The Mission Behind the Madness
Chile, the people call me a Jamaican!
So remember how I was explaining to you my life story in the last blog post? Let’s go back to the career part; specifically my entrepreneurship journey. I really need you to understand that I did too much too soon and didn’t even know it. But, see, the way I’m built, once I started all the things, and realized I was doing team-too-much, I couldn’t stop any one of the things. Not only did I not stop one of the things to focus on the other thing, my silly self kept adding more things. WHY LORD?!
Let me tell you how it all went down…
GIFTS
In 2013, while at what I thought then was the worst teaching experience I would have in my career; however, as the old people say, keep on living girl, because I would definitely have another equally bad experience several years later. Anyway, while teaching English and Social Studies to 6th graders, I realized those kids had a special something about themselves, but they were also lacking the social skills they’d needed to be as successful as I believed they had the potential to be. Now, I didn’t have time to teach them those skills during school hours. So I had the bright idea to start having Saturday meet-ups with a few of my “star” students. These star students of mine were not the best academically; no fault of their own, but they really had the influencer skill down pat. Even though they didn’t use their influence positively. Which is why we needed Saturday meet-ups if you follow what I’m saying. I also extended an invitation to a few of my past students who had similar challenges. Those Saturday meet-ups morphed into what is now known as the organization GIFTS On Display. GIFTS is an acronym for: God’s Intention For The Salt. We believe that each young person is a gift from God and that God planted a special gift in each of them to share with the world. Today, GIFTS hosts two programs: Camp KidGenuity for elementary aged students and GIFTS Youth Leadership Academy for middle school aged students. We expose them to various professions and allow them to explore the professions and meet professionals who work in those fields so they can become aware of the hard and soft skills needed to be successful contributors to society. Camp KidGenuity has gone strong for four going on five years now. GIFTS Youth Leadership Academy on the other hand requires more time, resources and development. The goal is to relaunch the Academy in October of 2025.
REAL ESTATE
2014 was the year I started actively planning for my retirement, from teaching that is. I needed to figure out what in the world would I do if I weren’t a classroom teacher? I wanted out of the classroom! Here were my options: librarian, reading specialist, or bank teller. After thoughtful consideration, I decided that I wanted to explore real estate as that option. Once my mind was made up, I did some research on the process, interviewed local brokerages and enrolled in a two week summer course. I set a goal of completing the course and passing the test before the following school year. After attending class for 8 hours a day for two weeks, I studied for another couple weeks; and right before school started, I passed the test on my first try. You gotta know ya girl set and achieved her goals!!! What do you think my next goal was? That’s right! To make a sale! So every evening I went to the office and sat on what was known as desk duty, hoping for someone to call needing representation. All of a sudden the call came! A young wife and mother was ready to buy her first home and I would be her agent! YAY ME!! We began her process in October. Every evening, almost, we were viewing property because that’s when I was available. She was a stay at home mom so she was flexible with her time. The lack of daylight was another challenge since the time had changed. Looking at property after 5pm was not always easy however, we managed. By November, we were under contract and closed right before winter break in December. When I reflected on the process, I knew I couldn’t keep this up! Buying a house is no small feat. At that time, I believed that being a real estate agent is not a part time profession. Buyers and sellers deserved an available agent; they are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars! Ya know? So I decided after that sale that I would do leases during the school year and wait until the summer time to sell houses. Let me tell you, that was not a well thought out plan in hindsight.
PHOTO BOOTH
So BOOM...It’s the 2015 school year and I’m still a classroom teacher. ERRRR!!! But, I was open to other options. I had stopped putting as much effort into building my real estate business because I had convinced myself that it required more time than I was able to offer back then. I had only done one sale and one lease since I had become licensed. So apparently it was time for something else. Again, not well thought out. As I was sitting in my classroom, before students arrived, sulking about not having enough money and frustrated with career choice, I was scrolling on my phone on the Groupon app; because when we’re stressed, what do we do? That’s right, SHOP! Bargains of course! When I saw a promotion for a photo booth rental. Now mind you, I had already dibbled and dabbled in Avon a few times prior and ItWorks before I got my real estate license; but those businesses just weren't my thing. I also really didn’t want a job because I already had one of those. I knew starting a business was the route I wanted to take; I just didn’t know what business I would start until I saw the Groupon ad. It was easily something I could do on the weekends in the evening for only a few hours. It would not interfere with my job or take me away from Maddison. It seemed perfect! In true Erika fashion, I started researching the best photo booths, made my selection and had it delivered by May. I was in business…again. Another summer, another venture. I started out by advertising on Groupon since that’s where I got the idea from and that helped me get several of my very first customers. By December of 2015, I chucked up the duces and did not return in January to finish the school year. I was officially an ENTREPRENEUR!!! Joke’s on me because I didn't understand pricing well enough, so Groupon was taking half my money and I had a loan to purchase the equipment that needed to be paid back. So I was working events but not making much money. This whole business/entrepreneurship thing wasn’t going so well for me. At some point, I figured it out, paid off the loan and we’ve been rolling since! Shutters and Shoots Photo Booth is and remains the premier photo booth rental company in New Orleans. We have been hired to service so many amazing events around the city. I am also proud to share that we were even able to hire some of my former star students and other youth. As of today, Shutters and Shoots Photo Booth is partnered with GIFTS to offer the participants job training and the ability to learn how to operate a business.
FINANCE
When I decided I would fully immerse myself in entrepreneurship, I started to give real estate more attention. I was a full time Realtor and I ran the photo booth. I had the idea to be my real estate clients’ one stop shop. So if they had a question or needed a specific professional, all they’d have to do is call me and through my associations, I would get them to who they needed. With that in mind, I needed to build my associations. I was on the hunt for a go to insurance producer. I met a young lady one day in a store. Unfortunately, she did not sell the type of insurance I was thinking of, which was home and flood. She was a life insurance agent. At the time I had no idea how real estate and life insurance related to each other. So I immediately disqualified her as a person of interest. Not long after, I met another young woman who was able to explain the connection and even provided a deeper understanding of the power of being dually licensed. In September of 2017, I became a licensed life insurance agent. I discovered that I was now in the financial services industry. I learned more about personal finance: credit, debt, savings, budgeting, insurance, and financial planning. Way more than I expected but everything I needed to fulfill the desire of being that one-stop-shop for my clients.
Did you really make it this far after all that? Cause why do I have so many words!! LOL Well, I’m just glad you stuck around, I’m wrapping it up now. For real, not like the preachers. I’m really bringing this post to a close.
MISSION
I know the title says five brands and I’ve only shared four. Well, the other is this lifestyle brand I’m currently working on. The Modern Professional Lifestyle. Today this may not seem like a lot to some folks because of how society has evolved. People are now known as multi-hyphenates, and it’s cool to explore your varied interests. It wasn’t as popular back then. I used to struggle with figuring out how I could help people understand that I wasn’t all over the place. It all made sense to me. Two pairs of the four brands, they go together real bad, working in tandem to accomplish each individual brand’s mission. My real estate brand, Home Hero and my finance brand Modern$Money need each other to fully serve my clients. As I always say, you can’t have real estate without finance! Most people’s management of their personal finances is what holds them back from accomplishing their goal of homeownership. Similarly, Shutters and Shoots and GIFTS help to provide young people a fun and easy way to learn business skills and job training. The moral of this story is, our steps are ordered by God even when they seem chaotic to man. Nah clock that tea! Most of today’s professionals are Modern Professionals. We all, in some capacity have identified more than one passion and are working towards pursuing multiple interests. That's just the new way of life. A Modern Professional Lifestyle.