In today’s episode, guest and friend Alana Elston joins the conversation to talk all things relating to HR strategies for small businesses. You won’t want to miss it!

Shawn asks Alana to provide a brief introduction to who she is and what she does before jumping into the strategies. Being in the field of HR for many years, Alana shares about her interest in the synergies between business and psychology. Listen as she discusses the shift that has happened in Human Resources, allowing this role to grow into something integral to any business. Alana shares the importance of honing-in on strategy, culture, and creating dynamic employee experiences, on top of the traditional role Human Resources has usually played.

Shifting to Alana’s “sweet spot” in working with small businesses, she says the number one priority is to focus on their people—employees are both the biggest asset and expense for a business, so their growth and development are crucial. This conversation sheds light on how to take your biggest asset and give them [employees] the best experience. Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves. Alana encourages listeners to strive to grow a business that will outlive you. Learn from the examples Alana shares about those in small businesses and what “experience” looks like. Of primary importance is solidifying one’s mission, vision, and core values. Listen in on why these 3 components are crucial in order to build an employee base that believes in what you’re doing, so everyone can work for something bigger than themselves.

After setting the mission and foundation, Alana tells listeners to ask questions about how to move forward with their employees. She talks about creating a process of growth and development for both individuals and the company as a whole. At the onset of employees, keeping alignment is key.

As the episode draws to a close, Alana offers a third and final tip—focus on employee experience and creating environments through solid culture and culture points. She talks about the virtual retreat they did and how it was an amazing success. Solidifying the connection and reminding employees why they are at your company can make a huge difference. Make your employees understand they are in an amazing environment at your company, and if they move on some day, then they can take what they have learned on to their next big thing. Shawn and Alana finish the conversation with a quick chat about resilience, rigor, grit, and the Obama’s. Don’t forget to build relationships before you need them!

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Links:

Connect with Alana on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Shawn’s company Fortis Mortgage.

In this episode, Shawn has a conversation with Shelly Bell, the venture capitalist behind Black Girl Ventures.

Before diving into his talk with Shelly, Shawn shares a story about his love of tee shirts, explaining the counterintuitive way in which tee shirts remind him to consider decisions and consequences. These things are important to consider in all areas of life, but one that is particularly relevant to today’s episode is that of credit and money management. And there is no one better to talk about both the dynamics of navigating finances and the ins and outs of entrepreneurial pursuits than Shelly Bell. Shelly is the founder and CEO of Black Girl Ventures, a company aimed at creating access to capital for black and brown women founders. One of its most visible methods of operation is a unique pairing of pitching and crowdfunding; the company also has locations around the country and works on the ground to provide resources and education to founders.

Shelly established the company in 2016, and prior to launching BGV, she worked in many different fields before stretching her entrepreneurial muscles by renting out a teepee in her home, as well as starting a printing business. The transition to BGV arose from the need Shelly saw for black founders to have more access to capital, and it has adapted and grown through many seasons since that point, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the time of racial unrest that coincided with it. The business is thriving, and as Shelly explains, it relies in part on a “vote with your dollars” approach to its pitch competition element - an element that offers community and mentoring to founders who need social and financial capital to grow their businesses.

Shifting gears, Shelly and Shawn talk about the partnership between BGV and Experian, which is geared toward financial literacy and education, ultimately aiming to make the subject more human and more understandable. Shelly has been hard at work on an Experian-sponsored podcast called A Dose of Disruption, which gets into topics such as money movement, building credit, and understanding leverage. As the conversation wraps up, she and Shawn talk about branding, Shelly’s desire to talk with Huey Newton, and Shawn’s takeaways from the episode.

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Links:

Learn about Shelly Bell and listen to A Dose of Disruption.

Learn more about and get involved with Black Girl Ventures.

Learn more about Shawn’s company Fortis Mortgage.

On today’s episode we’re joined by Monique Porras. She’s a recruiting industry professional who recently began her own small business, The Kempington Group. She still considers herself east coast, but moved to Phoenix about five years ago without knowing anyone. She came for the weather. Knowing she’d have to build her network. She wanted to change the game of recruiting to humanize the process again. While they sit in Phoenix, half her business is now outside of Arizona.

Like many other organizations, they’ve been hit by the pandemic. Monique says it’s important to be positive and be mindful to focus on ourselves and what we’re able to change. The chaos that’s happening around has inspired her to be more aware of herself. She also encourages listeners to tell their story, she practices this herself by telling the story of her candidates to potential employers. Sharing candidates that way gave them a different response from organizations so she’s applied it to other areas.

Next, Shawn and Monique talk about resumes. She explains that while there were a lot of rules to resumes in the past, she thinks there is more room these days to be creative, stressing that the focus should be impacts. Monique also says the story is in the cover letter and that’s a place to really show your personality and drive. Organizations are reflecting on the caliber of people they have, so job seekers need to be doing self improvement as well. Through all your storytelling and job seeking, being authentic and humble gets you farther than others who may have more accomplishments or skills, but do not bring those intangibles to the table. One way Monique seeks to better herself is through paying it forward and envisioning her ideal self.

As the episode ends, Monique shares that she has been picked to collaborate with ESPN’s The V Foundation.

Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Links:

Learn more about Courtney Bowden and check out her organization, Think Like A Thought Leader. 

Connect with Courtney on Instagram and Facebook.

Learn more about Shawn’s company Fortis Mortgage.

On today’s episode we’re joined by Elliott Oliva and Ana Tolentino (NMLS ID: 659522). Elliot is a licensed real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty in McLean, Virginia. Before becoming an agent 7 years ago, he spent 16 years on the lending side of the industry. Ana is a Senior Home Loan Consultant for The Ana Team at Main Street Home Loans. She got her start in the industry as a real estate agent. When a lender she worked with expressed a need for a Latino loan officer to assist the Latino community who was largely being taken advantage of. 15 years later, she hasn't looked back.

As the conversation gets underway, Elliott identifies the top challenge in improving homeownership opportunities for Hispanic communities today. He explains that many Hispanic buyers end up settling for agents who may not be up to tier in comparison with others, just because they speak the same language. The desire to seek education and become a more empowered consumer isn’t ingrained within the Latino community as it is in others. Believing education to be so important, Ana spends a lot of time with her clients working to identify their needs. A large part of what she does on a daily basis is helping her clients establish good credit, many of whom don’t understand the importance of using a credit card in the U.S.

The Hispanic home ownership rate is steadily increasing. Elliott shares that this statistic further demonstrates the work ethic of the Hispanic population. Ana shares the statistic that 25% of Latinos are more likely to own an investment property outside of their primary residence than non-Hispanic households. Land and real estate ownership is a key financial component of Latino culture. Then, she shares that her biggest drive in her work is to help families experience the security and relief of owning their own home.

As the episode draws to a close, Elliott offers advice for someone transitioning into real estate sales. Rather than choosing the most cost effective broker, he urges new agents to find good training from a coach or mentor to hone in on your skill sets. Finally, Elliott and Ana share a person, dead or alive, they would most like to have a coffee with and what question they would ask them.

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Links:

Get in contact with Elliott at (703) 344-8153 or [email protected].

Get in content with Ana at (703) 731-7663 or [email protected].

In today’s episode, friends and guests Justin Brown, Darius Wilson and Ahmad Dorsett join the conversation to discuss the ways athletes and parents can adjust amidst the pandemic.

To begin, Shawn asks each guest to introduce themselves. Justin Brown is a football player from Wilmington, Delaware, who played for Penn State and the University of Oklahoma, before going on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills. Now, he provides services for student athletes to help them understand and discover themselves aside from their athletic abilities. Darius Wilson is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Higher Level Basketball Club. Through the game of basketball, the program works to positively impact their community in as many ways as possible. Ahmad Dorsett is the Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at UNC A&T who leads young men to become successful after college.

Shifting to discussing the pandemic, each guest shares their initial reactions to pandemic and shelter in place orders given last year. During this time, many athletes were forced to reexamine themselves and determine who they were when their sports were not in practice. While Covid has brought about many changes, Ahmad believes everyone will continue to work together to make the transition an easier one.

Justin explains the personality assessment he has been administering to his student athletes during Covid, a time of adaptation for everybody. It features 4 different personality types which determine someone’s strengths, weaknesses and how they adapt to new environments. The assessment ultimately determines whether your personality is helping you to adjust or working against you. Then, Darius discusses how he was able to keep his program afloat despite the stay at home orders by utilizing Zoom. With people not being able to visit campuses, Coach Dorsett discusses what the current recruitment process looks like. It’s uncertain whether college coaches will be able to go out for recruitment in the fall, so for now they are operating as if they aren’t.

Then, Ahmad offers advice for young recruits— do your research, speak with your coaches and understand that this recruitment season will be different from what we’re all used to. Even though competition is high right now, it’s less competition than there would be if we were under normal circumstances. Don’t miss the end of the conversation, where we hear where to find today’s guests online, what they need to improve on and the one person they would most like to have coffee with.

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Links:

Learn more about Darius Wilson by visiting his website and @higherlevelsports on social media.

Learn more about Justin Brown by visiting his website and @justinbrown_vs on social media.

Learn more about Ahmad Dorsett here or @atcoachdorsett on social media.

Learn more about Shawn’s company Fortis Mortgage.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Courtney Bowden, a Communications Strategist for Black Thought Leaders. Her life’s work is all about amplifying and helping black entrepreneurs to identify and clarify their brand messaging. Courtney defines a thought leader as someone who is an expert to the experts and can move people through their own actions. She is the founder of Black Market Media, a multimedia company dedicated to positioning black business leaders as global industry contenders.

Given the current political climate, people are actively looking for brands and leaders they can trust. 2020 has been a year of exposure. The people who are doing impact and purpose-driven work are elevated unlike ever before. Courtney believes the revenue and visibility a brand attracts depends on the brand’s ability to communicate the value of what it has to offer. In short, the money is in the message. Identity and authenticity are the two keys of effective branding.

Courtney explains that intention is the motivation behind why you do what you do. Ultimately, people can and will see through a brand whose intentions are not in the right place. Those who are doing the purpose-driven work have to communicate their “why” to the right people at the right time. A brand should spend much of their time on values, intention and message, and the rest will follow.

Then, Courtney addresses the significance of hiring a copywriter to hone in on your marketing. A copywriter can help you ensure your story is being told in the right way, to the right people, in the right context. Courtney combines her trade of writing with her knowledge of the science of marketing to create the most effective branding message for her clients in an organic way. A good copywriter can explode your business revenue. If you’re ready to make some money as a seasoned expert, entrepreneur or thought leader, Courtney encourages you to consider hiring a brand strategy expert or a copywriter. As the episode draws to a close, Courtney shares which person, dead or alive, she would most like to have coffee with and the question she would ask them.

Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Links:

Learn more about Courtney Bowden and check out her podcast, Think Like A Thought Leader.

Connect with Courtney on Instagram and Facebook.

Learn more about Shawn’s company Fortis Mortgage.

On today’s episode we’re joined by Chris Jackson, owner and appraiser from Jackson Appraisal Group based in Lanham, Maryland. He is also the owner of the real estate sales company The Jackson Group. Chris got his start in the world of real estate around 2004, when he bought his first house in Washington D.C. He began learning more about flipping and investing but, after a brief stint flipping in Florida, realized he enjoyed the real estate industry but not the ups and downs of investing. When he discovered the world of appraisals, he knew it was the path for him.

Chris defines an appraisal as an opinion from a licensed professional about the most probable price of a particular property based on market value. Recent sale prices are the biggest thing an appraiser looks at to determine value. This includes properties within a particular neighborhood which have sold most recently. An appraiser must have a grasp on what is happening within the market today. There are a lot of differences to take into account when appraising a property. One of the biggest things that can negatively impact a home’s value is the condition it’s in. Chris breaks down the various condition levels commonly used by appraisers. Then, he speaks of comparables and how far they can be taken. Additionally, they discuss the difference between an appraiser and a home inspector. While an inspector will investigate things like the mechanics and foundation of a house, an appraiser typically just does a walkthrough. An appraisal is based solely on market trends and the probability of what buyers are willing to pay.

Shawn wraps up today’s episode with a few closing thoughts for listeners to hold on to. Despite the struggles of the last year, things will get better for all of us. Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out to him or Chris if you have any further questions or are looking for more connections in the industry.

Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Links:

Connect with Chris on Instagram.

Visit The Jackson Appraisal Group’s website.

Learn more about Shawn’s company Fortis Mortgage.

Shawn’s background is in the mortgage business, and in this episode, his good friend and college India Halls joins the conversation regarding three lessons she’s learned as a Realtor.

Before jumping into the interview, Shawn reveals the story of his post-college graduation summer that he spent studying abroad in Spain. Both Shawn and India studied at George Mason University, but Shawn speaks about how it was the experience in Spain and the relationships that he developed along the way that got him to where he is today.

Turning the attention to India, Shawn asks her to introduce herself and where she is at today. The Ultimate Realtor, India moved from accounting in corporate America, to being a CFO, and now into the reality business alongside HomeSmart Brokerage. While her background is finance and accounting, India’s passion remains with accounting. She dives into three (3) lessons in development that she has learned through the realty process.

Shawn wraps this episode up with a few closing thoughts for the listeners to hold on to—building relationships before you need them, and the importance of transparency in what your needs are. Seek out real conversations and how to communicate with those you don’t always agree with! Ending on a light-hearted note, Shawn asks India what one question she’d ask any single person if she had the chance. You don’t want to miss out on India’s response and what she’d ask Michael Jackson!

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Learn more about who India is here.