What makes your soul sing?

A quick crowdfund update: We’ve surpassed our crowdfunding goal! At the time of writing this, 73 supporters have helped us reach 109% of our goal, equalling $4390! We have 12 more days until the end of our crowdfunding campaign, and future donations will go toward

➡️ an in-person film screening (likely in Durham)➡️ film festival submissions➡️ unlocking perks on Seed&Spark

Jordan, Sharon, Taylor, and I really appreciate your support of this film and we can't wait to share it with you!

If you’d like to support or share our campaign, you can do so here.

Equitable, Accessible Ecosystems

They come in all shapes and sizes. Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Startup Champion Networks (SCN) Summit in the Shenandoah Valley. This conference was a curated experience as part of the PLACE Builder Fellowship I started last month. I had a lot of freedom to attend any session, walking tour, or visit any small business I wanted. I’m from Alabama so I really wanted the opportunity to learn more about the opportunities, innovation, and challenges in rural entrepreneurship from different perspectives. We started the conference in Harrisonburg, VA, and then traveled to Waynesboro and Staunton to explore those communities and regional efforts in economic development. A few things stood out to me as I was reflecting on my experience:

• The best of individualism is recognizing your strengths and contributing them for the good of the collective.

• Lots of entrepreneurial ecosystem funding goes to colleges and universities, but so much innovation happens outside of that. The biggest indicator of student entrepreneurial success by far is the health of the small business community where the college or university is located.

• Creative entrepreneurs are vastly underrepresented in spaces centering entrepreneurship and startups. As the middle class of creative entrepreneurs continues to grow, so should the expertise of ecosystem builders in connecting them to resources and potential collaborators. (Food for thought for what we’re building here on Substack.)

• What spaces exist for creative entrepreneurs? Jordan and I just moved into an office space in downtown Raleigh, but we both were previously tenants at coworking spaces, which are often the most affordable and accessible spaces for early-stage entrepreneurs. Whether online or in-person, new spaces need champions that prioritize quality and consistency.

• Topophilia (a strong sense of place, often combined with cultural identity and love of aspects of that place) shapes stories and strategies. What works in one place may not work in another. My goal has always been and continues to be to share creative founder stories from diverse perspectives, and this realization further reinforces that mission.

• Change and success happen in times of uncertainty. That’s when you can do your best work and the most creative things happen. It feels like the economy is uncertain right now (at least that’s how I feel when I go to the grocery store). But some of the biggest companies we know, love, and patronize started during the last economic downturn (looking at you Uber). You could be next.

• In the year 2024, we’re still asking ourselves what endeavors are exciting to funders instead of asking ourselves what projects make our souls sing and meet the needs of our communities. Sometimes your creative passions are purely for entertainment purposes – does a community need that kind of business? YES! Why should people have to leave their community for entertainment or creative entrepreneurship opportunities?

• Mission over metrics. Define standards, but understand that some things can't be measured purely with numbers.

This conference was also an opportunity to build upon our learning from our fellowship’s trip to Baltimore. The Black Butterfly Exchange and Network of Baltimore created an accelerator to fill a gap in sustainable entrepreneurship for Black-owned businesses. 20% of Black-owned businesses in Baltimore made it past year 3. 98% of the businesses who completed the accelerator are still in business. Talk about a transformation! 🤯 As part of that accelerator, businesses participated in Cohado, a game with real-life implications for working together and maximizing assets. Paulo Gregory led the participants at SCN Shenandoah through the game, and I highly recommend it.

Access to capital does hurt women and minority business owners, but what’s even more detrimental is when we struggle alone. Let’s build a new model for community-based entrepreneurial ecosystems that move us from one to oneness.

Tell us how we can help you in your small business today. You can respond to this email or drop a comment below!

In Readworthy News

• AIR’s New Voices Fellowship is accepting applications. An information session will be held on Thursday, May 9th at 3pm EST (aka later today!). The deadline to apply is 11:59pm EST May 17, 2023. For more info click here.

• Good Tape has issued a call for pitches for their second issue. “We encourage pitches about, well, celebrities, but also ones that interrogate the issues surrounding wealth, notoriety, parasocial dynamics and what it means to be “famous” in audio.” Please send any writing or art pitches for the Celebrity Issue to [email protected]m by May 31st.

• Oura Ring is now available at Target. This animated video perfectly illustrates their brand alignment. A $300 wellness band with a monthly subscription seems to be beating the odds and experiencing growth. Only a great story and a great vision can do that.

• Spike Lee, one of my favorite filmmakers, teamed up with Giancarlo Esposito for this Fiat ad. This is also your friendly reminder to re-watch ‘Do The Right Thing.’ It’s good for the soul.

Thank you all so much for being a part of this community. I’m happy you’re here, and I’m rooting for your success.

Please Hustle Responsibly,

🤙🏾✨

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