IAM851- Founder Helps Businesses Commit to Racial Justice

Brandyn Campbell combines her passions for communications and diversity to help businesses build and articulate their commitment to racial justice. The founder of Brandyn Campbell Communications, she has worked with high-profile clients, including the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Drawing on her 15 years of experience managing diversity issues in international education and facilitating Diversity & Inclusion training for educational leaders, Brandyn’s Antiracism Consulting helps organizations identify opportunities to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout their communications.

• CEO Hack: Google notes for noting things down
• CEO Nugget: Jump in before you're ready
• CEO Defined: Having an idea and executing it how you want to lead your life

Website: http://www.brandyncampbell.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/brandyncampbellcomms
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrandynCampbellCommunications
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandyncampbell/

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:02 – 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.

00:30 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. Brandon Campbell of Brandon Campbell Communications. Brandon, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:38 – Brandyn Campbell:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so glad to be here.

00:41 – Gresham Harkless:

No problem. Super excited to have you on as well. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Brandon so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Brandon combines her passions for communications and diversity to help businesses build and articulate their commitment to racial justice. The founder of Brandon Campbell Communications, she has worked with high-profile clients, including the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Drawing on our 15 years of experience managing diversity issues in international education and facilitating diversity and inclusion training for educational leaders, Brandon's anti-racism consulting helps organizations identify opportunities to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout their communications. Brandon, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:25 – Brandyn Campbell:

I am.

01:26 – Gresham Harkless:

Awesome. Well, let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you got started. Could you take us through what I call your CEO story? We'll let you get started with your business.

01:35 -Brandyn Campbell:

Yes, definitely. So I was kind of an accidental business owner. It's not something I planned for or even wanted. I started about 10 years ago, wanting to do more with my writing. I've always loved writing. I was in the nonprofit realm and feeling a little bit stifled in my career so I wanted to find a way to get back to my writing. So I did that by starting a sports blog called Philly Sports Muse which was about the Philadelphia Eagles. My thinking was I would at least have to write once a week in the fall, you know, there would be something to write about I've not done sports writing before but I absolutely fell in love with it and got more serious about it. And I love networking. That's something that continues to this day.

So I was able to leverage my networks and social media to get that writing opportunity with the Philadelphia Eagles, wrote a column geared towards their female fans for a time, and did similar work with the NFL. That was all on a freelance basis and it was just so fun writing and sports. I got away from the sports focus after I had my son just because, you know, you really have to be on all of the time and that wasn't necessarily what I wanted to do. But I was still writing and did a lot with a lot of business writing, and publications like Philadelphia Magazine. And it wasn't until I had my second child, my daughter, in 2017 that I really gave serious thought to turning that writing, that hobby into a full-time business.

I was in a job environment that wasn't terribly supportive of families. So I was at an important crossroads there. So I thought, okay, let me go back to where it all started, to blogging, but turning it towards content creation and blogging to support other small business owners. So that is what I did, starting in 2017, but really kicked up steam in 2018, and focused increasingly on content strategy, and social media management, really helping small business owners find their voice and infuse that into their communications. And then this year, in 2020, in the summer, I decided to add that diversity, equity, and inclusion component as something that is, that I'm very passionate about, had some background in, and saw that there was a lot of need to do.

So that's kind of the long and short of it. And I'll add with the diversity work, it really is a nice way of bringing in kind of that experience that I had with nonprofits and in higher education with my work, the freelance work that I had been doing for so long.

04:27 – Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, well I definitely appreciate that and I think I love, you know, you being able to kind of tell your story because I think so many times when we think of communications, we put it into like a box. But I love the evolutionary process of it, of when we really think about it, it could be from a sports standpoint, it could be from the nonprofit world, it could be from a diversity and inclusion standpoint, it's all important on all of those different aspects. So that's why I love what you do because so many times we forget about this industry or this aspect of it, but really being able to understand to some degree the holistic aspect of communications is so huge for us to, I think, be successful.

05:02 – Brandyn Campbell:

You're absolutely right. It is the core of everything that we do. And it is something that puzzles me that sometimes it's not given a lot of importance within organizations because This is the key to everything. It's the key to how, when you grow, how you communicate, how you talk to your team, and how you build your culture, as well as how you communicate your message and connect with your audience. So it's so integral to every piece of what we do. And that's been exciting to embrace more and more.

When I have conversations with folks about anti-racism and diversity and inclusion, it all comes down to communication, including how you listen to other people. So it's these fundamental skills that we learned a long time ago that really we sometimes have to relearn in order to be the people that we want to be and to be the companies that we want to run.

06:00 – Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, absolutely. And so interesting that, you know, I guess we learn how to say our first words when we're young, but we don't always sharpen that saw terms of getting better and how we communicate ourselves, how we're coming out into the world, how we're talking with our team members and all of those different aspects. So I love that you help kind of empower people and equip people with the knowledge to be able to do that. And to the degree and the level that they want to be able to do that. So I know you did touch on it a little bit on how you serve clients. Could you drill down a little bit more and let us know more about how exactly you support clients and what exactly you do to see their communications get top-notch?

06:36 – Brandyn Campbell:

Sure, absolutely. So I'll explain a little bit about how I got to this point, which will help frame what I do. So this past summer, after the murder of George Floyd and the protests that took place around the country and around the world, like so many people, I was changed and I really wrestled with what is my role in all of this. At the same time, as I dealt with the heaviness of the topic, I would scroll in my Instagram feed and see a company with a black square on Instagram that wouldn't follow up for weeks. Or I would see a company that tried to put out a statement, and people would call them out saying, hey, see that statement, yet we're aware of you doing this, this, this being called out on their actions.

And I was having conversations with people in my network and current clients, and it suddenly hit me that companies don't know how to navigate this. This is brand new territory. Even if they have had some diversity training, you're not dealing with the external communications because that's not really the point of that work. And so I realized that it was a needed opportunity for me to bring forward my communications knowledge, as well as my knowledge in diversity, equity, and inclusion, to help businesses address that external portion that was left exposed. And we saw and continue to see how that played out. So that was the impetus behind creating my anti-racist communications consulting.

And a core piece of my offering is a content audit, looking at your social media feeds, looking at your comment moderation, and giving, I have a 10-point evaluation scale, and giving you some feedback on what I'm seeing, how your audience may be interpreting that, and giving you some recommendations on how you might be more inclusive moving forward. And what I have seen with my clients is when you start to look at that external piece, when you identify the blind spots, then companies start to realize, oh, wow. So there's gotta be a lot more. This goes into our internal communications, how we're communicating what we do, how we work, and job postings. So that the content audit process it can go forward to be more in-depth to be an audit of communications as a whole.

That's one area and one way that I work with clients. And I also do traditional assessments, do some conversations to get a sense of where the company is in terms of how it values and articulates its value, values relating to racial justice, and provide some recommendations moving forward about how to infuse anti-racism a little more into their work. And it was intentional that I use the word anti-racism. I'm someone who's always been about action and that's such an important and deliberate word that really indicates and reminds people that this fight is never over. You never complete a checklist and like, okay, we have done all we need to do to try to uproot white supremacy.

It is ongoing, it's something that happens with multiple decisions that you make on a daily basis. So I really work to help clients articulate what they believe in and then create some ways to strategically build in how they need to include that in their decision-making in the future.

10:07 – Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, that's so huge. And I've always felt that the lack of communication on these topics, and especially obviously, as you said, with George Floyd being murdered and I think the impact that it has had on everybody and hopefully change that we've seen, I think that having those communications is so huge. But I think not realizing and being aware of the, I guess, the construct and the building up of that construct of some of the things that we see, as you mentioned, the job postings and how you're communicating with staff and all of those things, how it manifests itself in so many different ways.

So many times people are not aware of that. So that's why I appreciate, you know, the work that you do as far as helping people, especially those organizations that may not just be aware and maybe need to really understand and do the work and have that time to have their internal communications, their external communications in alignment with who they are and what they stand for, and of course, towards creating that better world where there's lack of racism around us. I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for you or your business or a combination of both. Well, what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

11:17 – Brandyn Campbell:

I know that it's such everyone knows it's an uncomfortable conversation. I think people find me to be approachable. I try to use humor as appropriate. It's not a funny topic, but I think that those skills are helpful in helping people come to terms with having this conversation and being willing to have it. So that's kind of the secret sauce that I use to get people to at least get them to the table.

11:47 – Gresham Harkless:

Well, I definitely appreciate you for breaking down you know your secret sauce, and what you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or habit that you have but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

12:03 – Brandyn Campbell:

I'm going to, for me, the app is Google Notes. As untechnical as that is, I live for Google notes on my phone. And they're so great for me because that's where I just brainstorm and jot ideas as I have them. I don't always have a notebook. So I'm a writer, yes, that's important, but as an entrepreneur, you always have tons of ideas for new offerings or new angles of how to promote something. So I'll just record it in my Google notes. And then I can, I have an Android phone if I want to build upon that and create a full doc. It's not the fanciest app out there. It's not new.

But for me, it is a really important tool for tracking my ideas as ideas are, you know, a big part of my business. So those are really, really important for me to just keep track of ideas. And I am a mom, I have 2 young kids. It's not like I'm always at my laptop. So anytime I have a thought, because I'm not always at my laptop, I can, I'm able to record it. So that is, that's me, my hack for just kind of recording the ideas that come at you out of nowhere sometimes.

13:31 – Gresham Harkless:

Yeah. So, I would ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you happen to be a time machine you might tell your younger business self.

13:43 – Brandyn Campbell

Yes, my CEO nugget is to jump in before you're ready. I would tell to anyone in business, whether they are thinking about starting, thinking about starting a new course, or a new service, there is just never a perfect time. You can think it to death, but at some point, you have to just get out there and try. So that is my CEO nugget.

14:10 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted 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 this show. So Brandon, what does being a CEO mean to you?

14:20 – Brandyn Campbell

So being a CEO to me is about being a chief executive officer in your life as well as your business. It's more than a title that goes on your resume or your LinkedIn profile. It's having an idea and executing with how you want to lead your life.

14:39 – Gresham Harkless

I appreciate the holistic perspective of that definition and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic so to speak just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and of course how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

14:53 – Brandyn Campbell

Sure and thank you so much. Well, thank you to everyone who has taken some time to listen and learn a little bit more about my work. You can find me on the interwebs at Brandon Campbell dot com. Brandon is with a Y instead of an O. You can find me on Instagram at Brandon Campbell comms, C-O-M-M-S, and on Facebook at Brandon Campbell Communications.

I would invite folks to, if you are someone who, a business owner, part of an organization who has found yourself wrestling with the questions that have come with this so-called racial reckoning that we are in. You're not sure what to do about that. Send me a note, let's just have a conversation. I'm really good at helping people figure out some next steps. So even if we, it'd be wonderful if we worked together, even if we don't, I really am passionate about getting people moving because that's the only way we're gonna be able to address this problem.

15:53 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely, and we will have the links and information in the show notes as well. But Brandon, I know we talked a little bit more offline about how much it can kind of take from you to lead that charge. So I appreciate you for leading that charge so, so much because I think everything to me kind of starts with having those conversations. So I appreciate you for doing that for organizations, for making yourself available to be able to do that. It not only makes these organizations, and these people so much better, but it also makes the world a better place. So thank you so much for leading that charge. I appreciate you so much and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:22 – 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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