business that Bonds initiative and really gave these small local businesses an opportunity to show up in spaces that they typically wouldn't have access to. So one was curl Fest. It's a huge festival that happens here in New York City. We gave out micro brands that covered each business's overhead expenses for showing up in those spaces, so their.
Vendor fees, you know, we gave them.
We created all the marketing materials for them to promote it, and I don't think people understand that for small business, while you know it's not the heaviest lift, it could be a heavy lift. You know, you think about like the fees, Like I said, how do you market it? How do you you know, do your merchandising, how do you get that set up. We really supported them through that journey so that they could show up at Curlfest.
They we did a huge activation with Shamee Moisture at Culture Con which really exposed these small businesses to celebrities and just all these really dope people that came out just for the purpose of celebrating our culture. And then we closed out the year with the Holiday Bazaar where
we introduced that he did that marketplace. That went over really well and had a chance to kind of bring men in the community because my you know, platform obviously is about women, but it had been on my spirit and on my heart for so long to bring men into the conversation and into these spaces. So that is something we're really proud of that we did last year. We still get a lot of notes and just feedback and reflections from some of the small businesses that we
were able to amplify with that. And then the next event that we're working on is coming up in April, and it is Queens of the New York City Food and Beverage Scene, where we are specifically focusing on black women in the food and beverage space, in the culinary space, and just really making it, you know, a celebration of culture,
food and commerce. So creating these spaces that are intentionally created for our brands to thrive is really what wakes me up every day and just feeling like I want to just dig deeper into this work, especially, like we said at the top of the conversation, in this climate we're in, it's like, Okay, we got us, we don't need the other stuff. We got us, and this how we're going to show up.
For each other.
There's something just about being in that space at the holiday bazaar and I'm cooming to whatever you're doing.
I'm coming.
I'm on the milling I hope, I'm on the milling list. I'll show up, I'll bring friends. I will not bring the baby this time because last time.
The market.
But he was loving that DJ though he was like, hey, my run me rou he's my little party animal.
I hope you had the vegan Dominican place. What was that place.
Called Healthy as a Mother.
Yes, I'm talking about delicious vegan and pasta alitos.
I never knew that was a thing.
Anyway, I'm gonna get myself all the way off track, but just being in that space, there's just something really if you let yourself find your footing Amanda Woodruff talking to myself and just soak up the prosperity, just soak up the you know, women supporting women, and yes, invite our boys. I've experimented. I made my friend Chris the guinea pig for Brown Ambition. I was like, I'm gonna have a boy on panel and see how ba fam how we feel about it.
But I put them on watch.
I was like, this invitation could be rescinded because like sometimes y'all trifle it and we need to, like, you know, have a little bit of a space. But I felt, I really felt when you said that was on your spirit and yeah, you're right, just having these pockets to just see us succeed. That's what Brad ambitions about. Doctor Key. I think you were gonna you're gonna chine in. I want to give you space.
I just want to make sure the readers like understand the magnitude of what Renee just shared.
She's given people the Big three.
That's access, that's social resources, and people power that's going to generate to capital.
That is the big three.
And when you're thinking of entrepreneurs, especially startups, they.
May have one of those things.
But the cost that it takes to be able to walk through the door of access, to have high level celebrities, social capital, or even community capital, to have these people right there walking up to you is a cost.
That is.
What Renee is building. It is very hard to come across for an entrepreneur. So it may not be the million thousand dollars investment, but this investment, to me goes further and longer because this can change the trajectory of your business. But not just the trajectory of your business, but the trajectory of your mindset to be in a space that's so elevated and to know that your business
is there as well. And so that's the Big three, and I'm hoping all the listeners understand how powerful that is. And that is the model. So Renee' that is incredible.
Thank you.
First of all, thank you for even affirming me and the work. And it's such an honor to be seen by someone else who is in this space and just as invested as I am.
So thank you so much for those kind words. I appreciate you.
I love this so much.
I can I think anyone who's listening, and we do have a lot of entrepreneurs, especially the nine to five entrepreneurs shut out to my girls, I know that struggle. Who may be wondering, you know what if I can have a window in or an opportunity to join one
of these communities that y'all have already built. I think that's such a great point that you made, doctor Key, is that when you join communities like this, you go to a you get in the you know she did that bizarre or the Queens of Food and Beverage in New York, or the village market in Atlanta. You're automatically a part of a community. Like you can always say well, I'm a village vendor and so are you. We have
something in common, you know. So how can people get in touch and learn about how they potentially could be a part of what y'all they are building sure thing for me.
Go to the Village market dot com. If you're a brand that's looking for retail placement, go to the Village retail dot com. If you're a brand that is looking for support, technical assistance, pro bono services. We support entrepreneurs with their accounting, small all small business support, back end support.
Go to our village name it got bored.
We have something really special that we've been building now for the last ten years, and I have to call out how incredible my team is. So you hear my voice on this podcast. But I'm a reflection of some really brilliant people who decided to go on this journey with me, and their faithfulness is the reason why we're so impactful. So I have to champion my brilliant, incredible team that's sum in Atlanta but sprawl across the United States. Now I work with some really incredible folks.
Yes, I feel like every time you talk, I want to say, Amen, were you were you a preacher?
Do you have like preacher?
I probably disagree with this is what happens when you go to church all the time with your grandma.
Because I got a lot of family who's like Baptist preachers, and I may not sound like it all the time, but sometimes it comes out and I'm just like mm hm, yes, ma'am amen.
And she has such a calming spirit, like her delivery.
Is very like whatever you can like, whatever you're putting down, I'm picking it up, like, yes, I believe that.
I received that.
Thank you, Thank you, And Renee, what about all that you're building? How can people be a part of it?
You can visit us at she did that dot co. You can find us on social at she did that dot co, or even follow me personally. I share a lot of kind of what I'm doing before it becomes the thing. They're on social and have connected with so
many incredible women. And my social handle is I am a Renee blew it R E n A E B l U I T T. And I'd also like to take a moment to just give things for my small but mighty team who not only believes in the work that we're doing, but also believes in me and my leadership, my vision. So thinking about women like Nico Watkins, Camille Cooper, like I would not be able to do this work without the support of these dynamic women.
So thank you, ladies. If you're listening.
Well, thank you both for just sharing your light and your wisdom and yes, whatever magic sauce you have in your voice, Doctor Key, thank you for that, for just like sprinkling that on us. B A fam, Thank you so much for listening. And I will put all of the links, the links to all the things, the links to get doctor Key's book. Got to support that. And if you're watching on YouTube, you've seen the cover. Hold it up one more time for the YouTubers, Doctor Key.
There we go. I love that in the circles in.
The middle, I see I did.
Thank y'all so so much.