Episode One: Brenda Palms

Brenda Palms joined Angela Ingram for the premiere episode of Women Inspire Chicago. Brenda is the Founder/President & CEO of the North Lawndale Employment Network, an urban workforce development agency. She is also CEO of Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a social enterprise using urban beekeeping to create jobs for those with significant barriers to employment, and CEO of Beelove Cafe.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Women Inspire Chicago podcast, presented by I Heard Media Chicago and
hosted by I Heard Media Chicago SeniorVice President of Communications, Angela Ingram.
Angela will host inspiring conversations with someof Chicago's top women executives as they share
their personal stories of success. Theseconversations will highlight the executive's road to success,

(00:22):
including their triumphs, detours, pitfalls, and challenges. Here's your host,
Angela Ingram. Welcome, Welcome,Welcome. Brenda Palms, President and
CEO of North Londale Employment Network andCEO of Sweet Beginnings. How many people
can be a president and CEO andthen another CEO. But Brenda, I

(00:45):
am so grateful that you were heretoday. This is the premiere episode of
Women Inspire Chicago, and so Ihad to call him a good friend.
Brenda, I need you and you'reso great. Sis Lee agreed to be
the very first guest, and thewhole purpose of Women Inspire Chicago is to

(01:07):
have a conversation. You know,people look at us on the outside and
think that all that corner office thatBrenda commands, that it was an easy
road, and you and I bothknow that it was not so not.
That's right. And so We've hadour detours and our pitfalls and our challenges
and a tremendous amount of blessings alongthe way, and I have had the

(01:30):
opportunity to watch you grow and developwith your businesses. So why don't you
tell us a little bit about thenorth Lynedale Employment Network and sweet beginnings Angela.
First of all, thank you somuch for the opportunity to be a
Premier guest and just excited about womenInspire Chicago. You in particular, are
so committed to elevating good people,women, particularly women of color, that

(01:57):
sometimes aren't seen, certainly aren't,so giving us this opportunity to have these
conversations with you through your podcast isit's really an honor. Thank you,
Thank you. I appreciate that.You know, Brenda, I have always
really made it a point to lookthrough all of the glittering glamor and see
the real person. Because someone didthat for me, I would not be

(02:21):
where I am today if someone hadn'tsaid I see something in her, not
sure what it is yet, butwe're going to hire her. And that
was forty one years ago. Congratulations. So my give back is to make
sure that I dig deep in andbring others up as leadership, Well you
do that, you're very purpose drivenand you do it with your heart.

(02:42):
The North Lawndale Employment Network was acommunity driven vision to address the high unemployment
needs in our community, really drivenby all the ills of poverty. And
we learned that our community is onethat has been disproportionately impacted by mass and
car seration. And so if someonehas served their time for a mistake,

(03:02):
then they have the right to comeback to work. But that's not really
where society is yet. So I'mexcited to say that we did respond with
a market driven solution, which wasto create a business that would solely hire
men and women who've served their timeand demonstrate proved to society and change the
narrative around what happens upon reentry.And so we're focused on reintegration of men

(03:29):
and women you know who need asecond, third, fourth, or fifth
chance. Well, we all needanother chance. We've all made mistakes and
it really calls us in leadership torecognize that in other individuals and then find
ways in which to turn them around. The pillars of your leadership erasing barriers
and building bridges. We are erasinga barrier of some sort for you.

(03:53):
I think about in radio, it'sabout erasing the barrier of not having a
voice and elevating voices and communicating informationthat sometimes folks don't have access. That's
that's your racing a barrier and creatinga bridge to communication. It just happens
that my journey has been about helpingpeople understand their self worth no matter what

(04:16):
mistakes they've made, Helping people understandthat there is a way forward for them,
and really ultimately that there's hope.What has been some of your detours
and your challenges and has race andculture played a part? Oh? There?
It is the absolutely to buzz works. Yeah. Man, honestly gender

(04:40):
too. As an African American woman, my ideas, you know, especially
in starting Sweet Beginnings, weren't takenseriously, and I think what they didn't
understand was, Hey, it's notabout the actual beekeeping itself. It's about
acclimating people to the culture of workand giving them something meaningful to do that
they can find themselves with that willinspire pride and still develop a skill set

(05:04):
that they can use in a varietyof other sectors. But then you know,
you fast forward twenty four years,and we're a well respected social enterprise
business that's hired over six hundred,close to seven hundred men and women since
our inception, with very little ofthem actually recitivating or returning to prison another

(05:24):
six seven hundred. And that's whatwe're really called to do. That's powerful.
It is powerful. We don't realizethat what we do every day,
it's affecting and people that we don'teven know. That's right, people that
just see us and observe from thefar. But that comes from somewhere.
So let's dig a little deeper,Brenda. What in your upbringing is a

(05:46):
driving force for you doing what youdo today? Okay, we're keeping it
real, aren't we. My motherwas pretty amazing, Goldie May Royal,
and also my grandparents were very influential. My grandmother was quite an entrepreneur.
Had less than a I think shehad a six or seventh grade education,
grew up in Texas, remigrated toWashington State. My grandmother could cook and

(06:12):
make anything delicious, whether we hadmoney or not, and we had a
garden outside. She could fix furniture, she could fix anything, and she
would sell stuff. And my grandfatherworked on the railroads. So I understood
work ethic and the importance of it, but also there was joy in it.
And so I never felt like workwas going to be work. I
felt like work had to be somethingthat would make me happy and that would

(06:34):
be meaningful. We made it.And when you talk about a mother and
a grandmother be in the driving Imean it has been the same for my
sister and I. I mean theirwork ethic was off none. I look
back and I just I know they'resmiling because they can see what his sister
and I both We worked the sameway they worked. Our ultimate driving force

(06:58):
in goal was to make sure thatwe could provide for our mother and for
our families, and particularly in herlater years. Never wanted her to want
for anything. I don't know ifthere's a day that goes by that I
don't quote something that my grandmother saidor that my mother said. It's that
value system that is deep within methat causes me to move, that's right,

(07:23):
you know, no doubt it's amovement. Is it's a movement.
And so when I talk to thosein the business that are somewhat younger that
I am, and in other industries, you know, I want them to
be able to not focus on nowbut look back over the span of your
life and figure out what that connectoris. And it's just like Jasmine Bennett,

(07:44):
who is the producer of Women inSpire Chicago along with the producer a
Briatly Black podcast, and she's alsoon one or three five Kiss FM as
one of our she is and Iwant to bring her into this conversation as
you listen to a tremendous amount ofsuccess, but when we really dig deep,
it's about really from whence we came. That's right, from whence we

(08:07):
came and the values that we grewup. Well, I think with you
know, pivoting and you know,sometimes you're on a certain path and then
you end up on another path.I think that is just really important to
talk about that in general, becauseso many of us go through that,
especially women of color. We reallygo through that, and it's hard,
and we don't always have somebody totalk to about that. We don't always

(08:28):
know what to do about that.So I just appreciate missus Brenda over here
just for being here and sharing yourstory. And I think you giving people
that new beginning is so admirable andI love that you know. I have
a quote Angela, so speaking ofnew beginnings, I found a quote from

(08:48):
Arnold Bennett. The chief beauty abouttime is that you cannot waste it in
advance. The next year, thenext day, the next hour are lying
ready for you, as perfect asunspoiled, as if you had never wasted
or misapplied a single moment in allof your life. You can turn over
a new leaf every hour. Ifyou choose oh wow, oh wow,
thank you that mindset, she willgo far. Yes, well, no

(09:13):
question about it. As we startto wrap up this conversation, what's next
for women? You know, whateverthey want, that's what's next for women.
These are interesting times that we're in, and I feel like there are
forces, you know, that tryto limit what's possible for women and our
choices and who we are and whatwe can be. And I think that

(09:35):
we really can change the world.Women in general are so much more collaborative
in our leadership style. I alsothink that women we listen differently we do,
we do, and therefore you getdifferent outcomes and different decisions. The
more women that can be in leadershipand choose to be in leadership, because
it's a it's a sacrifice, butwomen by nature are more inclusive. We

(09:58):
are to share, and that's achallenge that some people they don't want to
share. I'm not afraid to share, talk about how we can help.
You can't walk away without telling ushow we can help you in your organization
and what you're doing. Well.First of all, let's be really clear,
you Angela, you all iHeart ingeneral has been incredibly supportive of the

(10:20):
work that we do at the NorthLawndel Employment Network, supporting our Belove products
because you know who's behind the product, men and women that need second chances.
And so I love that you've givenus this arena, this voice,
this platform to tell stories, andI would love to continue to do that.
I think people always need to bereminded of the stories of the impact,

(10:41):
stories of what's possible and to liftand to really hopefully inspire others who
may have similar situations that they're facingto know that there is a way forward
for them. So just continuing tokeep us in your Igheart family is something
that really means a lot to us. And then you know you support our
annual fundraising event, our Sweet BeginningsTea. You don't hesitate to say yes,

(11:05):
we're in countess In Brenda, Ijust like to say, let's keep
doing this. Oh we will.You know that once you become Angela's connector,
I never let go. I neverlet go. This is only the
beginning of many conversations. But Brenda, you represent the future of women.
When I look at you, Isee a whole world out there of Brenda's

(11:28):
Oh. I hope so. AndI am grateful and thankful for the work
you do, for the friendship andthe relationship that we share. And I
have been so blessed that you saidyes to be the first guest on Women
Inspire Chicago podcast. This is onlythe first of many conversations that will have

(11:48):
keep telling your story. You havea story, and so we are grateful
and thankful to be able to sharethat story. Thank you so much,
Brenda Palms. Thanks for listening tothe Women Inspire Chicago podcast, hosted by
Angela Ingram, presented by iHeartMedia Chicagoand produced by Jasmine Bennett.