Entrepreneurs, put those spectacles on and take another look see at our community from yet another perspective for your market studies. Hopefully, we'll always surprise you.
Love has been said to be the purest and most powerful motivator of them all. "Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." -Dr. Maya Angelou.
It has been an age old anecdote that “Behind every great man is a great woman.” Barack has his Michelle. Martin had his Coretta. Will has his Jada. We believe this proverb to be universal to loving and healthy relationships gay/lesbian or straight. This would make sense when you consider the courage and motivation we find when we have an object to which to devote our love and affection, a necessary expression of our soul and spirit, and the support and strength we are offered when we are partnered with someone deserving of that love. Finding that suitable helpmate, that life partner takes courage, awareness, intention, work, and good ol’ trial-n-error. This process is called dating. If you are not at least playing the game, you’ll never win the prize. You can continue to wait and hope for your Prince Charming to come find you somewhere by happenstance, but how's that been working out for you up to this point?
In February, we interviewed Steven T. Austin, creator of Kings-N-Queens Matchmaking Services who is offering the put-together, progressive and relationship oriented men of Atlanta an opportunity to get into the game and find one another.
Kings ‘N’ Queens (KNQ) is a new matchmaking firm that concentrates its business on a revolutionary format of “speed dating” designed specifically for gay men. It also offers individual counseling services in an effort to assist prospective clients with acquiring and forging the long-term relationships they seek.
The intent is to provide events for gay men that facilitate face-to-face interactions, eliminating the pitfalls of dating and assisting in creating connections that are much less likely to occur in other environments. In these now customary gatherings, people are made to fend for themselves, often feeling alone, confused, and scared. The goal of KNQ is to provide our community with an engaging, entertaining, and aesthetically-pleasing atmosphere through which they can enjoy positive discourse with potential lifelong companions. KNQ aspires to be a beacon to the gay community in supporting and assisting the creation of affirming, permanent relationships.
Shortly after this interview, I have begun training with Mr. Barber, (Branden speaking) to tackle my New Year's fitness goals. Already I am feeling the energy of a healthy body carrying over into the work that I do. I am feeling vibrant and strong. Not only that, as a friendship buds between us, this gentleman is the REAL DEAL. He is as genuine as he appears. He is inspiring and kind. He is the kind of guy everyone needs in their life. He will lift you higher. Your circle of friends are crucial to your life as an entrepreneur and this is a man on the move literally and figuratively starting his business with only $200 and a duffel bag. Whenever we link up for a training, I end up having a blast! I look forward to the next one. Our Saturday morning bootcamp sessions are like a workout party and he ends them with an inspirational message that I can't think of a better way to start off a Saturday Morning. It's like church for your body. He truly has that passion for what he does which makes him a golden entrepreneur in our community to emulate. He is a Light.
In this interview, we discussed how Health is Wealth. When you are healthy, you bring crucial energy into the work of your business. Your energy will radiate to others surrounding you. It will help you better manage stress and sleep better. This certainly can and often does converts over to profitability. When you are not healthy, you are drained of energy and more prone to illnesses which can take you away from your work. For entrepreneurs who if they don't work they don't eat, clearly one can see how poor health takes money out of our pockets with no return on investment. It shortens your lifespan. The costs associated with maintaining your best health possible pales in comparison to healthcare expenses when you are not well. Take your pick. Great Health will make you not only feel good, but look good and that attracts customers and business. You will approach them with greater confidence which will boost your sales performances. It will make you potent!
If you are ready to invest in your health, get up with Ralph NOW! Don't procrastinate: www.fitted4fitness.com
612-554-5731
In December, we were proud to sit down with Daniel Driffin, co-founder of THRIVE S.S. which stands for Transforming HIV Resistance Into Victory Everlasting Support and Services. It is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that created the Undetectables Model, a tiered support model that combines online support, traditional in-person support, and friend/social/ “Judy support” to address issues that many Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) of color face surrounding HIV infection. In the United States many MSM of color have trouble reaching viral suppression or “Undetectable” status, disclosing their HIV status to partners, family and friends, addressing their hierarchy of needs (shelter, employment, medical care) and gaining support. The mission of the THRIVE SS is to help HIV-Positive people to not only achieve viral suppression, but also to aid them in building a local network that is self-sustaining, uplifting and mutually beneficial.
The work of THRIVE SS is featured in this issue of The Baldwin Business Journal because we believe in businesses adopting The Baldwin Project Model having a strong social policy conscious of enriching the communities in which they are operating. We are strong believers in "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -Jesus, Luke 6:38 Our model is for For-Profits and Non-Profits to link up and create a symbiotic relationship whereas For Profits sponsor the work of Non-Profits and Non-Profits in-turn assist in marketing and ennobling the brand of their partnering For Profit businesses. It's a Win/Win scenario. Word-Of-Mouth is still the oldest, cheapest, and most effective form of advertising if we can remember the Patti-Pie craze a year ago. All is needed is a credible surrogate genuinely and authoritatively promoting the goods and services of another. "This _____ is good to me and has helped me, because...." Organizations created and moving out of altruistic passions have a unique and powerful voice for businesses which are in like mind with their goals for the community and ought to be tapped into. A business must devote funds to marketing regardless, so under our model, a business would use those funds or a significant portion of it in sowing into organizations doing important work within the communities they are operating within and having the benefit of writing that off as a tax deduction at the end of the year. No extra money needs to be spent in philanthropy, and it pays a strong sense of purpose and noble motivation to bring into the work of your business. It makes it then so much more than about profits. It creates that trifecta motivation for your business which is Passion, Purpose and Profits and that pays steady dividends such that when you attain riches, you will know that it has been done in such a way that many have been enriched along the way of your journey toward wealth. People will then be inspired to help you on the way toward your destination and celebrate when you have arrived.
If you have a business servicing a target market demographic of Black Same Gender Loving Men of Atlanta, please consider partnering with THRIVE SS. Watch the video below to learn more about their work. Contact them and/or make a donation now at:
(404) 267-1519 info@thrivess.com Facebook @ThriveSSinc
Make a donation today: Individuals $25, Businesses $50 "I'm 3,000 miles away from my family, and I don't feel alone. I feel loved..."
"The resources from members have been very helpful, I volunteer now because of this group. I met some really nice guys, who speak on a daily basis to check on me."
"I remain a member through THRIVE SS because I believe this is the reason I am in my right mind today. This group saved me from myself, I was lost until I got out of my shell and started being involved. This group is my life saver."
During slavery we had the Underground Railroad directing fugitive slaves along a network of safe houses on their trek North to Freedom. During The Great Black Migration North (1915-1960) we had The Green-Book directing "Negro Motorists" along a network of safe inns, motels and bed-n-breakfast hostels which welcomed Blacks with dignity along their journey from a hostile and oppressive Jim Crow South.
From 1936 to 1967, Victor Green, a New York City mailman distributed The Green Book. The directory also listed gas stations, restaurants, tailors, night clubs, barber shops and beauty shops not participating in the humiliating and discriminatory Jim Crow practices. "Whites Only" signs made it clear where African Americans were not welcomed, but until the advent of The Green Book it was not clear where African Americans were welcome. There were no "Negroes Welcomed" signs, and if there were, those establishments would be made the target of racial terrorists.
"Discrimination was so real that not only did they [black travelers] pack their own food; but also their own gas. You never knew when traveling while black what was going to happen to you and if you had kids with you it just added to the anxiety," said author and playwright Calvin Ramsey who is founder of a project to memorialize the important contributions of The Green Book with The Green Book Chronicles.
"when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"..." -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (an excerpt from "A Letter From A Birmingham Jail")
"Discrimination is a poison and that's why we need joy in spite of it all. There was no internet back then to get The Green Book, this was put together with love from black people for each other to keep each other safe. The Green Book to me was a love letter of sorts. There was a time when we loved each other so much that we would open our homes just to keep another black person safe. You could be a superstar, a singer, an artist and in those days still have no place to stay, eat or bathe while on the road, so this book was about the love and ability to preserve our dignity." Ramsey said.
This is inspiring for the purpose of The Baldwin Business Journal, for in this story we see that the self-reliance of our community is the true directory to our freedom. Every month we introduce to you members of our community who own and operate businesses so that those who are committed to supporting the group economics and ownership of our community will know who to turn to for various services and products meeting our needs and wants. They ought to make you proud and inspire you too to go into business. We are continuing to build our network one business at a time and expanding the reach of our readership base to soon be able to launch a local directory of our own giving feature to these entrepreneurs who are undeserved with attention in the general marketplace. For once, we aim to make it a privilege in being a Black LGBT entrepreneur within the chronicles of The Baldwin Business Journal.
