SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hello, entrepreneurs and self-starters. This is Rick Phillips from Yeti, and you're listening to the Startup Sandwich Podcast, the show that unpacks the breadwinning basics, juicy filled journey, and secret sauce of entrepreneurship. Let's go. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another edition of the Startup Sandwich Podcast. In today's episode, I'm going to read this. In today's episode, we learn how Tanya Hales turned a Facebook group of eight friends into a million-dollar global brand that works with the federal government and billion-dollar organizations. This sounds like a juicy sandwich, Tanya. Let's get into it. Tell us all about you.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

I know. So who am I? I am a girl who likes long walks on the beach. My favorite color is blue. That's not relevant to the entrepreneurs. I'm an accidental entrepreneur. I didn't grow up in a household where that was encouraged or even thought of. My mom put me in French immersion because she wanted me to work for the UN. I'm like, mom, that's really specific. I don't understand. But it was, you know, go to school, get an education, get a job. So entrepreneurship was never on my radar. And uh I became a mom in 2012. And so I was just like, okay, you don't see single parents becoming entrepreneurs. That sounds stressful and crazy and hectic. And that's exactly what parenting is. So why would I do that to myself? But um in 2015, I left my employment and um started my own event planning company. That's what I was doing at the time, and that was wonderful. Um and, you know, then of course, life life and the pandemic happened and stuff like that. So my entrepreneurship journey is very roller coastery, right? It's very much I've got a skill set, I'm gonna monetize it. I don't know what I'm doing, but let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Um, and then on the nonprofit side, and the reason why we're at this episode, it really stemmed from asking a question. Um, like most Gen X and millennial moms, you know, I was on in mom groups on Facebook because that's where we were all gathering to ask each other questions about motherhood and parenthood. And um I asked the question, like, do they make sunscreen for black people? At uh I was at a splash pad with my son, and I was like, it's really hot, and it's not a question I'd ever asked before. Most black people don't think that we need it. So I'm like, ah, I can get through life with never having to think about this. But I was looking at my son, I'm like, oh. And I'm like, wait, where am I gonna ask this question? So I asked eight of my friends if I started this thing, would you join? They said yes. And uh the rest is history.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

But not to our audience yet. So let's let's get into this juicy sandwich. The the audience probably really is curious at this point, saying, Well, wow, that sounds like an interesting start. And what kind of business or nonprofit specifically would have to do with sunscreen or black kids or Facebook? So why don't we tell them what is the name of the nonprofit you started and give us a little bit of details of how you transitioned from uh, well, I guess as you said, to become an accidental entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Yeah, absolutely. So the org the Facebook group was started in January 2015. And I was like, build it, they will come and they're gonna gather and they're gonna do their own meetups. I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. I think that is gonna be the number one thing that resonates with a lot of entrepreneurs. We don't, we don't know, especially if you're not a serial entrepreneur or again, it wasn't mirrored in your own household growing up, right? Everyone's just like, I got an idea. I'm just gonna go and pursue it and hope for the best. Uh in the spring of 2016, it went from 400 to 4,000 in two months. So that told me there was clearly a big need. Um, the community was growing and building authentically, right? That wasn't me doing anything.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

This is the Facebook group.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

This is still the Facebook group. So I was like, okay, what am I? I'm very big on tangibles. Maybe that's the event planner in me. That's just the logical side of me. So I'm just like, it's great to have a space where they're connecting with each other and sharing information and resources, but how do we make it tangible? I knew I had to take it offline in some sh in some way. Um, creating a for-profit didn't really occur to me because I'm like, I'm gonna have to make all the money myself and find a revenue source to create a business. So, and I had worked in charities for also context. My background, um, my very first job out of university was Ottawa Food Bank, and then I worked for Big Brothers, Big Sister. So I've worked in charitable um sector before. So I had an understanding of how they ran and how things went from an employee lens. So October 2016 is when I incorporated as a nonprofit so that it could take the conversation offline, seek funding, most importantly, um, and really offer tangible things to the mom. So we are our official tagline for Black Moms Connection is we're an online global village. Um, I won't say the number yet because that's a really fun number that provides culturally relevant tools and resources to educate and empower the Black Mom and her family.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

And was Black Mom's Connection the name of the Facebook group, or did you call the Facebook group something else?

SPEAKER_00 5:02

That's a great question. Actually, the very first iteration was Black Mom's Network. And I think that this is also something really important for entrepreneurs to know. What you name your business, it should be really straightforward and clear to anybody when you say what it is, right? If you have if people have to guess, then you've just made it a little bit harder to market. Um, what I learned in that first iteration is people then thought it was just a space to network, like LinkedIn. So exchange business. Oh, oh, I have a business. They were really about um just exchanging their businesses and their side hustles. They weren't connecting on the personal level that I was hoping for. So that's why I had to change from black mom's network to black moms connection.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Aaron Powell And words are powerful as a communication skills enthusiast myself. I I love playing with words and you know, of course, as a business person, you know, but branding and marketing. And it's just so interesting how that one change of word can can let the audience know, oh, this is what it's really about. And that also that's really, really good going forward. So so you're you've started this thing, you've got this Facebook group growing, you've you now incorporate it. Uh what did you do to grow and to get support? Did you hire other people? Did you take some training? Um, did you hope and pray for the best? And it worked out because you're a lucky person. Like give us a bit about the growth strategy.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

All of the above. Mostly a lot of praying and hoping. Okay, so let's go back to the beginning. So now it's 2016. Um, I'm just like, yay, we're incorporated. Uh first you have to find three directors. I'm like, yay, three random people to be in these government documents with me. And I was like, bylaws. I'm like, thanks, government of Canada, for the templates of bylaws, because I where's the camera? Camera? I didn't know what I was doing. I d uh, I got nothing. Bylaws, who knows? Nobody knows. So thankfully there's templates, right? And I think that is again, entrepreneurship is about learning as you go and okay, who's done this work for me so that I don't have to do it from scratch? And if the government has a template for bylaws, I'm gonna trust it because it's government. Um so did that. And then I had a relationship with someone at TD, um, pitched him the idea of what I wanted to do. And, you know, um, a lot of times, again, people like see like, oh, okay, they see the banks and they go to the banks and think the banks have all the money in the world. They do, but they don't. Um so they're like, we don't fund 100% first year events. So I think I had maybe added, let's say I asked for like 40k. He's just like, you get 10. I'm like, well, all right. The great thing is though, my superpower is I planned events for a living. So I know how to be cost efficient. I know how to source different venues in the city. So we hosted our very first conference, the Black Mom's Connection Conference. I was very, very literal with that one in 2017. And they were the presenting sponsor, you know, reached out to different things. And the the superpower and the meat and potatoes, the filling of the sandwich for Black Mom's Connection is that the community came first. I didn't have to guess what they needed. They were talking about it every day in the Facebook group. What their concerns were, what their questions were. Does anyone know an X? Does anyone know where I can find why? So I took those conversations and turned it into an in-person conference. Um and that was that day. It's funny, I was thinking about it the other day. I'm like, that day was such a catalyst for so many things because TD was a sponsor, they had two panels. And the second one, it was all about like basic banking credit savings. I'm just like, ah, I'm gonna put this in the basement. No one's gonna go. This is boring. Everyone knows this stuff. I went downstairs, Rick. People were sitting on the floor, people were leaning against the walls. I was like, first of all, I'm a terrible event planner. How did I not call? I didn't see this coming, but it told me that yes, the information is out there, but people wanted it given to them in a culturally relevant way. They wanted a black woman to explain things to them because women to women, we talk to each other differently, right? A group of men, they're hanging out, how they talk to each other. You're in communications, you know, right? The gender changes how information is both given and received.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

So now black women are learning about banking and all the like life hacks that are maybe not taught to us growing up or are not given to us when we go into an a financial institution. So that was the catalyst, and that became the pillar and the anchor for black moms connection. Financial literacy went from that one session where people were on the floor to um which is now our financial literacy summit called In the Black. And then it be it born or Begat, whatever the word is. I think Begat is okay. Begat, okay. Um we like Finlit Universe. So Finlit U is now an eight-week masterclass program. We've got um, and that's Ontario based, and then we expanded uh nationally. So we have an East Coast and a West Coast one. Bizlet U was born out of Finlit U. Um, In the Black is still happening. We're launching Finlit U Kids. So like financial literacy, which we know, you know, the more information that you have about how to operate in your day-to-day, how to save for your kids, how to, you know, build generational wealth, like the better it is. And we know happy moms, knowledgeable moms create knowledgeable and happy families, communities, and economies. And in Canada, fifty women are 50% of the population. So while I'm serving a really small segment of women, I'm still helping the Canadian economy by doing the things that we're doing.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

It's when when I'm listening to you and and other guests too, I'm thinking if I'm an audience member uh who maybe is uh already an entrepreneur or maybe is thinking about it, maybe they've dipped their toes in, maybe they haven't yet. And I always want to take opportunities to you and I together to be able to summarize key points for them. So for the audience that's listening, what we're also picking up is things like don't try to reinvent the wheel, use templates that might be available, government or otherwise. Use your connections, use your previous experience in your business. Um listen to your community. People have these uh phrases like community-oriented or customer service. But what you're doing is you're actually saying, and that's why I'm recapping this, is that the community told you through the Facebook group initially and then through other means, this is what we want, this is what we care about. And because you listened, and you said, okay, great. For example, the financial literacy, you said, okay, this is a hit, we're gonna do more of this, as opposed to, well, that's not really what I had planned, so I'm gonna keep on with my plan A. Yes. You said, no, no, because it's community-oriented. And and I think this is a really good takeaway for our audience to remember that no matter what your bright ideas are, your plan, listen to your community and talk to your community. So along this stream of thought, what advice can you give our entrepreneurs? How can they connect to their community? How can they get that market research information? Like, how what's the best way or b or ways?

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Man, I just ask. I I keep having these conversations with folks. I'm just like, we've made so much so complicated. There's so much research out there, there's so much tools and resources, and that's what gets overwhelming for entrepreneurs, right? Um, and two things for me that you know I want to mention is again, find the places where um you can get the information given to you. I was lucky enough to do the Yeti non-for-profit program in 2018, 19, around there, pre-pandemic. And I didn't know. So at that point, BMC is three years old. It's got a brand, it's got a logo. I've worked with some great um I've worked with banks, right? So I've got some some good kind of traction, but Yeti made me understand how to turn it into a business. Everything that I just said about women being 50% of the population, and so because it was this like, well, why should the general population who isn't black care about BMC? Well, because I'm I'm building and bettering the Canadian economy by doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Everyone cares about a healthy economy, regardless of where you're from, your gender, your parental status. So Yeti really reframes things for me. Um, and I still have my notebook that, you know, it's just like not everyone is a competitor. Some people are collaborators. Um, and you know, some people serve the same audience in a different way, or they're serving a different audience in the same way. Like, so really just in terms of not everyone is um the scarcity is fake in a way. There's a ton of money out there. Um, everyone's going to the same thing, same entities for the same amount of money. But if you collaborated together, and this is what the government says. The government's just like, you've asked me for money and you've asked me for money. Get together. Then we'll give you the money, right? And then it shows that you're strong. And so I think, you know, really seek out um things like Yeti um or entities like Yeti that can support you, but then also just like, again, lean into the community. And your community can be your previous clients or people who you hope to be clients. Um, closed mouths don't get fed. Like you have to ask. And it really was just, and again, a lot of things was right place, right time, but it was building the relationship. My relationship with TD started from a personal connection in 2017. We're in 2025 and it's still going. And that's not from that same personal connection. It's because we overpromise, wait, underpromise and over-deliver. Right. I always have to say, I'm the same way. Yeah. Right. And so um, so many organizations, whether you're a for-profit or on nonprofit, but specifically nonprofits, you put it, you put together this great grant proposal, this sponsorship deck, and you're gonna promise them the world. You don't give them a report, you don't send them pictures, they have no idea. I'm like, they have to be able to justify giving you money to their boss.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

So we give them the vault. Right. And we say, here's how many people we served, here's how many people showed up, here's some testimonials that you can use in your collateral. They want that. That's what they paid for, right? Um, sponsorship is not about charity, it's about marketing. Um, especially in the nonprofit world. They don't care that we're a nonprofit, they care about reaching our audience as potential um bank customers or business banking customers, right? They have they have a job, they've got metrics that they need to hit. Think about their metrics, ask them about their metrics. But when it comes to the community, like just polls. Polls are free on Instagram, surveys, do a giveaway, ask them. People want to give feedback. If you give them an opportunity to do so, they will. Um, my previous job, I worked for MLSE, um, APLES Sports and Entertainment, and ran the 50-50 program. That's when you're in the arena or digitally you can buy and then you win half the money. And learned by just asking, people are very tied to the team brands. So if they play Leafs 5050, they do not play Raptors 5050. And vice versa. Even if the Leafs jackpot is bigger, Raps 50-50 players do not even they're like all red and purple, right? And Leafs is like blue and white. But I I thought I knew that, but asking them, I got nine pages worth of survey reasons. There was a ton of feedback. People were like, Oh, you're finally asking me what I think. I'm gonna tell you.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

That's like I can't think of anything else that's more simple than that. People want to be heard. Um, if you give them an opportunity, if you give them an incentive, they'll tell you.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Very good. There are some uh potential entrepreneurs listening who uh are having a difficult time, especially in the first few years of business, uh getting money, raising funds. So you've mentioned a couple times of going to the bank, you've also mentioned you had some sort of connection with TD. I think the question that some of them might have is let's say the first three years of a brand new nonprofit, what's the strategy? Is there i because I think some of the audience would hear things like, well, if you can't get money at the very beginning. So any advice or suggestion for them in the first three years how to raise funds?

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Um so I was very clear before I did Yeti that I didn't want to be the nonprofit that was in the site the grant cycle. You know, you apply for funding for a program, you do it, you reapply, and you hope for the best. And I I I didn't want to be in that. And thankfully, we didn't get any um, I didn't say thankfully, but we didn't get any government funding until maybe 2020. So again, that's like four years after I started. Um again, I leaned into the skills that I already had. I know how to plan events. So I know how to read venue contracts and be like, oh, I don't need to feed. I knew how to leverage the skills that I already had on a completely separate front to be economical for BMC. So our second conference was, I think, in 2018. So I think really just um if you know your audience, then you know who's paying a lot of money to reach that audience. Moms is a huge audience. So everything from diapers and Unilever, um, which we did end up getting some money from at some point in time. Um, you know, anything that any company that makes things for children is basically, you know, fair game for us to to pursue. Um, it has to make sense. Right. You know, people try to go after, they just throw everything in the pool. I'm just like, you have to be strategic. You also have to start small and grow big, right? I I learned, okay, if TD is saying we don't fund first year events fully, that means when you start a new relationship, ask for more knowing you're gonna get less. Um, everyone loves to do events and they think that they're really easy and cheap. And I'm I'm really confused by that. I'm here to tell people it is not. It is neither of those things, right? And so, okay, maybe your first event is 50 people. You sell out 50 people, you do well, you've got the receipts, you've got the pictures, you go back to that sponsor, be like, hey, we sold out, we had a wait list, we'd love to expand next year. Oh, okay, great. Then we'll double the money, right? If you are not, if you're not giving these entities who are gonna write you a check anything, they're not gonna write you a check just because your your cause is good. For for-profit business, it's the same thing. When you're partnering with any entity, right, like that relationship is even more transactional. And so you have to uh build the relationship before I think the key for me is all of my transactions came from relationships that I built. And sometimes you don't eat fruit from seeds that you planted the day before. You got to toil the soil, you got you have to have enough sun, you have to water, you might have to pull up the weeds, might have to chase off the rabbits, but it might lead to something, but you can't have this expectation that it's gonna be transactional immediately. People know that, right? No one wants to be used. Um, and budgets, right? The banks, their fiscal is in October. So if you are asking them for any money in October, they're just like, we're done. We've already spent all our money. They probably spent it by March, to be wholly honest. Right. Right. But if you're not doing all of this digging, no one wants to spend time in the research phase.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Entrepreneurs need to spend time in the unseen, unpretty, boring, tedious, or hire someone else, right? If that's not your strong suit, you don't want to do it. But if you don't have money in the early stage, you have to do the research. You have to figure out who who is paying money to talk to your audience and when is their fiscal, read their financial statements if they're a public company or you know, their say statements are online. Like dig.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

Right. It's important for entrepreneurs to be very proactive. And and you know, speaking to you, it's it's obvious that it's it's you don't sit back and wait or until, well, the government didn't send me a paper yet, or the bank didn't give me, the bank just said no and that's it, I guess. But actually to be proactive and do this research, whether it's official target market research or if it's research on how the banks work or when they're fiscal years. So it's amazing to get that advice for the entrepreneurs to say, look, get off your butt, right? And and do what can you do to make that deal happen? If not now, then later, what can you do to get uh 20,000 instead of 10,000 next year, et cetera? And don't just listen to people like me that say in the first three years of a nonprofit, you're not gonna get any money, because of course I meant the government grants. And then the counter argument to that is well, if you partner with someone who's established a charity or nonprofit stuff, then you can. And that's of course, that's a whole nother Yeti lecture. So it's it's great. Uh the lesson here is to be proactive and to dig. And also one thing I want to pick out that you mentioned was the idea of relationship building, right? Not just with your customers or your clients or beneficiaries, but with these corporate sponsors, with these bankers. Build that relationship. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

And that's a lot of work, right? Oh man, is it ever? But okay, so a couple of things. Oh my gosh, we could be here forever. Um I'm very clear, I was very clear. I think I was the only person who did the Yeti program that did not want to be the executive director. Everyone, that's their goal. They started this thing, they toiled away at it, they they built it from scratch, they want to get to the point where they get an ROI on their time invested. That's not that's not the best use of first of all, BMC can't afford to pay me. Let's just be really clear. And two, I don't want to do payroll and budgets and boring things. I'm no one can tell BMC story better than I can. Put a mic in my hand, put me on stage, I'll write the book, I'll do the public speaking, I'll do the racial relationship building. And so, you know, and that's where I'm better suited. And I made someone, my co-founder, who she's all she is spreadsheet budget queen, and I love that for me.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Because that is her superpower, that's her interest. She wants no part of being in the media. Me, put a mic in my hand, I'm good. Right. So now I have someone who picks up where I'm not necessarily super strong. Um, and we're we're a great team. And we can, you know, uh, and you have to seek out you have to seek out people who are gonna help you on the things or and and whatnot. Um and I'll give a couple of examples in terms of like, because in the beginning you're like federal government and billion-dollar brands. Um so a long time ago, I mentioned to I was invited to this round table at the city of Toronto City Hall. Um, and it was all about people who are in the childcare space. Because I had mentioned to someone in passing, one of my big goals is to have a childcare center for BMC. This was we're in 2025 now. This was at least three to four years ago. And fast forward, you know, throughout the time, I've done focus groups with them, you know, all these other things, kept in contact. Didn't harass them, whatever. And then two months ago, they reached out, they reached out. So the municipal government reached out to me and said, Hey, a grant is coming for you to apply to get some funding for the child care center. Because they remembered from four years ago when I planted that seed and conversations throughout. So four years later, we might be finally getting the building that I want. Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Um federal government that's so funny because again, some of it is yes, I knew a person who could introduce me to the right people, but I also show up. Right. And so when the um childcare minister says, hey, we're gonna do a small gathering of parents, et cetera, in I think it was like Burlington. Can you show up and bring your kid kiddo with you? I'm like, sure, why not? Hop on a car, I go, and I'm sitting across from the prime minister.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

And we're talking about childcare. Right. And I'm a I'm a person who leads a mom's organization. And then, you know, okay, I end up having conversations with the Minister of Women and Gender Equity. I have a conversation with the Minister of Health, the Minister of Housing, and planted all those seeds. And then an election was called. Right. And so I do have to I have to start from scratch because it's a whole different team, it's a different uh government, they have different mandates. So relationship building is really, really difficult, especially with federal government, any government, right? There's an election, obviously, um frequently with all levels, but I just named two different government levels where you know pl seeds have been planted for a while and can lead to certain things. Um where one day I got an email from the deputy prime minister's office, and they're like, Do you have time for a quick call? And I'm like, what does the minister of finance want with me?

unknown 25:30

Of the country?

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Right? And wanted our advice on something. And eventually wanted to us to make an official statement. And so, you know, chatted with my board about it. I'm like, hey, the turnaround time is too fast. We really can't, you know, but let us know how we can help in the future. That is what I lead with in every conversation. Not, oh, I'm gonna keep this person in my po in my pocket. I mean, yes, but not in that particular way of what can I get from them. But I'm gonna see, I'm gonna always offer myself up as a as a resource. Right, right, right. Because what I I can do something that the government can't, which is reach 50,000 moms. Our our community is now global. We've got chapters in Asia, we launched one in uh in the continent Africa this year, and we've got maybe 10 chapters across North America. So that number, that 50,000 moms, gets me, gets me attention and gets me in rooms, gets okay. She's got some trust from a lot of people that she can gather. Oh, I need a focus group of moms. BMC can help me with that.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

Right, right, right. Uh the database, database, database, it's so important, right? Either or. It's so important. And and there's so many different ways to have that. But as as you rightfully illustrated, when you have a number, if people are impressed by that, whether they might be potential partners or corporate sponsors, uh, or in this case of the government, it's it's important for everyone out there listening to find a way to build a database, whether that's through your social media, your traditional newsletters, whatever it might be, but get that database built.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Yeah, I I will only say that my only if I if I knew then what I knew now, I would have emphasized trying to build off of Facebook. It scares me every single day that my entire community is built on uh rented land, so to speak, right? It's not a home that I own. I don't own any of those folks. If Facebook decided to shut BMC down tomorrow, I'm I'm lost. Right. Um and that scares me, but I, you know, I feel confident that um we're not breaking any rules and they won't be deleting us anytime soon. So, you know, as soon as you possibly can start an email list, even if you're just like, hey, it's gonna be monthly or quarterly, and you hire an intern to write your newsletter and you know, you fill in the blanks, um, you're building something. But um, you know, for us, it was just in terms of we've never fundraised from the community. I've never asked the moms for any money. They don't need another t-shirt from me. They asked for merge. And I'm like, you guys don't need a t-shirt. You want to know how to start an RESP. Right? I again, I'm very big on the tangibles. So I think ultimately um where your community lives is really important, where your customer base lives. Uh it's fine if they're in multiple places, but if the m if you could start an email list, then you that those people gave you their emails. So that's opt-in. Um that that doesn't break any castle laws. Right. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Let's talk tangibles in terms of what does BMT offer today, just to just to give the audience a sense of what is the what might a member expect uh as far as because you're not asking them for money. So what what's what's on the table for them?

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah, so I think ultimately just a space where they can ask black mom questions and not have to give the precursors or wonder if it's gonna start a controversy to ask a black mom question, right? Um navigating the school system as a black parent is really, really tense. I don't have the luxury of ignoring when my son is gonna be called the N-word. Okay, and I I I say when. It's an inevitability that it's going to happen to him. And it has. He's only in grade seven, and it's happened at two different schools. So I need to be able to talk to other moms who get it or who have lived it, or who are going to live it, you know? And so that I think is the number one thing that we're a safe space for black moms to connect with each other and have those important conversations that they can't really have safely anywhere else. It's really being a woman online is unsafe. Being a black woman online is unsafe. So if we can as much as we possibly can create a space where they can share with each other and do so safely, that's so, so important to me. Offline, um, you know, as I said, we have FinLit U, which is um free, it's eight weeks, five hours. We give an Uber Eats code, um, because I was gonna have to feed them if it was in person. So now I'm feeding you. Um And we run that in Ontario, we run that three times a year. The national program we won, uh, one on either coast, um, I think once a year. Bizlet U, I think, is run once a year. That's a four-week entrepreneurship um kind of boot camp. I don't like saying boot camp, but you know what I mean. Um, we've got emergency grants. So mom's, you know, the Chromebook broke. They lost their boots. Children are always losing things. It's just really annoying. So we have an emergency grant where they don't have to worry about paying it back. It's you applied, tell us a little bit about yourself. Here's some money. Whatever you do with it, I don't need the receipts.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

Like a scholarship in some way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yeah, not even. I think it's just in terms of like, it always took a village to raise a child. Right, right. But it takes a village to raise a mom too. And if the mom is stressed about replacing these winter boots in the winter versus food, I don't want her to have to make that disorder decision. Right. So here's some money, and you don't have to worry about it after that. We also have rent bank where we will make a payment directly to the uh rental or mortgage provider if they're like, I'm sure I'm gonna be short on rent this month. And again, just trying to alleviate as much stressors as possible for the mom. And then we have a wellness vertical called You OK Mama, which is both a question and a statement. And we do things like we had a Mother's Day retreat, we do parenting workshops, we're going golfing next month. I'm very excited to go to golfing. So it's things about the mental, physical wellness and gathering. Um one of the things for us is we were digital and virtual before pandemic. So in 2020, when people couldn't go see their grandparents or their parents and they were pregnant and they couldn't bring anyone but their husband into the ultrasound room. We were there when they couldn't gather. And I think that that is um something I'm the timing for sure, you know, played to our advantage, but we were there before.

SPEAKER_02 31:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Um so we didn't have to do this crazy pivot to to virtual. We were already in that space.

SPEAKER_03 31:59

Aaron Ross Powell Amazing. Um a little bit of luck doesn't hurt, right?

SPEAKER_00 32:02

A little bit of a lot of I mean a lot happened in 2020. There's two two two things that happened in 2020, obviously COVID, but then also George Floyd. And so, you know, leaning into organizations who were seeking out organizations to donate to and to support financially, yes, the luck of that timing was was um to our advantage, but um it's it's always it's unfortunate that that's what it took.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

Right. There's a saying, I don't know who said it. It says something like chance favors the prepared mind. I like that. Yeah, I like it too. I just don't remember if that's a Marcus Aurelis quote or whatever. Regardless, uh, in terms of startup sandwich, because we're gonna start wrapping this up because I could talk to you for hours. And I think I I feel like I have. Honestly, at this point uh the the the sandwich part we have in terms of the the the bread of your business, the the not the nuts and bolts, but the let's say the meat and veg. We've talked about that. So uh a good sandwich has a nice secret sauce, right? And so in terms of uh entrepreneurship, that would be your innovation or your something really special. I think I know what you're gonna say, but what what is your secret sauce?

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Uh secret sauce is the community, as I said. It because it came before the business, um, I don't have to do market research. My rock market research is a living, breathing ecosystem that tells me what they need and what they want every day.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

And so I don't when you know, when everyone was in the group and remember there was a phase where everyone wanted to learn how to invest in the stock market. I think it was during pandemic and everyone's home and no one was going anywhere. So they had disposable income. Right. So I went to Well Simple. I'm like, hey, Well Simple, I have a whole bunch of moms who want to learn how to invest. You want to do a you want to do a Facebook Live? They're like, what? Yes. Great, put them together. Right. And so um that was that was great. And again, building a relationship. I was like, I'll give you one freebie. Come and talk to us for free. I won't charge you anything. But if you want to come back, you want to market to the moms, then we'll have a conversation about sponsorships. Right. Right. So I think ultimately um keeping the safe space, you know, shout out to the admins, the volunteers, all the chapter ambassadors, let's all volunteer work, right? Um, and learning. Like I'm not, I wasn't, I'm just the captain of a ship that I was I was plopped into this position of leadership. Right. Um, and I've had to learn a lot about myself on how to be a good leader. Um and I've made mistakes for sure. But I think ultimately I keep them in mind, right? The question is always, how does this serve the moms? And if I have to wonder, or if it's not an easy answer, then it's a no. And that makes it so easy for me to know what path we're gonna go into and uh what's coming next for the organization.

SPEAKER_03 34:47

Very good. And as a captain, you are responsible for the vision, right? And I think that if there's one thing that's been clear from our episode today is that you always had the vision and you pivoted and you gathered information, you were open-minded, but you always had that vision. And and I believe your community sees you as a leader with vision. So that's amazing. Uh wrapping this up, we're gonna put all your uh social into the comments, but quickly, if people want to connect with you or Black Mom's Connection, where where's the best place to connect with you?

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Easy peasy, blackmomsconnection.com. Uh we're on Instagram, uh, Facebook, we're on all the places. Um if you want to find me out in the internet streets, I'm really I'm on Threads. Threads is my new uh digital happy place. I love it. Um Instagram is, you know, it's it's it's there, but Threads is really where I I do most of my my chatting on the on the socials.

SPEAKER_03 35:34

Okay, great. Tanya Hales, very nice to meet you. And uh I shouldn't say meet you, but uh for this episode, you and I go way back. But for this episode, it's very nice to have you and and here. And I and I I love hearing all the different aspects of what you talk about because it reminds me that the audience has so many questions. And even these little bite-sized podcasts, I'm sure they're getting lots of great tips and advice. So thank you for sharing your tips and advice with our audience. Thank you for having me. Thank you for watching, and be sure to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you check out your podcasts. Until next time, keep turning small bites into big wins.