September 10, 2025 • 36 mins
In today’s episode we learn how Tanya Hayles turned a Facebook group of 8 friends into a million dollar global brand that consults with the federal government and billion dollar organizations.
Tanya is an award-winning event consultant and director of the ioe agency who lives at the intersection of culture, sports, tech and community. She helps brands translate culture into connection and converts community into consumers.
She is also the founder and board chair of Black Moms Connection, an online global village of 50,000 with chapters in Asia, Africa and across North America and a national non-profit organization providing culturally relevant tools and resources.
Find out more at www.blackmomsconnection.com and instagram.com/blackmomsconnection.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
Hello, entrepreneurs and self-starters.
This is Rick Phillips from Yeti,and you're listening to the
Startup Sandwich Podcast, theshow that unpacks the
breadwinning basics, juicyfilled journey, and secret sauce
of entrepreneurship.
Let's go.
Hello, everyone.
(00:20):
Welcome back to another editionof the Startup Sandwich Podcast.
In today's episode, I'm going toread this.
In today's episode, we learn howTanya Hales turned a Facebook
group of eight friends into amillion-dollar global brand that
works with the federalgovernment and billion-dollar
organizations.
This sounds like a juicysandwich, Tanya.
Let's get into it.
Tell us all about you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
I know.
So who am I?
I am a girl who likes long walkson the beach.
My favorite color is blue.
That's not relevant to theentrepreneurs.
I'm an accidental entrepreneur.
I didn't grow up in a householdwhere that was encouraged or
even thought of.
My mom put me in Frenchimmersion because she wanted me
to work for the UN.
I'm like, mom, that's reallyspecific.
(01:02):
I don't understand.
But it was, you know, go toschool, get an education, get a
job.
So entrepreneurship was never onmy 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 crazyand hectic.
And that's exactly whatparenting is.
(01:22):
So why would I do that tomyself?
But um in 2015, I left myemployment and um started my own
event planning company.
That's what I was doing at thetime, and that was wonderful.
Um and, you know, then ofcourse, life life and the
pandemic happened and stuff likethat.
So my entrepreneurship journeyis very roller coastery, right?
(01:42):
It's very much I've got a skillset, I'm gonna monetize it.
I don't know what I'm doing, butlet's go.
SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (01:49):
Um, and then on the nonprofit side, and the reason
why we're at this episode, itreally stemmed from asking a
question.
Um, like most Gen X andmillennial moms, you know, I was
on in mom groups on Facebookbecause that's where we were all
gathering to ask each otherquestions about motherhood and
parenthood.
And um I asked the question,like, do they make sunscreen for
(02:10):
black people?
At uh I was at a splash pad withmy son, and I was like, it's
really hot, and it's not aquestion I'd ever asked before.
Most black people don't thinkthat we need it.
So I'm like, ah, I can getthrough life with never having
to think about this.
But I was looking at my son, I'mlike, oh.
And I'm like, wait, where am Igonna ask this question?
So I asked eight of my friendsif I started this thing, would
you join?
They said yes.
(02:31):
And uh the rest is history.
SPEAKER_03 (02:34):
But not to our audience yet.
So let's let's get into thisjuicy sandwich.
The the audience probably reallyis curious at this point,
saying, Well, wow, that soundslike an interesting start.
And what kind of business ornonprofit specifically would
have to do with sunscreen orblack kids or Facebook?
So why don't we tell them whatis the name of the nonprofit you
started and give us a little bitof details of how you
(02:55):
transitioned from uh, well, Iguess as you said, to become an
accidental entrepreneur.
SPEAKER_00 (03:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
So the org the Facebook groupwas started in January 2015.
And I was like, build it, theywill come and they're gonna
gather and they're gonna dotheir own meetups.
I'm like, I don't know what I'mdoing.
I think that is gonna be thenumber 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, itwasn't mirrored in your own
(03:22):
household growing up, right?
Everyone's just like, I got anidea.
I'm just gonna go and pursue itand hope for the best.
Uh in the spring of 2016, itwent from 400 to 4,000 in two
months.
So that told me there wasclearly a big need.
Um, the community was growingand building authentically,
right?
That wasn't me doing anything.
SPEAKER_01 (03:40):
This is the Facebook group.
SPEAKER_00 (03:41):
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 plannerin me.
That's just the logical side ofme.
So I'm just like, it's great tohave a space where they're
connecting with each other andsharing information and
resources, but how do we make ittangible?
I knew I had to take it offlinein some sh in some way.
Um, creating a for-profit didn'treally occur to me because I'm
(04:03):
like, I'm gonna have to make allthe money myself and find a
revenue source to create abusiness.
So, and I had worked incharities for also context.
My background, um, my very firstjob out of university was Ottawa
Food Bank, and then I worked forBig Brothers, Big Sister.
So I've worked in charitable umsector before.
So I had an understanding of howthey ran and how things went
(04:26):
from an employee lens.
So October 2016 is when Iincorporated as a nonprofit so
that it could take theconversation offline, seek
funding, most importantly, um,and really offer tangible things
to the mom.
So we are our official taglinefor Black Moms Connection is
we're an online global village.
(04:47):
Um, I won't say the number yetbecause that's a really fun
number that provides culturallyrelevant tools and resources to
educate and empower the BlackMom and her family.
SPEAKER_03 (04:58):
And was Black Mom's Connection the name of the
Facebook group, or did you callthe Facebook group something
else?
SPEAKER_00 (05:02):
That's a great question.
Actually, the very firstiteration was Black Mom's
Network.
And I think that this is alsosomething really important for
entrepreneurs to know.
What you name your business, itshould be really straightforward
and clear to anybody when yousay what it is, right?
If you have if people have toguess, then you've just made it
a little bit harder to market.
(05:23):
Um, what I learned in that firstiteration 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 justexchanging their businesses and
their side hustles.
They weren't connecting on thepersonal level that I was hoping
for.
So that's why I had to changefrom black mom's network to
(05:45):
black moms connection.
SPEAKER_03 (05:46):
Aaron Powell And words are powerful as a
communication skills enthusiastmyself.
I I love playing with words andyou know, of course, as a
business person, you know, butbranding and marketing.
And it's just so interesting howthat one change of word can can
let the audience know, oh, thisis what it's really about.
And that also that's really,really good going forward.
So so you're you've started thisthing, you've got this Facebook
(06:07):
group growing, you've you nowincorporate it.
Uh what did you do to grow andto get support?
Did you hire other people?
Did you take some training?
Um, did you hope and pray forthe best?
And it worked out because you'rea lucky person.
Like give us a bit about thegrowth strategy.
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
All of the above.
Mostly a lot of praying andhoping.
Okay, so let's go back to thebeginning.
So now it's 2016.
Um, I'm just like, yay, we'reincorporated.
Uh first you have to find threedirectors.
I'm like, yay, three randompeople to be in these government
documents with me.
And I was like, bylaws.
(06:45):
I'm like, thanks, government ofCanada, for the templates of
bylaws, because I where's thecamera?
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 fromscratch?
(07:07):
And if the government has atemplate for bylaws, I'm gonna
trust it because it'sgovernment.
Um so did that.
And then I had a relationshipwith someone at TD, um, pitched
him the idea of what I wanted todo.
And, you know, um, a lot oftimes, again, people like see
like, oh, okay, they see thebanks and they go to the banks
and think the banks have all themoney in the world.
They do, but they don't.
(07:28):
Um so they're like, we don'tfund 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, mysuperpower is I planned events
for a living.
So I know how to be costefficient.
I know how to source differentvenues in the city.
So we hosted our very firstconference, the Black Mom's
(07:50):
Connection Conference.
I was very, very literal withthat one in 2017.
And they were the presentingsponsor, you know, reached out
to different things.
And the the superpower and themeat and potatoes, the filling
of the sandwich for Black Mom'sConnection is that the community
came first.
I didn't have to guess what theyneeded.
They were talking about it everyday in the Facebook group.
(08:11):
What their concerns were, whattheir questions were.
Does anyone know an X?
Does anyone know where I canfind why?
So I took those conversationsand turned it into an in-person
conference.
Um and that was that day.
It's funny, I was thinking aboutit the other day.
I'm like, that day was such acatalyst for so many things
because TD was a sponsor, theyhad two panels.
(08:33):
And the second one, it was allabout like basic banking credit
savings.
I'm just like, ah, I'm gonna putthis in the basement.
No one's gonna go.
This is boring.
Everyone knows this stuff.
I went downstairs, Rick.
People were sitting on thefloor, people were leaning
against the walls.
I was like, first of all, I'm aterrible event planner.
How did I not call?
I didn't see this coming, but ittold me that yes, the
(08:54):
information is out there, butpeople wanted it given to them
in a culturally relevant way.
They wanted a black woman toexplain things to them because
women to women, we talk to eachother differently, right?
A group of men, they're hangingout, how they talk to each
other.
You're in communications, youknow, right?
The gender changes howinformation is both given and
received.
SPEAKER_02 (09:13):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:14):
So now black women are learning about banking and
all the like life hacks that aremaybe not taught to us growing
up or are not given to us whenwe go into an a financial
institution.
So that was the catalyst, andthat became the pillar and the
anchor for black momsconnection.
Financial literacy went fromthat one session where people
were on the floor to um which isnow our financial literacy
(09:37):
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-weekmasterclass program.
We've got um, and that's Ontariobased, and then we expanded uh
nationally.
So we have an East Coast and aWest Coast one.
Bizlet U was born out of FinlitU.
(09:59):
Um, In the Black is stillhappening.
We're launching Finlit U Kids.
So like financial literacy,which we know, you know, the
more information that you haveabout how to operate in your
day-to-day, how to save for yourkids, how to, you know, build
generational wealth, like thebetter it is.
And we know happy moms,knowledgeable moms create
knowledgeable and happyfamilies, communities, and
(10:21):
economies.
And in Canada, fifty women are50% of the population.
So while I'm serving a reallysmall segment of women, I'm
still helping the Canadianeconomy 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'man audience member uh who maybe
is uh already an entrepreneur ormaybe is thinking about it,
maybe they've dipped their toesin, maybe they haven't yet.
And I always want to takeopportunities to you and I
together to be able to summarizekey points for them.
So for the audience that'slistening, what we're also
(10:55):
picking up is things like don'ttry to reinvent the wheel, use
templates that might beavailable, government or
otherwise.
Use your connections, use yourprevious experience in your
business.
Um listen to your community.
People have these uh phraseslike community-oriented or
customer service.
But what you're doing is you'reactually saying, and that's why
I'm recapping this, is that thecommunity told you through the
(11:17):
Facebook group initially andthen through other means, this
is what we want, this is what wecare about.
And because you listened, andyou said, okay, great.
For example, the financialliteracy, you said, okay, this
is a hit, we're gonna do more ofthis, as opposed to, well,
that's not really what I hadplanned, so I'm gonna keep on
with my plan A.
Yes.
You said, no, no, because it'scommunity-oriented.
And and I think this is a reallygood takeaway for our audience
(11:39):
to remember that no matter whatyour bright ideas are, your
plan, listen to your communityand talk to your community.
So along this stream of thought,what advice can you give our
entrepreneurs?
How can they connect to theircommunity?
How can they get that marketresearch information?
Like, how what's the best way orb or ways?
SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
Man, I just ask.
I I keep having theseconversations with folks.
I'm just like, we've made somuch so complicated.
There's so much research outthere, there's so much tools and
resources, and that's what getsoverwhelming for entrepreneurs,
right?
Um, and two things for me thatyou know I want to mention is
again, find the places where umyou can get the information
(12:17):
given to you.
I was lucky enough to do theYeti non-for-profit program in
2018, 19, around there,pre-pandemic.
And I didn't know.
So at that point, BMC is threeyears old.
It's got a brand, it's got alogo.
I've worked with some great umI've worked with banks, right?
So I've got some some good kindof traction, but Yeti made me
(12:41):
understand how to turn it into abusiness.
Everything that I just saidabout women being 50% of the
population, and so because itwas this like, well, why should
the general population who isn'tblack care about BMC?
Well, because I'm I'm buildingand 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 thingsfor me.
Um, and I still have my notebookthat, you know, it's just like
not everyone is a competitor.
Some people are collaborators.
Um, and you know, some peopleserve the same audience in a
different way, or they'reserving a different audience in
(13:19):
the same way.
Like, so really just in terms ofnot everyone is um the scarcity
is fake in a way.
There's a ton of money outthere.
Um, everyone's going to the samething, same entities for the
same amount of money.
But if you collaboratedtogether, 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.
(13:40):
Get together.
Then we'll give you the money,right?
And then it shows that you'restrong.
And so I think, you know, reallyseek out um things like Yeti um
or entities like Yeti that cansupport you, but then also just
like, again, lean into thecommunity.
And your community can be yourprevious clients or people who
(14:00):
you hope to be clients.
Um, closed mouths don't get fed.
Like you have to ask.
And it really was just, andagain, a lot of things was right
place, right time, but it wasbuilding the relationship.
My relationship with TD startedfrom a personal connection in
2017.
We're in 2025 and it's stillgoing.
And that's not from that samepersonal connection.
(14:22):
It's because we overpromise,wait, underpromise and
over-deliver.
Right.
I always have to say, I'm thesame way.
Yeah.
Right.
And so um, so manyorganizations, whether you're a
for-profit or on nonprofit, butspecifically nonprofits, you put
it, you put together this greatgrant proposal, this sponsorship
deck, and you're gonna promisethem the world.
(14:44):
You don't give them a report,you don't send them pictures,
they have no idea.
I'm like, they have to be ableto 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 manypeople we served, here's how
many people showed up, here'ssome testimonials that you can
use in your collateral.
They want that.
That's what they paid for,right?
Um, sponsorship is not aboutcharity, it's about marketing.
Um, especially in the nonprofitworld.
They don't care that we're anonprofit, they care about
(15:16):
reaching our audience aspotential 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, askthem about their metrics.
But when it comes to thecommunity, like just polls.
Polls are free on Instagram,surveys, do a giveaway, ask
them.
(15:36):
People want to give feedback.
If you give them an opportunityto do so, they will.
Um, my previous job, I workedfor MLSE, um, APLES Sports and
Entertainment, and ran the 50-50program.
That's when you're in the arenaor digitally you can buy and
then you win half the money.
And learned by just asking,people are very tied to the team
(15:58):
brands.
So if they play Leafs 5050, theydo not play Raptors 5050.
And vice versa.
Even if the Leafs jackpot isbigger, Raps 50-50 players do
not even they're like all redand purple, right?
And Leafs is like blue andwhite.
But I I thought I knew that, butasking them, I got nine pages
(16:20):
worth of survey reasons.
There was a ton of feedback.
People were like, Oh, you'refinally 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 anopportunity, if you give them an
incentive, they'll tell you.
SPEAKER_03 (16:40):
Very good.
There are some uh potentialentrepreneurs listening who uh
are having a difficult time,especially in the first few
years of business, uh gettingmoney, raising funds.
So you've mentioned a coupletimes of going to the bank,
you've also mentioned you hadsome sort of connection with TD.
I think the question that someof them might have is let's say
the first three years of a brandnew nonprofit, what's the
(17:02):
strategy?
Is there i because I think someof the audience would hear
things like, well, if you can'tget money at the very beginning.
So any advice or suggestion forthem 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 nonprofitthat was in the site the grant
cycle.
You know, you apply for fundingfor a program, you do it, you
reapply, and you hope for thebest.
And I I I didn't want to be inthat.
And thankfully, we didn't getany um, I didn't say thankfully,
but we didn't get any governmentfunding until maybe 2020.
(17:37):
So again, that's like four yearsafter I started.
Um again, I leaned into theskills that I already had.
I know how to plan events.
So I know how to read venuecontracts and be like, oh, I
don't need to feed.
I knew how to leverage theskills that I already had on a
completely separate front to beeconomical for BMC.
So our second conference was, Ithink, in 2018.
(18:00):
So I think really just um if youknow your audience, then you
know who's paying a lot of moneyto reach that audience.
Moms is a huge audience.
So everything from diapers andUnilever, um, which we did end
up getting some money from atsome point in time.
Um, you know, anything that anycompany that makes things for
(18:23):
children is basically, you know,fair game for us to to pursue.
Um, it has to make sense.
Right.
You know, people try to goafter, they just throw
everything in the pool.
I'm just like, you have to bestrategic.
You also have to start small andgrow big, right?
I I learned, okay, if TD issaying we don't fund first year
(18:44):
events fully, that means whenyou start a new relationship,
ask for more knowing you'regonna get less.
Um, everyone loves to do eventsand they think that they're
really easy and cheap.
And I'm I'm really confused bythat.
I'm here to tell people it isnot.
It is neither of those things,right?
And so, okay, maybe your firstevent is 50 people.
(19:05):
You sell out 50 people, you dowell, you've got the receipts,
you've got the pictures, you goback to that sponsor, be like,
hey, we sold out, we had a waitlist, we'd love to expand next
year.
Oh, okay, great.
Then we'll double the money,right?
If you are not, if you're notgiving these entities who are
gonna write you a checkanything, they're not gonna
write you a check just becauseyour your cause is good.
(19:27):
For for-profit business, it'sthe same thing.
When you're partnering with anyentity, right, like that
relationship is even moretransactional.
And so you have to uh build therelationship before I think the
key for me is all of mytransactions came from
relationships that I built.
And sometimes you don't eatfruit from seeds that you
(19:48):
planted the day before.
You got to toil the soil, yougot you have to have enough sun,
you have to water, you mighthave to pull up the weeds, might
have to chase off the rabbits,but it might lead to something,
but you can't have thisexpectation 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 inOctober.
(20:09):
So if you are asking them forany money in October, they're
just like, we're done.
We've already spent all ourmoney.
They probably spent it by March,to be wholly honest.
Right.
Right.
But if you're not doing all ofthis digging, no one wants to
spend time in the researchphase.
SPEAKER_01 (20:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (20:22):
Entrepreneurs need to spend time in the unseen,
unpretty, boring, tedious, orhire someone else, right?
If that's not your strong suit,you don't want to do it.
But if you don't have money inthe early stage, you have to do
the research.
You have to figure out who whois paying money to talk to your
audience and when is theirfiscal, read their financial
(20:43):
statements if they're a publiccompany or you know, their say
statements are online.
Like dig.
SPEAKER_03 (20:49):
Right.
It's important for entrepreneursto be very proactive.
And and you know, speaking toyou, it's it's obvious that it's
it's you don't sit back and waitor until, well, the government
didn't send me a paper yet, orthe bank didn't give me, the
bank just said no and that's it,I guess.
But actually to be proactive anddo this research, whether it's
official target market researchor if it's research on how the
(21:10):
banks work or when they'refiscal years.
So it's amazing to get thatadvice for the entrepreneurs to
say, look, get off your butt,right?
And and do what can you do tomake that deal happen?
If not now, then later, what canyou do to get uh 20,000 instead
of 10,000 next year, et cetera?
And don't just listen to peoplelike me that say in the first
three years of a nonprofit,you're not gonna get any money,
because of course I meant thegovernment grants.
(21:30):
And then the counter argument tothat is well, if you partner
with someone who's established acharity or nonprofit stuff, then
you can.
And that's of course, that's awhole nother Yeti lecture.
So it's it's great.
Uh the lesson here is to beproactive and to dig.
And also one thing I want topick out that you mentioned was
the idea of relationshipbuilding, right?
Not just with your customers oryour clients or beneficiaries,
but with these corporatesponsors, with these bankers.
(21:51):
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 hereforever.
Um I'm very clear, I was veryclear.
I think I was the only personwho did the Yeti program that
did not want to be the executivedirector.
Everyone, that's their goal.
They started this thing, theytoiled away at it, they they
built it from scratch, they wantto get to the point where they
(22:14):
get an ROI on their timeinvested.
That's not that's not the bestuse of first of all, BMC can't
afford to pay me.
Let's just be really clear.
And two, I don't want to dopayroll and budgets and boring
things.
I'm no one can tell BMC storybetter than I can.
Put a mic in my hand, put me onstage, I'll write the book, I'll
do the public speaking, I'll dothe racial relationship
(22:36):
building.
And so, you know, and that'swhere I'm better suited.
And I made someone, myco-founder, who she's all she is
spreadsheet budget queen, and Ilove 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 inthe media.
Me, put a mic in my hand, I'mgood.
Right.
So now I have someone who picksup where I'm not necessarily
super strong.
Um, and we're we're a greatteam.
And we can, you know, uh, andyou have to seek out you have to
seek out people who are gonnahelp you on the things or and
(23:08):
and whatnot.
Um and I'll give a couple ofexamples in terms of like,
because in the beginning you'relike federal government and
billion-dollar brands.
Um so a long time ago, Imentioned to I was invited to
this round table at the city ofToronto City Hall.
Um, and it was all about peoplewho are in the childcare space.
Because I had mentioned tosomeone in passing, one of my
(23:28):
big goals is to have a childcarecenter for BMC.
This was we're in 2025 now.
This was at least three to fouryears ago.
And fast forward, you know,throughout the time, I've done
focus groups with them, youknow, all these other things,
kept in contact.
Didn't harass them, whatever.
And then two months ago, theyreached out, they reached out.
(23:50):
So the municipal governmentreached out to me and said, Hey,
a grant is coming for you toapply to get some funding for
the child care center.
Because they remembered fromfour years ago when I planted
that seed and conversationsthroughout.
So four years later, we might befinally 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 isyes, I knew a person who could
introduce me to the rightpeople, but I also show up.
Right.
And so when the um childcareminister says, hey, we're gonna
do a small gathering of parents,et cetera, in I think it was
(24:29):
like Burlington.
Can you show up and bring yourkid kiddo with you?
I'm like, sure, why not?
Hop on a car, I go, and I'msitting 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 leadsa mom's organization.
And then, you know, okay, I endup having conversations with the
Minister of Women and GenderEquity.
I have a conversation with theMinister of Health, the Minister
of Housing, and planted allthose seeds.
And then an election was called.
Right.
And so I do have to I have tostart from scratch because it's
(24:57):
a whole different team, it's adifferent uh government, they
have different mandates.
So relationship building isreally, really difficult,
especially with federalgovernment, any government,
right?
There's an election, obviously,um frequently with all levels,
but I just named two differentgovernment levels where you know
pl seeds have been planted for awhile and can lead to certain
(25:19):
things.
Um where one day I got an emailfrom the deputy prime minister's
office, and they're like, Do youhave time for a quick call?
And I'm like, what does theminister of finance want with
me?
unknown (25:30):
Of the country?
SPEAKER_00 (25:31):
Right?
And wanted our advice onsomething.
And eventually wanted to us tomake an official statement.
And so, you know, chatted withmy board about it.
I'm like, hey, the turnaroundtime is too fast.
We really can't, you know, butlet us know how we can help in
the future.
That is what I lead with inevery conversation.
Not, oh, I'm gonna keep thisperson in my po in my pocket.
I mean, yes, but not in thatparticular way of what can I get
(25:54):
from them.
But I'm gonna see, I'm gonnaalways offer myself up as a as a
resource.
Right, right, right.
Because what I I can dosomething that the government
can't, which is reach 50,000moms.
Our our community is now global.
We've got chapters in Asia, welaunched one in uh in the
continent Africa this year, andwe've got maybe 10 chapters
across North America.
(26:15):
So that number, that 50,000moms, gets me, gets me attention
and gets me in rooms, gets okay.
She's got some trust from a lotof people that she can gather.
Oh, I need a focus group ofmoms.
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 manydifferent ways to have that.
But as as you rightfullyillustrated, when you have a
number, if people are impressedby that, whether they might be
potential partners or corporatesponsors, uh, or in this case of
the government, it's it'simportant for everyone out there
(26:50):
listening to find a way to builda database, whether that's
through your social media, yourtraditional newsletters,
whatever it might be, but getthat 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 wouldhave emphasized trying to build
off of Facebook.
It scares me every single daythat my entire community is
built on uh rented land, so tospeak, right?
It's not a home that I own.
I don't own any of those folks.
(27:20):
If Facebook decided to shut BMCdown 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 rulesand they won't be deleting us
anytime soon.
So, you know, as soon as youpossibly can start an email
list, even if you're just like,hey, it's gonna be monthly or
(27:40):
quarterly, and you hire anintern to write your newsletter
and you know, you fill in theblanks, um, you're building
something.
But um, you know, for us, it wasjust in terms of we've never
fundraised from the community.
I've never asked the moms forany money.
They don't need another t-shirtfrom me.
They asked for merge.
And I'm like, you guys don'tneed a t-shirt.
(28:01):
You want to know how to start anRESP.
Right?
I again, I'm very big on thetangibles.
So I think ultimately um whereyour community lives is really
important, where your customerbase lives.
Uh it's fine if they're inmultiple 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.
(28:22):
Um that that doesn't break anycastle 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 theaudience a sense of what is the
what might a member expect uh asfar as because you're not asking
them for money.
So what what's what's on thetable for them?
SPEAKER_00 (28:42):
Yeah, so I think ultimately just a space where
they can ask black mom questionsand not have to give the
precursors or wonder if it'sgonna start a controversy to ask
a black mom question, right?
Um navigating the school systemas a black parent is really,
really tense.
I don't have the luxury ofignoring when my son is gonna be
(29:04):
called the N-word.
Okay, and I I I say when.
It's an inevitability that it'sgoing to happen to him.
And it has.
He's only in grade seven, andit's happened at two different
schools.
So I need to be able to talk toother moms who get it or who
have lived it, or who are goingto live it, you know?
And so that I think is thenumber one thing that we're a
(29:27):
safe space for black moms toconnect with each other and have
those important conversationsthat they can't really have
safely anywhere else.
It's really being a woman onlineis unsafe.
Being a black woman online isunsafe.
So if we can as much as wepossibly can create a space
where they can share with eachother and do so safely, that's
so, so important to me.
Offline, um, you know, as Isaid, we have FinLit U, which is
(29:50):
um free, it's eight weeks, fivehours.
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 ayear.
That's a four-weekentrepreneurship um kind of boot
(30:14):
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, theChromebook broke.
They lost their boots.
Children are always losingthings.
It's just really annoying.
So we have an emergency grantwhere they don't have to worry
about paying it back.
It's you applied, tell us alittle bit about yourself.
Here's some money.
(30:34):
Whatever you do with it, I don'tneed 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 oflike, it always took a village
to raise a child.
Right, right.
But it takes a village to raisea mom too.
And if the mom is stressed aboutreplacing these winter boots in
the winter versus food, I don'twant her to have to make that
disorder decision.
Right.
So here's some money, and youdon't have to worry about it
after that.
We also have rent bank where wewill make a payment directly to
(31:01):
the uh rental or mortgageprovider if they're like, I'm
sure I'm gonna be short on rentthis month.
And again, just trying toalleviate as much stressors as
possible for the mom.
And then we have a wellnessvertical called You OK Mama,
which is both a question and astatement.
And we do things like we had aMother's Day retreat, we do
parenting workshops, we're goinggolfing next month.
(31:22):
I'm very excited to go togolfing.
So it's things about the mental,physical wellness and gathering.
Um one of the things for us iswe were digital and virtual
before pandemic.
So in 2020, when people couldn'tgo see their grandparents or
their parents and they werepregnant and they couldn't bring
anyone but their husband intothe ultrasound room.
(31:42):
We were there when they couldn'tgather.
And I think that that is umsomething I'm the timing for
sure, you know, played to ouradvantage, 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'thurt, 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 thathappened in 2020, obviously
COVID, but then also GeorgeFloyd.
And so, you know, leaning intoorganizations who were seeking
out organizations to donate toand to support financially, yes,
the luck of that timing was wasum to our advantage, but um it's
(32:28):
it's always it's unfortunatethat that's what it took.
SPEAKER_03 (32:31):
Right.
There's a saying, I don't knowwho said it.
It says something like chancefavors the prepared mind.
I like that.
Yeah, I like it too.
I just don't remember if that'sa Marcus Aurelis quote or
whatever.
Regardless, uh, in terms ofstartup sandwich, because we're
gonna start wrapping this upbecause I could talk to you for
hours.
And I think I I feel like Ihave.
Honestly, at this point uh thethe the sandwich part we have in
(32:53):
terms of the the the bread ofyour business, the the not the
nuts and bolts, but the let'ssay the meat and veg.
We've talked about that.
So uh a good sandwich has a nicesecret sauce, right?
And so in terms of uhentrepreneurship, that would be
your innovation or yoursomething really special.
I think I know what you're gonnasay, 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 thebusiness, um, I don't have to do
market research.
My rock market research is aliving, breathing ecosystem that
tells me what they need and whatthey 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 wasa phase where everyone wanted to
learn how to invest in the stockmarket.
I think it was during pandemicand 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, Ihave a whole bunch of moms who
want to learn how to invest.
You want to do a you want to doa Facebook Live?
They're like, what?
Yes.
Great, put them together.
(33:48):
Right.
And so um that was that wasgreat.
And again, building arelationship.
I was like, I'll give you onefreebie.
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 conversationabout sponsorships.
Right.
Right.
So I think ultimately um keepingthe safe space, you know, shout
(34:09):
out to the admins, thevolunteers, all the chapter
ambassadors, let's all volunteerwork, right?
Um, and learning.
Like I'm not, I wasn't, I'm justthe captain of a ship that I was
I was plopped into this positionof leadership.
Right.
Um, and I've had to learn a lotabout myself on how to be a good
leader.
Um and I've made mistakes forsure.
But I think ultimately I keepthem in mind, right?
(34:31):
The question is always, how doesthis serve the moms?
And if I have to wonder, or ifit's not an easy answer, then
it's a no.
And that makes it so easy for meto know what path we're gonna go
into and uh what's coming nextfor the organization.
SPEAKER_03 (34:47):
Very good.
And as a captain, you areresponsible for the vision,
right?
And I think that if there's onething that's been clear from our
episode today is that you alwayshad the vision and you pivoted
and you gathered information,you were open-minded, but you
always had that vision.
And and I believe your communitysees you as a leader with
vision.
So that's amazing.
Uh wrapping this up, we're gonnaput all your uh social into the
(35:08):
comments, but quickly, if peoplewant to connect with you or
Black Mom's Connection, wherewhere'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 inthe internet streets, I'm really
I'm on Threads.
Threads is my new uh digitalhappy place.
I love it.
Um Instagram is, you know, it'sit's it's there, but Threads is
really where I I do most of mymy chatting on the on the
(35:34):
socials.
SPEAKER_03 (35:34):
Okay, great.
Tanya Hales, very nice to meetyou.
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 verynice to have you and and here.
And I and I I love hearing allthe different aspects of what
you talk about because itreminds me that the audience has
so many questions.
And even these little bite-sizedpodcasts, I'm sure they're
(35:54):
getting lots of great tips andadvice.
So thank you for sharing yourtips and advice with our
audience.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for watching, and besure to subscribe on YouTube or
wherever you check out yourpodcasts.
Until next time, keep turningsmall bites into big wins.
Hello, entrepreneurs and self-starters.
This is Rick Phillips from Yeti,and you're listening to the
Startup Sandwich Podcast, theshow that unpacks the
breadwinning basics, juicyfilled journey, and secret sauce
of entrepreneurship.
Let's go.
Hello, everyone.
(00:20):
Welcome back to another editionof the Startup Sandwich Podcast.
In today's episode, I'm going toread this.
In today's episode, we learn howTanya Hales turned a Facebook
group of eight friends into amillion-dollar global brand that
works with the federalgovernment and billion-dollar
organizations.
This sounds like a juicysandwich, Tanya.
Let's get into it.
Tell us all about you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
I know.
So who am I?
I am a girl who likes long walkson the beach.
My favorite color is blue.
That's not relevant to theentrepreneurs.
I'm an accidental entrepreneur.
I didn't grow up in a householdwhere that was encouraged or
even thought of.
My mom put me in Frenchimmersion because she wanted me
to work for the UN.
I'm like, mom, that's reallyspecific.
(01:02):
I don't understand.
But it was, you know, go toschool, get an education, get a
job.
So entrepreneurship was never onmy 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 crazyand hectic.
And that's exactly whatparenting is.
(01:22):
So why would I do that tomyself?
But um in 2015, I left myemployment and um started my own
event planning company.
That's what I was doing at thetime, and that was wonderful.
Um and, you know, then ofcourse, life life and the
pandemic happened and stuff likethat.
So my entrepreneurship journeyis very roller coastery, right?
(01:42):
It's very much I've got a skillset, I'm gonna monetize it.
I don't know what I'm doing, butlet's go.
SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (01:49):
Um, and then on the nonprofit side, and the reason
why we're at this episode, itreally stemmed from asking a
question.
Um, like most Gen X andmillennial moms, you know, I was
on in mom groups on Facebookbecause that's where we were all
gathering to ask each otherquestions about motherhood and
parenthood.
And um I asked the question,like, do they make sunscreen for
(02:10):
black people?
At uh I was at a splash pad withmy son, and I was like, it's
really hot, and it's not aquestion I'd ever asked before.
Most black people don't thinkthat we need it.
So I'm like, ah, I can getthrough life with never having
to think about this.
But I was looking at my son, I'mlike, oh.
And I'm like, wait, where am Igonna ask this question?
So I asked eight of my friendsif I started this thing, would
you join?
They said yes.
(02:31):
And uh the rest is history.
SPEAKER_03 (02:34):
But not to our audience yet.
So let's let's get into thisjuicy sandwich.
The the audience probably reallyis curious at this point,
saying, Well, wow, that soundslike an interesting start.
And what kind of business ornonprofit specifically would
have to do with sunscreen orblack kids or Facebook?
So why don't we tell them whatis the name of the nonprofit you
started and give us a little bitof details of how you
(02:55):
transitioned from uh, well, Iguess as you said, to become an
accidental entrepreneur.
SPEAKER_00 (03:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
So the org the Facebook groupwas started in January 2015.
And I was like, build it, theywill come and they're gonna
gather and they're gonna dotheir own meetups.
I'm like, I don't know what I'mdoing.
I think that is gonna be thenumber 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, itwasn't mirrored in your own
(03:22):
household growing up, right?
Everyone's just like, I got anidea.
I'm just gonna go and pursue itand hope for the best.
Uh in the spring of 2016, itwent from 400 to 4,000 in two
months.
So that told me there wasclearly a big need.
Um, the community was growingand building authentically,
right?
That wasn't me doing anything.
SPEAKER_01 (03:40):
This is the Facebook group.
SPEAKER_00 (03:41):
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 plannerin me.
That's just the logical side ofme.
So I'm just like, it's great tohave a space where they're
connecting with each other andsharing information and
resources, but how do we make ittangible?
I knew I had to take it offlinein some sh in some way.
Um, creating a for-profit didn'treally occur to me because I'm
(04:03):
like, I'm gonna have to make allthe money myself and find a
revenue source to create abusiness.
So, and I had worked incharities for also context.
My background, um, my very firstjob out of university was Ottawa
Food Bank, and then I worked forBig Brothers, Big Sister.
So I've worked in charitable umsector before.
So I had an understanding of howthey ran and how things went
(04:26):
from an employee lens.
So October 2016 is when Iincorporated as a nonprofit so
that it could take theconversation offline, seek
funding, most importantly, um,and really offer tangible things
to the mom.
So we are our official taglinefor Black Moms Connection is
we're an online global village.
(04:47):
Um, I won't say the number yetbecause that's a really fun
number that provides culturallyrelevant tools and resources to
educate and empower the BlackMom and her family.
SPEAKER_03 (04:58):
And was Black Mom's Connection the name of the
Facebook group, or did you callthe Facebook group something
else?
SPEAKER_00 (05:02):
That's a great question.
Actually, the very firstiteration was Black Mom's
Network.
And I think that this is alsosomething really important for
entrepreneurs to know.
What you name your business, itshould be really straightforward
and clear to anybody when yousay what it is, right?
If you have if people have toguess, then you've just made it
a little bit harder to market.
(05:23):
Um, what I learned in that firstiteration 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 justexchanging their businesses and
their side hustles.
They weren't connecting on thepersonal level that I was hoping
for.
So that's why I had to changefrom black mom's network to
(05:45):
black moms connection.
SPEAKER_03 (05:46):
Aaron Powell And words are powerful as a
communication skills enthusiastmyself.
I I love playing with words andyou know, of course, as a
business person, you know, butbranding and marketing.
And it's just so interesting howthat one change of word can can
let the audience know, oh, thisis what it's really about.
And that also that's really,really good going forward.
So so you're you've started thisthing, you've got this Facebook
(06:07):
group growing, you've you nowincorporate it.
Uh what did you do to grow andto get support?
Did you hire other people?
Did you take some training?
Um, did you hope and pray forthe best?
And it worked out because you'rea lucky person.
Like give us a bit about thegrowth strategy.
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
All of the above.
Mostly a lot of praying andhoping.
Okay, so let's go back to thebeginning.
So now it's 2016.
Um, I'm just like, yay, we'reincorporated.
Uh first you have to find threedirectors.
I'm like, yay, three randompeople to be in these government
documents with me.
And I was like, bylaws.
(06:45):
I'm like, thanks, government ofCanada, for the templates of
bylaws, because I where's thecamera?
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 fromscratch?
(07:07):
And if the government has atemplate for bylaws, I'm gonna
trust it because it'sgovernment.
Um so did that.
And then I had a relationshipwith someone at TD, um, pitched
him the idea of what I wanted todo.
And, you know, um, a lot oftimes, again, people like see
like, oh, okay, they see thebanks and they go to the banks
and think the banks have all themoney in the world.
They do, but they don't.
(07:28):
Um so they're like, we don'tfund 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, mysuperpower is I planned events
for a living.
So I know how to be costefficient.
I know how to source differentvenues in the city.
So we hosted our very firstconference, the Black Mom's
(07:50):
Connection Conference.
I was very, very literal withthat one in 2017.
And they were the presentingsponsor, you know, reached out
to different things.
And the the superpower and themeat and potatoes, the filling
of the sandwich for Black Mom'sConnection is that the community
came first.
I didn't have to guess what theyneeded.
They were talking about it everyday in the Facebook group.
(08:11):
What their concerns were, whattheir questions were.
Does anyone know an X?
Does anyone know where I canfind why?
So I took those conversationsand turned it into an in-person
conference.
Um and that was that day.
It's funny, I was thinking aboutit the other day.
I'm like, that day was such acatalyst for so many things
because TD was a sponsor, theyhad two panels.
(08:33):
And the second one, it was allabout like basic banking credit
savings.
I'm just like, ah, I'm gonna putthis in the basement.
No one's gonna go.
This is boring.
Everyone knows this stuff.
I went downstairs, Rick.
People were sitting on thefloor, people were leaning
against the walls.
I was like, first of all, I'm aterrible event planner.
How did I not call?
I didn't see this coming, but ittold me that yes, the
(08:54):
information is out there, butpeople wanted it given to them
in a culturally relevant way.
They wanted a black woman toexplain things to them because
women to women, we talk to eachother differently, right?
A group of men, they're hangingout, how they talk to each
other.
You're in communications, youknow, right?
The gender changes howinformation is both given and
received.
SPEAKER_02 (09:13):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:14):
So now black women are learning about banking and
all the like life hacks that aremaybe not taught to us growing
up or are not given to us whenwe go into an a financial
institution.
So that was the catalyst, andthat became the pillar and the
anchor for black momsconnection.
Financial literacy went fromthat one session where people
were on the floor to um which isnow our financial literacy
(09:37):
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-weekmasterclass program.
We've got um, and that's Ontariobased, and then we expanded uh
nationally.
So we have an East Coast and aWest Coast one.
Bizlet U was born out of FinlitU.
(09:59):
Um, In the Black is stillhappening.
We're launching Finlit U Kids.
So like financial literacy,which we know, you know, the
more information that you haveabout how to operate in your
day-to-day, how to save for yourkids, how to, you know, build
generational wealth, like thebetter it is.
And we know happy moms,knowledgeable moms create
knowledgeable and happyfamilies, communities, and
(10:21):
economies.
And in Canada, fifty women are50% of the population.
So while I'm serving a reallysmall segment of women, I'm
still helping the Canadianeconomy 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'man audience member uh who maybe
is uh already an entrepreneur ormaybe is thinking about it,
maybe they've dipped their toesin, maybe they haven't yet.
And I always want to takeopportunities to you and I
together to be able to summarizekey points for them.
So for the audience that'slistening, what we're also
(10:55):
picking up is things like don'ttry to reinvent the wheel, use
templates that might beavailable, government or
otherwise.
Use your connections, use yourprevious experience in your
business.
Um listen to your community.
People have these uh phraseslike community-oriented or
customer service.
But what you're doing is you'reactually saying, and that's why
I'm recapping this, is that thecommunity told you through the
(11:17):
Facebook group initially andthen through other means, this
is what we want, this is what wecare about.
And because you listened, andyou said, okay, great.
For example, the financialliteracy, you said, okay, this
is a hit, we're gonna do more ofthis, as opposed to, well,
that's not really what I hadplanned, so I'm gonna keep on
with my plan A.
Yes.
You said, no, no, because it'scommunity-oriented.
And and I think this is a reallygood takeaway for our audience
(11:39):
to remember that no matter whatyour bright ideas are, your
plan, listen to your communityand talk to your community.
So along this stream of thought,what advice can you give our
entrepreneurs?
How can they connect to theircommunity?
How can they get that marketresearch information?
Like, how what's the best way orb or ways?
SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
Man, I just ask.
I I keep having theseconversations with folks.
I'm just like, we've made somuch so complicated.
There's so much research outthere, there's so much tools and
resources, and that's what getsoverwhelming for entrepreneurs,
right?
Um, and two things for me thatyou know I want to mention is
again, find the places where umyou can get the information
(12:17):
given to you.
I was lucky enough to do theYeti non-for-profit program in
2018, 19, around there,pre-pandemic.
And I didn't know.
So at that point, BMC is threeyears old.
It's got a brand, it's got alogo.
I've worked with some great umI've worked with banks, right?
So I've got some some good kindof traction, but Yeti made me
(12:41):
understand how to turn it into abusiness.
Everything that I just saidabout women being 50% of the
population, and so because itwas this like, well, why should
the general population who isn'tblack care about BMC?
Well, because I'm I'm buildingand 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 thingsfor me.
Um, and I still have my notebookthat, you know, it's just like
not everyone is a competitor.
Some people are collaborators.
Um, and you know, some peopleserve the same audience in a
different way, or they'reserving a different audience in
(13:19):
the same way.
Like, so really just in terms ofnot everyone is um the scarcity
is fake in a way.
There's a ton of money outthere.
Um, everyone's going to the samething, same entities for the
same amount of money.
But if you collaboratedtogether, 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.
(13:40):
Get together.
Then we'll give you the money,right?
And then it shows that you'restrong.
And so I think, you know, reallyseek out um things like Yeti um
or entities like Yeti that cansupport you, but then also just
like, again, lean into thecommunity.
And your community can be yourprevious clients or people who
(14:00):
you hope to be clients.
Um, closed mouths don't get fed.
Like you have to ask.
And it really was just, andagain, a lot of things was right
place, right time, but it wasbuilding the relationship.
My relationship with TD startedfrom a personal connection in
2017.
We're in 2025 and it's stillgoing.
And that's not from that samepersonal connection.
(14:22):
It's because we overpromise,wait, underpromise and
over-deliver.
Right.
I always have to say, I'm thesame way.
Yeah.
Right.
And so um, so manyorganizations, whether you're a
for-profit or on nonprofit, butspecifically nonprofits, you put
it, you put together this greatgrant proposal, this sponsorship
deck, and you're gonna promisethem the world.
(14:44):
You don't give them a report,you don't send them pictures,
they have no idea.
I'm like, they have to be ableto 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 manypeople we served, here's how
many people showed up, here'ssome testimonials that you can
use in your collateral.
They want that.
That's what they paid for,right?
Um, sponsorship is not aboutcharity, it's about marketing.
Um, especially in the nonprofitworld.
They don't care that we're anonprofit, they care about
(15:16):
reaching our audience aspotential 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, askthem about their metrics.
But when it comes to thecommunity, like just polls.
Polls are free on Instagram,surveys, do a giveaway, ask
them.
(15:36):
People want to give feedback.
If you give them an opportunityto do so, they will.
Um, my previous job, I workedfor MLSE, um, APLES Sports and
Entertainment, and ran the 50-50program.
That's when you're in the arenaor digitally you can buy and
then you win half the money.
And learned by just asking,people are very tied to the team
(15:58):
brands.
So if they play Leafs 5050, theydo not play Raptors 5050.
And vice versa.
Even if the Leafs jackpot isbigger, Raps 50-50 players do
not even they're like all redand purple, right?
And Leafs is like blue andwhite.
But I I thought I knew that, butasking them, I got nine pages
(16:20):
worth of survey reasons.
There was a ton of feedback.
People were like, Oh, you'refinally 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 anopportunity, if you give them an
incentive, they'll tell you.
SPEAKER_03 (16:40):
Very good.
There are some uh potentialentrepreneurs listening who uh
are having a difficult time,especially in the first few
years of business, uh gettingmoney, raising funds.
So you've mentioned a coupletimes of going to the bank,
you've also mentioned you hadsome sort of connection with TD.
I think the question that someof them might have is let's say
the first three years of a brandnew nonprofit, what's the
(17:02):
strategy?
Is there i because I think someof the audience would hear
things like, well, if you can'tget money at the very beginning.
So any advice or suggestion forthem 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 nonprofitthat was in the site the grant
cycle.
You know, you apply for fundingfor a program, you do it, you
reapply, and you hope for thebest.
And I I I didn't want to be inthat.
And thankfully, we didn't getany um, I didn't say thankfully,
but we didn't get any governmentfunding until maybe 2020.
(17:37):
So again, that's like four yearsafter I started.
Um again, I leaned into theskills that I already had.
I know how to plan events.
So I know how to read venuecontracts and be like, oh, I
don't need to feed.
I knew how to leverage theskills that I already had on a
completely separate front to beeconomical for BMC.
So our second conference was, Ithink, in 2018.
(18:00):
So I think really just um if youknow your audience, then you
know who's paying a lot of moneyto reach that audience.
Moms is a huge audience.
So everything from diapers andUnilever, um, which we did end
up getting some money from atsome point in time.
Um, you know, anything that anycompany that makes things for
(18:23):
children is basically, you know,fair game for us to to pursue.
Um, it has to make sense.
Right.
You know, people try to goafter, they just throw
everything in the pool.
I'm just like, you have to bestrategic.
You also have to start small andgrow big, right?
I I learned, okay, if TD issaying we don't fund first year
(18:44):
events fully, that means whenyou start a new relationship,
ask for more knowing you'regonna get less.
Um, everyone loves to do eventsand they think that they're
really easy and cheap.
And I'm I'm really confused bythat.
I'm here to tell people it isnot.
It is neither of those things,right?
And so, okay, maybe your firstevent is 50 people.
(19:05):
You sell out 50 people, you dowell, you've got the receipts,
you've got the pictures, you goback to that sponsor, be like,
hey, we sold out, we had a waitlist, we'd love to expand next
year.
Oh, okay, great.
Then we'll double the money,right?
If you are not, if you're notgiving these entities who are
gonna write you a checkanything, they're not gonna
write you a check just becauseyour your cause is good.
(19:27):
For for-profit business, it'sthe same thing.
When you're partnering with anyentity, right, like that
relationship is even moretransactional.
And so you have to uh build therelationship before I think the
key for me is all of mytransactions came from
relationships that I built.
And sometimes you don't eatfruit from seeds that you
(19:48):
planted the day before.
You got to toil the soil, yougot you have to have enough sun,
you have to water, you mighthave to pull up the weeds, might
have to chase off the rabbits,but it might lead to something,
but you can't have thisexpectation 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 inOctober.
(20:09):
So if you are asking them forany money in October, they're
just like, we're done.
We've already spent all ourmoney.
They probably spent it by March,to be wholly honest.
Right.
Right.
But if you're not doing all ofthis digging, no one wants to
spend time in the researchphase.
SPEAKER_01 (20:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (20:22):
Entrepreneurs need to spend time in the unseen,
unpretty, boring, tedious, orhire someone else, right?
If that's not your strong suit,you don't want to do it.
But if you don't have money inthe early stage, you have to do
the research.
You have to figure out who whois paying money to talk to your
audience and when is theirfiscal, read their financial
(20:43):
statements if they're a publiccompany or you know, their say
statements are online.
Like dig.
SPEAKER_03 (20:49):
Right.
It's important for entrepreneursto be very proactive.
And and you know, speaking toyou, it's it's obvious that it's
it's you don't sit back and waitor until, well, the government
didn't send me a paper yet, orthe bank didn't give me, the
bank just said no and that's it,I guess.
But actually to be proactive anddo this research, whether it's
official target market researchor if it's research on how the
(21:10):
banks work or when they'refiscal years.
So it's amazing to get thatadvice for the entrepreneurs to
say, look, get off your butt,right?
And and do what can you do tomake that deal happen?
If not now, then later, what canyou do to get uh 20,000 instead
of 10,000 next year, et cetera?
And don't just listen to peoplelike me that say in the first
three years of a nonprofit,you're not gonna get any money,
because of course I meant thegovernment grants.
(21:30):
And then the counter argument tothat is well, if you partner
with someone who's established acharity or nonprofit stuff, then
you can.
And that's of course, that's awhole nother Yeti lecture.
So it's it's great.
Uh the lesson here is to beproactive and to dig.
And also one thing I want topick out that you mentioned was
the idea of relationshipbuilding, right?
Not just with your customers oryour clients or beneficiaries,
but with these corporatesponsors, with these bankers.
(21:51):
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 hereforever.
Um I'm very clear, I was veryclear.
I think I was the only personwho did the Yeti program that
did not want to be the executivedirector.
Everyone, that's their goal.
They started this thing, theytoiled away at it, they they
built it from scratch, they wantto get to the point where they
(22:14):
get an ROI on their timeinvested.
That's not that's not the bestuse of first of all, BMC can't
afford to pay me.
Let's just be really clear.
And two, I don't want to dopayroll and budgets and boring
things.
I'm no one can tell BMC storybetter than I can.
Put a mic in my hand, put me onstage, I'll write the book, I'll
do the public speaking, I'll dothe racial relationship
(22:36):
building.
And so, you know, and that'swhere I'm better suited.
And I made someone, myco-founder, who she's all she is
spreadsheet budget queen, and Ilove 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 inthe media.
Me, put a mic in my hand, I'mgood.
Right.
So now I have someone who picksup where I'm not necessarily
super strong.
Um, and we're we're a greatteam.
And we can, you know, uh, andyou have to seek out you have to
seek out people who are gonnahelp you on the things or and
(23:08):
and whatnot.
Um and I'll give a couple ofexamples in terms of like,
because in the beginning you'relike federal government and
billion-dollar brands.
Um so a long time ago, Imentioned to I was invited to
this round table at the city ofToronto City Hall.
Um, and it was all about peoplewho are in the childcare space.
Because I had mentioned tosomeone in passing, one of my
(23:28):
big goals is to have a childcarecenter for BMC.
This was we're in 2025 now.
This was at least three to fouryears ago.
And fast forward, you know,throughout the time, I've done
focus groups with them, youknow, all these other things,
kept in contact.
Didn't harass them, whatever.
And then two months ago, theyreached out, they reached out.
(23:50):
So the municipal governmentreached out to me and said, Hey,
a grant is coming for you toapply to get some funding for
the child care center.
Because they remembered fromfour years ago when I planted
that seed and conversationsthroughout.
So four years later, we might befinally 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 isyes, I knew a person who could
introduce me to the rightpeople, but I also show up.
Right.
And so when the um childcareminister says, hey, we're gonna
do a small gathering of parents,et cetera, in I think it was
(24:29):
like Burlington.
Can you show up and bring yourkid kiddo with you?
I'm like, sure, why not?
Hop on a car, I go, and I'msitting 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 leadsa mom's organization.
And then, you know, okay, I endup having conversations with the
Minister of Women and GenderEquity.
I have a conversation with theMinister of Health, the Minister
of Housing, and planted allthose seeds.
And then an election was called.
Right.
And so I do have to I have tostart from scratch because it's
(24:57):
a whole different team, it's adifferent uh government, they
have different mandates.
So relationship building isreally, really difficult,
especially with federalgovernment, any government,
right?
There's an election, obviously,um frequently with all levels,
but I just named two differentgovernment levels where you know
pl seeds have been planted for awhile and can lead to certain
(25:19):
things.
Um where one day I got an emailfrom the deputy prime minister's
office, and they're like, Do youhave time for a quick call?
And I'm like, what does theminister of finance want with
me?
unknown (25:30):
Of the country?
SPEAKER_00 (25:31):
Right?
And wanted our advice onsomething.
And eventually wanted to us tomake an official statement.
And so, you know, chatted withmy board about it.
I'm like, hey, the turnaroundtime is too fast.
We really can't, you know, butlet us know how we can help in
the future.
That is what I lead with inevery conversation.
Not, oh, I'm gonna keep thisperson in my po in my pocket.
I mean, yes, but not in thatparticular way of what can I get
(25:54):
from them.
But I'm gonna see, I'm gonnaalways offer myself up as a as a
resource.
Right, right, right.
Because what I I can dosomething that the government
can't, which is reach 50,000moms.
Our our community is now global.
We've got chapters in Asia, welaunched one in uh in the
continent Africa this year, andwe've got maybe 10 chapters
across North America.
(26:15):
So that number, that 50,000moms, gets me, gets me attention
and gets me in rooms, gets okay.
She's got some trust from a lotof people that she can gather.
Oh, I need a focus group ofmoms.
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 manydifferent ways to have that.
But as as you rightfullyillustrated, when you have a
number, if people are impressedby that, whether they might be
potential partners or corporatesponsors, uh, or in this case of
the government, it's it'simportant for everyone out there
(26:50):
listening to find a way to builda database, whether that's
through your social media, yourtraditional newsletters,
whatever it might be, but getthat 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 wouldhave emphasized trying to build
off of Facebook.
It scares me every single daythat my entire community is
built on uh rented land, so tospeak, right?
It's not a home that I own.
I don't own any of those folks.
(27:20):
If Facebook decided to shut BMCdown 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 rulesand they won't be deleting us
anytime soon.
So, you know, as soon as youpossibly can start an email
list, even if you're just like,hey, it's gonna be monthly or
(27:40):
quarterly, and you hire anintern to write your newsletter
and you know, you fill in theblanks, um, you're building
something.
But um, you know, for us, it wasjust in terms of we've never
fundraised from the community.
I've never asked the moms forany money.
They don't need another t-shirtfrom me.
They asked for merge.
And I'm like, you guys don'tneed a t-shirt.
(28:01):
You want to know how to start anRESP.
Right?
I again, I'm very big on thetangibles.
So I think ultimately um whereyour community lives is really
important, where your customerbase lives.
Uh it's fine if they're inmultiple 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.
(28:22):
Um that that doesn't break anycastle 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 theaudience a sense of what is the
what might a member expect uh asfar as because you're not asking
them for money.
So what what's what's on thetable for them?
SPEAKER_00 (28:42):
Yeah, so I think ultimately just a space where
they can ask black mom questionsand not have to give the
precursors or wonder if it'sgonna start a controversy to ask
a black mom question, right?
Um navigating the school systemas a black parent is really,
really tense.
I don't have the luxury ofignoring when my son is gonna be
(29:04):
called the N-word.
Okay, and I I I say when.
It's an inevitability that it'sgoing to happen to him.
And it has.
He's only in grade seven, andit's happened at two different
schools.
So I need to be able to talk toother moms who get it or who
have lived it, or who are goingto live it, you know?
And so that I think is thenumber one thing that we're a
(29:27):
safe space for black moms toconnect with each other and have
those important conversationsthat they can't really have
safely anywhere else.
It's really being a woman onlineis unsafe.
Being a black woman online isunsafe.
So if we can as much as wepossibly can create a space
where they can share with eachother and do so safely, that's
so, so important to me.
Offline, um, you know, as Isaid, we have FinLit U, which is
(29:50):
um free, it's eight weeks, fivehours.
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 ayear.
That's a four-weekentrepreneurship um kind of boot
(30:14):
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, theChromebook broke.
They lost their boots.
Children are always losingthings.
It's just really annoying.
So we have an emergency grantwhere they don't have to worry
about paying it back.
It's you applied, tell us alittle bit about yourself.
Here's some money.
(30:34):
Whatever you do with it, I don'tneed 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 oflike, it always took a village
to raise a child.
Right, right.
But it takes a village to raisea mom too.
And if the mom is stressed aboutreplacing these winter boots in
the winter versus food, I don'twant her to have to make that
disorder decision.
Right.
So here's some money, and youdon't have to worry about it
after that.
We also have rent bank where wewill make a payment directly to
(31:01):
the uh rental or mortgageprovider if they're like, I'm
sure I'm gonna be short on rentthis month.
And again, just trying toalleviate as much stressors as
possible for the mom.
And then we have a wellnessvertical called You OK Mama,
which is both a question and astatement.
And we do things like we had aMother's Day retreat, we do
parenting workshops, we're goinggolfing next month.
(31:22):
I'm very excited to go togolfing.
So it's things about the mental,physical wellness and gathering.
Um one of the things for us iswe were digital and virtual
before pandemic.
So in 2020, when people couldn'tgo see their grandparents or
their parents and they werepregnant and they couldn't bring
anyone but their husband intothe ultrasound room.
(31:42):
We were there when they couldn'tgather.
And I think that that is umsomething I'm the timing for
sure, you know, played to ouradvantage, 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'thurt, 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 thathappened in 2020, obviously
COVID, but then also GeorgeFloyd.
And so, you know, leaning intoorganizations who were seeking
out organizations to donate toand to support financially, yes,
the luck of that timing was wasum to our advantage, but um it's
(32:28):
it's always it's unfortunatethat that's what it took.
SPEAKER_03 (32:31):
Right.
There's a saying, I don't knowwho said it.
It says something like chancefavors the prepared mind.
I like that.
Yeah, I like it too.
I just don't remember if that'sa Marcus Aurelis quote or
whatever.
Regardless, uh, in terms ofstartup sandwich, because we're
gonna start wrapping this upbecause I could talk to you for
hours.
And I think I I feel like Ihave.
Honestly, at this point uh thethe the sandwich part we have in
(32:53):
terms of the the the bread ofyour business, the the not the
nuts and bolts, but the let'ssay the meat and veg.
We've talked about that.
So uh a good sandwich has a nicesecret sauce, right?
And so in terms of uhentrepreneurship, that would be
your innovation or yoursomething really special.
I think I know what you're gonnasay, 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 thebusiness, um, I don't have to do
market research.
My rock market research is aliving, breathing ecosystem that
tells me what they need and whatthey 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 wasa phase where everyone wanted to
learn how to invest in the stockmarket.
I think it was during pandemicand 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, Ihave a whole bunch of moms who
want to learn how to invest.
You want to do a you want to doa Facebook Live?
They're like, what?
Yes.
Great, put them together.
(33:48):
Right.
And so um that was that wasgreat.
And again, building arelationship.
I was like, I'll give you onefreebie.
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 conversationabout sponsorships.
Right.
Right.
So I think ultimately um keepingthe safe space, you know, shout
(34:09):
out to the admins, thevolunteers, all the chapter
ambassadors, let's all volunteerwork, right?
Um, and learning.
Like I'm not, I wasn't, I'm justthe captain of a ship that I was
I was plopped into this positionof leadership.
Right.
Um, and I've had to learn a lotabout myself on how to be a good
leader.
Um and I've made mistakes forsure.
But I think ultimately I keepthem in mind, right?
(34:31):
The question is always, how doesthis serve the moms?
And if I have to wonder, or ifit's not an easy answer, then
it's a no.
And that makes it so easy for meto know what path we're gonna go
into and uh what's coming nextfor the organization.
SPEAKER_03 (34:47):
Very good.
And as a captain, you areresponsible for the vision,
right?
And I think that if there's onething that's been clear from our
episode today is that you alwayshad the vision and you pivoted
and you gathered information,you were open-minded, but you
always had that vision.
And and I believe your communitysees you as a leader with
vision.
So that's amazing.
Uh wrapping this up, we're gonnaput all your uh social into the
(35:08):
comments, but quickly, if peoplewant to connect with you or
Black Mom's Connection, wherewhere'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 inthe internet streets, I'm really
I'm on Threads.
Threads is my new uh digitalhappy place.
I love it.
Um Instagram is, you know, it'sit's it's there, but Threads is
really where I I do most of mymy chatting on the on the
(35:34):
socials.
SPEAKER_03 (35:34):
Okay, great.
Tanya Hales, very nice to meetyou.
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 verynice to have you and and here.
And I and I I love hearing allthe different aspects of what
you talk about because itreminds me that the audience has
so many questions.
And even these little bite-sizedpodcasts, I'm sure they're
(35:54):
getting lots of great tips andadvice.
So thank you for sharing yourtips and advice with our
audience.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for watching, and besure to subscribe on YouTube or
wherever you check out yourpodcasts.
Until next time, keep turningsmall bites into big wins.
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