T.D. Jakes Foundation receives $250,000 grant from Truist to support the PATHWAY Program for Economic Mobility
DALLAS, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — T.D. Jakes Foundation today announced it received a $250,000 grant from Truist Financial Corporation through its Truist Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund at The Winston-Salem Foundation. The grant will support T.D. Jakes Foundation’s PATHWAY program, which seeks to support individuals in their journey toward family-sustaining careers, and further support the program’s economic mobility and empowering of diverse job seekers.
“We often see people from underrepresented communities do not know where to begin in a job search or do not know the resources that might be available in a career transition,” said Kelley Cornish, CEO of T.D. Jakes Foundation. “Grants like this allow us to facilitate job training and improve our PATHWAY program model to reach more job seekers. We are grateful to Truist for the contribution and are excited to see how it propels our PATHWAY program forward to further helping job seekers reach their full career potential.”
PATHWAY’s focus is on skill building, including job skills, training, and support to create competencies that close the opportunity gap and create potential for future generations. Truist’s support will help this service model implement an approach that takes candidates from awareness to training to self-sufficiency. Support of this program allows T.D. Jakes Foundation to connect vetted and qualified candidates to businesses seeking diverse talent.
“Truist is proud to invest in the PATHWAY program to support avenues for career growth and economic mobility across the communities we serve,” said DeVon Lang, North Texas Regional President at Truist. “By partnering with T.D. Jakes Foundation, we can more effectively work together in our shared efforts to create opportunities for prosperity and financial independence. We look forward to seeing how PATHWAY equips the next generation of leaders with the skills they need to excel in their careers.”
Through programs like PATHWAY, T.D. Jakes Foundation is elevating and integrating services, including job skills, training, and support to transform lives and enrich communities. With PATHWAY, those who need employment and support do not have to navigate a maze of programs and bureaucracies independently. PATHWAY provides a helping hand, guiding those in need through intervention services, training, educational and aftercare programs – and ultimately connecting them to living-wage employment, part of T.D. Jakes Foundation’s end-to-end accountability system.
Additionally, Truist was a sponsor of T.D. Jakes Foundation’s “You’re Hired!” event, hosted on Saturday, October 7 at the P.L.A.C.E at The Potter’s House, located at 6777 W Kiest Blvd, Dallas, TX 75236. The event, a hiring mixer, presented in partnership with Workforce Dallas, the Dallas Mavericks, and State Farm, was open to PATHWAY participants and was designed to connect job seekers with employment opportunities.
About T.D. Jakes Foundation
T.D. Jakes Foundation is building bridges by unlocking the power of global competition through workforce training that prepares workers to compete in today’s economy through STEM/STEAM education, financial literacy and inclusion, and a laser focus to close the racial wealth gap and support minority women in corporate leadership. For more than 40 years, T.D. Jakes has connected diverse communities across socio-economic divides. Through the work of T.D. Jakes Foundation, Chairman Jakes is harnessing decades of resources and connections to prepare people for success in the 21st-century workforce, lift underserved populations and connect corporations to new, highly skilled pools of talent amid increasing global competition. For additional information visit: https://tdjfoundation.org/
About Truist Charitable Fund
The Truist Charitable Fund (“TCF”) is committed to Truist Financial Corporation’s (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives. TCF was established as a donor-advised fund and is administered by the Winston-Salem Foundation. TCF invests in local community organizations, focusing on grants that support initiatives and programs in the areas of educational equity, leadership development, career pathways, small business, and community services. To learn more about Truist’s purpose, visit https://www.truist.com/who-we-are/about-truist.
About Truist
Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Truist has leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country and offers a wide range of products and services through our retail and small business banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, insurance, wealth management, and specialized lending businesses. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist is a top 10 U.S. commercial bank with total assets of $555 billion as of June 30, 2023. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at Truist.com
*Hill Harper hosts the Good Soil Movement a national initiative hosted in Orlando, Florida, on May 3, 2023, at the Dr. Philips Performing Arts Center by T.D. Jakes Enterprises, a social impact holding company.
In partnership with Stand Together Foundation, the Good Soil Movement served as the inaugural entrepreneurship event that preceded T.D. Jakes’ annual global conference, the International Leadership Summit, which occurred May 4-6, 2023, at the Orange County Convention Center.
The Good Soil event was a day-long intensive symposium with panels of business leaders, influencers, and upcoming business owners such as Angela Yee, media personality, Timbaland, singer/songwriter/producer, Enitan Bereola, FLOURYSH, Dr. Marcus Collins, Wieden + Kennedy, Maya Hicks, Target, Danielle O’Bannon, Goldman Sachs, Ambassador Ron Kirk, Former United States Trade Representative, Danyel Surrency Jones, Amazon Black Business Accelerator, Detavio Samuels, REVOLT and Sharde Marchewski, Wayfair.
During breakout sessions, attendees engaged in dialogue around strategic partnerships, securing capital, increasing credit, marketing and advertising, franchising, and real estate. In addition, many participants had opportunities for networking to guide Black entrepreneurs and small business owners on scaling their enterprises.
The Good Soil Movement had a “Seed” Capital Fast Pitch competition for BIPOC entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses and receive grant funding to scale, grow and impact their companies. As an entrepreneur, businessman, and global faith leader, T.D. Jakes delivered the keynote address on his vision for helping businesses achieve financial success.
Actor and author Hill Harper served as the event emcee, with singer/songwriter KEM opening the day with a performance.
“We see Good Soil as a movement to cultivate the next generation of business leaders,” said Michael Phillips, chief operations officer of T.D. Jakes Enterprises. “This convening brings together culture shifters who are committed to connecting ideas to actions in our communities. Good Soil is more than inspiration – it’s taking action to impact, grow and scale minority-owned businesses through a supportive ecosystem that will drive financial inclusion and achieve generational wealth building for our communities.”
“We see Good Soil as a movement to cultivate the next generation of business leaders,” said Phillips.
EURweb had a chance to speak to actor Hill Harper about the event’s impact and how he also plans to use the information shared in the forum to advance his businesses.
EURweb: So why was it important for you to be a part of this event?
Hill Harper: You know, it was, it was important for me to be a part of this event because of what it represents. Good Soil is about planting seeds and then making something grow that’s better than what you planted, and that’s what this event is and that’s what I’ve seen it to be and so I couldn’t be more proud of how it’s going. Some of these panels and the information is priceless and a lot of the people here are entrepreneurs who really just want to create businesses and create opportunity.
EURweb: There is a theme that is constantly brought up, and the lack of capital [given] to Black entrepreneurs with the partnership of Wells Fargo and if once [other financial institutions] see the success of Black businesses and see how it’s exploding in our current culture, do you think this will open the avenues, and people won’t be so using their implicit bias against the Black community to give them capital? Do you think this will spur change in the financial sector to start opening these capital reserves for Black-owned businesses?
Harper: I think [the] Good Soil Movement can start opening opportunities and a new pathway for funding for Black businesses. But at the end of the day, you know history repeats; we have to show and prove. When I was first on stage today, I talked about Black Wall Street in history and not just the Greenwood district we had in Tulsa. We had Brownsville and Chicago; you had Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in Detroit; you had Seneca Village in Manhattan; Wilmington, North Carolina, Durham, Rosewood, in Florida; many communities throughout Virginia and Kentucky, and certainly the Greenwood district in Tulsa, these were very high functioning, so-called Black Wall Street communities, where $1 would circulate 60 to 100 times, and jobs were being created, in fact, so much so the majority folks around those areas would come to our communities to get jobs and so we can replicate that today. But it’s going to take funding, and it’s going to take expertise; it’s going to take us supporting each other and collaborating and today, I think is an amazing start of that.
EURweb: What are some of the benefits to see for black-owned businesses to succeed? Because not only creating jobs, what is the social impact of having a successful black-owned business in a neighborhood? We see crime rates decrease when that happens. Can you talk a little bit about that aspect?
Harper: I say all the time that you cannot have social justice without economic justice and what do I mean by that? I mean that if we look at all the different social determinants and social justice issues that that we want to see solved, whether we’re talking about mass incarceration, police brutality, health disparities, education gaps, whether we’re talking about what’s been going on, as far as comprehensive public safety, and etc, what we know to be the fact that the vast majority of communities that are impacted the worst, even environmental happen to be communities that share one thing, and that’s economic fragility, and poverty and so, again, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out if you want to solve many of these issues, solving the economic fragility problem helps you solve them.
I’ll give you a quick example. So I’m not just talking in generalities. My latest book that I wrote called “Letters To An Incarcerated Brother,” dealt with the mass incarceration crisis 80% of the so-called criminal activity that young men of color are incarcerated for are money-related activities. What do I mean, they’re selling something illegal to get money, or they’re taking something of someone else to resell to get money? So it doesn’t, again, doesn’t logic tells us that if you solve the money problem, or the jobs and opportunity problem, you actually solve that problem. It’s not that kids in more prosperous areas are somehow morally superior to these young people. It’s just that they don’t have that need to create money or cash flow. So, therefore, they don’t have to participate in that type of activity. So you solve the money problem, you solve another problem automatically, right?
EURweb: As a business owner is yours as yourself. You own a skincare line, and you have a business in Detroit. What are some ideas or what are you taking away from this conference as well?
Harper: Well, for me, the panel that just happened was a marketing panel. Many small businesses, I’m a small business owner, I have my coffee shop in downtown Detroit [and] I’m always trying to think of, we got really hit hard during COVID because obviously, as a coffee shop in downtown, you need people going to work to have a business. Now that people seemingly, don’t know who’s out there, but folks don’t work on Mondays and Fridays, it’s clear to me. In other words, they ain’t buying coffee on Mondays and Fridays, it doesn’t seem. So how do we actually market our business to let other folks we are [here], we would organically get customers because we’re there, presence. How do we start reaching out to other people and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to go downtown and get this freshly roasted cup of coffee at Hill Harper’s coffee shop.’ So marketing is a key component that I have to start adding to my business, whereas it seems like the big corporations know marketing very well, but sometimes the small businesses don’t. So that’s one thing I’m learning at this conference.
The Good Soil event marks the launch of the Good Soil Movement, an ongoing program to catalyze and support diverse business owners via a free, private app and a year-round schedule of live and virtual events to provide tools, resources, and thought leaders. According to the press release, good Soil seeks to launch and nurture a million diverse entrepreneurs within the next decade.
“Stand Together Foundation works alongside our partners to empower people to realize their full potential,” said Evan Feinberg, executive director of Stand Together Foundation. “Fueling increased entrepreneurship not only improves lives but inspires transformation of entire communities. We are proud to partner with T.D. Jakes Enterprises and the Good Soil Movement to lift up Black entrepreneurs across America.”
Grammy award-winning pianist, songwriter, and record producer, Robert Glasper, closed out the day.
To keep up with the Good Soil Movement, visit ThisIsILS.org/goodsoil.
Good Soil is ongoing and occurs before the International Leadership Summit (ILS), one of the largest, most transformative leadership conferences for visionaries, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and leaders worldwide.
About the International Leadership Summit
Founded by T.D. Jakes—real estate mogul, New York Times bestselling author, pioneering CEO and entrepreneur, global humanitarian, devoted philanthropist, senior pastor of The Potter’s House—the International Leadership Summit is an annual transformative conference. Since 2011, the conference has cultivated aspiring and tenured entrepreneurs and leaders with the tools to become successful in for-profit and not-for-profit industries.
About T.D. Jakes Enterprises
Part of the T.D. Jakes Group, T.D. Jakes Enterprises is a social impact holding company with an innovative portfolio steeped in content creation, cultural change, community development, and capital investments. The mission is to create high-impact content and opportunities that disrupt convention and culture. T.D. Jakes Enterprises includes work in television, film, books, mentorship, real estate, music, and entrepreneurship. Visit https://tdjenterprises.com to learn more.
About Stand Together Foundation
Stand Together Foundation is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in America by driving change from within communities. We are building a community of social entrepreneurs who believe in people, work from the bottom up, and unite with anyone to do right. Since 2016, we have committed over $120 million and counting to fuel the innovation of nonprofits throughout the country to build stronger, safer communities where all people can learn, contribute, and realize their full potential. Our goal is to help nonprofit leaders maximize their impact to transform more lives out of poverty. Learn more at www.standtogetherfoundation.org.
Megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes’ plan to redevelop about 95 acres of the former Fort McPherson Army base into a mixed-use, mixed-income community got a major boost recently, with Wells Fargo & Company forming a 10-year strategic partnership with the T.D. Jakes Group.
The southwest Atlanta project, which will include single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, is one of the first endeavors the partnership will undertake. Wells Fargo will serve as a financial partner to T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures LLC, which is developing the project.
Plans call for ample green space, bike paths, recreation centers and historic business and cultural districts. The aim of the community is to improve the quality of life for residents with healthy food choices, healthcare options and other wraparound services, according to a press release.
“This alliance with our organization allows us to further our four decades-long work to provide economic justice, eradicate food deserts, construct desirable workplaces and affordable housing, closing the digital divide and ultimately help families leave a rich and lasting legacy for the next generation,” Jakes said. “We are committed to ensuring additional opportunities actually reach as many areas of need that we can influence. Disruptive partnerships like this create a paradigm shift in how we can collectively bring long overdue transformation, particularly to Black and Brown communities and other marginalized groups around our nation.”
The partnership could bring up to $1 billion in capital and financing, as well as grants from the Wells Fargo Foundation, toward revitalizing underserved neighborhoods and creating economic opportunities over the next 10 years.
“We are excited to collaborate with the T.D. Jakes Group as they play a key role in the transformation of communities that will have a lasting impact for generations to come,” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said. “This strategic partnership goes beyond a one-off capital investment and underscores our continued commitment to diverse and inclusive communities.
SAN FRANCISCO – April 27, 2023 – Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) and the T.D. Jakes Group, which includes T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures, LLC (TDJREV), TDJ Enterprises (TDJE) and T.D. Jakes Foundation (TDJF), today announced a strategic partnership to drive economic vitality and inclusivity in communities across America. Over the next 10 years, the partnership between these organizations could result in up to $1 billion in capital and financing from Wells Fargo, as well as grants from the Wells Fargo Foundation, with the goal of revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering economic opportunity and creating long-term change in communities most in need. The partnership marks the first of its kind in driving long-term transformational impact over the next decade.
“We are excited to collaborate with the T.D. Jakes Group as they play a key role in the transformation of communities that will have a lasting impact for generations to come,” said Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo. “This strategic partnership goes beyond a one-off capital investment and underscores our continued commitment to diverse and inclusive communities. We look forward to seeing the meaningful difference we’ll make together in communities across the country.”
“This alliance with our organization allows us to further our four decades-long work to provide economic justice, eradicate food deserts, construct desirable workplaces and affordable housing, closing the digital divide and ultimately help families leave a rich and lasting legacy for the next generation,” remarked T.D. Jakes, Chairman & CEO of the T.D. Jakes Group. “We recognize the need for CEOs like Charlie Scharf bending the arc and aim of Wells Fargo toward correcting systemic inequalities. We are committed to ensuring additional opportunities actually reach as many areas of need that we can influence. Disruptive partnerships like this create a paradigm shift in how we can collectively bring long overdue transformation, particularly to Black and Brown communities and other marginalized groups around our nation.”
In 2022, TDJREV began purchasing nearly 100 acres of Fort McPherson, the historic former army base situated in enviable proximity to downtown Atlanta with plans to create an innovative community of commercial and residential space. The plans for this land include mixed-income housing with an array of living choices such as single-family homes, townhomes and apartments positioned in well-designed neighborhoods with ample amenities aimed at enhancing the quality of life through healthy food choices, healthcare options and other wraparound services. One of the first prominent projects that Wells Fargo intends to support as a financial partner is the revitalization of the Fort McPherson property, with the vision of aiding TDJREV in developing the area into an inclusive neighborhood equipped with ample green space, a bike path, recreation centers, impacting the Historic Business and Cultural districts at Fort McPherson.
The Wells Fargo Foundation and T.D. Jakes Foundation also expect to provide financial empowerment education and revitalize neighborhoods in underserved low-and moderate-income communities by increasing homeownership and fostering business creation in several cities including Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.
Charlie Scharf will join T.D. Jakes on stage on May 5, during Jakes’ International Leadership Summit in Orlando, Florida for a conversation about this unique partnership and other topics. There is a press registration link for media who want to attend in person or virtually.
Wells Fargo – A Builder of Communities
Wells Fargo has been a leader in the development of and investment in affordable housing across the nation. Since 2016, the Company has held the position of the top Fannie Mae DUS® Affordable Housing Lender. Coming out of the pandemic over the last two years, (2021 and 2022), the Company closed $10 billion in financing through its Community Lending and Investment (CLI) group and $5.7 billion in financing through its Multifamily Capital (MFC) group directed towards affordable housing and community development. In addition, the Company provides LIHTC investments and has a portfolio of approximately 1500 transactions with a book value of $12.2 billion. Further, in March of 2020, the Company made a $50 million investment in Minority Depository Institutions (MDI’s); the pledge included advisory services to help these important local institutions to flourish. As of the end of 2021, all 15 institutions received their investment. Wells Fargo has donated more than $525 million to support housing affordability solutions for individuals and families (2019-2022).
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 41 on Fortune’s 2022 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy.
News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo
About The T.D. Jakes Group
The T.D. Jakes Group is a global conglomerate that’s worked for more than four decades at the intersection of mission, ministry and marketplace to solve society’s problems through strategic alliances creating equity and providing solutions for underrepresented and underserved communities. The organization’s four pillars operate globally: T.D. Jakes Enterprises is a civil rights award-winning social impact holding company reaching millions through entrepreneurial training, minority business accelerator initiatives and trailblazing representation in streaming unscripted series, film, music and publishing that has grossed over $500 million worldwide through original entertainment content; T.D. Jakes Foundation is building bridges by unlocking the power of global competition through workforce training that prepares workers to compete in today’s economy through STEM/STEAM education, financial literacy and inclusion, and a laser focus to close the racial wealth gap and support minority women in corporate leadership; T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures is actively developing sustainable communities with a focus on economic development, eradicating food deserts and opening doors for home ownership and wealth building where none existed before.; T.D. Jakes Ministries is a faith-based international organization who’s inspiring content is translated to over 90 languages each week, and whose returning citizen advocacy work has helped over 30,000 individuals create lasting, generational change.
Learn how the T.D. Jakes Group is creating a more equitable society through innovative concepts and disruptive partnerships by visiting tdjakes.org/newsroom.
[Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements]
This release contains forward-looking statements about our future business. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website at www.sec.gov.]
Contact Information
Media
Amy Bonitatibus
Wells Fargo
212‑214‑3020
Amy.Bonitatibus@wellsfargo.com
Jordan A. Hora
T.D. Jakes Group
(214) 608-2006
jhora@tdjakes.org
Bishop T.D Jakes needs no introduction. He’s been the resounding voice of our souls for over four decades. His influence covers generations, and the power within him shakes the very foundation of the world. Whether he is broadcasting to millions of people hungry for the word that pours out of him with ease or graciously passing the baton to the voices of today, what is always constant is that Jakes operates purposefully.
His objective is always clear: inspire, enrich and arm. His leadership reaches far beyond the pulpit of The Potter’s House and has infiltrated everything from music to TV to the New York Times bestsellers list. Now, through T.D. Jakes Enterprises, he is set to embark on creating the communities he believes can truly make a difference while equipping the next generation with the tools they need to acquire and sustain financial independence. And as any great leader would, he’s not just teaching, he’s also learning.
Teaming up with entrepreneurs like Enitan Bereola and Steve Canal of Black-owned business marketplace, Flourysh;culture leader Detavio Samuels of Revolt Media and hitmaking producer Timbaland for his inaugural ‘Good Soil’ event on May 3, Jakes continues to bridge the gap between not only different generations but the church and the world it was meant to serve.
EBONY caught up with hip-hop’s favorite preacher to discuss Black financial empowerment and how his new film Pride tackles mental health issues.
EBONY: Let’s first talk about the work being done by TD Jakes Real Estate Ventures. Can you speak to how imperative it is that we create sustainable neighborhoods in our communities and why you are taking that on?
T.D. Jakes: It’s something I feel is of the utmost importance, and I’ve been frustrated about it for a long time. I am interested in closing the gap of homeownership. I’m interested in eradicating food deserts. I’m interested in providing upward mobility by establishing mixed income communities that have all the necessary components to living: grocery stores, drug stores, dry cleaners. All the things that are needed to create a real and livable community. I’m being conscious of green spaces and all the easily overlooked parts of maintaining neighborhoods that create holistic living.
Many folks wonder why you’re turning your attention to this in such a major way.
Well, I’ve been doing real estate almost all my life. My mother did real estate before me. Almost every major city has a mayor screaming about affordable housing and low incoming housing, but I believe mixed income housing creates the best results sociologically. When people aren’t categorized totally, by their income, they’re able to contribute to a holistic community. The stats all say that more diverse communities do better. There’s a clear domino effect. And I kept thinking, “Somebody ought to do something about that”—and why not me? I decided to form this real estate venture company—and there are others doing the work as well. It’s going to take all of us to bring about sustainable change.
For many millennials and definitely for a large fraction of Gen Z, homeownership seems nearly impossible with layoffs and an unstable economic landscape. What kind of resources and information are you looking to arm us with to approach ownership and financial stability?
It’s interesting that you say that because one of the greatest ways to aggregate wealth is through homeownership. The problems that you listed are turbulences in the economic climate that I can’t control. But, I can teach young people that homeownership doesn’t mean that they’re locked into anything. They can rent it out, AirBNB it and really create subsequent income that helps them build wealth in their sleep. When you own a home, the valuation continues to increase without work and effort; those are real strong tips. Just changing the way of thinking about it. We’ll also have a lot of resources for first-time home buyers. Benefits that can minimize or, often, wave down payments. There is a myriad of information that needs to permeate our community in order for us to understand the options we have to be upwardly mobile and sustainable in the process.
What have been the key components to financial freedom for you?
Multiple streams of income. We hear that all the time, but more specifically, passive and aggressive streams are equally important. I think the problem we have as a community is that when we think about business, we start thinking about “hustling.”.And the problem with hustling or grinding is that you only have two hands—and that limits you right away. You can’t be here and there. But if you develop a business and a network, you can delegate and have exponential growth very rapidly. We have to first disrupt the way we think about it. I am really trying to break the culture of being on the hamster’s wheel, running faster and faster as the economy escalates. When you only make money with your own two hands, you’ve limited your ability to increase your income. You’re working so hard and it’s to the detriment of your family, your children—you’re working harder and harder to make less and less. We have to see changes in the inequity of pay between men and women; because in many of our families, women are the breadwinners. We have to make sure there’s an equity in the corporate and business worlds.
And then we have to talk about marketing. Being able to promote yourself beyond Instagram and Facebook. These companies change algorithms, and you’re not reaching as many people as you think you are. You have to be able to subsidize your marketing efforts in creative ways. Finally, there are grants out there to help you move forward. Let’s understand how to use free money to empower your business. Sometimes, we’re living hand to mouth. We’re using our rent money and food money just to get things off the ground. Mixing personal money with business money is a recipe for failure. You have to separate them.
There can be a lack of intergenerational conversations about these subjects. What have you learned from some of your discussions with today’s entrepreneurs?
I’ve learned a lot. You have AI and cybermarketing. I’m a big supporter of STEM programs, but I wasn’t as well-versed in what they entailed before I really started having these conversations. I do think that the current generation can become shortsighted because of a few people’s success through TikTok or Instagram. When you really weigh it out, the percentage of people who really are able to create sustainable wealth for themselves through those avenues is miniscule. I’m not saying to dismiss any opportunities; continue to do it all, but enhance it by networking. People do business with people they know, like and trust. You have to leave the online world. We want to arm you with all the tools. In this market, you have to use everything: old school, new school, preschool. To really get in the game and be successful, you have to diversify. We are seeing a widening of the wealth gap that is scary, and the predictions of where we’ll be by 2025 are frightening in part because the jobs will be replaced by tech. If you don’t have a strategy in place, it’ll be to the detriment of your overall being.
Can you tell me a bit about your new film project Pride?
I’m excited about that one. Kudos to Lifetime for giving us a platform that’s for us by us. We get to tell our own stories in a way that reflects the diversity in our community. For too long, there have been stereotypical depictions of us; we’re treated like a monolith.
This film highlights that there can be issues with mental health right in your family, and you may not know that’s what you’re seeing. It’s about being able to earmark those situations and subvert them before they become explosive. Pride is a very powerful in that it reflects the introspective conversations we need to be having in our families. It’s a cautionary tale.
