211: Crisis Management & Communications: How to Crisis-Proof Your Business w/ Renee Malone

Monique:
Renee, welcome to the Black to Business podcast. Such a treat to have you on the show. So welcome, Monique.

Renee:
Thank you. It is an honor and a pleasure to be here. Thank you for just providing this opportunity for business owners to be able to listen and learn from one another so we can grow and thrive together. So I’m here for it. And excited.

Monique:
Yes, my pleasure. My pleasure. And I am so excited for today’s topic because it’s a topic that we have not discussed on the Black to business podcast. But it’s so crucial in, we’re going to talk all about crisis management and communication and how we can crisis proof our businesses. And you are the go to for that because you’ve been doing this for years. So I’m excited. So before we dive in, I just like to get my listeners familiar with who we’re talking to, but I know they might be thinking, okay, this is something we haven’t discussed. What is crisis management and why is it? Why does it matter for business?

Renee:
Sure. I’d say we all need to think about how to manage through a crisis because all of us are going to experience one, big or small. Right. It can be as simple as having a technical issue on a given day or something is major as having a shooting or dealing with a natural disaster. As business owners, as the leaders, we’re in charge. We have to lead people through difficult moments. And so knowing how to do that is critical for success.

Monique:
Definitely. And speaking of technical, I want to thank Renee because we had a technical crisis before we hopped on. I had. And thanking Renee and her team for such grace. So learning how to deal in that moment is very crucial, as you mentioned. So let’s get into your background. So you have an extensive background in strategic communications and crisis media. So what drew you to actually specialize into this, in this field?

Renee:
You know, I always tell people that sometimes it’s not what you want for yourself, it’s where God guides you. Right. And so, truthfully, a series of things. Right. I started out as a journalist in broadcast media. So you’re dealing with difficult situations every day and telling those stories from that perspective. Then I go on the other side of the microphone and end up as a public information officer and communications manager, dealing with trying to tell the positive of the organization and communicate their perspective and realize through all of those experiences, Monique, that people need help in their most difficult moments. And through that, just felt like this was a gap, especially in our community, that I’m so grateful that our firm is able to fill that we’ve had business owners come where, you know, they may have made a mistake or they didn’t understand how to communicate something clearly.

Renee:
And they gave us that trust and opportunity to support them through that difficult moment. And through that, it just became a passion and a joy. And honestly, just something we believe we were meant to do.

Monique:
I love that. And can you talk a little bit about what it is that you all do at KQ Communications?

Renee:
Sure, sure. So we’re a strategic communications firm. Full service. We provide everything from your communications planning, crisis communication, branding, digital marketing, social media management, web design, graphic design, girl, content creation and messaging. We’re here to help people communicate to their audiences, whoever their audience is, because it’s important for people to meet others where they are. Sometimes we want to give a one size fits all approach to communication. But girl, we don’t all speak the same, we don’t all receive information the same. And the sooner folks start to realize that there is no perfect way to communicate, it’s about the perfect communication is when someone receives it and understands it.

Renee:
And so that’s why we try to supply different strategies in creative ways to get that information to the appropriate audiences.

Monique:
Yes, and I love that because it is doing business with care. And like you said, not everything is the same. It’s not one size fits all for everyone. Speaking of that, with you mentioning your background and your experience, how would you say this shaped your approach to crisis management?

Renee:
You know, it allowed me to have that unique perspective. I could see both sides of the microphone, so to speak. I understand that journalists are not your enemies. Some PR people don’t seem to understand that, but journalists are not your enemy. In fact, journalists have a very important role to play in communication, of trying to supply the public with accurate information, timely information. They get a bad rap sometimes of people believing that they’re just there to create a negative narrative. So I was able to see that perspective. Then, conversely, working in the public relations space, realizing the importance of just trying to get the information clear and understandable for the listener and make that so.

Renee:
There’s two way communication. You know, everybody wants to be heard, but sometimes we struggle to listen, right?

Monique:
That is true.

Renee:
And so I’ve had the opportunity to listen to both because I’ve been on both sides of the microphone and speaking.

Monique:
Of both sides and just your experience a little bit more, I’m sure you’ve seen and experienced a lot of things. So can you share a notable example from your career where effective crisis management made, like a huge difference?

Renee:
Sure, sure. You know, I’ll give one very recent, you know, one example deals with election commissions. I think that’s very timely commit considering our 2024 election that we’re all coming up on. All election commissions have a struggle, right, with building trust and ensuring that voters feel that they are carrying out the election with integrity. And this one, this particular one was no different. They had outdated voting machines where voters were understandably concerned about the process. It would take so long to tally the votes at the end of the election, and it just seems shady, right when it took me so long to provide that information. Believe it or not, they were, were also embroiled in a legal battle with their funding body.

Renee:
They’re arguing back and forth, and then a voter sued them. All types of things were going on. Now, to add insult to injury, 80% of the county was facing a change to their polling place, which meant a lot of confusion and misinformation was floating around. So we started with thorough research to really gauge perceptions and tried to figure out what did the audience think about what was going on, and why did they think these problems were taking place. We then utilized partners to help us in bridging the gap with the communication. Right. Because we realized our client at that time, this election commission, really didn’t have the trust of voters and elected officials, et cetera. And so really bringing in community partners that could help bridge that gap.

Renee:
And within a matter of months, the negative media tonality and negative outcry from the community change from overwhelmingly negative to overwhelmingly positive. And so everyone wants to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you just have to communicate clearly so people understand. So that is a crisis people don’t think about reputation, risk. I consider that a smoldering crisis where there are other crises people are more aware of, which are imminent crises. Those are the things that are right on top of us, and we have to act this minute, but the smoldering ones are the ones that most businesses deal with more often.

Monique:
I love that. So, so many things stood out to me as gauging those perceptions and all these things that people are not thinking about. So, Renee, what would you say are some of the common mis mistakes, misconceptions that people have about managing crises? And how can you, your insights, help clear that up for them?

Renee:
I think the misconceptions are, one that it has to be something huge, like a crisis has to be a fire in the building where we’re rushing out for our lives, or a mass shooter has come in the building and all of us are hiding under our desk. But really, a crises is all about how it’s going to affect your business. Yes, those things are going to affect you in a big way, but there are also things that will affect you, like money mismanagement, mass layoffs without any warning, political attacks, power outages, sexual harassment, ethical issues, the past coming back to haunt you. Maybe you took a picture with someone you shouldn’t have years ago, and now that resurfaces and then with social media, just one conversation caught on video, that becomes viral, or you’re a restaurant and someone finds a bug in the food or something and that goes viral. All of these things can be crises that need to be dealt with and communicated in a clear, concise, transparent way.

Monique:
And speaking of the various types of crises that you just mentioned, I want to talk about some examples of how these challenges and making it clear for people on how these typically impact businesses. So what would you say are the ways that it does that?

Renee:
Sure. So it can cause you to close. At the end of the day, all of these challenges can hurt a business so much that it never recovers. We’ve seen businesses forced to close after scandals. We talked, I mentioned briefly about the potential of a viral video causing or showing an unclean restaurant or I a bad meal. We’ve seen instances where those have gone viral. You can probably think about some in your own life, and that restaurant closes. It’s tough to return if you do not do what’s necessary.

Renee:
And that is own the error, own it. Apologize. Show that you are going to fix the problem that has been illuminated and then show people on the back end how you fixed it. Just proof of performance, if you will. And without that, when you lie, deny and cover up, you eventually find yourself closing up. And that’s as simple as I can put it. You have to be transparent with people and show that you care about whatever harm was committed. Not too long ago, I was speaking to a group and shared a little bit about the BP giant oil spill.

Renee:
I don’t even know if you read about that. Back in 2011, the deep water Horizon explosion. Okay. You know, NPR reported on that back then and said that before the explosion, the company had recently slashed staff and workers and, you know, had cut some people that might have been able to identify the problem before the explosion took place. Right. But those business decisions that we make, we have to really think about not just how is this going to affect the bottom line, but how are we really going to communicate through this? And are we still going to be able to operate our businesses effectively if we make these changes and having a communicator at the table. When you make those decisions, oftentimes will help you catch some of those gaps, because, you know, a lot of business leaders think about money. You know, if I cut these folks now, I can pay the bills and this will be taken care of.

Renee:
But they’re not thinking about some of those other issues that could arise. When we do things hastily. And then when they came out after it happened, they were defensive as opposed to apologetic. Empathetic for the challenges and problems they caused. They eventually fixed it and then went the route that you would expect by cleaning it up, owning it, holding people accountable, and reporting back those solutions and the progress with those solutions.

Monique:
So that is such good advice. And it makes me think about. So for somebody who’s listening, they’re like, okay, I’ve been thinking about maybe cutting staff or all of these things I need to do for my business. And I not even just the recommendation of having a communicator at the table is so key. Is there a way that entrepreneurs can identify which type of crisis that they might be most vulnerable to?

Renee:
Yeah, I think all of us are vulnerable to a number of crises. Right. But you think about a financial services firm. Obviously, their biggest concern should be a data breach. You know, making sure that they are tight in that area. So there’s never a data breach. A restaurant wants to be concerned about cleanliness operationally. If you are a factory, you want to be concerned about safety for your staff, breaks in, any of those things that make us really good at what we do, like in communication.

Renee:
If one of our clients gets slammed in the media, we didn’t do a good job. You know, that’s a crisis for us. We all have to be excellent business wise in the area that we’re charged with doing. I think that is what every business should pay close attention to. Just making sure that they are tight, business wise, in the area or specialty area that they have. But we also have to just call in the experts, right. You wouldn’t have some stomach issue and not go to a doctor who has studied and knows how to solve your stomach issue. It’s the same with regard to public relations.

Renee:
If you are having a crisis or a challenge in communicating, then call in an expert, have a communications person who studied in this area at the table so they can help you navigate through your day to day and help you avoid crises. We don’t want to hit the crises. We want to have good communication and good business practices that help us. Crises, yes.

Monique:
I love that. So that’s all about being proactive and let’s talk about that even more proactive crisis planning. So why is it important for entrepreneurs to develop a management plan before the.

Renee:
Crisis arrives to protect their business, first and foremost, you know, we have to ensure that our morale stays high with our employees. So having a crisis plan available so that how I explain it, you know what Monique is like filling a cup in a relationship. You know, if you continue to pour and support kindness and transparency in everything you do, when you make one mistake, people will be quicker to forgive you, right? Because the cup is so full. However, your company continues to cut corners, fails to listen to staff and customers, and a mistake happens, it leaves your cup empty. So just being a strong business, it’s important to have good communication engagement plans that keep you strong throughout. But the crisis plan is important for those emergency issues that might take place. And when talking about a crisis plan, you want to create like a crisis team. Who on your team will support you through a crisis and what exactly is their role to deal with Mediaev? Maybe to deal.

Renee:
If it’s like a really bad crisis, like, you know, a natural disaster, where will you hold people so that they can find and connect with their families? Who will issue statements to the media? Who’s going to be in contact with the hospitals? That kind of planning needs to take place with a crisis team contact list who are the people that need to be contacted if something happens? All of us should have on file for our employees who that emergency contact is for each employee. We should also have the fire, police, hospitals contact list for all of those folks and details about your facilities, layouts to be able to give to fire or police in the incident. In the case of an incident so they can easily navigate your place of work or business. Have drills similar to schools, schools have fire drills. We should have drills in our businesses on just what to do if, but to do it properly and to ensure you are protecting your business at the highest level. I feel every business should have a communications point person on their team. If you can’t afford to have a full time staff person, please, please, please utilize the support of a firm. Have someone that can always support you with your communication engagement efforts and your crisis preparedness.

Monique:
I love that for both those who can get that support outside or hired for it to be internal, I love that advice. Would you say that these are, are there any more key components that should be included in a preparedness plan?

Renee:
The ultimate preparedness, Monique, is really a communication strategy and a good business operation strategy. If you have a good business plan and a good communications plan that supports that business strategy, you are protecting yourself from crises automatically. And then the second part is just having a crisis management plan of who does what, how will we communicate and what those next steps will be in the event of a challenge. And always, I’m big on calling in support. Use the experts in order to guide you through a difficult moment. It’s worth, worth the funds that you pay out because you want to ensure that you protect your business and the people within it.

Monique:
Certainly. And what role, Renee, does regular review and updating play into all of this?

Renee:
Sure. You know, when we talk about contact lists, contact information changes, you have to consistently change out that information. Like every six months to a year, you should review your crisis preparedness plan. And we talked about drills. Businesses don’t often think about it. How will everyone exit in the event of an issue? Who will do what? In the event of an issue, staff turnover is real. So if you have Monique as the person who’s going to interface with media and she’s gone and left the business six months ago, now you’re all looking like, what do we do? Monique’s the only one trained to handle this and Monique’s gone. So you do need to update that, that plan on a regular basis.

Renee:
Failure to do so will mean you’re not prepared.

Monique:
Mm hmm.

Renee:
All right.

Monique:
I love that. And I want to dive more into some more effective communication strategies during this time. So what are some of the best practices for communicating with stakeholders during these challenging situations?

Renee:
Sure. Sure. The key is transparently acknowledging what happened. That’s first and foremost. You have to acknowledge the harm that was done, then show empathy for those who are harmed. Not showing that you cared will not resonate well with your audiences. Share what actions will be taken to remedy that situation. Exactly what steps will you take now to prevent this from ever happening again? And commitment what’s going to happen and when giving details and timelines and actually following up for that proof of performance that we talked about earlier.

Renee:
So having those messages is very important. You know, you’ve probably seen many apologies online of businesses that just messed up and did it wrong. When they wait and wait and wait, don’t apologize. You get more and more frustrated and angry. Then when they finally apologize, you’re like, girl, you could have kept that because I don’t even believe you at this point point. So you have to be timely with all of that information as well. Those who do it well, you’re just, you appreciate them for it. Some of my team laughs at me when I use this example, Monique, I hope I don’t get in trouble for sharing this one, but Kentucky fried chicken in the UK years ago changed their chicken provider.

Renee:
So the person that actually supplied them with the chicken and when they changed the provider, they didn’t consider, and please forgive me, KFC, if I mess up any of these details, but did not consider that this new provider may not be able to handle the big lift. Right. And so KFC ran out of chicken. A chicken place running out of chicken. It just shouldn’t happen. Right. But how they handled it was so creative. They quickly put a full page ad in the paper in that area because this was years ago when people use newspapers more to communicate, but their bucket of chicken.

Renee:
And they changed around the letters KFC to say fck. And then they had an apology under and we could all identify because you mess up, you’re like, ugh, you say the word but you’re like, oh, I can’t believe this happened. And we could all identify with that. And it was seen millions of times over, receive rave reviews. People laughed, they shared it on social and it increased business for them. So the response is so important. The timing of the response is so important. And sometimes you just be creative, laugh at yourself because we all make mistakes.

Monique:
That is hilarious. Yeah, they definitely own that. Yeah, I love that they did.

Renee:
Be sure to google it. It’s a great example of an excellent crisis communication response. Yeah.

Monique:
And Renee, would you say there’s a such thing as, like, too transparent or it’s no such thing?

Renee:
Well, I think you have to be very careful when it’s an HR issue. One thing we deal with way more than I care to mention is inappropriate relationships within the workplace. That happens more often than I care to even talk about. However, you can’t go out all the time and say, well, Johnny and Susie had a relationship, so that’s why Johnny quit. Yeah, you can’t say that. You have to protect that person through HR policies and laws. So that’s too transparent. You can’t do that, though.

Renee:
I have seen press conferences where people just out and out slandered. The person, said that there was an inappropriate relationship happening and this, that and the third. But those are moments when it’s too transparent. Also, when you talk about death, someone being killed or dying, going ahead of the family being notified is a huge mistake. And that has happened as well. Seeing that happen. Wherever, you know, a public entity mentioned the name of the person who was killed, and that’s how family found out about it through those public announcements rather than going the proper route of enforcing family first. So that would be, to me, Monique, the only example I could think of of being too transparent.

Renee:
I’m big on transparency.

Monique:
Yeah, that’s really good. And I think that can also apply even to, like, personal life in terms of, like, sharing social media. I see it all the time. The family didn’t even know. And, yeah, so that is good.

Renee:
Social media has taken us into a very difficult arena with regards managing, because everybody is a reporter now, right? As long as you have a phone and see something, you know, you can say something before you know, the proper authorities even weigh in.

Monique:
And I also see sometimes what people, it seems, are managing, like their media relations. So I want to talk about how businesses can effectively manage those media relations when they are facing these difficulties.

Renee:
Yes, I think in a very similar way, we talk to our staff and our clients about speaking internal before external. Make sure those closest to you have the information first, but then definitely consider your media as a partner because they’re trying to help you in communicating the information as well. I encourage our clients, you know, those that we don’t work with all the time, to keep relationships with some media outlets so that when something happens, they have someone that they can immediately go to that already knows their business and can help them communicate that information. But media relations is very helpful. We have excellent journalists out there who are telling stories every day and doing so in a very ethical way. But I also encourage folks to be their own journalists and tell their own story. There’s nothing better than taking control of your own narrative, giving that information out, rather than depending solely on media or someone else to tell your story.

Monique:
I love that. And so more people might be working with an expert who can guide them on how to deal with communication during these tough times. So what are some of the things that they shouldn’t do if they’re doing it on their own? Common communication pitfalls to avoid when they’re having a tough time.

Renee:
Always advise folks not to speak without all of the facts. That’s a really tough thing. You have maybe money mismanagement, right? And you go out and you say, oh, this is terrible. This money was stolen. I’m not sure what happened, but maybe you really don’t know what happened. Maybe there was a clerical error. Maybe the money wasn’t actually stolen. Maybe it’s there and you just got an incorrect report.

Renee:
Right. You need to be clear on the information before you share it. That’s on the, like a smaller crisis, but you think big magnitude, right? Like, you know, people going out I’m sure you’ve seen stories where they report, first ten people were killed, and then you find out it’s one, you know. So you’ve scared this whole community that the issue is much greater because you weren’t thoughtful and researched and thorough in finding the facts before you share the information. So in our firm, and in most firms that deal with crises, we advise people to have a holding statement. And what that is, Monique, is to say, yes, we can confirm that x has happened. However, we need to figure out exactly the, of the damage or the extent of the issue. And we will have a press conference or a statement or a full report within the hour, within the 2 hours, or at 03:00 or whatever the decision is.

Renee:
But that gives you time where you’re acknowledging that something terrible has happened. But we are honestly researching, trying to get our hands around it as well and understand exactly what took place.

Monique:
I love that as a leader during this time, I’m sure it’s difficult to stay focused, stay resilient, and still lead a business. So what advice would you have for a business owner on some strategies that they can use to build that resilience and withstand these challenges?

Renee:
Sure. First and foremost, listen to your employees and your customers. Do continuous research to determine what they need, what they desire, what their perspectives are on your work. Just like this morning, Southwest announced that it’s ending open seating, thank the Lord. But that they’re ending open seating because their customers said that’s one of the main things that drives them to go to other airlines. Right. So they were listening and finding out, how can we improve upon our service? Where you look at Delta. Delta Airlines experienced that big crisis because of the glitch with regard to, I don’t know what it was, technical glitch, but they’re responding now.

Renee:
Discounted fares. I went online last night and saw a flight for 177 round trip.

Monique:
Wow.

Renee:
Booked it. But that’s, those are strategies where you can build resilience and withstand challenges. Just listen to what your customers and youre employees need and want during trying times and then respond accordingly. Whether that’s a promotion or let’s say you’re having a mass layoff, offer resume writing, job opportunities for them to come and be hired at job fairs, call other employers to find out if they have openings that might be a good fit for your employees. There are tons of things you can do to be supportive, just as you would be a friend to another friend, provide that kind of support to those who have been harmed by your mistake.

Monique:
And as a business owner during these difficult times, like, how do you advise one to maintain that morale?

Renee:
Yeah, I think it’s still the same. Honestly, listening and learning from those who were harmed by your decisions and then striving to be better, that’s all we can ever do. Right? And one way to be better in business is to trust experts to do the work. I know when we first started business, I loved our bookkeeper, and I still do. If he listens to this, I loved him. But the reality is, as you grow, you have to bring more expertise to the team. So we ultimately had to hire a CPA. You know, money management is an area that we all struggle with as business owners, and sometimes we cut corners, and there are areas where we just can’t cut corners.

Renee:
Every business should have a CPA, an attorney, and a comms person. Those three things are necessary to ensure effectiveness. And, you know, when you operate well as a business, then morale will come along because people see things are in order. Everyone wants a stable place to work.

Monique:
Yes. And speaking of learning from mistakes, I want to talk about how a business can adapt from this past experience. So how do you recover and rebuild after you face the challenge?

Renee:
Sure. Well, you know what? I can use KQ as an example. 2018, 2019. Honestly, being as vulnerable as possible, we made some very difficult and maybe ill informed business decisions, which almost led to our closure. We had to lay off half of our staff. It was a very difficult time. So notice I said 2018 in 2019. Now fast forward a couple of months, a nationwide pandemic or global pandemic.

Renee:
So that Hitdev. So you have a decision there. How can we really let our clients know that we’re still here for them, even though we’re in a weakened state and they were in a weakened state? We just decided we were going to work through it, even if it meant that we were working honestly without pay from some clients who couldn’t afford it because of how they were affected due to the pandemic, we also found ways that we could support our community, giving out information to help people know where resources were during that difficult time. People appreciated the love we showed the community, which led to our growth. So I think when you just pour into other people and stop focusing so much on your own personal and business game, you will find that you will grow because people will appreciate who you are and the values that you hold. So I would encourage any business owner not to give up in the midst of a difficult time. Just give more. Don’t give up.

Renee:
Just give more.

Monique:
That was so, so good. Yes. I felt that and it makes me think of, because my next question is around restoring that trust. Such a great example. And I’m sure all of those things restore trust and credibility. So what advice would you give to a entrepreneurs on how they can restore trust and credibility with their stakeholders?

Renee:
Do what you say and say what you know. You know the phrase good lord, but definitely do what you say you’re going to do. The best way to restore trust is to follow through on promises. You know, be ethical in your business practices, operate with integrity, and that’s the best way to restore trust. We all make mistakes. People say the wrong things, they do the wrong things. I’ve had to apologize to staff or, you know, maybe misinforming, not intentionally, but it happens, right? And so we just have to follow that up by acknowledging the harms, showing empathy and correction. And if we continue to do that, we will grow trust.

Renee:
It’s very similar to relationships. Just our day to day relationships. We’ve all had to apologize to friends and spouses for mistakes that we’ve made and had to fill that cup back up. No different when you’re talking about a.

Monique:
Business relationship, Renee, this has been so, so wonderful. So many gyms. Even through this, I know people are thinking, okay, how can we work with KQ communications? And I know you mentioned some of your offers and some of the services. Could you just share those again? And also, how do people, how, what’s the onboarding of if people want to work with you? And is it particular clients? Tell us a little bit more. Absolutely.

Renee:
And thank you just for the opportunity to share a little bit about our company. But yes, the best gift anyone can give is a referral, whether they want to participate in hire KQ or refer us to someone else. Please, please do. We again, are a full service communications firm, including crisis, comm, strategic.com, branding, digital marketing, content creation, social media management, development of collateral, all those things. And to support us or allow us to support you, simply visit us@kqcommunications.com. that’s Katief Q communications.com. or follow us on any of the social media platforms. We are proudly a black owned public relations, branding and digital marketing firm.

Renee:
We were founded in the Memphis area and have a second office in Atlanta, and we’re proud to say we’re now one of the largest black owned PR firms in the southeast. There are so few of us people don’t even understand, like a PR firm that’s white owned. There are some really big ones out there, like Edelman, you know, thousands of employees for black owned firms, the average employee base is one to five employees. So that’s considered an average size black owned firm. And so we now have 22 staff members, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is a lot. That is our firm. So we’re very proud of that. And not to brag, just to say, thank you, Lord, for just trusting us, and thank you to the clients for, you know, reaching out and trusting us with their work.

Renee:
And most importantly, we appreciate our team that every day shows up on behalf of these clients. And when I tell you we work with some people who care, really care about getting it right, because we work with primarily black owned businesses and want to see them grow and thrive, it’s.

Monique:
Not bragging, because I’m over here smiling so hard throughout this whole thing. It is so, so great to have you and just the work that you were doing, like you mentioned, that is a big deal for other people to also witness and hear and see that it is possible. And, Renee, just looking back from, like, year one to now, what advice would you give to Renee at year one or two?

Renee:
Hmm. I think the main advice would be to trust yourself and trust the people that you work with. It’s not easy growing a business. It’s up and down, and you have to just keep going through all of the peaks and valleys, right. Because it will all level out, and you will get there if you just stay focused on the goal, not trying to be the best, the biggest, or whatever. Just show up every day trying to do your best work, and eventually you will grow. I mean, we were in the bedroom in my house. That’s where KQ started.

Renee:
I had no idea we’d end up being two offices in two cities. And I just thank God for that.

Monique:
So big. And what do you, or what would you say attribute to from the bedroom to now?

Renee:
I think the best thing is just to continue to try to do good work. Don’t take more than you can handle. We’re also very true to what we’re passionate about our firm. We’re committed to doing impact driven work that’s going to uplift our community. So if someone approaches us with a project that we don’t feel is supportive of our community, we’re not going to take it on. So be true to who you are and who you’re not, that’s very important. And then for us, the promise is research based outcomes, always. And for people that want us to just jump into the work without really doing our due diligence, then that’s not a project for us, you know, just being true to who you are and what you do and not sacrificing or changing any of that just to satisfy someone else.

Renee:
I would definitely advise that for any.

Monique:
Business owner and any tools or resources that have really helped you in your journey, maybe to manage or some books.

Renee:
Oh, sure, many of them. Calendly, for instance. I don’t know how many people know calendly was created by a black man. Yes, yes, yes, yes. But I love calendly. I don’t know what I do without it. And not necessarily black owned, but still very effective. Monday.com is our go to for project management.

Renee:
Always give them a shout because Monday.com will keep you organized. And one little hack is Grammarly for those that are trying to improve their conversation. And maybe they struggle a little bit getting that subject verb agreement going. Always use Grammarly. It is a great hack for anyone.

Monique:
Love that. And my final question is, what does it mean to you to be black in business?

Renee:
My goodness. It means an opportunity for legacy wealth for the next generation. I’m so passionate about black business ownership. I talk to my children, cousins, nieces, nephews, everyone that have and try to grow a black business. Do everything you can to support black businesses because that’s really how we’re going to grow the community and actually find equity because we don’t have equity right now and that will get us closer to where we need to be.

Monique:
Beautifully said. Renee, thank you again so much for being on the black civic podcast, being such an inspiration. And really, I was over here taking so many notes because this is so important in just pouring into my audience. I know they took away a lot of things. So thank you so much for pouring into us and doing the work that you do.

Renee:
Monique, thank you for just being a vessel. I really appreciate the work that you do.