IAM700 – Special Podcast Episode with Gresh – Still Work 2 Do and Black Lives Matter (BLM)

Gresham “Gresh” W. Harkless Jr. is the founder of CBNation and Blue 16 Media. CBNation is a business-to-business (B2B) Brand focused on increasing the business success rate through content including blogs, podcasts, and videos. CBNation consists of blogs (CEOBlogNation.com), podcasts (CEOPodcasts.com), and videos (CBNation.tv). The brand focuses on increasing the visibility of and providing resources for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners. Blue 16 Media is a digital marketing agency providing digital marketing services including web design & SEO to small to medium-sized businesses and organizations. Central to his marketing philosophy is that You Are a Media Company: Developing a Marketing Strategy to Connect with Your Target and Reach Your Goals. Gresham is a proud graduate of Howard University & Georgetown University.

Check out this roundup on the BLM Resources: https://bws.ceoblognation.com/2020/06/14/13-entrepreneurs-explain-how-they-are-supporting-black-lives-matter-anti-racism-protests/

• CEO Hack: Resources at Stillwork2do.com and CEOHack.co
• CEO Nugget: Using your unique gifts to be a leader
• CEO Defined: Being a leader when it's not comfortable

Website: http://iamgresh.com

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Transcription

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[00:00:02.20] – Intro

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.

[00:00:26.60] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and this is a very, very special episode. As you know, every time we hit a landmark, so to speak, we always I always try to do something special and something different, for this episode. And I wanna kind of entitle this, still work to do. This is kind of a response to everything that has happened as far as George Floyd, and and and and Amir Arbery and so many countless people that we don't even know their names and may not have heard about them. But I wanted to do this mainly to get more information out, to show you a little bit more about some of the things that we're doing as well too, and let you know about some resources. But if you don't know me, my name is Gresh, Gresham Markles junior. And, I'm the founder of CB Nation and Blue Sixteen Media.

Just kinda give you a little idea of why I started with everything that I'm doing. As a kid, when I was about ten years old, I started a family newspaper, to let my father who was in the military go into DUI at that time, be aware of things that were going on in our family. And I was able to send him that newspaper and I sold that subscription to my parents. And I talk about that story a lot because I did it when I was around 09:10 years old. Not really a hundred percent sure how I came up with the idea. But the reason that I bring that up is because I think it speaks to something that we all should kinda look for which is our gifts. And I call them spiritual gifts. Because I think there are things that we are innately great at, and can do a lot better at if we continue to improve and kinda sharpen the saw if we focus on those things. But if we ignore a lot of those things, then, our spiritual gifts kinda can go by the wayside.

So for me, content information has always been of the utmost importance to be able to to kinda get information out there. And that's what CB Nation has kind of turned into and how it's right in line with Blue Sixteen Media. So with CB Nation, we try to help entrepreneurs and business owners be successful, in a myriad of ways. But our two-pronged focus is really to provide a platform for entrepreneurs and business owners to talk about what it is that they do, their stories, and how they provide their service. And on the other side, our focus is based on providing resources to help people, basically entrepreneurs and be more successful, and efficient. With Blue Sixteen Media, we provide digital marketing services, web design and SEO, web development, any website errors, or anything on load. On those, standpoints you have.

We help solve those problems get everything running and increase your visibility. But one of the things that I wanted to talk about, under CB Nation, we have blogs, we have podcasts, we have video content. Under our CEO, Blog Nation, which is our longest-standing site, we have a site called Black Wall Street. Black Wall Street is dedicated to African American black entrepreneurs and business owners. A lot of it resonates with people, that have been on our podcast. You'll see some podcast, episodes there from people that have been on our I n c o podcast just like me and and repurpose on that site. But you can also find, a recent roundup that we did as well, where we asked people exactly what they're doing to kinda help support, the Black Lives Matter, protests what things they were doing or not doing, and just their thoughts on the overall process.

So we got, loads of great, information from entrepreneurs and business owners kind of focusing on that. And I think that that in and of itself related to, you know, what I'm talking about with this, podcast is something that you should check out. And following along the flow of the typical podcast, my secret sauce is kinda like that media company, Mudd said. And I touched on it a lot when I was telling you a little bit about my story and what led me to get started. One of the reasons that a lot of the different projects that I work on overlap is because they all extend from, my interests.

The things that I feel come from my spiritual gifts. So the reason that you have Blue Sixteen Media and everything that Blue Six that I have as a different platform is powered by Blue Sixteen Media because it allows that opportunity for us to provide a lot of the web support, the web design, and design, and all the support and marketing that's needed the digital marketing that's needed for that publication as well too for each of the publications that we have. And I think that when you try to create content to try to connect and serve your ideal clients, I always talk about creating that avatar and being able to kind of focus on that. It takes things to an entirely different level.

And I call it the media company mindset. So that is what I feel is my secret sauce, but also the secret sauce that is evidenced throughout everything that we do. We try to create content in many different ways to try to serve the audience that we're we're trying to reach. And I think that's something that is not necessarily new, but it's something that is growing and people are becoming more aware of it as a way in which, they can get their information and their name out there. So definitely, be sure to, again, kinda check that out. Understand exactly what the media company mindset is. You can find that, you know, in the in-the-show notes as well too. But the idea is really to create a tremendous amount of content for your target market.

And then I, as per usual, per usual, I wanted to switch gears into the pay it forward section as I like to call it. Resources that you should check out. I mentioned one already but related specifically to this podcast, I think that we all have a voice and we all have a platform. And with that being said, I think that as leaders, as business leaders, as entrepreneurial leaders, we have a platform to not just speak and have conversations, but actually have actions. I just was listening to something and it said faith without works is death. So not just having the faith, not just speaking on it, but having the actions towards it. So that's where the whole idea and the concept came from, from still work to do, dot com, and you'll be able to find, black anti-racism, resources as well there too. So go to that site if you feel, so inclined.

You know, support, by purchasing, you know, one of the products there. But what is probably even more important is to go to and look at the resources, look at the things that can be, done to create the change that you hope to see in the world. And I can't say that enough. Again, kinda make sure you leverage that resource, because it's something that I think will make the world a better place. And we talk a lot about business and entrepreneurship, but I think at the heart of it, we forget the people aspect. And when people are in pain, people are frustrated. The businesses are in pain. The world is in pain and it manifests itself in so many different ways. So I think the best thing that we can do is to practice empathy and understand and put ourselves in other people's shoes.

And I think one of the best ways we can do that is by being very aware of what somebody else's perspective is. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to agree with it, but I think you should be aware of it. It should at least be, kind of woke and, knowledgeable about what exactly is happening. So with that being said, that is the CEO hack that I talked about. And you can always, of course, go to CEO hack dot co, and find out more about the CEO hacks which have been listed on the site as well. And then I wanted to go into the CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It's something that you might tell a client or if you were to hop into a time machine, you would tell your younger business self. And again, because I'm focusing on the black lives matter, there's still work to do, as I like to call it.

I think the biggest thing is kinda what I spoke to related to the spiritual gifts. When you're processing, when you have a platform, when you have this opportunity to speak on something that you're passionate about, understand that it doesn't have to be one specific way. I think a lot of times people don't know how best, you know, they can see the change. They can take the actions or take the steps to see the change that they hope to see. And I think that going into your gifts, your talents, what makes you special is the best way to do that. And I think that if you go a hundred and twenty percent into what that is and you're capable of doing that, then I think that you at the end of the day probably can, to some degree, maybe sleep at night. But like I said, you know, people were in a lot of pain.

I have written about, like, how I feel about the whole situation. It's not anything new. But what I wanna say really as the nugget is that you don't have to do it the same way that somebody else does it. It's gonna take a lot of different, voices, a lot of different hands, so to speak, and a lot of different actions from different people in different ways to kinda see the change that we hope to see. So with that being said, my my nugget is really to come from who you are. Come from your gifts. Come from your passions. If you're a writer, then write. If you're a blogger, then make sure your blog is. If you like podcasts, make sure you create your podcast content. If you are a designer, design. Create, things that we can see, that we can understand.

If you're a writer, create that book, create that publication. Be who you are to the best abilities for a good cause. That is the best CEO nugget I can ever give because I think so many times we get caught in the comparison where this person is doing x y z. So we beat ourselves up about not being that person and not leaning into our talents. But I think that the thing that we need to do is to take action toward, the the talents and gifts that we have. So with that being said, my absolute favorite question if you listen to this is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show to look at entrepreneurship business and what it means to be a CEO from different lenses and different aspects.

And really what being a CEO means to me, and you've heard a lot from a lot of the guests, is about being a leader. Not burying your head in the sand. Not saying or not listening to, really as many people as possible to understand and practice that empathy. I think the biggest issue or one of the biggest issues I should probably even more accurately say is that there's a lack of empathy. People don't care about what other people think. People just wanna be right. And that is not to me the true definition of a truly remarkable CEO, a truly remarkable business owner. I think that the people who were aware were already listening, had already taken action before George Floyd, was murdered, essentially.

And I think that when you understand that, when you take those steps, when you pay attention to the people and you have your, I guess, ear to the street, so to speak, and you're listening, you're engaging, you're having these conversations, not because it's convenient, but because you're a leader. You understand that you're gonna take those actions to do that. So I commend those people that, have done that, continue to do that, and will continue to do that because there's a lot of work that's still left to do. And I truly appreciate those people and those organizations and those businesses that have done that work.

And you know, whether it be starting up a book club or whether it be, you know, processing the street or writing your congressman or congresswoman or whatever it might be. Taking those actions to see the beauty that can exist in this world. It is just gonna require us to put, to roll up our sleeves and put in the time to see this come to fruition. So I truly appreciate everybody just doing that. Doing that from your voice and your gifts and your and your strengths and what makes you unique. And I'm gonna continue to try to do the same as well too. This is Gresh signing out. You can always find me at c b nation dot co, I m c e o dot co. My hub for everything that I'm doing is at iamgresh dot com, and that's I a m g r e s h dot com. Please engage with me there. Let me know if there's anything that I can do. And as always, please stay safe, and sound, and just keep your head up.

[00:16:21.60] – Outro

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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