August 21, 2025 • 42 mins
The grant funding landscape is undergoing a seismic shift that threatens the financial stability of businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions nationwide. In this eye-opening conversation, Doria, founder of The Sailor Justice Project, reveals how recent legislative changes are reshaping access to critical funding opportunities.
Doria's journey from anime-loving college administrator to sought-after grant writing expert began during the pandemic when a friend's request for contract work unexpectedly blossomed into a thriving business. Drawing inspiration from K-pop group BTS's message of self-empowerment, she found the courage to launch The Sailor Justice Project, which now helps organizations secure vital funding in an increasingly challenging environment.
The conversation takes an urgent turn as Doria explains how a January executive order attempted to freeze federal grants with just hours' notice, creating a climate of fear that persists despite a judicial injunction. With federal grant applications at record lows and the Department of Education facing potential dismantling, organizations are scrambling to understand where taxpayer dollars allocated for grants are being redirected. Meanwhile, foundation grants face unprecedented competition as organizations shift away from unstable federal funding sources.
For business owners feeling overwhelmed, Doria offers practical starting points: connect with your local bank's foundation, explore resources like GrantStation and Hello Alice, and most importantly, plan ahead. The grant funding process typically takes 3-6 months from application to receiving funds, making proactive preparation essential. She emphasizes the importance of solid analytics, compelling mission statements, and professional assistance to navigate the increasingly competitive funding landscape.
Ready to secure funding for your business or nonprofit? Connect with Doria on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at The Sailor Justice Project, or visit thesailorjusticeproject.com to learn how her expertise can help you access the funds you need to thrive despite today's funding challenges.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back to Market it With Atma, where we
share the tips, tools andstrategies to help your business
be successful.
Today, our topic on this showis grant writing.
How does that affect you as abusiness owner?
We have today owner and founderof the Sailor Justice Project,
mrs Doria, on the show to helpeducate us about grant writing
(00:39):
for small businesses businessesor nonprofits and what it it
takes, and maybe some changesthat might affect your business.
Welcome, doria.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thank you for the intro.
I'm so excited you're able tomake it.
You flew in today, right?
I?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
did I flew in.
I flew in and let me tell youwhat it was quite.
It was an easy fly in, but thenwe got here to the airport and
we had to circle for like anhour before we could land.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh, my goodness, I was going to say the Dallas
traffic, but you hadn't evenlanded yet.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
No, I was in Dallas in the air for like an hour
before I was actually in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But you kind of know what it's like.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
You're from here right, yeah, so well, I'm not
from here, but I'm from fromChicago, but I lived here for 10
years.
Oh, wow, um, so yeah, like thisis really like my second home,
so it's really like coming backhome, coming back to.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Dallas.
Oh so you feel good, traffic orno traffic, it still feels good
it feels good to be back, yeah,yeah so you and I met at a
local networking event and whatyou do is so important, I feel,
to our audience, future clients,businesses, especially non
nonprofits.
So can you kind of walk methrough what encouraged you to
(01:49):
start the Sailor Justice Projectand a little definition about
what it is you do on aday-to-day basis?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Sure, so I started the Sailor Justice Project.
Really it starts from beinglike a nine-year-old little girl
, while, like, coming home afterschool watching Sailor Moon, um
, and so like I always wanted tobe a Sailor Scout, it was my
favorite thing, and so likeanime kind of became the thing,
right like I was very into animeand like during the time, that
(02:16):
time, when I was in high school,it was not like I was very much
like something I kept to myself, that something must very much
keep to yourself.
So I love the expansion of likeanime now.
So then, um, you know,graduated into, going into
higher education, getting my, mycareer started and doing 10
years in the college realm orwhatever.
Um, during the pandemic waswhen the transition happened and
(02:39):
we needed to bring everythingonline because of, you know, we
had to.
We were at home.
Right, and so during thattransition it was tough, and so
there were a lot of things thathappened and I ended up leaving
higher education.
And so in leaving I wastransitioning and like, okay,
great, like I 'll just find adifferent job.
I was thinking, maybeinternational education.
But then I got my friend askedme if, hey, you want to do some
(03:02):
contract work on the side, makesome money until you get another
job?
And it was a grant writing gigand I was like, well, I've only
written one grant, right, cool.
So then I go and write thisgrant for the guy.
And then his friend needed agrant writer and cousin needed a
grant writer.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Isn't it amazing how it all networks together.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, so then I started the business and what
inspired me was really BTS.
Really, yes, k-pop is whatpushed me, gave me the courage
to push me.
The album, like all of thestuff that they were talking
about about loving yourself andhow to just be better to
yourself, and all of that, likethat, really like at the time,
especially during the pandemic,it hit hard.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Resonated, yeah, yeah .
Speaker 1 (03:41):
And so it started with like a skincare routine I'm
going to do better with takingcare of my skin, and then that
graduated into me being likebrave enough to start a business
, and three years later, hereyou are.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Here I am flying into Dallas to do podcasts.
That's amazing.
I feel like with COVID, thatwhole experience really helped
people, maybe push them into theconfidence they needed to do
what they wanted to do withtheir life right absolutely,
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It was time that I had to sit and really think
about what do I want to do atthis stage of adulthood.
Right, like I fulfilled allthese high school dreams.
What do I want to do now inthis adult self and like BTS, I
mean them being around?
We're I'm a little bit olderthan them, but we're around the
same age and just seeingeverything that they've been
(04:26):
able to accomplish, everythingthey've been able to do, and the
age that they were doing it atso young, I was like I can do
this, I can do this, so I'mgoing to go.
Whatever this is, I'm going todo it.
And it ended up being a grantwriter and starting this
business.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Right, and for it to launch this quickly really makes
me realize how many businessowners out there are missing out
on these opportunities to oneget grants and the opportunity
to utilize what you dospecifically to make sure that
it's not wasted time and effortapplying for one that you know
is going to get bounced backright, right, and I absolutely
(05:04):
love that.
The mission behind it for you isso selfless because it really
is important what you're doing,and we had talked prior to this
about a lot of legislativechanges that are going on, so
I'm going to jump right into it.
I know it's the tea.
Yeah, let's talk about it, butit really resonated with me when
you said so many changes areaffecting so many things and I
(05:28):
think our audience and ourbusiness owners and nonprofits
really need to know how thesechanges are going to affect them
and what's really going on andhow you might be able to help
them in turn.
Right, so tell me what are someof the big bullet points that
you feel like changes have beenmade and these are really really
(05:49):
affecting people or they needto know about them.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Right.
So I think the biggest changethat happened was in January, at
the end of the month, when theexecutive order went out pretty
much to put a stop on federalgrants and basically you got
emails that were being sent outsaying like, hey, you have until
five o'clock to draw down themoney that you have for this
grant, otherwise you're notgoing to have access to the
(06:13):
money at all.
So, like the way, like federalgrants work, is like you'll have
like, say, you have a five yearcycle and you've been approved
for five years, but you don'thave like five years worth of
money just sitting in a bankaccount, right like you have to
draw it down once a year or youknow when you're going to use it
, and so all of the money hadnot been drawn down yet at that
point when he dropped thatexecutive order.
(06:34):
So he was telling everybodythat today, like today, by this
time, so I'm going to tell youat like eight, nine o'clock in
the morning, you have literallyuntil the end of business day to
pull down to all of theseinstitutions to pull down that
money, otherwise you're notgoing to have access to it.
So that's money for salary,that's money for student
programs, that's money fortutoring.
(06:57):
Some of these programs alsoserve students with disabilities
.
So that means that thosestudents that accessibility
services are cut off.
So that was like that was whathappened, and so then there was
an injunction, and so a judgeblocked that executive order,
and so now the ricochet of that,what happened through the rest
of the year, was people wereterrified of federal grants, and
(07:18):
so there were grantapplications that were available
and non-profits were notapplying because they don't want
to touch the federal grantsbecause of everything that's
going on.
So so then he kind of got whathe wanted without having to take
the grants away.
Right you don't apply for thefunding, because now I've
created all this fear andmisinformation.
So what's happened is like two,like several things nonprofits
(07:40):
and organizations are notapplying for the grants that are
available and now, all of asudden, like the grants that are
usually dropping, like yourannual grants that usually
always drop at this time of year, certain times of year have not
been dropping.
The number of grants ongrantsgov are at record lows
from previous years.
And the thing about this grantmoney they're taxpayer dollars
(08:00):
and the money is already there.
It's just not being madeavailable in the grants that
it's supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Wow.
So where is it being allocatedto if it's not in the grants?
That's a great question.
Where is the money?
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Where is it going and where is it sitting and what's
being done with it?
Because also who?
Because, for some of this, mostof my experiences in higher
education, and so the departmentof Education is the one that is
responsible for handling thegrant funding, how it gets
divvied up Exactly, and so ifyou're talking about, in
addition to what's happeningwith grant funding on this side.
(08:35):
In addition to that, theDepartment of Education is
slated to be dismantled.
So when you have thisintersection of grant funding,
that falls under the Departmentof Education and then the
Department of Education itselfis being dismantled.
Now you have, like no largeentity to manage where the
(08:57):
grants go, to manage the grantfunding.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
And it seems like there's a lot of confusion as to
where, because of thisdismantling of the education
system or the department ofeducation, as to where it's
going or who's managing it.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Right like where is the money?
Because the money that, likethe taxes, have already been
paid.
The money was already allocatedprevious.
Because these federal grantslike these are things that have
been happy, like the application, the application for the 2025
to 2030 TRIO SSS applicationthat dropped 2024 June.
(09:30):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Okay, so this is cash money that's already out there
right, yes.
This isn't interest rate moneythat may come in or may not.
This is cash money fromtaxpayer dollars.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yes, that's already there and it's being in the.
He's saying that the programand, as of right now, trio SSS
will be cut as of August 30th ofthis year of this summer.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Okay, and it won't exist anymore Anymore at all.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
No, because, yeah, as of right now, no, it won't
exist anymore.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So let me back up just for a minute, just for the
people out there that are justnot educating themselves on
what's going on or haven't evenconsidered a grant.
And it's like okay, how do Inavigate this?
Now?
We know about all this that'sgoing on, the funding that you
said most businesses orinstitutions have been utilizing
.
They're not able to get anymore.
(10:18):
What are those commoninstitutions or what type of
businesses?
Is it daycares?
Is it colleges?
Is it public schools?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Oh, it's all of the above.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So like education.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You think of every type of school right, every type
of facility that educates astudent, whether that be a
daycare or nursery, a preschool.
Even private Catholic schoolsuse grant funding to a certain
degree, because as long as youare an entity and you qualify
for the funding, you can apply.
So private schools, catholicschools, use grant funding to a
certain degree because as longas you are an entity and you
qualify for the funding, you canapply.
So private schools, catholicschools.
(10:50):
I'm a product of Catholicschool and so Catholic schools
like because of tuition dollars,like you, heavily rely on grant
funding along with donationsand stuff.
So think about every level ofeducation that there exists.
The grant funding for all ofthose programs are at risk right
now for not existing anymore.
And the and when you thinkabout like I was talking about
(11:11):
TRIO, because that'sspecifically what that was what
I was talking about yesterdayand that I used to work under
that program but just grantfunding across the board, I
would challenge anybody to go toyour daycare or wherever your
kids are going if they're underfive years old and ask them,
like how do you pay for allthese different things?
I mean just some of the simplethings like facilities and
overhead grant funding can beutilized to step in and used to
(11:35):
for that.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Like some of these facilities depend on grant
funding to serve you well and soa lot of the workforce depends
on that grant funding.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Because if they can't take my child and they can't
bus them to school, then how doI go to work?
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Absolutely.
And then like that's whyHarvard is fighting back so hard
, because Harvard it's.
You know, our Ivy Leagues dosome of our most critical
research around health andmedicine.
Like you want to talk aboutcuring cancer and all of that,
like those are the kind ofschools that have the facilities
, the resources and the money todo that.
Right, so you take away thegrant funding for the research,
(12:10):
the research doesn't get done.
The reason that we've been ableto move forward our medicine is
because of the research that ouruniversities are able to do
Absolutely and if we don't havethe research funding to do the
research, the research doesn'tget done the research funding to
do the research, the researchdoesn't get done.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So, with that being said, does this affect every
area of?
Because there's many types ofgrants, right?
Right, you said Trillo is theone that you'd worked with
previously and that's whatyou're referencing right now.
But say small business grants,say minority, if you're a black
owned business, if you're aAsian owned business, things
like that that some people don'teven know they can apply for.
Yeah, you can help walk themthrough that.
(12:51):
But this what you're saying.
With all the legislativechanges, it affects all of these
.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
All of this, it affects everybody because, like
with small businesses, a lot ofsmall businesses go for
foundation grants.
So, that is SB Right.
Those are those small businessadministration or foundations,
which foundations are largelyfunded by private businesses
that, like I, have an overflowof money, let me create a
foundation.
Or, like families that are likethat, have high networks, so
(13:17):
let's create a family foundation.
And this is how you know we'regoing to give this money.
That's how we're going to usethis money to do good.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Right, and you have to show what you're going to
give this money.
That's how we're going to usethis money to do good.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Right, and you have to show what you're going to do
with the right, and so thefoundations will have grants and
give those to small businessesand so now, because of what's
happening with federal funding,there's more competition for the
foundation grants oh okay, sonow let's tell me more about
that.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
So, federal funding it seems like and I'm going to
put it kind of in a bubble itseems like they are pretty much
trying to slowly soften it outto where there's not as much
grant, federal funding forgrants for any of them, yeah so,
in turn, what you're saying isis there's a whole different
competition that's growing now.
Tell me more about that sure.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So foundation grants and the grants on the other.
So there's like I'll separateit, there's like into two
different types of grants thepublic bucket, which is like
state federal grants, get by thegovernment, right, managed by
the government, and then youhave private grants that
foundations are included in.
That those grants are.
Now the foundations are likecool, we'll step up to the plate
(14:25):
to help, like fund thesenon-profits and organizations
and things like that, um, and sothey are looking to step up.
Um, but during the first quarterof the year they were holding
their money because we're likewe're not sure what's going to
happen with grants, right, andthe current administration.
So foundations were largelyholding their money.
So I have clients and othernon-profits that were like, hey,
(14:46):
our funders are not giving usmoney and we don't know when
we're going to get it, or ourmoney is delayed or our money is
less this year because of whathappened with the federal grants
, right, and so now foundationsare like cool, we can start to
slowly let some of this money goand start because they they're
like we want to be able to stillsupport the non-profits that we
(15:06):
are funding in addition, to beable to like realistically
support anybody new that we comeon and we want to make sure
that if we bring on someone thatwe're going to financially
support, we can reallyfinancially support you
Absolutely.
And so, because of what happenedwith the federal grants, they
were like let's hold on to ourmoney to make sure we have
enough cash flow because wedon't know how this is going to
(15:26):
go.
Right, so we may need to like,only support who we already have
.
So now we're starting to seesome grant applications
available.
Like on LinkedIn, I'm seeingsome more people post about
grants that are available forsmall business owners and stuff,
so that the applications andthe money is out there.
It's available for smallbusinesses, the competition is
(15:47):
deeper.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
It's fierce, Right.
That's why what you do is soimportant.
And another reason I wanted youon the show now because you're
saying in August they're hopingthat all the federal grants are
just going to dissipate, right?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, no, not all of them, it's just it's TRIO, trio
SSS specifically.
So TRIO SSS is a five year lifecycle, and so the life cycle
for TRIO SSS is 2020 to 2025.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I see.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So all of the TRIO SSS ends August 30th 2025.
And the new grant that theyapplied for June 2024 was
supposed to take effect, right,and so they were supposed to
have a decision by about that,by now, but no decision.
The decision has been no.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
So, in other words, quit trying to guess what's
going to happen with thegovernment funding, and this is
where we need to go next.
This is what you need to lookfor.
So you're seeing a lot onLinkedIn offering private
funding.
Is it primarily local outreachfrom local businesses wanting to
help small businesses, or is itlike a hub per state that they
(16:50):
can go to and research?
Can you tell me more about howsome of these businesses and
nonprofits can search andnavigate?
Speaker 1 (16:57):
That is also part of what people hire me for.
The grant researching part isdaunting, so I you can if you're
a small business owner andyou're looking for grants, get
on LinkedIn and start connectingwith your local banks.
Okay, Local banks usually havesome kind of foundation and so
they have grant funding and theyalways have small business
resources.
And then the bank whoever youhave a bank account with they
(17:21):
have business, small businessresources you should be
utilizing.
You should be in that bank atleast once a month trying to
figure out what are the newresources y'all have available
for me, Because, as much asyou're, by being a business
owner and putting all your moneyinto that account, you're
giving the bank your money forthem, Because you know our banks
take our money and invest anddo all that stuff so they're
(17:41):
benefiting from you.
So you need to be making sureyou're benefiting from them by
going to that bank.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Wow, so a lot of the banking is going to really start
ramping up the business banking.
Because if they don't offer itright now, they probably should
look into it, because it's afierce market for these small
business owners right.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
It is, and so, like most banks, have some kind of
small business resource orgrants available for them to
apply for, so they can go totheir bank and find it there.
Their local banks, localfoundations, but then also
larger banks like Chase Chasehas so many different arms of
foundation and grant fundingavailable for small businesses.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Wow, this is information I never knew, and
I've worked for a bank in mypast.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Let me tell you I learned this by working.
So when I became a grant writer, I was like I really need to
hone my skills.
So I became a grantadministrator full-time for a
nonprofit and worked under anexecutive director who is a
master class in fundraising andtaught me so much.
And so Chase has multipledifferent arms and has been
(18:45):
actually standing pretty firm insupporting small businesses
black owned businesses and havebeen like their.
Their statements and stuff havesaid as much and that was like
one of the things I was checkingon like what's Chase going to
do.
I was checking on like what'sChase going to do, but there's
like other, like larger banksthat have foundations, that have
small business foundations andgrants available.
You just have to go and lookfor it and know where to look.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
That's why you are so important and you starting your
own business, I feel like, wasa great move for you.
I'm just looking at you inhindsight like that was probably
the most strategic move youcould have made, because you're
not under any entity, you're notfollowing guidelines to say or
not say anything.
This is real.
This is education that you'vetaught yourself with your
(19:30):
education in school, of course,I'm sure with some grants.
I know I needed some um toreally educate your, your
community, right, and it seemslike it seems like a very
selfless act.
But there's so much more Ididn't know about, like you.
Just recently, um signed asix-month contract yeah yeah,
(19:51):
tell us about that, and why.
Why is six months three to sixmonths so imperative when hiring
someone like you?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
to write a grant.
That's a great question.
So, because the fundraisingtimeline takes time, so you have
depending on if you have arelationship with funders
already, that impacts how longit might take to get a check If
you're establishing a newrelationship, because it's
relationship building, it's notjust an application.
Yeah, you have to be able totrust right, yes, and the funder
(20:20):
needs to trust that you'regoing to be a good steward of
their money.
So you know, making sure that.
I'm sorry, re-ask the questionbecause I was about to go down a
rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It's okay, I do it all the time.
There's so many variables andbranches to what you do, so what
I ask is why is a three to sixmonth contract period, when they
bring you on, so important?
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Got it Because the three to six month timeline is
important because three monthsgive us a minimum time to
establish new relationships.
Get a good number of grantsbecause we'll apply for a
certain number of grants permonth.
So get a certain number ofgrants out per month to start
building up that pipeline, startbuilding out relationships, and
that will take time to for thatto reflect back in money.
(21:06):
So like, if you need money, youknow you're going to need grant
funding.
Starting before you need it isthe best way.
Like a year, two years beforeyou need it is when you need to
start applying.
Also, some grant applicationswhen they drop, the application
process is a little slow, so youmight get a drop May.
Let's say we get a drop May 1stand the deadline is June 30th
(21:28):
and the panel they have toreview it and however many
applications they get depend onif they get five or 500.
Wow, they have to review themall then have to get back to
everybody.
By the time they get back toyou they might be saying like
you're great, you're on theshort list, can you give us a
presentation?
And then we'll have to reviewagain.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Right.
What business owner has time togo through all those hoops and
jump ropes?
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yes, wow so you're really saving them time and the
efficiency of you being soeducated as to where to find
them, what to do, what not to do, really saves them money at the
end of the day right, I meanthose are hourly costs for your
staff that don't know anythingabout it and I know, and that's
what people will do People willjust be like, hey, do these as
(22:14):
assigned and just have somebodydo that, just start writing
grants, duties as assigned, andjust have somebody do that, just
start writing grants.
And it's really a waste of yoursalary dollars because you're
having somebody just kind ofthrow out an application and
it's not well written or writtenin a way that would be
compelling to a funder and thenlike or it's not even a grant
that's in alignment with yourmission, so it's not.
It was like you shouldn't haveeven applied for that grant
anyway right so it's like awaste of time, a waste of
(22:37):
resource.
So when you try to cut cornerswith trying to like be cheap and
like just have this staffmember do it or just try to
hurry up and do it yourself,like sometimes, like you can get
lucky and get a grant or two,but it's not an efficient way to
like fundraise long termabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I mean, wouldn't you want a faster return on the time
and effort that you gaveabsolutely with?
I'm sure everyone's scramblingto look for where they can find
some funding now that it'sending for them for the upcoming
years?
Right, absolutely.
So can you kind of tell me whatare some websites, platforms
you recommend for people whocan't hire you just yet to check
(23:15):
regularly before they need thefunding, like you just said to?
Speaker 1 (23:18):
be proactive about it .
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Where can they go to try and search and delegate and
resource if they can't hire youjust yet?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Sure.
So there's a few differentplaces you can go.
So GrantStation is a freeresource.
Grantsgov is where all federalstate any kind of in the in that
sector.
All of those grants are goingto be on grantsgov um the
foundation private grants.
That's where it gets a littlesticky.
So grants um grant station is agood place to go.
(23:47):
Um hello alice is a great placeto go.
They have great resources inlike um, especially for small
business owners.
Black owned bypac ownedbusiness.
Women owned um what about?
veteran owned.
Veteran owned as well okay,great um hello skip is another
one that's good and then, um,the one that I use is
(24:09):
instrumental.
Um, that one's a little moreexpensive but it gives you, like
, everything.
I pay for it so that I can havemore than one profile and I can
like filter out.
My client tells me you get togive me all the nuts and bolts.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I put the stuff in and then it filters it for me
and it gives me a curated listwhich is, I mean, pivotal for
you to have so you can take thatto any business and you part of
what you do, your those to yourresources that you use.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Staying educated on what's going on and how to find
it.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, because, like, if I spend because that was like
instrumental is great, becauseI don't want to, also, they're
paying me for my time.
I don't want to spend too muchof my time on the research part
when we need to get applicationsout.
Absolutely, it saves me time andthen I can just go and pull the
list, the spreadsheet, and soit saves me time.
And then I can just go and pullthe list, the spreadsheet, and
then me and my client just goover it and walk through like
which grants are the best fit,we want to go for it and then
(25:00):
start applying.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Wow, I feel like each and every business owner or
nonprofit association anythingwould want to have multiple
conversations with you on somany different realms.
So, after looking through ourconversation from the last time
and looking through where you'relisted on the platform, social
media platforms and your website, you also host workshops that
(25:23):
they can be a part of.
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yes, and so I'm actually.
So I've done the last like yearor two.
I've been doing like freeworkshops, one as a free
resource, two as a way for me tolike gather data on how to
educate better absolutely so.
You receive feedback, yes, on alot of it and so, um, the one
that I have now is my first paidwell, not my first like big
(25:48):
paid workshop is the one thatI'm developing that's dropping,
um, uh, oh, wow, yeah, it'sdropping next week.
And this one is going to be ahalf-day walkthrough where
you're going to be able tofigure out how do I find and
search grants and then we'regoing to walk through, okay,
like here is how to do that, andyou'll leave with a list of
(26:09):
three to five grants that youcan apply for custom to your
business.
Wow, like you'll get to learn,learn and then you get to
implement and then at the end isgoing to be some networking,
yeah, so there's for them to beable to connect.
So it'll be a half day virtualevent that anybody can
participate in that has that'sinterested in grants, so that's
non-profits, uh, smallbusinesses.
(26:30):
Um, you think about hospitals,the medical grants.
There's a lot of money in thateducation.
Any anyone in the educationsector would benefit from that.
And I'm doing this also becauseof what's happening with trio
programs and federal funding.
There you're going to have toaccess different kind of grants
and you're going to some ofthese some like educations,
(26:52):
where they were relying a lot onfederal grants.
They're going to have to shiftinto some of these, some like
educations where they wererelying a lot on federal grants
they're going to have to shiftinto some of these foundation
grants as well, and it's likewhere do you start exactly?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I would have no idea where to start.
And um, after watching my ceo,he manages three different
businesses, right, he's the ceoof this co-working space, our
marketing agency and thenanother business and it's like.
These are things I know hedoesn't have time for.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, how could he stay up to date on all these
changes and really know how it'sgoing to affect him?
Without someone like you?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Literally, Like I mean the way.
I mean I listen to NPR everyday to keep up with news, just
to keep up with what's going on.
I follow PBS on TikTok so I cankeep up with the most current
information on grants.
Like keeping up with grant news, I'm subscribed to several
newsletters.
I'm a part of several differentassociations on different state
(27:43):
level, national level.
Like I've like, at thebeginning of the year, I went to
two state level conferencesthat talk specifically about
grants and funding and stuff.
Like I have invested so muchtime and energy into going and
finding all this information out, a small business owner, you
barely have enough time to getyour accounting done no kidding,
you know, sometimes not eventhat.
(28:05):
Yeah, like I mean, like, did youeat breakfast yesterday?
You know what I'm saying.
Like it's just challenging andso, like it's just like anything
else, you have to outsource itfor it to be done.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Well, absolutely and be able to, because people buy
and hire from people they knowlike and trust right and the
fact that you even take the timeand opportunity to have gotten
your degree graduated andcontinually keep that education
going when you're not workingwith a client is imperative.
The initiative since COVID, itseems like in the whole society
(28:42):
is just a little more lax.
The effort, the willingness totake an opportunity when it
comes your way is less and less.
I'm seeing especially ourgeneration and next generations
to come, so what you do would beinvaluable to me.
But what I want to know is ifI'm in New York or if I'm in
Louisiana.
Can you still help me?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I have clients.
So me being like I lived inDallas and so like I just moved
to Chicago like 30 days ago.
So I know I miss, I alreadymiss it here, but I had clients.
So actually when I was a grantadministrator that was based in
San Diego, I was virtual thatwhole time.
I was there for like a year anda half.
(29:19):
So I have clients, someeverywhere.
I have a client in New York, Ihave clients like in the DC area
, I do have clients in Chicagoand some clients in Dallas.
Um, I've have had because oflike I guess you end up having
with one client and then theyintroduce you to somebody.
So so I have a lot of folkslike in the New Jersey, that
side of the country.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Wow.
So you would definitely sayyour referrals are your primary
source of new clients coming inReferrals.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Yeah, referrals, definitely.
And then like referrals andthen followed by that is social
media.
Okay, like I have, I wentreally ham for like two
Instagram and like was just likegoing crazy and like I got a
few likes.
Actually, one of my New Yorkclient came from Instagram DMs.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Wow, that is incredible so.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I think you like there's some of.
It is like you just have to bebold enough to try.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah, just get who you are and what you do out
there.
Right Whether it's professionalor not, just get out there.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Absolutely right.
Yeah, whether it's professionalor not, just get it out there
absolutely and like being likek-pop is just like the way.
It like has nothing to do withgrants and everything to do with
my grant world.
That's where I like got afollowing and got comfortable
being on social media on k-popcontent creator, on tiktok, and
so when I dropped my business,all of those people I was like,
hey, I started my business.
They were like we know nothingabout grants, but we'd love to
(30:33):
support you, so they weresharing my stuff.
I had people that I've nevermet in person before referring
me to their friends that neededa grant writer.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Wow, you've taken the title influencer to a whole new
level and the most positive wayI can think of, which is great,
because it seems like everyoneis starting their own business
after COVID.
It's so, I think, withtechnology and AI and all of the
different variables you we'vegrown into, it's so much easier.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
it is to start your own business.
It is, and you can start abusiness at home on your
computer.
You can start with what youhave at the house.
There's so many ways to start abusiness at home.
I had no idea, so it's likejust try just try.
Just be bold enough to trysomething like literally I've
had other grant writers see myTikTok and DM me on TikTok just
(31:22):
to connect with another grantwriter like, if you're just bold
enough to just put the stuffout there.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
You just never know what's gonna happen and I'm so
thankful you did, because whowould have known that
legislation would have shiftedthis month and now you're in the
spotlight to help people.
I'm sure you're about to bepulled 15 different directions
by the end of the year you know,I mean like that is the
fortunate and unfortunate partabout all of this.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It's a good problem to have.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Yeah right, yeah so can you tell me how do you
navigate through themisinformation that's out there
about grant writing and what'sgoing on in legislation and what
people should be aware of?
How do you know and navigatethrough that misinformation?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Sure, so I stay connected with other grant
writers and I'm a part of Well,I haven't paid my membership yet
, but I have connected with oneof the presidents of a chapter
for the Grand ProfessionalsAssociation.
So that's like our likegoverning body.
I connected with one of thepresidents of a chapter for the
Grand Professionals Associationoh wow, so that's like our
governing body and I'msubscribed to their newsletter
so I stay up to date and sotheir information, I know, is
(32:24):
like solid.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
That's your fact check.
You go to?
Yeah, fact check and go to.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Coe is also like the governing body for like TRIO
programs, and so I'm subscribedto their newsletter.
Wow, also that president that Iconnected with she was like,
yeah, you can just come to ourbi-weekly uh catch-up meetings
and and talk with other grantwriters, so I go to that every
two weeks man, that it's stayingup to date and having a
community I mean any industry.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I feel like that's beneficial, right, yeah, to know
, to know the do's and don'ts ofwhat you guys are doing, and
especially right now, it affectsso many and you could really
help so many, okay, so what is?
What would you say is your mostrecent or best success story
that you could share with someof our businesses and?
Speaker 1 (33:08):
oh my god.
So actually I need to emailthis client again today.
So I have a client that I was,that I'm working with, that
works with providing a safespace for transgender women, a
safe house, and we had to pauseon working together for a little
bit.
We wrote some grants had topause because we had a funder
(33:30):
that because of what happenedwith the federal grants right.
And so then she came back andwas like hey, one of the grants
we went for, I got invited foran interview and so we're
prepping for the interview.
Happened it actually?
It just happened this week, andso we were prepping for that
interview for this month and soshe had the interview this month
.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
So we'll wait to see what happens with that interview
and how things go, but um,that's incredible because that
community in itself, once theelection and everything happened
, I know there was a lot ofnervousness or what's going to
happen?
Or what's going on, so that isan incredible story yes, that
non-profit we were scared alittle.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I was scared, you know, because like when funders
were pausing and then thatspecific community was being
attacked and like that right andso, like at the beginning of
the year, it's like, oh my god,like I hope, you know, like we
get some funding and I hopefunders don't all pull out and
like completely dismantle stuff.
And so then, a few months later, to come back and say, like one
of the applications wentthrough and it was one of the
(34:29):
$25,000 ones, so I'm like thisis gonna be like.
So yes, so this is turningaround.
So I'm like this is gonna be,like so pivotal, yes, so this is
turning around.
So I'm like it's that, so I'mstarting, it's starting to turn
around.
So if you're gonna apply.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
This is the time to go ahead and start applying,
because things are starting toturn yeah, so if they did start
applying today and they calledyou and they started putting the
steps together that they needso that they can utilize you,
how long would you say, fromstart to finish, will it take
before they have a check intheir bank account for that
business?
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Three to six months.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Wow, and that's if you have all the information.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
If you have all the information ready.
You could still have all theinformation, because it doesn't
depend on you and how ready youare.
It depends on the funder andhow fast they get their checks
out.
Interesting and so like, evenlike I'll use Chase as an
example like they're so largebut they still mail paper mail
their checks.
So, like old habits die hardyeah, they do so like it just
(35:24):
depends.
It just really just depends.
I don't like to promise thatit's going to be fast.
There's nothing fast aboutgrants.
It's a marathon sprint, it's amarathon kind of thing.
Sometimes you can get fundingfast.
Sometimes you can like apply andlike the funding comes in a few
weeks if it's a foundation, ifit's a small family foundation
and like you know they don't getthat many applications, or your
(35:44):
application was really greatand they're ready to make
decisions then, or they havehard deadlines of when they're
going to make those decisions.
Sure, you can get fast, but itshouldn't be the expectation in
the grant world that this is a.
You need to plan this ahead oftime and just be ahead of the
curve.
And if you're not ahead of thecurve, that's okay, we can play
catch up.
But it just know that it'll beplaying catch up and it's not
(36:06):
going to be an immediateturnaround.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Yeah, you, you, making the audience or your
audience, any audience moreknowledgeable of when they
should start this process isvery, very important.
I know it is for me, becauseI'm going to walk out of here
and go to my CEO and say, hey,do you know all of these things
that are going on?
Because if not, I mean weshould get started on it.
So can you tell our audiencemaybe five bullet points to make
(36:31):
sure they have collectedinformation they need to have
ready before they even considerapplying for a grant or talking
to you.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Oh yeah, so like let's see five things.
So like you need one.
Are you collecting data on yourown organization?
So like making sure Analyticsyour analytics.
Okay, so, like you have your Xnumber, you're saying that we
serve a hundred people and thisis the impact.
Cool.
(36:58):
Do you have any numbers, anyassessment that can show me that
that's what's happening?
I believe you, but we need somenumbers to back that up,
because your funders want to seenumbers to back that up, wow.
So make sure you have youranalytics and they're solid.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
It's so funny how it circles back to what we do here
at Atma, because we tell all ofour businesses you have to have
analytic programs or work withsomebody that does to be able to
target the correct audience.
So it's mutually beneficial.
Yes, for funding and for youroutreach as well.
Yes, and as a business owner.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
you should just know your analytics.
I was, I mean, also likeresearch methods was my class.
I'm a math girl, I was amathlete, I like numbers, so
grants is kind of perfect for mebecause I like numbers.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Yeah, you look happy.
I do not look the way you lookat all, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
So, like your analytics, look at your verbiage
for everything your mission,vision, value.
Make sure that that's current,make sure that that is
compelling and make sure thatyou know you're good with your
mission, vision, value all yourcore.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Some people don't have those Now, is there
anything specific based on whattype of grant you're applying
for that they would be lookingfor?
Well, that would sway ordissuade.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Great to have your mission already there, because
then I can look at all the otherfunders and see if there's
mission alignment.
Okay, you don't want to forceit, you want to be honest
exactly because if there's nomission alignment like if
they're looking to like help thecar industry and you're like
with helping with sustainability, like why are we trying to make
that work?
Like no, let's just go on to adifferent funder, because there
are funders out there.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Don't waste the time.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Don't waste the time, but like also as a grant writer
and like writing is what I do,what I've done like, especially
early on in learning how to be abusiness owner.
I've rewritten submissions andrewritten some vision statements
and stuff, and that can be done.
It just takes time.
So if you don't want my timeeating up by redoing all your
stuff, then then you call storyand she'll help you put together
(38:58):
that strategy there we gomutually beneficial.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Everything in life should be mutually beneficial
exactly exactly okay.
So what are a couple otheroverview points, because I know
we can dive into details of eachone.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Overview points.
So I did two.
So third one I would have ateam, establish your grant
writing team, like if you can'thire a grant writer, it's you
and maybe two other three peoplethat do different things.
So you have the leadershipbrain.
You need somebody that's on theground doing the work and maybe
uh, I'm thinking like a studentor maybe somebody from the
(39:36):
community that's impacted byyour work.
So you kind of have awell-rounded like vision of like
what's going on to on how towrite that is that something you
offer?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
so say, they can't have you full-time, but can you
help them with a strategy forgrant?
Speaker 1 (39:49):
writing.
Yeah, so like if you wanted meto come in and like, just help
you get organized.
Like you have your teamtogether and y'all are going to
write it, you just need to getorganized.
I can help you get organizedfrom A to Z on just like how to
get set up and then y'all go doit.
Like I give you the template onhow to do it and then y'all go
do the stuff.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
OK, that's incredible .
You're like a resource foreverything right now.
Ok, so is there?
I do want to ask.
I know we missed a couplebullet points, but they'll have
to reach out to you to learn alittle bit more, because we
could be here all day talking.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
We could.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
So tell me how can people connect with you, what
platforms are you on, what areyou checking daily and how can
they stay up to date on anyimportant information you're
trying to deliver?
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Sure.
So I'm on LinkedIn At theSailor Justice.
Everything is the SailorJustice Project, the T-H-E
Sailor Justice Project, theSailor Justice Project.
So on LinkedIn, you can find meon the Sailor Justice Project,
my website,thesailorjusticeprojectcom.
On Instagram, I'm at the SailorJustice Project Facebook same
(40:53):
thing, the Sailor JusticeProject.
Facebook same thing, the SailorJustice Project.
I'm also on TikTok.
That is a combination of K-popand grant writing.
I don't know how I put thosetogether, but they're there
together.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
The fact that you merged them is impressive.
I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Now I'm just going with curiosity, yeah that one is
your girl Sailor Justice, alittle different, but everything
else is the Sailor JusticeProject.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
I love it.
Well, I am so excited for yourfuture this year and how many
people you're going to help, andI cannot wait to see you next
year to see how everythingdeveloped and what new changes
are coming.
So thank you so much for coming, for flying in today to be with
us.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Thank you for having me and thank you for, like I
mean, come meeting you at thenetworking event and being
invited to come.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I was, like I've told , I called my mom and was like
guess what, I love it.
Would you have thought, whenyou made those impromptu videos
educating people, that you wouldhave so much outreach?
I mean, you're worried about itnot being professional and look
at you.
That's how I found you.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Absolutely not.
I had absolutely no idea.
Like just I had no idea thatthis is where I would graduate
to and that there's so much moreto come from this.
So I'm just so grateful that Igot to meet you at the
networking event and being ableto come here today and this
setup, oh my God is amazing.
So, yeah, absolutely Well.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
I'm so thankful that we have you now as a resource,
so yeah, we will be seeing eachother a lot soon.
So yeah, we will be seeing eachother a lot soon and hopefully
our audience out there, if youhave questions if you're not
sure, or if you've never evenapplied for a grant before,
there may be funds out therethat can help you reach out.
Reach out and try, Because allyou can do is try, and who knows
(42:30):
what will come from it Untilnext time.
We'll see you then.
Welcome back to Market it With Atma, where we
share the tips, tools andstrategies to help your business
be successful.
Today, our topic on this showis grant writing.
How does that affect you as abusiness owner?
We have today owner and founderof the Sailor Justice Project,
mrs Doria, on the show to helpeducate us about grant writing
(00:39):
for small businesses businessesor nonprofits and what it it
takes, and maybe some changesthat might affect your business.
Welcome, doria.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thank you for the intro.
I'm so excited you're able tomake it.
You flew in today, right?
I?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
did I flew in.
I flew in and let me tell youwhat it was quite.
It was an easy fly in, but thenwe got here to the airport and
we had to circle for like anhour before we could land.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh, my goodness, I was going to say the Dallas
traffic, but you hadn't evenlanded yet.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
No, I was in Dallas in the air for like an hour
before I was actually in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But you kind of know what it's like.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
You're from here right, yeah, so well, I'm not
from here, but I'm from fromChicago, but I lived here for 10
years.
Oh, wow, um, so yeah, like thisis really like my second home,
so it's really like coming backhome, coming back to.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Dallas.
Oh so you feel good, traffic orno traffic, it still feels good
it feels good to be back, yeah,yeah so you and I met at a
local networking event and whatyou do is so important, I feel,
to our audience, future clients,businesses, especially non
nonprofits.
So can you kind of walk methrough what encouraged you to
(01:49):
start the Sailor Justice Projectand a little definition about
what it is you do on aday-to-day basis?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Sure, so I started the Sailor Justice Project.
Really it starts from beinglike a nine-year-old little girl
, while, like, coming home afterschool watching Sailor Moon, um
, and so like I always wanted tobe a Sailor Scout, it was my
favorite thing, and so likeanime kind of became the thing,
right like I was very into animeand like during the time, that
(02:16):
time, when I was in high school,it was not like I was very much
like something I kept to myself, that something must very much
keep to yourself.
So I love the expansion of likeanime now.
So then, um, you know,graduated into, going into
higher education, getting my, mycareer started and doing 10
years in the college realm orwhatever.
Um, during the pandemic waswhen the transition happened and
(02:39):
we needed to bring everythingonline because of, you know, we
had to.
We were at home.
Right, and so during thattransition it was tough, and so
there were a lot of things thathappened and I ended up leaving
higher education.
And so in leaving I wastransitioning and like, okay,
great, like I 'll just find adifferent job.
I was thinking, maybeinternational education.
But then I got my friend askedme if, hey, you want to do some
(03:02):
contract work on the side, makesome money until you get another
job?
And it was a grant writing gigand I was like, well, I've only
written one grant, right, cool.
So then I go and write thisgrant for the guy.
And then his friend needed agrant writer and cousin needed a
grant writer.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Isn't it amazing how it all networks together.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, so then I started the business and what
inspired me was really BTS.
Really, yes, k-pop is whatpushed me, gave me the courage
to push me.
The album, like all of thestuff that they were talking
about about loving yourself andhow to just be better to
yourself, and all of that, likethat, really like at the time,
especially during the pandemic,it hit hard.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Resonated, yeah, yeah .
Speaker 1 (03:41):
And so it started with like a skincare routine I'm
going to do better with takingcare of my skin, and then that
graduated into me being likebrave enough to start a business
, and three years later, hereyou are.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Here I am flying into Dallas to do podcasts.
That's amazing.
I feel like with COVID, thatwhole experience really helped
people, maybe push them into theconfidence they needed to do
what they wanted to do withtheir life right absolutely,
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It was time that I had to sit and really think
about what do I want to do atthis stage of adulthood.
Right, like I fulfilled allthese high school dreams.
What do I want to do now inthis adult self and like BTS, I
mean them being around?
We're I'm a little bit olderthan them, but we're around the
same age and just seeingeverything that they've been
(04:26):
able to accomplish, everythingthey've been able to do, and the
age that they were doing it atso young, I was like I can do
this, I can do this, so I'mgoing to go.
Whatever this is, I'm going todo it.
And it ended up being a grantwriter and starting this
business.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Right, and for it to launch this quickly really makes
me realize how many businessowners out there are missing out
on these opportunities to oneget grants and the opportunity
to utilize what you dospecifically to make sure that
it's not wasted time and effortapplying for one that you know
is going to get bounced backright, right, and I absolutely
(05:04):
love that.
The mission behind it for you isso selfless because it really
is important what you're doing,and we had talked prior to this
about a lot of legislativechanges that are going on, so
I'm going to jump right into it.
I know it's the tea.
Yeah, let's talk about it, butit really resonated with me when
you said so many changes areaffecting so many things and I
(05:28):
think our audience and ourbusiness owners and nonprofits
really need to know how thesechanges are going to affect them
and what's really going on andhow you might be able to help
them in turn.
Right, so tell me what are someof the big bullet points that
you feel like changes have beenmade and these are really really
(05:49):
affecting people or they needto know about them.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Right.
So I think the biggest changethat happened was in January, at
the end of the month, when theexecutive order went out pretty
much to put a stop on federalgrants and basically you got
emails that were being sent outsaying like, hey, you have until
five o'clock to draw down themoney that you have for this
grant, otherwise you're notgoing to have access to the
(06:13):
money at all.
So, like the way, like federalgrants work, is like you'll have
like, say, you have a five yearcycle and you've been approved
for five years, but you don'thave like five years worth of
money just sitting in a bankaccount, right like you have to
draw it down once a year or youknow when you're going to use it
, and so all of the money hadnot been drawn down yet at that
point when he dropped thatexecutive order.
(06:34):
So he was telling everybodythat today, like today, by this
time, so I'm going to tell youat like eight, nine o'clock in
the morning, you have literallyuntil the end of business day to
pull down to all of theseinstitutions to pull down that
money, otherwise you're notgoing to have access to it.
So that's money for salary,that's money for student
programs, that's money fortutoring.
(06:57):
Some of these programs alsoserve students with disabilities
.
So that means that thosestudents that accessibility
services are cut off.
So that was like that was whathappened, and so then there was
an injunction, and so a judgeblocked that executive order,
and so now the ricochet of that,what happened through the rest
of the year, was people wereterrified of federal grants, and
(07:18):
so there were grantapplications that were available
and non-profits were notapplying because they don't want
to touch the federal grantsbecause of everything that's
going on.
So so then he kind of got whathe wanted without having to take
the grants away.
Right you don't apply for thefunding, because now I've
created all this fear andmisinformation.
So what's happened is like two,like several things nonprofits
(07:40):
and organizations are notapplying for the grants that are
available and now, all of asudden, like the grants that are
usually dropping, like yourannual grants that usually
always drop at this time of year, certain times of year have not
been dropping.
The number of grants ongrantsgov are at record lows
from previous years.
And the thing about this grantmoney they're taxpayer dollars
(08:00):
and the money is already there.
It's just not being madeavailable in the grants that
it's supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Wow.
So where is it being allocatedto if it's not in the grants?
That's a great question.
Where is the money?
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Where is it going and where is it sitting and what's
being done with it?
Because also who?
Because, for some of this, mostof my experiences in higher
education, and so the departmentof Education is the one that is
responsible for handling thegrant funding, how it gets
divvied up Exactly, and so ifyou're talking about, in
addition to what's happeningwith grant funding on this side.
(08:35):
In addition to that, theDepartment of Education is
slated to be dismantled.
So when you have thisintersection of grant funding,
that falls under the Departmentof Education and then the
Department of Education itselfis being dismantled.
Now you have, like no largeentity to manage where the
(08:57):
grants go, to manage the grantfunding.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
And it seems like there's a lot of confusion as to
where, because of thisdismantling of the education
system or the department ofeducation, as to where it's
going or who's managing it.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Right like where is the money?
Because the money that, likethe taxes, have already been
paid.
The money was already allocatedprevious.
Because these federal grantslike these are things that have
been happy, like the application, the application for the 2025
to 2030 TRIO SSS applicationthat dropped 2024 June.
(09:30):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Okay, so this is cash money that's already out there
right, yes.
This isn't interest rate moneythat may come in or may not.
This is cash money fromtaxpayer dollars.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yes, that's already there and it's being in the.
He's saying that the programand, as of right now, trio SSS
will be cut as of August 30th ofthis year of this summer.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Okay, and it won't exist anymore Anymore at all.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
No, because, yeah, as of right now, no, it won't
exist anymore.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So let me back up just for a minute, just for the
people out there that are justnot educating themselves on
what's going on or haven't evenconsidered a grant.
And it's like okay, how do Inavigate this?
Now?
We know about all this that'sgoing on, the funding that you
said most businesses orinstitutions have been utilizing
.
They're not able to get anymore.
(10:18):
What are those commoninstitutions or what type of
businesses?
Is it daycares?
Is it colleges?
Is it public schools?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Oh, it's all of the above.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So like education.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You think of every type of school right, every type
of facility that educates astudent, whether that be a
daycare or nursery, a preschool.
Even private Catholic schoolsuse grant funding to a certain
degree, because as long as youare an entity and you qualify
for the funding, you can apply.
So private schools, catholicschools, use grant funding to a
certain degree because as longas you are an entity and you
qualify for the funding, you canapply.
So private schools, catholicschools.
(10:50):
I'm a product of Catholicschool and so Catholic schools
like because of tuition dollars,like you, heavily rely on grant
funding along with donationsand stuff.
So think about every level ofeducation that there exists.
The grant funding for all ofthose programs are at risk right
now for not existing anymore.
And the and when you thinkabout like I was talking about
(11:11):
TRIO, because that'sspecifically what that was what
I was talking about yesterdayand that I used to work under
that program but just grantfunding across the board, I
would challenge anybody to go toyour daycare or wherever your
kids are going if they're underfive years old and ask them,
like how do you pay for allthese different things?
I mean just some of the simplethings like facilities and
overhead grant funding can beutilized to step in and used to
(11:35):
for that.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Like some of these facilities depend on grant
funding to serve you well and soa lot of the workforce depends
on that grant funding.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Because if they can't take my child and they can't
bus them to school, then how doI go to work?
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Absolutely.
And then like that's whyHarvard is fighting back so hard
, because Harvard it's.
You know, our Ivy Leagues dosome of our most critical
research around health andmedicine.
Like you want to talk aboutcuring cancer and all of that,
like those are the kind ofschools that have the facilities
, the resources and the money todo that.
Right, so you take away thegrant funding for the research,
(12:10):
the research doesn't get done.
The reason that we've been ableto move forward our medicine is
because of the research that ouruniversities are able to do
Absolutely and if we don't havethe research funding to do the
research, the research doesn'tget done the research funding to
do the research, the researchdoesn't get done.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So, with that being said, does this affect every
area of?
Because there's many types ofgrants, right?
Right, you said Trillo is theone that you'd worked with
previously and that's whatyou're referencing right now.
But say small business grants,say minority, if you're a black
owned business, if you're aAsian owned business, things
like that that some people don'teven know they can apply for.
Yeah, you can help walk themthrough that.
(12:51):
But this what you're saying.
With all the legislativechanges, it affects all of these
.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
All of this, it affects everybody because, like
with small businesses, a lot ofsmall businesses go for
foundation grants.
So, that is SB Right.
Those are those small businessadministration or foundations,
which foundations are largelyfunded by private businesses
that, like I, have an overflowof money, let me create a
foundation.
Or, like families that are likethat, have high networks, so
(13:17):
let's create a family foundation.
And this is how you know we'regoing to give this money.
That's how we're going to usethis money to do good.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Right, and you have to show what you're going to
give this money.
That's how we're going to usethis money to do good.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Right, and you have to show what you're going to do
with the right, and so thefoundations will have grants and
give those to small businessesand so now, because of what's
happening with federal funding,there's more competition for the
foundation grants oh okay, sonow let's tell me more about
that.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
So, federal funding it seems like and I'm going to
put it kind of in a bubble itseems like they are pretty much
trying to slowly soften it outto where there's not as much
grant, federal funding forgrants for any of them, yeah so,
in turn, what you're saying isis there's a whole different
competition that's growing now.
Tell me more about that sure.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So foundation grants and the grants on the other.
So there's like I'll separateit, there's like into two
different types of grants thepublic bucket, which is like
state federal grants, get by thegovernment, right, managed by
the government, and then youhave private grants that
foundations are included in.
That those grants are.
Now the foundations are likecool, we'll step up to the plate
(14:25):
to help, like fund thesenon-profits and organizations
and things like that, um, and sothey are looking to step up.
Um, but during the first quarterof the year they were holding
their money because we're likewe're not sure what's going to
happen with grants, right, andthe current administration.
So foundations were largelyholding their money.
So I have clients and othernon-profits that were like, hey,
(14:46):
our funders are not giving usmoney and we don't know when
we're going to get it, or ourmoney is delayed or our money is
less this year because of whathappened with the federal grants
, right, and so now foundationsare like cool, we can start to
slowly let some of this money goand start because they they're
like we want to be able to stillsupport the non-profits that we
(15:06):
are funding in addition, to beable to like realistically
support anybody new that we comeon and we want to make sure
that if we bring on someone thatwe're going to financially
support, we can reallyfinancially support you
Absolutely.
And so, because of what happenedwith the federal grants, they
were like let's hold on to ourmoney to make sure we have
enough cash flow because wedon't know how this is going to
(15:26):
go.
Right, so we may need to like,only support who we already have
.
So now we're starting to seesome grant applications
available.
Like on LinkedIn, I'm seeingsome more people post about
grants that are available forsmall business owners and stuff,
so that the applications andthe money is out there.
It's available for smallbusinesses, the competition is
(15:47):
deeper.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
It's fierce, Right.
That's why what you do is soimportant.
And another reason I wanted youon the show now because you're
saying in August they're hopingthat all the federal grants are
just going to dissipate, right?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, no, not all of them, it's just it's TRIO, trio
SSS specifically.
So TRIO SSS is a five year lifecycle, and so the life cycle
for TRIO SSS is 2020 to 2025.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I see.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So all of the TRIO SSS ends August 30th 2025.
And the new grant that theyapplied for June 2024 was
supposed to take effect, right,and so they were supposed to
have a decision by about that,by now, but no decision.
The decision has been no.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
So, in other words, quit trying to guess what's
going to happen with thegovernment funding, and this is
where we need to go next.
This is what you need to lookfor.
So you're seeing a lot onLinkedIn offering private
funding.
Is it primarily local outreachfrom local businesses wanting to
help small businesses, or is itlike a hub per state that they
(16:50):
can go to and research?
Can you tell me more about howsome of these businesses and
nonprofits can search andnavigate?
Speaker 1 (16:57):
That is also part of what people hire me for.
The grant researching part isdaunting, so I you can if you're
a small business owner andyou're looking for grants, get
on LinkedIn and start connectingwith your local banks.
Okay, Local banks usually havesome kind of foundation and so
they have grant funding and theyalways have small business
resources.
And then the bank whoever youhave a bank account with they
(17:21):
have business, small businessresources you should be
utilizing.
You should be in that bank atleast once a month trying to
figure out what are the newresources y'all have available
for me, Because, as much asyou're, by being a business
owner and putting all your moneyinto that account, you're
giving the bank your money forthem, Because you know our banks
take our money and invest anddo all that stuff so they're
(17:41):
benefiting from you.
So you need to be making sureyou're benefiting from them by
going to that bank.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Wow, so a lot of the banking is going to really start
ramping up the business banking.
Because if they don't offer itright now, they probably should
look into it, because it's afierce market for these small
business owners right.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
It is, and so, like most banks, have some kind of
small business resource orgrants available for them to
apply for, so they can go totheir bank and find it there.
Their local banks, localfoundations, but then also
larger banks like Chase Chasehas so many different arms of
foundation and grant fundingavailable for small businesses.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Wow, this is information I never knew, and
I've worked for a bank in mypast.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Let me tell you I learned this by working.
So when I became a grant writer, I was like I really need to
hone my skills.
So I became a grantadministrator full-time for a
nonprofit and worked under anexecutive director who is a
master class in fundraising andtaught me so much.
And so Chase has multipledifferent arms and has been
(18:45):
actually standing pretty firm insupporting small businesses
black owned businesses and havebeen like their.
Their statements and stuff havesaid as much and that was like
one of the things I was checkingon like what's Chase going to
do.
I was checking on like what'sChase going to do, but there's
like other, like larger banksthat have foundations, that have
small business foundations andgrants available.
You just have to go and lookfor it and know where to look.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
That's why you are so important and you starting your
own business, I feel like, wasa great move for you.
I'm just looking at you inhindsight like that was probably
the most strategic move youcould have made, because you're
not under any entity, you're notfollowing guidelines to say or
not say anything.
This is real.
This is education that you'vetaught yourself with your
(19:30):
education in school, of course,I'm sure with some grants.
I know I needed some um toreally educate your, your
community, right, and it seemslike it seems like a very
selfless act.
But there's so much more Ididn't know about, like you.
Just recently, um signed asix-month contract yeah yeah,
(19:51):
tell us about that, and why.
Why is six months three to sixmonths so imperative when hiring
someone like you?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
to write a grant.
That's a great question.
So, because the fundraisingtimeline takes time, so you have
depending on if you have arelationship with funders
already, that impacts how longit might take to get a check If
you're establishing a newrelationship, because it's
relationship building, it's notjust an application.
Yeah, you have to be able totrust right, yes, and the funder
(20:20):
needs to trust that you'regoing to be a good steward of
their money.
So you know, making sure that.
I'm sorry, re-ask the questionbecause I was about to go down a
rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It's okay, I do it all the time.
There's so many variables andbranches to what you do, so what
I ask is why is a three to sixmonth contract period, when they
bring you on, so important?
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Got it Because the three to six month timeline is
important because three monthsgive us a minimum time to
establish new relationships.
Get a good number of grantsbecause we'll apply for a
certain number of grants permonth.
So get a certain number ofgrants out per month to start
building up that pipeline, startbuilding out relationships, and
that will take time to for thatto reflect back in money.
(21:06):
So like, if you need money, youknow you're going to need grant
funding.
Starting before you need it isthe best way.
Like a year, two years beforeyou need it is when you need to
start applying.
Also, some grant applicationswhen they drop, the application
process is a little slow, so youmight get a drop May.
Let's say we get a drop May 1stand the deadline is June 30th
(21:28):
and the panel they have toreview it and however many
applications they get depend onif they get five or 500.
Wow, they have to review themall then have to get back to
everybody.
By the time they get back toyou they might be saying like
you're great, you're on theshort list, can you give us a
presentation?
And then we'll have to reviewagain.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Right.
What business owner has time togo through all those hoops and
jump ropes?
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yes, wow so you're really saving them time and the
efficiency of you being soeducated as to where to find
them, what to do, what not to do, really saves them money at the
end of the day right, I meanthose are hourly costs for your
staff that don't know anythingabout it and I know, and that's
what people will do People willjust be like, hey, do these as
(22:14):
assigned and just have somebodydo that, just start writing
grants, duties as assigned, andjust have somebody do that, just
start writing grants.
And it's really a waste of yoursalary dollars because you're
having somebody just kind ofthrow out an application and
it's not well written or writtenin a way that would be
compelling to a funder and thenlike or it's not even a grant
that's in alignment with yourmission, so it's not.
It was like you shouldn't haveeven applied for that grant
anyway right so it's like awaste of time, a waste of
(22:37):
resource.
So when you try to cut cornerswith trying to like be cheap and
like just have this staffmember do it or just try to
hurry up and do it yourself,like sometimes, like you can get
lucky and get a grant or two,but it's not an efficient way to
like fundraise long termabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I mean, wouldn't you want a faster return on the time
and effort that you gaveabsolutely with?
I'm sure everyone's scramblingto look for where they can find
some funding now that it'sending for them for the upcoming
years?
Right, absolutely.
So can you kind of tell me whatare some websites, platforms
you recommend for people whocan't hire you just yet to check
(23:15):
regularly before they need thefunding, like you just said to?
Speaker 1 (23:18):
be proactive about it .
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Where can they go to try and search and delegate and
resource if they can't hire youjust yet?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Sure.
So there's a few differentplaces you can go.
So GrantStation is a freeresource.
Grantsgov is where all federalstate any kind of in the in that
sector.
All of those grants are goingto be on grantsgov um the
foundation private grants.
That's where it gets a littlesticky.
So grants um grant station is agood place to go.
(23:47):
Um hello alice is a great placeto go.
They have great resources inlike um, especially for small
business owners.
Black owned bypac ownedbusiness.
Women owned um what about?
veteran owned.
Veteran owned as well okay,great um hello skip is another
one that's good and then, um,the one that I use is
(24:09):
instrumental.
Um, that one's a little moreexpensive but it gives you, like
, everything.
I pay for it so that I can havemore than one profile and I can
like filter out.
My client tells me you get togive me all the nuts and bolts.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I put the stuff in and then it filters it for me
and it gives me a curated listwhich is, I mean, pivotal for
you to have so you can take thatto any business and you part of
what you do, your those to yourresources that you use.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Staying educated on what's going on and how to find
it.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, because, like, if I spend because that was like
instrumental is great, becauseI don't want to, also, they're
paying me for my time.
I don't want to spend too muchof my time on the research part
when we need to get applicationsout.
Absolutely, it saves me time andthen I can just go and pull the
list, the spreadsheet, and soit saves me time.
And then I can just go and pullthe list, the spreadsheet, and
then me and my client just goover it and walk through like
which grants are the best fit,we want to go for it and then
(25:00):
start applying.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Wow, I feel like each and every business owner or
nonprofit association anythingwould want to have multiple
conversations with you on somany different realms.
So, after looking through ourconversation from the last time
and looking through where you'relisted on the platform, social
media platforms and your website, you also host workshops that
(25:23):
they can be a part of.
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yes, and so I'm actually.
So I've done the last like yearor two.
I've been doing like freeworkshops, one as a free
resource, two as a way for me tolike gather data on how to
educate better absolutely so.
You receive feedback, yes, on alot of it and so, um, the one
that I have now is my first paidwell, not my first like big
(25:48):
paid workshop is the one thatI'm developing that's dropping,
um, uh, oh, wow, yeah, it'sdropping next week.
And this one is going to be ahalf-day walkthrough where
you're going to be able tofigure out how do I find and
search grants and then we'regoing to walk through, okay,
like here is how to do that, andyou'll leave with a list of
(26:09):
three to five grants that youcan apply for custom to your
business.
Wow, like you'll get to learn,learn and then you get to
implement and then at the end isgoing to be some networking,
yeah, so there's for them to beable to connect.
So it'll be a half day virtualevent that anybody can
participate in that has that'sinterested in grants, so that's
non-profits, uh, smallbusinesses.
(26:30):
Um, you think about hospitals,the medical grants.
There's a lot of money in thateducation.
Any anyone in the educationsector would benefit from that.
And I'm doing this also becauseof what's happening with trio
programs and federal funding.
There you're going to have toaccess different kind of grants
and you're going to some ofthese some like educations,
(26:52):
where they were relying a lot onfederal grants.
They're going to have to shiftinto some of these, some like
educations where they wererelying a lot on federal grants
they're going to have to shiftinto some of these foundation
grants as well, and it's likewhere do you start exactly?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I would have no idea where to start.
And um, after watching my ceo,he manages three different
businesses, right, he's the ceoof this co-working space, our
marketing agency and thenanother business and it's like.
These are things I know hedoesn't have time for.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, how could he stay up to date on all these
changes and really know how it'sgoing to affect him?
Without someone like you?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Literally, Like I mean the way.
I mean I listen to NPR everyday to keep up with news, just
to keep up with what's going on.
I follow PBS on TikTok so I cankeep up with the most current
information on grants.
Like keeping up with grant news, I'm subscribed to several
newsletters.
I'm a part of several differentassociations on different state
(27:43):
level, national level.
Like I've like, at thebeginning of the year, I went to
two state level conferencesthat talk specifically about
grants and funding and stuff.
Like I have invested so muchtime and energy into going and
finding all this information out, a small business owner, you
barely have enough time to getyour accounting done no kidding,
you know, sometimes not eventhat.
(28:05):
Yeah, like I mean, like, did youeat breakfast yesterday?
You know what I'm saying.
Like it's just challenging andso, like it's just like anything
else, you have to outsource itfor it to be done.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Well, absolutely and be able to, because people buy
and hire from people they knowlike and trust right and the
fact that you even take the timeand opportunity to have gotten
your degree graduated andcontinually keep that education
going when you're not workingwith a client is imperative.
The initiative since COVID, itseems like in the whole society
(28:42):
is just a little more lax.
The effort, the willingness totake an opportunity when it
comes your way is less and less.
I'm seeing especially ourgeneration and next generations
to come, so what you do would beinvaluable to me.
But what I want to know is ifI'm in New York or if I'm in
Louisiana.
Can you still help me?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I have clients.
So me being like I lived inDallas and so like I just moved
to Chicago like 30 days ago.
So I know I miss, I alreadymiss it here, but I had clients.
So actually when I was a grantadministrator that was based in
San Diego, I was virtual thatwhole time.
I was there for like a year anda half.
(29:19):
So I have clients, someeverywhere.
I have a client in New York, Ihave clients like in the DC area
, I do have clients in Chicagoand some clients in Dallas.
Um, I've have had because oflike I guess you end up having
with one client and then theyintroduce you to somebody.
So so I have a lot of folkslike in the New Jersey, that
side of the country.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Wow.
So you would definitely sayyour referrals are your primary
source of new clients coming inReferrals.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Yeah, referrals, definitely.
And then like referrals andthen followed by that is social
media.
Okay, like I have, I wentreally ham for like two
Instagram and like was just likegoing crazy and like I got a
few likes.
Actually, one of my New Yorkclient came from Instagram DMs.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Wow, that is incredible so.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I think you like there's some of.
It is like you just have to bebold enough to try.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah, just get who you are and what you do out
there.
Right Whether it's professionalor not, just get out there.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Absolutely right.
Yeah, whether it's professionalor not, just get it out there
absolutely and like being likek-pop is just like the way.
It like has nothing to do withgrants and everything to do with
my grant world.
That's where I like got afollowing and got comfortable
being on social media on k-popcontent creator, on tiktok, and
so when I dropped my business,all of those people I was like,
hey, I started my business.
They were like we know nothingabout grants, but we'd love to
(30:33):
support you, so they weresharing my stuff.
I had people that I've nevermet in person before referring
me to their friends that neededa grant writer.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Wow, you've taken the title influencer to a whole new
level and the most positive wayI can think of, which is great,
because it seems like everyoneis starting their own business
after COVID.
It's so, I think, withtechnology and AI and all of the
different variables you we'vegrown into, it's so much easier.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
it is to start your own business.
It is, and you can start abusiness at home on your
computer.
You can start with what youhave at the house.
There's so many ways to start abusiness at home.
I had no idea, so it's likejust try just try.
Just be bold enough to trysomething like literally I've
had other grant writers see myTikTok and DM me on TikTok just
(31:22):
to connect with another grantwriter like, if you're just bold
enough to just put the stuffout there.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
You just never know what's gonna happen and I'm so
thankful you did, because whowould have known that
legislation would have shiftedthis month and now you're in the
spotlight to help people.
I'm sure you're about to bepulled 15 different directions
by the end of the year you know,I mean like that is the
fortunate and unfortunate partabout all of this.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It's a good problem to have.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Yeah right, yeah so can you tell me how do you
navigate through themisinformation that's out there
about grant writing and what'sgoing on in legislation and what
people should be aware of?
How do you know and navigatethrough that misinformation?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Sure, so I stay connected with other grant
writers and I'm a part of Well,I haven't paid my membership yet
, but I have connected with oneof the presidents of a chapter
for the Grand ProfessionalsAssociation.
So that's like our likegoverning body.
I connected with one of thepresidents of a chapter for the
Grand Professionals Associationoh wow, so that's like our
governing body and I'msubscribed to their newsletter
so I stay up to date and sotheir information, I know, is
(32:24):
like solid.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
That's your fact check.
You go to?
Yeah, fact check and go to.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Coe is also like the governing body for like TRIO
programs, and so I'm subscribedto their newsletter.
Wow, also that president that Iconnected with she was like,
yeah, you can just come to ourbi-weekly uh catch-up meetings
and and talk with other grantwriters, so I go to that every
two weeks man, that it's stayingup to date and having a
community I mean any industry.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I feel like that's beneficial, right, yeah, to know
, to know the do's and don'ts ofwhat you guys are doing, and
especially right now, it affectsso many and you could really
help so many, okay, so what is?
What would you say is your mostrecent or best success story
that you could share with someof our businesses and?
Speaker 1 (33:08):
oh my god.
So actually I need to emailthis client again today.
So I have a client that I was,that I'm working with, that
works with providing a safespace for transgender women, a
safe house, and we had to pauseon working together for a little
bit.
We wrote some grants had topause because we had a funder
(33:30):
that because of what happenedwith the federal grants right.
And so then she came back andwas like hey, one of the grants
we went for, I got invited foran interview and so we're
prepping for the interview.
Happened it actually?
It just happened this week, andso we were prepping for that
interview for this month and soshe had the interview this month
.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
So we'll wait to see what happens with that interview
and how things go, but um,that's incredible because that
community in itself, once theelection and everything happened
, I know there was a lot ofnervousness or what's going to
happen?
Or what's going on, so that isan incredible story yes, that
non-profit we were scared alittle.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I was scared, you know, because like when funders
were pausing and then thatspecific community was being
attacked and like that right andso, like at the beginning of
the year, it's like, oh my god,like I hope, you know, like we
get some funding and I hopefunders don't all pull out and
like completely dismantle stuff.
And so then, a few months later, to come back and say, like one
of the applications wentthrough and it was one of the
(34:29):
$25,000 ones, so I'm like thisis gonna be like.
So yes, so this is turningaround.
So I'm like this is gonna be,like so pivotal, yes, so this is
turning around.
So I'm like it's that, so I'mstarting, it's starting to turn
around.
So if you're gonna apply.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
This is the time to go ahead and start applying,
because things are starting toturn yeah, so if they did start
applying today and they calledyou and they started putting the
steps together that they needso that they can utilize you,
how long would you say, fromstart to finish, will it take
before they have a check intheir bank account for that
business?
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Three to six months.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Wow, and that's if you have all the information.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
If you have all the information ready.
You could still have all theinformation, because it doesn't
depend on you and how ready youare.
It depends on the funder andhow fast they get their checks
out.
Interesting and so like, evenlike I'll use Chase as an
example like they're so largebut they still mail paper mail
their checks.
So, like old habits die hardyeah, they do so like it just
(35:24):
depends.
It just really just depends.
I don't like to promise thatit's going to be fast.
There's nothing fast aboutgrants.
It's a marathon sprint, it's amarathon kind of thing.
Sometimes you can get fundingfast.
Sometimes you can like apply andlike the funding comes in a few
weeks if it's a foundation, ifit's a small family foundation
and like you know they don't getthat many applications, or your
(35:44):
application was really greatand they're ready to make
decisions then, or they havehard deadlines of when they're
going to make those decisions.
Sure, you can get fast, but itshouldn't be the expectation in
the grant world that this is a.
You need to plan this ahead oftime and just be ahead of the
curve.
And if you're not ahead of thecurve, that's okay, we can play
catch up.
But it just know that it'll beplaying catch up and it's not
(36:06):
going to be an immediateturnaround.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Yeah, you, you, making the audience or your
audience, any audience moreknowledgeable of when they
should start this process isvery, very important.
I know it is for me, becauseI'm going to walk out of here
and go to my CEO and say, hey,do you know all of these things
that are going on?
Because if not, I mean weshould get started on it.
So can you tell our audiencemaybe five bullet points to make
(36:31):
sure they have collectedinformation they need to have
ready before they even considerapplying for a grant or talking
to you.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Oh yeah, so like let's see five things.
So like you need one.
Are you collecting data on yourown organization?
So like making sure Analyticsyour analytics.
Okay, so, like you have your Xnumber, you're saying that we
serve a hundred people and thisis the impact.
Cool.
(36:58):
Do you have any numbers, anyassessment that can show me that
that's what's happening?
I believe you, but we need somenumbers to back that up,
because your funders want to seenumbers to back that up, wow.
So make sure you have youranalytics and they're solid.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
It's so funny how it circles back to what we do here
at Atma, because we tell all ofour businesses you have to have
analytic programs or work withsomebody that does to be able to
target the correct audience.
So it's mutually beneficial.
Yes, for funding and for youroutreach as well.
Yes, and as a business owner.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
you should just know your analytics.
I was, I mean, also likeresearch methods was my class.
I'm a math girl, I was amathlete, I like numbers, so
grants is kind of perfect for mebecause I like numbers.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Yeah, you look happy.
I do not look the way you lookat all, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
So, like your analytics, look at your verbiage
for everything your mission,vision, value.
Make sure that that's current,make sure that that is
compelling and make sure thatyou know you're good with your
mission, vision, value all yourcore.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Some people don't have those Now, is there
anything specific based on whattype of grant you're applying
for that they would be lookingfor?
Well, that would sway ordissuade.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Great to have your mission already there, because
then I can look at all the otherfunders and see if there's
mission alignment.
Okay, you don't want to forceit, you want to be honest
exactly because if there's nomission alignment like if
they're looking to like help thecar industry and you're like
with helping with sustainability, like why are we trying to make
that work?
Like no, let's just go on to adifferent funder, because there
are funders out there.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Don't waste the time.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Don't waste the time, but like also as a grant writer
and like writing is what I do,what I've done like, especially
early on in learning how to be abusiness owner.
I've rewritten submissions andrewritten some vision statements
and stuff, and that can be done.
It just takes time.
So if you don't want my timeeating up by redoing all your
stuff, then then you call storyand she'll help you put together
(38:58):
that strategy there we gomutually beneficial.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Everything in life should be mutually beneficial
exactly exactly okay.
So what are a couple otheroverview points, because I know
we can dive into details of eachone.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Overview points.
So I did two.
So third one I would have ateam, establish your grant
writing team, like if you can'thire a grant writer, it's you
and maybe two other three peoplethat do different things.
So you have the leadershipbrain.
You need somebody that's on theground doing the work and maybe
uh, I'm thinking like a studentor maybe somebody from the
(39:36):
community that's impacted byyour work.
So you kind of have awell-rounded like vision of like
what's going on to on how towrite that is that something you
offer?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
so say, they can't have you full-time, but can you
help them with a strategy forgrant?
Speaker 1 (39:49):
writing.
Yeah, so like if you wanted meto come in and like, just help
you get organized.
Like you have your teamtogether and y'all are going to
write it, you just need to getorganized.
I can help you get organizedfrom A to Z on just like how to
get set up and then y'all go doit.
Like I give you the template onhow to do it and then y'all go
do the stuff.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
OK, that's incredible .
You're like a resource foreverything right now.
Ok, so is there?
I do want to ask.
I know we missed a couplebullet points, but they'll have
to reach out to you to learn alittle bit more, because we
could be here all day talking.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
We could.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
So tell me how can people connect with you, what
platforms are you on, what areyou checking daily and how can
they stay up to date on anyimportant information you're
trying to deliver?
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Sure.
So I'm on LinkedIn At theSailor Justice.
Everything is the SailorJustice Project, the T-H-E
Sailor Justice Project, theSailor Justice Project.
So on LinkedIn, you can find meon the Sailor Justice Project,
my website,thesailorjusticeprojectcom.
On Instagram, I'm at the SailorJustice Project Facebook same
(40:53):
thing, the Sailor JusticeProject.
Facebook same thing, the SailorJustice Project.
I'm also on TikTok.
That is a combination of K-popand grant writing.
I don't know how I put thosetogether, but they're there
together.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
The fact that you merged them is impressive.
I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Now I'm just going with curiosity, yeah that one is
your girl Sailor Justice, alittle different, but everything
else is the Sailor JusticeProject.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
I love it.
Well, I am so excited for yourfuture this year and how many
people you're going to help, andI cannot wait to see you next
year to see how everythingdeveloped and what new changes
are coming.
So thank you so much for coming, for flying in today to be with
us.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Thank you for having me and thank you for, like I
mean, come meeting you at thenetworking event and being
invited to come.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I was, like I've told , I called my mom and was like
guess what, I love it.
Would you have thought, whenyou made those impromptu videos
educating people, that you wouldhave so much outreach?
I mean, you're worried about itnot being professional and look
at you.
That's how I found you.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Absolutely not.
I had absolutely no idea.
Like just I had no idea thatthis is where I would graduate
to and that there's so much moreto come from this.
So I'm just so grateful that Igot to meet you at the
networking event and being ableto come here today and this
setup, oh my God is amazing.
So, yeah, absolutely Well.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
I'm so thankful that we have you now as a resource,
so yeah, we will be seeing eachother a lot soon.
So yeah, we will be seeing eachother a lot soon and hopefully
our audience out there, if youhave questions if you're not
sure, or if you've never evenapplied for a grant before,
there may be funds out therethat can help you reach out.
Reach out and try, Because allyou can do is try, and who knows
(42:30):
what will come from it Untilnext time.
We'll see you then.
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