IAM237- Founder Empowers Business Creatives Who Seek to Impact Humanity and Mankind

Akia Hardnett is the founder of Beyond The Papers Foundation.

Through her foundation, she empowers, equips and educates entrepreneurs to be passionate about their purpose so they leave an impact.

• CEO Hack: Google and pray
• CEO Nugget: Don't be moved by time
• CEO Defined: Gateway through the marketplace of the body of Christ

Website: https://beyondthepapers.com/

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Akia Hardnett of Beyond The Papers Foundation. And Akia it's awesome to have you on the show.

Akia Hardnett 0:37

Thank you for having me Gresham, I appreciate it.

Gresham Harkless 0:39

No problem. I appreciate you now getting the opportunity to be here and record a podcast. You are the founder and the mind behind everything that we see here today. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about the Beyond The Papers Foundation, and what led you to get started with it.

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Akia Hardnett 0:52

Beyond The Papers Foundation is a nonprofit for purpose-driven and kingdom-advancing entrepreneurs. Those businesses are creatives who are seeking to impact humanity and mankind. We have three primary focuses, we want to educate them, we want to empower them. And we want to equip them to do business in the marketplace. And so it kind of came out of taking them beyond the everyday hustle and bustle of administrative paperwork of contracts of HR of payroll, and getting them more into a place of passion. And when they can go from just everyday paperwork to passion, they can see profitability.

Gresham Harkless 1:27

Yeah, I think that's absolutely huge. Because of the hustle and bustle of every day, you kind of get lost in the paperwork, you get lost in getting the clients that you forget, your overall purpose for doing what did what you were called to do.

Akia Hardnett 1:37

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 1:38

Yes. You just kind of sparked this with this conference.

Akia Hardnett 1:40

Yes, absolutely. And so a lot of times, like you said, CEOs business owners, entrepreneurs creatives, they can get burnt out in the everyday hustle and bustle. But what I have found even in my own entrepreneurial journey, is that the secret to the sauce is partnering with something bigger than yourself. If you can partner with something bigger than yourself, or just turn $1, then you find purpose. And when you find purpose, you become passionate about that thing. And when you're passionate about that thing, profitability will come. But the impact is greater. Like you're able to leave a mark, you're able to leave a legacy, you're able to leave something that has completely revolutionized culture. So I'm excited about it.

Gresham Harkless 2:17

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So how's the conference going?

Akia Hardnett 2:20

It's amazing. It completely superseded my expectations. Like I expected it to be good. But people have been saying like, this is by far the best conference, one of the best conferences super amazing. And I've just been like, wow, you know, so to be able to be an orchestrator of this process has been absolutely fulfilling. It's humbling and exciting all at once.

Gresham Harkless 2:42

Yeah. Well, you absolutely have done a phenomenal job. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about the Beyond The Papers Foundation. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you guys are doing?

Akia Hardnett 2:50

Yeah. So under the three atmospheres are diagnostics of education, empower, meant, and equipment how we will do that through education is we will host conferences like the summit, we will do webinars, online training that will cover all things God and business, right God and business and how you can partner with him in everyday business practices, everyday business principles. And we will marry spiritual principles and strategies right alongside those things so that you're not left trying to figure it out on your own. Because God has a creative agenda that he's interested in orchestrating and ministering to the earth.

And so when we can teach people how to do that, in the natural course of business, but also the supernatural course of business, it will give them accelerated results. So we do that through education. And once they receive the education, they feel empowered, they feel capable of conquering the world, and they feel capable of demonstrating their business of getting that product on the shelves of performing that service of reaching their target market. They just perform at optimum performance, right? They put out at optimum performance, and then through equipping them with the tools for sales and marketing, business administration, how to attract your ideal client, all of the business tools necessary, no business is completed.

They don't have funding. So the pipeline in the vein of the foundation is we are a philanthropic funding organization. So most nonprofits are trying to find ways that they can raise money to cause impact right or to operate. But we are not necessarily interested in raising money for our operations, we would do 100% of our proceeds are going right back into funding businesses creative any initiative or business that's advancing the kingdom of God or as a matter of fact impacting humanity. So that comprises the three components of the organization.

Gresham Harkless 4:31

Absolutely loved and you guys are giving away a grant.

Akia Hardnett 4:33

Yes, we actually gave away our first grant as the accelerator grant. And that grant was $2,500. And we were absolutely amazed. We got amazing submissions. We had over 25 submissions in less than a week's time. And so we are actually in the process of narrowing down that process. We didn't want to rush it we were scheduled to award it this evening. But we want to give it due diligence right and we want to make sure I'm legal let me just be legit and legal in this new foundation and make sure that I'm applying and operating them within the laws that are set up, and so we'll be actually making the official award within seven days. But we've narrowed it down to our top 10. We're going to have some conversations with these people and bring it down to our top three, and then we'll actually be making the award. So today is March 1, and the award should be made by March 7.

Gresham Harkless 4:34

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I definitely appreciate that. And I now want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And it could be for you or your organization. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Akia Hardnett 5:24

The fact that I decided to co-labor with God, right? And what do I mean by that I spoke about a little bit this morning. But from a natural perspective, naturally, I'm not “businessly” inclined or inclined business-wise, meaning I didn't go to business school, and I didn't go learn all the different dimensions that are involved with the business. I'm self-taught and self-trained, but it's all being led by the Spirit. So although I'm self-taught, I'm Spirit lead, and how to be self-taught. So the thing that sets me apart is my ability to partner with God. And to hear from a spiritual perspective what my next steps in business are, because I can't rely on my own ability to be successful. He has literally orchestrated my path from the foundation to several other business ventures that I do on the side.

Gresham Harkless 6:05

I absolutely love that. Because a lot of times sometimes fear will crop up and we don't know yet if we can do it. But sometimes when he puts it on your soul puts it on your heart, then you have to do it in for him to be able to chart the course for you to be able to do that as awesome.

Akia Hardnett 6:16

Absolutely, absolutely. That's where we talk a little bit about our blueprints of business, right, which is one of the foundational trainings and things that we talk about. It's how to take the entrepreneur, most people consider a business plan, right, and they get so overwhelmed by a business plan. But I believe that heaven or any industry, any product that you bring to market or industry started off with some type of design, anything, a car, house, any product that you put out, they want to see a mockup, right, they want to see what are you going to bring to market, right? So there's the blueprint.

And so Heaven has a blueprint for what they need you to bring to market. And so he will begin to literally orchestrate that design for you. And then you just figure out how to plug everything in, and then you operate from a place of blueprints will place a business. So it's like absolutely amazing. I think it's a wonderful opportunity for people to get involved with the things of God to make an impact and also generate a profit.

Gresham Harkless 7:04

Yeah, absolutely. That's definitely important. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Akia Hardnett 7:15

It's gonna be so basic like so many people probably come up with like all these grand ideas. I said it from the stage I google and pray. That's just a transparent moment, right? My CEO hack is Google and Prayer. What do I mean by that? There are times there are pivotal moments in business because again, I don't I might not have the full comprehension of what's required, right? What somebody might be talking about, starting off, I had no idea what a lead magnet was so short doesn't explain it to me, I had to Google what a lead magnet was, then I had to pray about God and how to establish.

So for me a CEO hat because I've chosen to make God the CEO of my business. I'm his COO, God is the Chief Executive Officer. He calls all the shots. I'm the Chief Operations Officer, I get in the earth and I operate. So I have to ask I was moved to today, right? And so he'll give me something if I don't understand it. I'll go Google it. And then I'll pray about it. And so that's what I would say is my number one strategy or my number one CEO hack.

Gresham Harkless 7:30

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I love that CEO hack. And now I wanted to ask you for a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger business self?

Akia Hardnett 8:18

If I could happen to be a time machine and tell my younger business self, I would say don't be moved by time. What I mean by that is we have very pivotal, we have moments of destiny, moments of impact that are going to happen. And even if you get off track, according to what you think of time, it's always an escape through eternity. So something where you might think you missed your moment, eternity is always going to give you another on-ramp to get to the next level, it might take you a little longer because you missed your moment according to your standards. Or maybe you got off track a little bit. But it will always have a way of redemption, always a way that you can get back into position and instinct to be impactful in the marketplace.

Gresham Harkless 8:59

I absolutely love that. Yes. And that going on your own time when it is time is essential. So you might have touched on this a little bit. But I wanted to ask you for the definition of being a CEO or having a different quote-unquote, CEO on the show, but I wanted to ask you for your definition, what does it mean to you?

Akia Hardnett 9:13

Um, a CEO for me, would be basing the strategy of business according to heaven's design, right? So when we think about partnering with Kingdom advancing and purpose-driven initiatives, it moves from a place of don't misunderstand when I say profitability, because we are in it to make money. But that money is not my driving force, the money or the business is just a vehicle to get you to humanity. And so in doing that, for me, a CEO is what product, what service can I create, that will introduce someone to Christ, right?

So it's always about how I can give someone an introduction to somebody that is greater than themselves that can completely transform their lives. I just get the opportunity to do it through the business market. So that's what for me a CEO is you're a gateway, or you're an introduction through the marketplace of the Body of Christ on the Earth.

Gresham Harkless 10:08

I absolutely love that definition. You can't go wrong with that. So Akia I appreciate you and I wanted to pass on to Mike so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best they can get hold of you.

Akia Hardnett 10:18

I think my final thoughts would be to just make sure you're pursuing from a place of purpose, right? I keep using the words purpose, passion, and profit, interchangeably, you're hearing me use them. But if you're at a place of uncertainty, if you're at a place of lack of clarity, if you can go back to your original purpose, the thing for which you were specifically created and designed to do here on Earth, short of the marketplace, your personal purpose, and align that to the marketplace, if you have the desire to go in business, then you will see your results accelerate much, much faster, you won't have the same type of toil from someone that's joining it just will place a profit, but you have now moved into a place on a position of purpose. And through that, you can experience profitability.

Gresham Harkless 10:57

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I absolutely love that and the best way people can find you?

Akia Hardnett 11:01

You can follow me on Instagram or on Facebook for Akia Hardnett. And you can visit akiahardnett.com. And you can most certainly by all means visit beyondthepapers.com and stay in touch with us to get involved. And thank you so much for having

Gresham Harkless 11:17

No problem. Thank you so much. And we'll have all those links in the show notes. So I appreciate you. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Akia Hardnett 11:22

Thank you.

Outro 11:24

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

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