What's Going On: Hassan Reddick, Eagle and CEO of R7, Read, Baby, Read, and Women Who Inspire Carol Lee Mitchell , Bank of America

To mark the 2023 PA Conference for Women we are highlighting inspiring women leaders. I speak to Carol Lee Mitchell the head of small business, specialty, and consumer vehicle lending strategy at Bank of America.
https://www.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/
https://www.paconferenceforwomen.org/

It’s never too soon to get our babies primed for reading. We'll talk with Kimberly Garrison, Project Coordinator, Read, Baby, Read at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Free Library of Philadelphia’s Read Baby Read Program

First, in honor of the upcoming Eagles regular season - we bring you an interview with Haason Reddick, Eagle and entrepreneur - featured in our online feature CEO's you should know sponsored by Comcast Business.
https://drinkr7.com/
CEOs You Should Know: Haason Reddick - R7 Energy

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to What'sgoing on? A show about making a
difference in our lives and our communities. I'm Lorraine Ballotmorrow. As part of
the lead up to the twentieth anniversaryof the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, we
are highlighting inspiring women leaders. Todaywe speak to Carol Lee Mitchell, head
of Small Business Specialty in Consumer VehicleLearning Strategy at Bank of America. It's

(00:22):
never too soon to get our babiesprimed for reading. We'll tell you about
the Free Library of Philadelphia's Read BabyRead program. In honor of the upcoming
Eagles regular season, we bring youan interview with Hassan Reddick, an Eagle
and also an entrepreneur. This featuresponsored by Comcast Business. I'm Hassan Reddick,
partial owner of our Southern How longhave you or the company have been

(00:44):
in the Philadelphia area, the greaterPhiladelphia area. So we're a brand new
company, brand new brand. Wejust started last year June twenty two.
And how many people do you employ? So currently we have teams in the
cities that they drink is currently locatedin work with small teams as we continue
to work on distribution and widening thatwe would continue to hire people, you

(01:07):
know, to help grow the brandand help us get our knees, you
know, handle our knees and themcontinue to like I said, grow and
strengthen the brand. Describe your companyand its mission. So we are an
energy drink company, and our missionwas to bring something, bring a product
to the market that your everyday consumercould take, take a seven days a
week and not have to worry abouthealth related risk. Right, So hard

(01:29):
proputations, uh, you know,heart attack, stuff like that, too
much sugar, spiking your sugar levels, things like that. We wanted to
bring something that people could take andenjoy each and every day and bring a
healthy component to our lifestyle. Canyou describe our seven in more details?
So we have things in there likeAdaptagen's right to help with cognitive function,

(01:49):
help you lock in and focus onwhatever tasks, work out, whatever it
is that you're setting up to achieve, to give you the focus to lock
in and get it done. Wehave vitamins in there to help with immune
system, electro likes to help withhydration. Rehydration. So it's something that
you could take before your workout,something that you could take after your workout.
Green coffee beings. We have thatin there as well, just for

(02:12):
another clean source of caffeinated energy.So we have some different things in there,
but most of it, like Isaid, focusing on that health component,
the health benefits making sure that whatyou're putting in your body is good
and make you feel good as well. How would you say that your company
helps drive the local economy over ourseven? One of our biggest goals is
taking the money that we met,you know, the profit and putting it

(02:34):
back into the community. For anexample, I have a camp coming up
right and being as though partial ownerof our seven, We're going to take
some of that money that we havemade it so far and put that into
the camp, put it back intothe youth, put it back into the
community. That way, we canhelp build a community, helps you thrive
in a prosperous way. Wonderful.Are there any philanthropic causes that you support

(02:55):
or tell us what they are?So Over my career, you know,
since I've been you know, afootball player, I've worked on many causes.
Right now, I'm really focused onthe youth. So I have a
bunch of younger brothers, sisters.I have eight siblings. Everything about me
was being a positive role model forthem. So I wanted to take that
same thing and you know, doand bring it to my community. I

(03:19):
know that where I come from,a lot of kids don't have their fathers
or their households maybe troubled. SoI just wanted to give them something positive,
a person that they could try toemulate and become and hopefully, you
know, be successful in life anddo the same things I'm doing, which
is trying to build the community.I always have like a fun question to
ask, So this is my funquestion for you. So what would be
your advice to your seventeen year oldself? My advice to my seventeen year

(03:45):
old self would be to listen more. As I've gotten older, I realized
that I don't know everything right,So I've gotten into a position whereas that
of me talking, I like tolisten and people talk. I feel like
I've grown so much as a personindividual just by listening, hearing people out,
taking advice, learning from other people'smistakes right and not having to make
those same mistakes or learning it sayingwhat they did, just learning through their

(04:09):
experiences rather than learning through mine.But yes, that's what I tell myself.
If it could save you a lotof hardships. I've done a couple
of different businesses since I've been youknow, since I've been in the league,
and man, it's a lot ofups and downs, and a lot
of them I wish I would havetook more advice on. So that would
be the biggest thing to help myselffrom some of the hardships and losses that

(04:29):
I've have taken. Would be justsimply listen, just listening to people I
love that. Is there anything elsethat you want to add to our audiences
to know more about your company,just be on the lookout. As I
said earlier, we're really hounding ondistribution. A lot of places, a
lot of cities reaching out trying toget us to get the drink out there.
So just be on the lookout.We're coming, We're making our way

(04:51):
as we continue to trend, willcontinue to grow, and we'll continue to
move out. So we'll be comingto a city near you, if not
your city, very soon. Ifpeople would like more information, where do
they go? You can go todrink our seventh dot com for any information
about their drink. If you wantto stay in touch and keep up with
us as we continue to grow.You can follow us on Instagram at Drink

(05:13):
our seventh or on Twitter at DrinkUnderscore Our seventh. I'm probably okay to
have one more drink before I drivehome. I'm probably okay. I opened
the window to stay alert. Probablyokay. I just put some gum in

(05:36):
my mouth. Step out of thecar. Please, I probably made a
mistake. Probably okay isn't okay whenit comes to drinking and driving. If
you see a warning signs, stopand call it, have a car or
a friend. Buzz driving is drunkdriving. A message brought to you by
NITSA and the AD Council. Iwish hey. I'm Haley Kyoko, and

(06:02):
I know what it's like to strugglewith mental health issues. If you have
a friend that's going through a toughtime, now is the perfect moment to
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brought to you by the AD Council, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention,
and the JET Foundation. You're listeningto what's going on. Reading to

(06:33):
infants is absolutely critical, even thoughthey may not understand the words. Infants
benefit from the soothing cadence of theircaregiver's voices, fostering a strong emotional bond.
Additionally, exposure to books and storiesat an early age promotes visual and
auditory stimulation, enhances vocabulary acquisition,and encourages a lifelong love of reading.

(07:00):
Well, there is a great resourcefor parents, a program called Read Baby
Read. Dallas More is Kimberly Garrison, project coordinator for the Free Library of
Philadelphia's Read Baby Read program. Kimberly, it's nice to see you again.
I know reading is absolutely essential towho you are and what you do.
Tell us about this program, ReadBaby Read. Well, First, I

(07:21):
want to thank you so much forhaving me on the program to day,
Lorraine. Yes, you know,this is something I'm extraordinarily passionate about.
The Free Library of Philadelphia's Read BabyRead program is our flagship baby and toddler
program that's providing early education for ourlittlest learners, which is fabulous, and

(07:44):
I wonder if you can tell usmore about how that works. What are
the resources available for parents who'd liketo take advantage of this program? You
know what. I'm going to answerthat, but I first want to say
that the overarching programmatic goal of thisRebaby Read is to provide an opportunity to
empower parents right to be there becausethey're their child's first teacher. And parents

(08:09):
are already doing a lot of thesethings unconsciously, but what Read Baby Read
does is to shows them how todo it intentionally. Right. The programs
are at like twenty three different librariesright now, and we have designated baby
spaces, so even if there's nota story time going on, parents and
caregivers can come in with their babiesand play in those spaces and read books.

(08:33):
They can take outboard books. Everythingfor early childhood literacy is what Read
Baby Read is all about. AndI guess what we want to emphasize is
the fact that it's never really tooearly to get infants on the road to
literacy, right. No. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, hearing
is developed in the later stages ofpregnancy, So even though it might sound

(08:58):
weird or a person might feel doingit, you can actually start talking,
singing and reading to your baby inutero. And I recommend it. What
you're saying, I think it's veryimportant, and that is that a lot
of what parents do is kind ofinstinctive, but to be intentional really enhances
the effectiveness right of a parent's abilityto support their infants in their reading journey.

(09:22):
Absolutely, intentionality is a whole gamechanger because then you see, oh
my goodness, I'm doing this withpurpose. So when we're outside, let's
say, walking the baby in thecarriage, Well, we're not going to
just say on our on our iPhoneand read our messages. No, we
can be talking to the baby andsay, hey, look at that beautiful

(09:43):
evergreen tree over there. And no, they don't understand us initially, but
over time and with repetition, theydo understand. And that's how we acquire
our language, by somebody talking tous and then us mimicate them. Well,
Kimberly, I understand the there arethese special spaces for the Read Baby

(10:03):
Read program in the very library branches. Are there online resources that parents can
also take advantage of? Oh?Absolutely, we have a coetera of resources
online. We have the rebaby Readblog, we have a Twitter, We're

(10:24):
also on Instagram, so we havea lot of information and resources. But
the Free Library Philadelphia's website for rebabyRead and all of the wonderful programs that
we have at the Free Library Philadelphia. I mean anything from zero to ninety
nine is at our libraries. There'sso much that the free Library offers.

(10:45):
You've become people always think of libraries, you go in, you check out
a book, but the libraries thesedays are so much more they are Lorraine.
I mean, it really is acommunity resource. And I'm just going
to divert a little bit from rebasevRead just to talk about that if you're
trying to start a business, PhiladelphyFree Library has resources for you to be

(11:05):
able to help you start in yourown business. They even get out free
head shots. There's certain days thepeople can come in and get a head
shot, you know, at theFree Library if you're if you're a senior,
there are special programs for seniors atthe free libraries. There's after school
programs for kids. In fact,the summer we even hired a lot of

(11:26):
teenagers for their first job. Sothe free Library is really just a wonderful
resource with unlimited options for everybody.Absolutely, And I know that as I
was growing up, the free Librarywas really a sanctuary for me. It
was an opportunity to find the safespace in my community to not only read,

(11:48):
but just to feel like a placewhere I knew I could learn and
grow and be in a very nurturingenvironment. That's what the free libraries are
all about. There really are thehubs for our communities. Absolutely, And
I had the same type of experiencethat you had at the library. And
I all have always loved libraries,and you know, the geek in me

(12:11):
is free in the free libraries forany and everything, you know. And
before I started working for the library, I was always there. And I
think we also need to just makeso very clear to all the parents and
caregivers how important literacy is. Iam involved with the Read by fourth campaign,

(12:33):
and one of the things that Ihave learned I've walked away with and
understand how critically important it is,is that if kids don't read at grade
level by fourth grade, then they'renot as likely to graduate from high school
and not as likely to go onto college, and they're more likely to
get involved in the criminal justice system. So learning to read is not only

(12:56):
something that we all need to do, but it's really about opportunity. It's
about social equity, it's about makingsure that our kids have a future that
they can live into. So thefree library is really at the hub of
all of that, and supporting thatgoal of making sure that our kids do

(13:16):
learn to read at grade level whenthey're supposed to learn. Absolutely I mean
Read by fourth another free Library ofPhiladelphia program right their mission. We're all
on that same mission. It's justa rebaby read is starting it a little
bit earlier, because if parents canlearn those preliteracy skills, then that kind
of allows your children to hit theground running when it's actually trying to learn

(13:39):
how to read. So, togive a more concrete example, singing,
When we sing, we slowed downthe language right, So that allows the
children to develop their phonological awareness,which is just another fancy word for saying
hearing the sounds of those letters whenwe're singing, right, because we're elongating

(14:03):
those syllables and they're able to hearthose sounds a lot stronger than when we're
just speaking to them. That isa prerequisite for learning how to read.
Right, the phonological awareness piece,so we can't skip over any of those
pre or early literacy skills in orderto be able to read. Even writing

(14:24):
scribbling I call that prewriting, right, you got to scribble first, you
know, I know, we don'twant to scribble on the wall. But
you know what, we can justget some paint that free ets a wall.
But that is pre writing. Thatis strengthening their fine motor skills when
they're scribbling, and then those scribblesthey turn into shapes, and then those
shapes turn into the letters. Soall of it is a part of the

(14:46):
whole process, the whole journey ofdeveloping. I love it and it's wonderful
that the Free Library is offering allthese resources for parents and caregivers in general
to help the infants get their firsttaste of re and support them in their
journey towards literacy. If people wantmore information about the Read Baby Read program,

(15:07):
what is the best way to findout more? The best way to
find out more is find us theFree Library of Philadelphia on Facebook, on
Twitter or X and l's x andon Twitter and on Instagram. If someone
wants to like email, they cansend me an email directly. It's Garrison
K at Free Library dot org andthe telephone number is two one five six

(15:31):
eight six five three seven two.A great resource Read Baby Read. Kimberly
Garrison, project coordinator for the FreeLibrary of Philadelphia is a Read Baby Read
program. Thank you so much.It's been my pleasure and thank you.

(15:52):
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Jet Foundation. The twentieth Annual PennsylvaniaConference for Women will be held in person
October nineteenth at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. It's part of the nation's largest network
of women's conferences in the country,with events in California, Massachusetts, Texas,

(18:34):
and of course here in Pennsylvania.Right here in Philadelphia. In the
coming weeks, we'll be speaking withtrailblazing women who've broken through glass ceilings,
shattered stereotypes, and paved the wayfor progress and equality. Joining us right
now is Kara Lee Mitchell, thehead of Small Business, Specialty and Consumer
Vehicle Lending Strategy at Bank of America. She is passionate about the development of

(18:56):
equitable opportunities for women leaders. She'soften called upon to share her perspectives on
a variety of business owner topics bynational and local media outlets. Thank you
so much for joining us, Thankyou for having me, Lorraine, delighted
to be here. Tell us alittle bit about what you do at Bank
of America. Sure so. AtBank of America, I head of Strategy

(19:18):
for Small Business Specialty Lending and ConsumerVehicle Lending. And what that means is
on the day to day basis,I am thinking about building growth related initiatives,
looking for investment opportunities to help ourbusiness owners grow their business. And
that's really important to us. Youknow, I always say that sixty percent

(19:40):
of our local economies are driven bybusiness owners. So the body of my
work on a day to day basisto really think about how to create that
excellent client experience for our business ownersat large. Well, there is something
very special at the Conference for Womenand Bank of Americas the presenting sponsor of
Women Owned Business Marketplace, which Ilove every year. I do a lot

(20:03):
of my gift shopping during the PennsylvaniaConference for Women. And why is it
so important for women entrepreneurs to havea leg up and what does Bank of
America do to support women entrepreneurs?First of all, Bank of America,
we are absolutely delighted to be thepresenting sponsor for the PA Conference for Women
Marketplace for two reasons. One,you know, the backbone of our local

(20:25):
economies, we believe our business owners, but within that north of forty percent
are driven by women business owners.And when we think about the growth of
entrepreneurship over the last couple of years, women have actually surpassed our male counterparts
in terms of starting their own businesses. In fact, one point nine trillion
dollars in revenue is the opportunity forwomen business owners at large, So really

(20:47):
really meaningful, meaningful body of work. But also when we think about women
business owners that marketplace environment, right, it's inspiring and like yourself, I
do much of my damage holiday shoppingspending in that sort of to our body
of time. But these women businessowners are learning networking and the thing that

(21:08):
they tell us is that a signof success is also to go back into
the community and help other women businessowners create a build and build plans.
And so many of our clients tellus these types of environments where we can
actually physically come together and we're ona digital platform and really exchange our ideas,

(21:30):
really exchange our knowledge, and reallykind of you. That commerce of
information exchange is such an important partof how our clients tell us success is
defined, and so we're just happyto be part of that, and we
think that it's an important part ofsupporting our community at large, and so
we're absolutely delighted speaking of entrepreneurs,CHEF and humanitarian Jose Andres is one of

(21:52):
this year's conference keynote speakers. Andwhat's I'm sure very exciting for all of
us and certainly you as well,is that you will be introducing him.
And I wonder if you can tellus the message you'll be relaying in that
introduction. I am so excited toa fangirl over Jose Andreas. Two things
I've had, actually the privilege ofworking for CEOs, both Ajabond got MasterCard

(22:17):
and Brian Wynehannah Bank of America thatreally sort of say we can do well
by doing good, this principle ofdoing well in corporate America and driving business
growth and revenue, and also givingback to our community. You know,
we are sort of this human communityof people that have needs. I think
he has done such an amazing jobof bringing together his work, his gift,

(22:40):
his talent, and combining it andcoupling it with his value and his
character. And I think that theultimate body of inspiration for me personally anyway,
is to see somebody who, bythe way he built his endeavor right,
It wasn't handed to him. Hehad this gift. You worked really
hard to build world renowned restaurants andthen taking that and really delivering that for

(23:03):
people at moments of time when theyabsolutely need it right, usually during times
of tragic devastation. This humanitarian aspectof the work that he does is so
inspiring and so the key message weindividually and companies and business owners and all
of us can really sort of thinkabout doing well by doing good in the

(23:25):
work that we do, thinking aboutour gifts and really being able to instill
that in ways that serve the communityand bring our purpose together. I love
that. Now, outside of theBank of America, you also lecture at
the Wharton School at the University ofPennsylvania. What advice do you give to
future business leaders? I do lectureat the Wharton School and the program.

(23:45):
I have to just give Andrew Adolph, who runs the communication program, a
shout out because she's phenomenal. Shenot only works with students, but she
works with people like us, bringingus from corporate American executives to come in
and work with students. The underpinningmessage that I like to deliver is,
at the end of the day,we have to learn how to communicate and
work with people in any sort ofindustry at large, and especially in this

(24:08):
day and age where technology is such, you know, sort of part of
what we do at the core.We've got chat GBT in the AI world
kind of coming at us effective communication, caring about people, really trying to
understand the audience, really trying toengage in a way where it's a meaningful
engagement, not transactional. Learning todo that is a skill understanding that people

(24:33):
run business, that people run initiatives, and that connection point is so important,
and relationships that are built their lifelongrelationships. And I think that when
these young students are starting out intheir career and they're focusing on the what
they know, coupling that with thehow and bringing the communication skills to the

(24:55):
forefront, I think is such animportant part of being a a leader in
the business world, in the community, in sort of the work that they
do as it released to philanthropic initiatives. It's a privilege for me to be
able to spend a day in theweek engaging with my multigenerational network with students
that are so smart, so broad, so energetic, is so optimistic and

(25:18):
grounding them in the importance of humaninteraction, effective communications skills, being empathetic
and really pushing themselves to kind ofreach that next level of leadership skills that
I personally think that we need.And one bonus question which I always like
to ask our women leaders. Sooften all of us are trailblazers in our
own fields, whether we're the firstperson of color or the first woman to

(25:44):
be in a particular position, AndI always am so fascinated by people's particular
journeys and what they consider to betheir secret sauce how they managed to move
up through the ranks. Banking ismedia is still very much a male oriented
field, and navigating that. Whatwould you say were some of the skills

(26:06):
and the natural talents that you broughtto your journey that helped you navigate all
of that. The number one thingwhen I'm talking to, especially an audience
of women, is the skill ofmaking a decision, not being afraid to
make a decision. And this isso important because, especially in the business
world, it's not to say youhave to make a decision where you're right
one hundred percent of the time,but learning how to take enough information to

(26:30):
say, you know, I knowenough and I think I have enough information
to get there, and trusting yourselfto do that it's number one. Number
two. It is really just beingable to sustain sort of the ups and
downs. I remember when I wasstarting off my career, one of the
executives that I worked for, Iasked her, you know what's the key
ingredient and she said ten yearship.To some extent, just staying in the

(26:53):
game. Staying in the game isone of the most important things. And
when you're in the game, youwill have high highs, you will have
low lows. So long as youcan pick yourself up and sustain yourself through
the high highs and low lows.Use your network, use your personal inspiration
points, do what you need todo. But staying in the game is

(27:14):
so important and having that sort ofwherewithal to be able to think about your
career in terms of tenureship. Iam going to stay in the game so
that I can play the game tothe best of my knowledge and the best
of my skills. That's a largepart of it. I've had so many
people give me advice support. Ioften reach out. I have breakfast,

(27:36):
coffees, you know, lunch andwhatever you need to do to get through
and get by. Been there,done that. That's wonderful. Advice and
hopefully in inspiration to other women listening. If people would like more information about
Bank of America and particularly the workthat you do with small businesses, how
do they get in touch. Bankof America dot com slash small Business is

(27:57):
where we house plath of information forwomen business owners, especially access to capitals
number one challenge. We have informationas it relates to that. We have
a directory that connects minority women businessowners to lenders. This is the Senate
Capital directory that we launched. Wehave access to information around networking opportunities.

(28:18):
If you want to hit Cornell Universityand get you a degree at an ip
league on expanding your knowledge, wehave it. So again, Bank of
America dot com slash Small Business iswhere I would direct your listeners and if
you ever ever had any questions,our bankers are in the financial centers,
are happy to help with anything thatclients need, and we're always there to
serve. Wonderful Thank you so much. Carrell Mitchell, the head of Small

(28:42):
Business Specialty and Consumer Vehicle Lending Strategyfor Bank of America. One of the
sponsors and the twentieth Annual Pennsylvania Conferencefor Women held in person October nineteenth at
the Pennsylvania Convention Center. If you'dlike more information, go to PA Conference
for Women dot oarg Careley. Thankyou so much much, Thank you so
much, Lorraine. You can listento all of today's interviews by going to

(29:03):
our station website and typing in keywordCommunity. You can also listen on the
iHeartRadio app key Words Philadelphia Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at
Lorraine Ballard. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow, and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers. Whatwill you stand for? You've been listening
to what's going on? ED.Thank you