And So, She Left: Wisdom from Women Beyond the Corporate World

The Key to Business Growth is in Your Mind (w/ Andria Barrett, Founder - The Diversity Agency)

Episode Summary

Andria Barrett's career is like a slinky. From theatre to hospitality to sales, there are lots of twists and turns...but she's always kept momentum. When Andria's Jamaican grandmother taught her the concept of informal banking (known as a pawdna in her culture) Andria became fascinated with different models of cooperative finance. Today, she helps countless women-led businesses and non-profits to find support and scale through her company The Diversity Agency. Andria shares her best advice on how to scale with limited resources, get the most out of your business partners, and bridge the gap between mindset and meaningful results.

Episode Notes

Andria Barrett's career is like a slinky. From theatre to hospitality to sales, there are lots of twists and turns...but she's always kept momentum.  

When Andria's Jamaican grandmother taught her the concept of informal banking (known as a pawdna in her culture) Andria became fascinated with different models of cooperative finance. Today, she helps countless women-led businesses and non-profits to find support and scale through her company The Diversity Agency.  

Andria shares her best advice on how to scale with limited resources, get the most out of your business partners, and bridge the gap between mindset and meaningful results. 

Andria talks about:

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Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Thanks for Trying to Rescue Me, But You Made Things Worse," "There Are Days That I Don't," "Maybe Tomorrow All My Dreams Come True,"  "Everybody's Got Problems That Aren't Mine," "Another Version of You." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Episode Transcription

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:00:00]:

 

What if you could change your business just by changing the way you think about it? It seems unrealistic. And you've probably heard countless opinions on what your mindset should be as a business owner. But how many of these voices can practically help you expand your mindset and your business? Andria Barrett is one of those rarities. Andria is the award winning founder of the diverse city agency, which educates and supports nonprofits and small businesses, and cofounded the Banker Ladies Council, which offers mutual aid to women entrepreneurs. Leading the Shea Moisture Dream Fund grant program. She's also awarded $50,000 to black Canadian female entrepreneurs. You're about to hear Andria's best advice for small business owners, how she's used it herself, and her explanation of why meaningful growth starts with a growth mindset. I'm Katherin Vasilopoulos, and this is And So, She Left, the podcast about incredible women founders and the wisdom they uncovered beyond the corporate world. Like many entrepreneurs who go on to help others, Andria's journey began in sales. But growing up with a Caribbean background allowed her to see the world of sales in a completely different light, which directly inspired the work she pursues today.

 

Andria Barrett [00:01:36]:

 

It all goes back to my grandmother, I will say. So, I come from Caribbean people, my parents are from Jamaica, and growing up, my grandmother used to do something we called a pardona. In some other cultures, like in Nigeria, it's called a susu. In India, I think it's called a chit. There are these different ways of informal banking. So back in the day, grandma would get together with a group of other women, and they would contribute money together every month, sort of like every month, putting money in the pot. At the end of one month, one person would take that pot to go start a business, take care of their family, do what they have to do. And then every month, the women keep contributing and they rotate. So every month, somebody else gets a chance to get that pot to do what they want to do. And it's this phenome that people are researching right now, talking about mutual aid and informal banking and how we can support each other through cooperatism to grow businesses and take care of our families and learn financial literacy.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:02:42]:

 

Wow. I'd never heard of that. And this is something that is done not through a regular bank.

 

Andria Barrett [00:02:48]:

 

Correct. They don't use a bank. They can put the money in the bank every month, but they're using their own after tax money to save up and take care of each other. It's beautiful. When you think of the root of this, it's a social support as well as financially enabling everyone to look after their neighbor or their community and themselves on their own.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:03:12]:

 

Yeah, it's extremely community based. As you're talking about this, I'm thinking, wow, this is something that can really help people, and it creates a bond between people, as did you. What is your academic background?

 

Andria Barrett [00:03:27]:

 

So I am a lifelong learner. It's almost pick a school, and Andria went to so starting off way back when, I'm a lover of the arts, so I had the opportunity to go to what I think is one of the most amazing schools in the city of Toronto called Claude Watson School for the Arts. I was a dance major, so that was the art I was pursuing. And I just loved it. I loved everything about school. From there, I went on to another amazing school called Earl Haig Secondary School. Again, it was a continuation of the arts program. So I was able to continue with my academics as well as pursue the art that I enjoyed and had the chance to perform in theater and travel across the province and do all sorts of amazing things. Teach dance to kids, dance on stage, do just amazing things. I loved it. I'm an advocate for the arts. I believe arts in school or an arts education combined with regular academic education just makes you, like you said, like you introduced me, just makes you interesting. You have all of these other skills that are transferable and allow you to do other things. It opens doors and it just makes you well rounded. So I just loved it, loved it, loved it, loved it. And because I also love food and lots of it, I went to school in Guelph. I studied hospitality at the University of Guelph, you know, once you graduate from school, always taking extra courses, lifelong learner, wherever I can find a course, I'm taking a know. I'm the one with all the tabs open on their computer who've signed up to any and everything. I believe amazing in learning and continually.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:05:14]:

 

Learning, and that's what you need. You need to do that, especially if you want to run a business and be very well rounded when it comes to that. Explain your trajectory then from being in the arts and then going into hospitality and then becoming an entrepreneur. What are the steps that are involved in that?

 

Andria Barrett [00:05:30]:

 

I feel like it usually takes two paths. You either leave post secondary and go right into entrepreneurship because you are ready and you have the assets and the means, and you want to do what you have to do, or you take the other journey where you get into the workforce. So you're an employee, you start off working for different corporations, doing different things, and then slowly testing the water. You put your big toe out there with your side hustle. You're doing things on the evenings and the weekends, and then you're taking the plunge and going out on your own. So I took the latter route. I worked in the hospitality industry for a while, and then I transitioned to sales. So I had a sales career for probably about 15 years. So selling either airtime or selling supplements and vitamins or skincare, and from there I have to say, as a sales training and as a salesperson, really, you are kind of running your own business. You have your own book of business, you are managing your own time, and your income is based on your output. So the more cold calls I made, the more prospecting I made, the more sales visits I made determined my income. So from there, it was sort of a natural next step for me to go in and try this on my own. So the diversity agency is the company that I run. So we are a speaker's bureau, and then we also do sales consulting and marketing consulting and support. So in the time that I was visiting other companies or learning about different industries or just attending every trade show I could, I found that there were small businesses or nonprofits who have these great ideas and great intentions, but are either missing a step or struggling. They don't have a CRM. They don't know who they're marketing their business to or their products to. They don't know who their avatar is. They don't know how to find other streams of income. They don't know how to present themselves well, either in public or online. And then I'm also a speaker and I recognize that there weren't a lot of black female speakers out at events. Sometimes I would be the only person on the stage participating in events or sometimes the only person in the room. So I wanted to create opportunities for other speakers, other black female speakers, other speakers of color, to have an opportunity to connect.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:08:03]:

 

Yes. I was going to say you sound like the connector of the community. Yes, absolutely. But you also sound like an expert in creating your own opportunities.

 

Andria Barrett [00:08:15]:

 

If only I was an expert. I am just going with the flow. I've learned either through experience or school or through my family. You don't say no like there's an opportunity or you're approached with something. I just say yes. I say yes, and then I go and I network. I go into my database. I find the people who can work with me on this project or partner with me on it, and I try to get it done. Only if I truly, absolutely, positively can't get it done, then I'm going to have to go back and say no. But I'm always going to give myself the opportunity. If I can't do it myself, I'm going to find five people who can help me do it. And we're all going to do it together.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:08:56]:

 

Yeah. Do you find there's a magic to saying yes to things?

 

Andria Barrett [00:09:00]:

 

Oh, I like that. Magic to saying yes. That sounds like a book title. You should do that.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:09:05]:

 

We should work on it.

 

Andria Barrett [00:09:07]:

 

Magic of saying yes. I like that. Yes, I do think there is magic. There is something. I don't believe in self limitations. Let somebody else say no to me. I'm not saying no. You present an opportunity, a challenge, a situation. When you say yes, I think something happens within your brain, and you immediately start to connect the dots. Okay, who do I know who's done this before? Where can I find them? Do they do this in other countries? Do they do this in other companies or organizations? Just try. Try. I think it was either my dad or my grandmother. They were just like, Try, try. What's the harm in trying?

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:09:52]:

 

Exactly. And I know that in some circles, the discussion is, oh, you just have to say no to people, and then you can get things done on your own plate instead of always saying yes to everybody else. But I don't know that that's true. I mean, if you say no to everything, then you're just closing yourself off to those opportunities, to something new that may come along and that you didn't even know you wanted to do or that you would like to do.

 

Andria Barrett [00:10:19]:

 

Exactly.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:10:19]:

 

I'm a believer in the yes trajectory.

 

Andria Barrett [00:10:22]:

 

The magic of saying yes. That's our book.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:10:25]:

 

The magic of saying yes. You call me, okay. We talk, and we write the book. Okay.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:10:40]:

 

What was your childhood like? Because I think that informs and forms people in who they become as entrepreneurs later in life when they choose that path. Do you remember any stories or anything that you want to share with us about your parents? Any siblings? Well, you already told us about your grandmother's story, but is there anything else that you remember as a kid?

 

Andria Barrett [00:11:01]:

 

Yes. So just like I said, I went to the best schools in the city. I must also say I had the best family and still do. My parents immigrated to Canada in the early, and, um, it, you know, just made life here in Canada for their family. And I have a large extended family, so, like, the house was never empty. That means it's full of people. It's full of food. It's full of laughter. It's full of jokes. It's full of just warm. I remember a warm home. Uncles, aunts, grandmothers, cousins. You felt surrounded by people that loved you and supported you and wanted to know what you were up to. And you come home from grade three with a good math score. There's support and love and celebration all around. So great memories growing up. I feel a little different from most people in my family in that I was the only one who pursued the arts. Everyone else were in academics or were in the work world. I was the only one who was pursuing arts and doing all the wild and crazy things that I do. I think you either become selfless or selfish in a large family because lots of people and you want to make sure that piece of cake you're tucking away behind the milk in the fridge so nobody else eats it, or you're taking that piece of cake and you're cutting it up into eight pieces because you want to make sure everyone gets some. Right? I love my Jamaican family.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:12:35]:

 

It sounds like you do. They sound awesome.

 

Andria Barrett [00:12:38]:

 

They're fun.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:12:39]:

 

They've made you into this amazing person. I can always already hear it in your voice, how giving you are and how generous. And people want to work with people that they like. I think that is a huge thing. Like, never underestimate the likability factor, especially when you're approaching people for the first time or you want to create a new business relationship. People work with people they like. They will not work.

 

Andria Barrett [00:13:02]:

 

Absolutely. And then we learn that people do business with people they know, like, and trust. So it's interesting that you mentioned that because I think sometimes that gets lost. We are selling or making this widget, but we're not really connecting with our customer. They need to know us, they need to like us, and they need to trust us so that we can do business together.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:13:24]:

 

People who are the same get together, and they usually do well in business, I find, in my experience as well. And you quickly learn to realize the ones that don't, it's not a good fit.

 

Andria Barrett [00:13:35]:

 

Right.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:13:36]:

 

And you walk away from that.

 

Andria Barrett [00:13:37]:

 

Yeah.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:13:38]:

 

So tell me more about the diversity aspect of things. How do you integrate all that into your business, into your life?

 

Andria Barrett [00:13:47]:

 

So the diversity agency, we just want to help. It's sort of an extension of me. So I've grown up doing a lot of volunteer work, and so when I look back at some of the organizations I volunteered with or some of the ones I'm currently volunteering with, again, I see this gap. They are missing out on fundraising. They don't have a strong customer base. They're not running their nonprofit like a business or some of the business owners in our community or the ones I'm meeting at events that I can see need a little bit of help or just a little bit of course correction. That's where our services can come in. One of the projects I'm working with now is with Shea Moisture. It's with their Dream Fund, and we're having a great time. So what Shay Moisture has done is they have run this contest to award five entrepreneurs, five black female entrepreneurs, $10,000 each. So this money is to be used to help grow their business, to get them from point A to point I won't even say A to Z. They're going to get them from point A to point L. It's just helping them get on their way. So what we have been able to do, and this is a really fun project, is participate in the judging competition. And now we're on the coaching phase. So we are doing our part to help them grow. As these business owners grow, they can then support their community. They're contributing to the economy because we know small business owners are helping us with the GDP so sometimes it's just course correcting. Helping them with their procurement, helping them dial in to exactly who their customer is and what the avatar should be, helping them make sure they have the right messaging and branding and making sure their price points are correct, doing what we need to do to help them grow.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:15:35]:

 

That's a phenomenal opportunity for any of the winners. I think this is a really exciting thing and that you get to be part of it. Congratulations. That's awesome.

 

Andria Barrett [00:15:43]:

 

Thanks. It is exciting. And, you know, for all of the entrepreneurs listening, there's so much opportunity out there. I believe that the glass is half full and there is opportunity everywhere. There are a lot of corporations that are investing in entrepreneurs right now. I feel like every week I get an email from someone or some organization where they're offering something, they're offering incubator programs, or they're offering grants or loans or just opportunity. Larger corporations are taking it upon themselves to support small business. Different groups and an industry are really looking back and extending that hand to pull people up. So I think it's great. There's money out there. I encourage people to apply. Remember, I don't believe in self limitations. Apply for everything that comes across your email, because you never know. Even if you don't win and get $10,000, you could be connected. Your product could be so innovative that they remember you and they call upon you. One of the companies that entered didn't win, but I remember them, and when I need them for an event, I'm going to call them. So I'm now going to be their customer and who knows where that could go? So I encourage people to just try. If you see an opportunity and you think you might be qualified, just enter.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:17:05]:

 

Exactly. Don't disqualify yourself.

 

Andria Barrett [00:17:06]:

 

Let somebody else do that.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:17:07]:

 

Exactly.

 

Andria Barrett [00:17:09]:

 

You don't disqualify yourself. You need to be your biggest cheerleader.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:17:13]:

 

Andria's wisdom about rejecting limitations got me wanting to know more about her own story. How she's dealt with failure, how she's been able to help so many small businesses to realize their potential. When I asked her about this before our interview, Andria used a metaphor to describe her career that I had never heard before. When we spoke earlier, you had talked about your career path as maybe being a bit of a slinky. It's cyclical. It moves at everything. And I want to ask you about if you remember the moment where you decided to let go of what you knew in sales and then jump into your real full time entrepreneurship. What was that like? We call it the And So She Left moment here in our show. Do you remember anything about that, those days?

 

Andria Barrett [00:18:03]:

 

I love that. And so she left. I love the title. Yes. So most of the guests on your show and most of the people listening know that it's not a straight line trajectory that just goes up and up. So absolutely. How do I describe my journey? It is a slinky. It's that longer slinky that kind of gets stuck. You know when you have an old slinky and it's kind of stretched out a bit and sometimes it doesn't flow like it should, and it definitely goes it'll go up, but then it'll fall back down two steps and then you may have to reposition it. And then it goes up again. This time it goes up two steps, but then it falls back one. So it's that experienced slinky.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:18:47]:

 

Oh, my God. I love it.

 

Andria Barrett [00:18:49]:

 

You love it and you're not throwing it away because it was a gift when you were twelve. You're keeping it close.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:18:56]:

 

You're keeping it. Yeah.

 

Andria Barrett [00:18:57]:

 

That's how I see things when I look back sometimes. It was like I feel like you can tell in your body. So as the days progress and you're like, why am I doing this? The pep in your step. And I'm pretty peppy, I got a step. But when the pep in my step was not pepping there's only 24 hours in a day. You don't spend enough of those hours focused on what you want to do and helping grow your base of customers and just pursuing your path. I don't like the word regret. It was a combination of, this doesn't feel great anymore. The pep has left and I want to go do that. So that's what I did.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:19:43]:

 

So really it's a full physical experience yeah. Of knowing.

 

Andria Barrett [00:19:49]:

 

Yeah, your body knows. And one of the other problems, and this is a completely different show, is we don't listen to our body. Our body knows. Our body knows when we are thirsty. Our body knows when we're hungry. Our body knows when there's a headache coming on. So we need to listen to our body. Our body can tell us, if something doesn't feel good, why do we go against what our body is telling us? It's our internal compass that we have stopped listening to. So I try to always listen to my body. If I don't want to do something, I don't want to do it, then I'm not going to do it. And the clock stops for no one. We are getting older. If you know, you are talented in this field or you're good at this, I believe you owe it to yourself to pursue it.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:20:36]:

 

I 100% agree. We're here for a finite amount of time. Do what you love, do what you're good at. Do what you're designed to do. And if you feel like your body's telling you something, you have to listen to it. That gut feeling is there for a reason. I completely agree with you. What do you think of the saying that goes, fail fast, fail forward?

 

Andria Barrett [00:20:59]:

 

You're almost afraid of failure. It's something that is taught in school. No one wants to fail math or science or physics. You avoid failure and you're ashamed of failure. But in business. It's important to fail. If you have a product, a SKU, a concept, an idea, and you just sit on it for 18 months, you've wasted your time. Especially if it's a bad idea, try it. Get a focus group, do a pilot test. Get a beta out there. Get a booth at a farmer's market or a flea market. Do they still have flea markets? But you know what I mean. Get a booth someplace and just try to see, maybe. Do people really like your raspberry chocolate chip brownies? You have to try selling it at the farmers market before you invest thousands of dollars in manufacturing this raspberry chocolate chip muffin that nobody wants. If you have an email list, send it out to them, offer it on discount. Do a pilot, do a focus group, do a beta, do something to test it. Fail fast and don't be afraid. Failure is not a bad thing. People learn from failure. That's how we refine and we innovate and we perfect recipes and apps and concepts and movie scripts, like, just start that's right.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:22:15]:

 

And what about you? Have you had specific moments like that?

 

Andria Barrett [00:22:19]:

 

Oh, all the time. All the time.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:22:20]:

 

Tell me, tell me. I'm listening. Tell me.

 

Andria Barrett [00:22:24]:

 

I'm talking about these raspberry chocolate chip muffins. Don't think I wasn't making something once upon a time. So I studied hospitality and loved food, and at one point thought I was going to run nightclubs and hotels across the city. I would be that vendor at different events, so we would sell food at events during Carabana or at raw food festivals. So I studied holistic nutrition, so would make smoothies or raw food salads or raw cookies or just whatever, and just take them to different places. So you could always tell by what you went home with at the end of the weekend and what completely sold out about what worked and what didn't work.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:23:03]:

 

What do you learn from that failure?

 

Andria Barrett [00:23:06]:

 

I have a friend who bakes cookies only for Christmas, like one of the best bakers. I'm like, oh, these are so good. You should do this as a business. She's like, no, this is a hobby. I only like to bake during Christmas. Some people don't want to turn their hobby or their love into a business because they won't love it anymore. So I've learned through my interesting history that some things you don't want to do long term, some things really are just a hobby. Some things the market is too small. Again, my green juices and my raw food cookies and my chocolate chip black bean muffins, they're not for everyone. It's too small of a market. So do what you like if you have a larger market and you know you can sustain yourself.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:23:52]:

 

Yeah, because I was going to go back and ask you about when do you know if a hobby is worth turning into a business and when is it not? And I think you just answered the question. It's know your market.

 

Andria Barrett [00:24:01]:

 

Yes.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:24:02]:

 

Know if there's enough clientele out there that can sustain you long term, not just for a year, but as an ongoing business. And then you can scale up if you're lucky.

 

Andria Barrett [00:24:10]:

 

That's right. And then also you need to make sure you bring awareness to what you're doing. You can have the best idea in the world, the best food, the best pair of shoes, the best whatever. Nobody knows you exist then. So what? What's the point? Who are you going to sell to? And knowing what your strengths and your limitations are. So, again, if I have the best clothing, the best handbags, the best app, the best whatever, and nobody knows I exist, then there's a problem. So then that's when you partner up. So I know what my zone of genius is or my expertise is, then you hopefully better find the best marketing person to help you get out there a great salesperson, a great operations manager, a great graphic designer to help you do what you have to do. One of the things I learned and I think most people experience when they first start, is you can't do everything. So you need to surround yourself with a team to help you do what you have to do. Barter is fine. If you need a graphic designer to do something, you need graphic design services and you can't hire. You may be able to pay people in cheesecakes or in whatever it is you're baking. Try to offer whatever you can to help until you are able to generate some money.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:25:24]:

 

Every piece of advice that Andria offers stems from her own experiences. She's a lifelong learner who tests, and iterates everything she takes in. Which becomes clear as Andria talks about a group of women she's helped in the past.

 

Andria Barrett [00:25:39]:

 

Not everyone had great credit, but everyone had money. Some money. Not a lot of money. Had some money, but was able through this partner, Susu Rosca, put their money in every month. Let's say everyone puts in $100. Everyone puts in $100 every month. And at the end of the month, someone takes $2,000 out of the pot. And it goes around like that. That money has helped people pay down their debt, boost their credit score, invest in their business, get packaging, buy equipment, pay for whatever they needed to do. So I've seen this informal style of banking, help entrepreneurs grow their business and then also learning. Just learning, always learning. Going to every workshop and financial literacy event that I can attend so that we learn, like, what type of credit card are you carrying? What kind of interest are you paying? Are you getting points or rewards on what you're doing? Are you using your money or are you using other people's money? So just always learning.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:26:43]:

 

And that is a tough discussion for some people. Not everyone is comfortable with the money aspect. Yes, they're good at the ideas. They're good at the innovation, but maybe the money aspect is not always easy for them. I have a question for you too, though. Did you ever have moments where you questioned the whole entrepreneurial journey because it either got hard or it was challenging? Do you remember any big challenges at the beginning?

 

Andria Barrett [00:27:09]:

 

Oh, yes. Questioning, for sure. I had someone tell me a while ago they made the comment feast or famine, and I never forgot it. She's like, oh, I was a consultant back then, and it was always a feast or famine. And I was like, Interesting, feast or famine. And then you go through your own feast and famine, and you go back to that conversation, and it just helps with the goals. You take a look at all the postits on the wall or your big whiteboard, and you're looking at your calendar and seeing what was the goal for this month? Or what's the goal for this quarter? And sometimes you need to dial it up. I have a client who is in a cleaning business, and August was a bad month for her. She owns her own cleaning company, cleaning after renovations or people who are moving in or out or residential cleaning, commercial cleaning. So this week when I connected her, she was not having a great day. She said she lost her third commercial client in the same number of weeks, and the summer was slow. People are not moving like they normally move. Summers are busy for real estate. So we have our sad moment. We hug, we have some tea, and then we look at the calendar, and we need to dial it in. Okay, Q Four, what are we going to do? Let's talk about promotions. Let's talk about social media presence. Let's talk about promo codes. So you just need to dial it in? Dial it in and crank it up. Yeah.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:28:36]:

 

It forces you to evaluate what's going on that's different this month, and what do I need to do differently in the next few months? And maybe that brings your business to another place or a new set of clients that you didn't think you would have before. Anything can happen in each quarter as you're saying, like, oh, next quarter is another thing. So the uncertainty is there. There's definitely more risk, and yet it allows for so much more opportunity and innovation. How they say with every disaster, there's opportunity. I'm not saying this was a disaster, but I'm saying there were things that were taken away from this business. So let's see how you can fill in the gaps and then maybe those gaps get filled more than you ever expected with what comes up next.

 

Andria Barrett [00:29:18]:

 

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And how are diamonds made? It's pressure. Right? It's pressure. So there are diamonds all over the place. We must find them. So any negative situation challenge downturn in our industries or economy, I'm looking for I know there. Will be a diamond on the other side. I only see it that way.

 

Katherin Vasilopoulos [00:29:48]:

 

Thank you so much to Andria Barrett. You can learn more about The Diversity Council through the link in the episode description, as well as her recent work with Shea Moisture. If you like the show, please rate review and subscribe to And So, She Left wherever you listen. Your feedback helps us to better serve current listeners and reach new ones. You can also fill out our quick feedback form. It's just five questions long and your response helps us to make the show that you want to hear. And so she left is made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee. We'll be back next Wednesday with a new episode. Our music is by Chris Zabriskie, edited for your enjoyment. You can can find a list of all the songs you heard here in the episode notes. I'm Katherin Vasilopoulos and thanks for listening.