IAM265- Ecosystem Builder Helps Improve Company Culture Through Creative Innovations

Liz Brown is the co-founder of BCKG, an agency focused on design thinking, innovation and technology. They work with their partners from concept to creation of innovative ecosystems, digital solutions and brand experiences.

• CEO Hack: (1) Learning how to be organized (2) Scheduling things out
• CEO Nugget: It's okay to ask for help
• CEO Defined: Active listener, being able to see the big picture and help people be their best self

This was a live recording at the PurpleCon event.

Website: http://bckinnovations.com/

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Transcription

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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 0:27

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a special guest on the show today, I have Liz Brown of BCKG. BCKG and make sure I got that right. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, Liz, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Liz Brown 0:42

Thank you. Awesome to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:43

No problem. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about BCKG so you can hear about all the awesome things that they're doing. And BCKG is an agency focused on design, thinking, innovation, and technology. They work with their partners from concept to creation of innovative ecosystems, digital solutions, and brand experiences. And Liz, I appreciate your time. Could you tell us a little bit more about what I call your CEO story? And what led you to start your business?

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Liz Brown 1:09

Oh, man. So it's funny because that was a question on the panel we had earlier. And my story is kind of all over the place. I think the most immediate thing that happened was I lost my job. And I didn't know what to do. Because no one would hire me at that point I was overqualified I had two master's degrees. And being a woman of color. Being over-educated doesn't really help you very much in general. But it really didn't help me because people didn't understand how to connect and align with my experience and my background, and they just couldn't see it when they saw me. So I was looking at internships and apprenticeships, I actually was working as an urban planner, and I got furloughed, and I had already started a second master's in design and tech. And I was already doing coding as a side gig for years. I've been coding since 15 years old. And it was just a fun thing for me I didn't look at as a career.

And I went on to study other things. And I wanted to teach other people how to code and how to design. So I did that master then I lost my job in the middle of it. And I was like, well, now I can't do that programming I want to do at this organization. I want to take it somewhere else. But there wasn't really anywhere else for me to go because I wasn't from Philadelphia. And I just moved there within the past couple of years. So I ended up just kind of looking for jobs, No, give me anything. And I was like, Well, I guess I gotta just lean back on like this freelance stuff. I was doing gigs off of Craigslist right here. Just paying my bills was pretty okay. But I was missing out on bigger opportunities because I didn't have a team. And I met my co-founder through civic hacking, which is also a great match for somebody with a tech and urban planning background.

Gresham Harkless 2:55

Okay, it was a civic match, what did they have those startup founders like weekends?

Liz Brown 3:00

It's kind of like Startup Weekend, but really the focus is bringing together designers, technologists, or just business people and pitching ideas and building them within like 24 hours or 48 hours of competition. So we were building mobile apps and web apps together. And through that, I and my co-founder built a friendship. And we like building stuff together. So why don't we work together to start a company together, I stopped looking for jobs, and we just launched our own company.

Gresham Harkless 3:34

That's awesome. Yeah, it's funny, I've been laid off myself. And I know it's a super difficult time and then trying to find the right position when sometimes that position doesn't even exist. So you end up having to kind of create your own thing yourself.

Liz Brown 3:46

Exactly. And the crazy thing is taking me now because I think I had that company. I had my previous company for about five years. And we split last year. But I realized that I was feeling stifled in that position because it fit my expertise. But it didn't fit what I personally wanted to do. And so I was like, Well, I want to continue to grow. And I want to continue to use urban planning and tech and not just tech, because we were doing software development and design thinking on it like that was just UX design thinking and software, just one app after another. And it didn't feel like I was really utilizing my skills in revitalizing cities, what I specialized in grad school says I want to like build ecosystems.

And now all of a sudden, everybody's like man, like we need somebody with an urban planning background that has a technology background. It's like the city wasn't at that point. When we're having a graduate Yeah, I was way ahead of the curve, which is it was very unfortunate, but I gained so much and now I have a portfolio where no one else has. So even if there's another urban planner technologist that comes out like a school, they still don't have the experience that I have with building startups and accelerators and all the stuff that I do now.

Gresham Harkless 4:58

Exactly, exactly. And I heard you say the word ecosystem a lot. I know when we're offline, you talked about the ecosystem. Can you tell us a little bit more about what exactly that is? And how that how you doing that with BCKG?

Liz Brown 5:09

I know, it's our initials. So our last name initials and Canals King group. We sound like a law firm. So we were like, come up with a name. Why something simple? But ecosystem building to me is something that I was already doing when I was doing urban planning. And something I continue to do in my work at a development company before because we did a lot of community events. And what we did was we wanted to see what does the community need our help with? And how can we build those solutions, because we're also civic hackers?

So we're kind of continuing that journey now, where my experience working in nonprofits, the city of Philadelphia, being an urban planner, and being a technologist, I'm trying to kind of pull all of it together, because there's a lot of fractured ecosystems in every city, where people who work in nonprofits don't know technologist, but they could use their services and support.

And vice versa for like all the other different ecosystems. And a lot of people in the I'm taking a step back from the technology ecosystem and focusing on just tech, this tech company and moving towards innovation ecosystems, which is more inclusive of everything, right, like look at STEM education, including the arts and creative and design, we all need each other. So my goal is because I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades type of person. And I do still go to events in all these different areas where I'm trying to pull that network together, I'm trying to say, Hey, I know a nonprofit that can help you get funding for your design or tech startup, or, Hey, nonprofit, I know a developer that can help you build that app that would help your neighborhood out.

So it's really about bridging the different pieces to build one cohesive ecosystem, rather than like a bunch of different ones that just have no idea what's going on. But they live in the same city another reason why I'm down here in DC, is because I think that we need to build more bridges between the cities that are within the same like the Northeast region or the East Coast. And I do a lot of traveling internationally. So my next thing is to build out an international accelerator program and see how I can bridge that back to Philly. How can I help bring more companies there and help more companies from Philly branch out internationally as well?

Gresham Harkless 7:35

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And there was a book by Michael Gladwell, where he talked about the connector. And it kind of sounds exactly like what you're talking about. Your personality is somebody that knows everybody, and you just go to them and say, Hey, can I have X Y, and Z but you're doing within that ecosystem framework

Liz Brown 7:53

I want to help other people jump through fewer hoops than I've had to. And the only way to do that is to build a network and know what opportunities exist. And if I'm out there telling people, they'll have no idea because a lot of people don't know what they don't know.

Gresham Harkless 8:07

Exactly, exactly. Especially when you're starting a company, there are so many different things anyways, you get overwhelmed. But when you're looking for something, you don't even realize the opportunities that are really out there at your disposal. So it's great to hear that. So I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this might be what you just touched on. But what do you feel kind of sets you or your organization apart and makes you guys unique?

Liz Brown 8:26

I think for me personally, my last organization. So we won Best Tech Workplace for Diversity and Philadelphia, and we beat Comcast in their own city.

Gresham Harkless 8:35

Congratulations

Liz Brown 8:36

On a community vote, which is insane, right? So when I think of that a lot of people in the past have asked me that same question and context of that, like, what made me different in that situation, is that I'm a multi-ethnic, multiracial, gay woman. So I have a lot of different perspectives. And then the norm. And so I think it's just kind of built into my persona, that anything I do, I'm always going to be looking out for other people because I can relate to so many people. Yeah, and I've been that other person so many times.

So now moving into this new company, BCKG. And what I do there, that's still my same focus, one of my co-founders is a black male, and the other one is a Peruvian male. So I mean, between the three of us, it's not a normal, typical thing that people would think of when they think of digital solutions, and tech and innovation. Like we're out here to cause a scene and we're out here to show that we exist. We can really make dope shit like our tagline that we have because we're just like let's just be bold. Let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 9:39

Exactly, exactly. That's how you start to see changes start to make true innovation and just got to make dope shit at it from time to time there. Yeah. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be like an app or a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Liz Brown 9:57

So I'm a very creative person. And I'm kind of a creative mess, and kind of like that mad scientist, the professor that you have that has like crap all over their desk. Like, that's always been how I've been. But I was in the military, I was in the Air Force when I was younger. So it helped me. It helped me to be more organized. It helped me to realize that I needed structure in my life. And I think a lot of other creative people who become CEOs, or maybe they don't even see themselves becoming a CEO, because they're creative, and they're kind of all over the place. But you can get your stuff together if you just learn how to organize.

So my biggest hack is learning how to be organized. And really just scheduling things out, I go to bed every night, between nine and 10. I wake up every morning, between five and six, it took me years to get to that point. But it's also another thing I learned in the military, you go to bed early, you wake up early, and you get so much more stuff done. When you give yourself that time, by yourself nice and early, I knock out a lot of work before you have interruptions. And I used to be like a night owl type of person. But what I realized is that the morning is the new night for me as older.

Gresham Harkless 11:10

Exactly. That makes sense. I can relate today I can see myself sometimes as a creative message, you say because I feel like he had that creativity. But I also started to see that when you look at businesses, you look at organizations, there's a lot of structure within that. And sometimes when you have that structure of those schedules, it allows you to be even more creative.

Liz Brown 11:28

Exactly and you have the time. So that's exactly what it is that does exactly what it is for me. Because I give myself all that extra time by getting stuff done. I then can have way more time to be my creative self and just get all that energy out. And a lot of people will say like, oh, this is an idea person, she has a lot of ideas until she doesn't. And it's like yeah, like the time when I don't is when my stuff's not organized. And I've lost time or someone's pulled me in a different direction and messed up my flow.

Gresham Harkless 11:56

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. So now I want to ask you for what I call a co-nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. And sometimes I'll say if you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Liz Brown 12:09

I would tell myself that it's okay to ask for help because if you don't ask you won't receive it. And that's one of the biggest things that I see people making a mistake is they wait too long to ask for help or say what they are trying to achieve. So when I want to start doing public speaking, I just started throwing it out there like yeah, I really want to do public speaking. And then guess what I started getting invited, to do public speaking. So until people know what you're trying to achieve, or what you're trying to do with your business, no one can help you. No one can help you with that advice. I do coffee all the time. Why? Because people ask for that. And if you don't ask you're gonna get it.

Gresham Harkless 12:46

Yep. You never get what you don't ask for it. Yeah, we agree with that. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show and looking at CEO entrepreneurship and business and seeing exactly what that is, and what that looks like. So what does being a CEO mean to you?

Liz Brown 13:02

Being a CEO to me means it's all about leadership. And it's all about being able to see the big picture. And I personally am a very high-touch person, when it comes to my team. I think it's important to let people know that you're accessible, and you're willing to sit down and learn what other people in your business are doing. And help them be their best selves too, it's not about me, because I wouldn't be where I am without my team behind me and the community behind me. So I make a lot of time to listen and be an active listener, and work with other people. I feel like anyone who wants to call themselves a CEO that doesn't care about the people who put them in that position, then like I don't know what they're doing with their life. You have to be thankful.

Gresham Harkless 13:49

Yeah, exactly. You got to realize that wherever you're at, there are people that help pave that way. Team members, other people, mentors, whatever. So it's important to kind of understand that. So, Liz, I appreciate your time. I want to ask you a little bit more about how the panel event go.

Liz Brown 14:04

The panel is awesome. We opened up the day was really fun, and insightful. I'm also pretty new to the VC community. So was interesting to hear other people working in venture capital on what their perspectives are. I really enjoyed that. And also I love the color purple, and I didn't know there were so many women who liked the color purple. That is so crazy. Because she said is that your favorite? Who's how many people? Is that your favorite color? Purple is always my favorite color. But I've never thought of it as a woman's favorite color.

Gresham Harkless 14:37

Yeah, it's like a unity thing.

Liz Brown 14:38

Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, that was interesting.

Gresham Harkless 14:41

There you go. Cool. Well, I appreciate your time again, for people that want to reach out to you and connect with you. What's the best way for them to do that?

Liz Brown 14:41

The best way to reach me is through Twitter or Instagram at Liz Brown.

Gresham Harkless 14:52

Awesome, awesome. Awesome. We'll have those links in the show notes as well. So thank you, Liz, I appreciate your time. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Liz Brown 14:58

Thanks. You too.

Outro 15:00

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 I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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