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Black Boy Fly: Dr. Kevin Haggard

February 5, 2021

Feature - Kevin Haggard

#BlackBoyFly is a movement to encourage Black males of all ethnicities in regard to overcoming obstacles to achieve their dreams. Throughout the year, I’ll be featuring Black males that are flying toward their dreams. www.blackboyfly.club

Dr. Kevin Haggard, Jr. is a father of two daughters, an Assistant Professor, and the MSW Coordinator in the Department of Social Work & Urban Studies at Tennessee State University. We’re both cycling aficionados and crossed paths back in 2015 when we co-founded Domestiques Cycling of Tennessee. I regard Kevin as a Black intellectual that is focused on inspiring, promoting, and facilitating transformational change within communities that have been negatively impacted by unjust and inequitable systems. Kevin was born and raised in Louisville, KY, and is a product of Jefferson County Public Schools. He holds a Bachelor’s of Social Work from Tennessee State University, a Master’s of Social Work from Western Kentucky University, and a Doctorate of Education in Professional Practice and Leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University.

Shortly after college, Kevin began working with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services as a Family Service Worker, working in partnership with children and families to achieve permanence. After a multi-year term with the department, he began working in public education, serving as a leader in various K-12 and higher education spaces. In most recent years, he has served as a Family Resource Center Director, a Site Coordinator for a national drop-out prevention organization, a Director of School Partnerships for a national organization that focuses on disrupting educational inequities, and as a Director of Talent Management for a high-performing network of schools in Tennessee and Mississippi.

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Monday Motivation (2/1/21)

February 1, 2021

2021 2 1

There is no Blueprint, you’re creating it for someone else to use! Your path is just different. It doesn’t look like anything you’ve seen before because no one has done it the way you’re destined to do it. Remember that.

Creating something new can be challenging. There’s nothing to use as a guide except for that quiet voice in your spirit that’s telling you to keep going. It is much easier to replicate what’s already been done. But that’s the beauty of your journey.

You’re one of one. You’re rare, valuable, inimitable, and non-substitutional (that’s resource-based theory for all my management scholars out there). The blueprint you’re developing is what will be used by those that are following your path. You’re a trailblazer.

Your journey, no matter how difficult, is showing others what’s possible. That’s why it is so important that you keep going. Even when you have no clue where you’re headed, still keep going. Put one foot in front of the other. Be willing to try different things. If it doesn’t work out, that’s totally acceptable.

When you’re creating the Blueprint, there will be quite a bit of trial and error. Keep going. Keep creating. Keep designing. You’re building something significant. It is possible that you won’t live to see what you’ve created. It doesn’t matter. Keep going. #InsightsByIsaac #PurposeDriven #BlackBoyFly

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Wealth Book Club

February 1, 2021

Wealth Book Club

Join us today as Dr. Lakisha Simmons launches her Wealth Book Club (7pm CST via Zoom). The book of the month is Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice by Dennis Kimbro and Napoleon Hill. We’ll discuss this book as we focus on our wealth goals. RSVP here then go purchase your book and start reading! Also, check out her educational content to help you with your financial goals.

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Black Boy Fly: Tope Awotona

January 29, 2021

Feature - Tope Awotona

#BlackBoyFly is a movement to encourage Black males of all ethnicities in regard to overcoming obstacles to achieve their dreams. Throughout the year, I’ll be featuring Black males that are flying toward their dreams. www.blackboyfly.club

As a self-proclaimed techie, I’ve always been a fan of software that makes life easier to manage. Calendly is a classic example of that. It’s a tool that I rely on heavily for scheduling meetings and booking appointments. Calendly takes the effort out of working with someone to find calendar availability. A few months ago, I came across Inc. Magazine’s story of Calendly’s Founder and CEO, Tope Awotona. I was surprised to learn that the creator of one of my favorite apps is someone that looks like me and has a similar family story. Tope and his family emigrated to the United States from Nigeria in the mid-1990s. He has an amazing journey of overcoming personal tragedy to reaching the heights of entrepreneurial success. I encourage you to learn more about him and become a Calendly user. According to Black Enterprise, Tope’s company was recently valued at more than $3 billion after receiving an investment of $350 million from OpenView Venture Partners. This brother is the epitome of the Black Boy Fly message. He’s making history as a Black man in the technology industry and I’m excited to see what happens next. Many thanks to Tope and the Calendly team for a great product offering.

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Black Boy Fly: Brian Sexton

January 22, 2021

Feature - Brian Sexton

#BlackBoyFly is a movement to encourage Black males of all ethnicities in regard to overcoming obstacles to achieve their dreams. Throughout the year, I’ll be featuring Black males that are flying toward their dreams. www.blackboyfly.club

Brian Sexton, a Chicago native, is a husband, father, and modern-day renaissance man. We met during our freshman year in college and I have a profound respect for his talents. Brian is a Community Development Practitioner and partners with nonprofits, artists, and entrepreneurs in an effort to grow their professional brands and human-to-human capital. Brian’s passion for building bridges between neighborhood groups, nonprofits, and small to medium businesses has afforded him the opportunity to represent awesome organizations such as MDHA’s Nashville Promise Zone, the National Museum of African American Music, New Level Community Development Corporation, and Creatives Day in an effort to create more public-private partnerships that will help make Middle Tennessee communities stronger. Brian holds an undergraduate degree from Tennessee State University in Business Administration and a Masters degree in Urban Planning and Community Development from Texas Southern University.

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Office Hours Live 1/22/21

January 22, 2021

Office Hours Live Jan 22

We had fun with this last year so we’re running it back. There was a lot of information exchanged and great questions asked by the audience. Tune in today at 2pm CST. Kisha makes me speak in my Ghanaian accent at the end so you don’t want to miss that. #OfficeHoursLive on Facebook at the link here.

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Don’t Shrink Yourself

January 19, 2021

Office Hours Live

Last night Joshua Mundy called me and Kisha out in a way that only a loving brother could. He sent a simple text message that hit us both like a ton of bricks. It was about this picture (if you know, you know). He kept it 100% real and was right about what he said. We sat in silence for a while and reflected on his message. I’m not gonna lie, I was in my feelings for a bit. But, we needed to hear that. You have to keep people in your circle that will point out your blind spots and show you how you’re, “pouring water on your own fire” as he so eloquently stated. I’ve never heard that saying before but it makes complete sense. Why dim your own light?

Let me put it this way, especially since yesterday was #MLKDay. Dr. King was faithful to his calling. He lived his life in a way where he did what he believed he was called to do, even though he knew it could cost him his life. Think about the amount of courage it takes to fully walk into your calling and allow your light to shine, while knowing that you’d become the most hated man in America and probably die as a result of your efforts. Josh challenged Kisha and me to stop shrinking ourselves. I accept the challenge and ask that you join me. Whatever you believe you were called to do, pursue it with MLK energy.

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Monday Motivation (1/18/21)

January 18, 2021

Insights 2021 1 18

As we spend today reflecting on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., remember this…they’re waiting on you to lead! #insightsbyisaac #mlkday

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Black Boy Fly: Joshua Mundy

January 15, 2021

Feature - Joshua Mundy

#BlackBoyFly is a movement to encourage Black males of all ethnicities in regard to overcoming obstacles to achieve their dreams. Throughout the year, I’ll be featuring Black males that are flying toward their dreams. www.blackboyfly.club

Joshua Mundy is a native Nashvillian, husband, father, and award-winning community advocate. We crossed paths in 2015, when I moved back to Nashville, and have been good friends ever since. Josh was inspired at an early age to generate income in very creative ways. His forecasting and visionary skillset have developed him into a serial entrepreneur, with the ability to think of an idea or need in the community and quickly take action to set a goal to meet the need. Josh previously owned Music City Cleaners and theLAB Nashville on Historic Jefferson Street, business ventures that closed due to the aftermath of the massive March 2020 tornado. His incessant entrepreneurial drive led him to become Co-Founder and CEO of Pivot Technology School, which helps diverse talent pivot their careers through 20-week virtual training programs in cybersecurity, data analytics, and web development. If I know Josh as well as I think, he’s already working on his next entrepreneurial idea.

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Dreams of Early Retirement

January 14, 2021

Beachfront View

For years now I’ve had this crazy dream of retiring to an undisclosed beachfront villa at age 50. While there I’ll spend the rest of my days writing books and traveling on occasion. I used to think this was unattainable, but learning about the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement changed that. FIRE is all about minimizing monthly expenses and maximizing savings/investments so that you can live on the proceeds of investments in retirement. It’s really an interesting concept that I’ve been reading about weekly for the past year.

One of my 2021 goals is to continue improving my financial health. To that end, I’m excited that my wife, Dr. Lakisha Simmons, decided to start a money club in February. She’s been preaching about financial independence ever since I met her and has put herself in a position to retire early. I’m extremely thankful for all the money lessons I’ve learned from her over the years. Here’s your opportunity to learn. Fill out the interest form (click here) so that you can retire early and occupy the beachfront villa next to mine. Shhhhh….remember, the location is a secret. Cheers to financial freedom!

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