Frederick Factor

The Welcoming Factor with Jarad Bowens

• Sandy Dubay • Season 2 • Episode 6

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Show Summary

Jarad Bowens is a Frederick resident who’s only lived in Frederick for a few years but has already made a huge impact in the community. An active member of the Chamber of Commerce, he shares the story behind presenting the idea for the Business Equity Coalition to the Chamber with Shana Knight. Now as the chair of that committee, Jarad shares some ways it’s creating more diversity, equity, and inclusion for underrepresented businesses of all kinds in Frederick. Jarad also shares the story behind the creation of his business Benefactor Events and how it lives out its name of “benefactor.” 

Show Notes / Highlights from the Show:

  • How Jarad first got involved with the Chamber of Commerce in Florida and how this has made all the difference in his business
  • The inspiration behind “Benefactor Events” and their dedication to supporting the community with their services
  • How Jarad found that the best way to make change in the community was to help businesses to grow and develop 
  • Clarifying what DEI is and what it isn’t (Hint: it’s not about taking away seats at the table -- it’s about adding more)
  • Why sometimes, to add more seats to the table, you’ve got to build a new table!
  • Why “changing the world” isn’t the goal of the Business Equity Coalition -- inclusion, access, and representation is.
  • Jarad’s Frederick Factor

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About the Frederick Factor:

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Frederick Factor Season 2 Episode 5: 
The Welcoming Factor with Jarad Bowens of Benefactor Events


Ashleigh: Welcome to the Frederick Factor. My name is Ashleigh Kiggins and I'm the host of Season Two. Everyone who's lived in, worked in or visited Frederick, Maryland knows there's just something special about this place. One of those things is the incredible diverse community that continues to grow here. On this podcast, we bring Frederick's underrepresented business owners, entrepreneurs and community leaders into the spotlight to share their stories with you and find out: what's their Frederick Factor. My guest today is Jarad Bowens, who is the owner and founder of Benefactor Events. So welcome.

Jarad: Good morning. Welcome. How's it going?

Ashleigh: Good. Good. You know, one of those nice muggy mornings, so can't ask for anything better than that. So you're not from the Frederick area?

Jarad: I am not, no.


Ashleigh: You and your wife, who is also a great photographer in the area -- I can say that because she did my headshots and they look great. <laugh>. But you guys are from the Florida area? 


Jarad: I moved up here from Florida, yes.


Ashleigh: So how did you end up in Frederick?


Jarad: So I have a little sister. Her name is Natasha. And, she was volunteering on a farm near here in West Virginia. She came into Frederick for In the Streets, or one of the fun Frederick activities. And she was in a bar and met a Boonsboro farm boy. <laugh>. And they fell in love and settled here and they started having kids. My mom moved up to help with the kids and I put that in air quotes <laugh> because she was supposed to only be up here for a little while, but very quickly sold her home in Florida and moved up here as well. So I was coming back and forth once the kids were born -- my two beautiful nieces -- to visit. And, me and my mom and my sister are very close, so I got tired of having to hop on a flight and not being able to see my nieces all the time.

So I decided to move up here. I was actually sitting at Isabella's <laugh> downtown, bouncing my niece on my knee, and I was like, “mm, yeah, no, this isn't gonna work.” <laugh>. The thought of not seeing her for another couple months didn't sit well. So I decided to move up here. So shortly after that decision, I met my wife in Florida, <laugh>. And, fortunately, once we started dating, when we got serious enough for me to have that conversation. I said, “Well, how do you feel about Maryland?” <laugh> And she was down. So, we got married and moved up here in 2018, but we moved to Rockville first. So we lived in Rockville for a year and then decided to move here. We moved here as the pandemic was hitting. <laugh>. We bought our house in Frederick. And so we spent the first year living here in our house. <laugh>. So we're just getting to know the community. 


Ashleigh: Now did you say to her, not: how do you feel about Maryland? But -- how do you feel about snow? <laugh>. Because we get our fair share from Florida. So, that's a huge climate change for her.

Jarad: Yes. Huge climate change. 


Ashleigh: I love hearing people's stories of how they ended up in Frederick, especially when they're not from here, because no one was like, “Ah, yeah, you know what? I decided I was gonna move.” No, there's always some great story behind what gets you into Frederick and then makes people stay in Frederick. So now tell us a little bit more about Benefactor Events and how did that get started and where are you going with that? I mean, personally I'm a huge fan of you. <laugh>. This is why you will be DJing my wedding next year. <laugh>. Was that something you did previously and just moved it up?

Jarad: Kind of. So around the first economic recession back in 2007 in Florida, I had a job. I got let go from that job. Obviously the bottom kind of dropped out everywhere. And it was very hard for me to find a job. Now, I had prior experience of being with an entertainment company. I was a backup dancer and an emcee for a large company.


Ashleigh: Oh, I wish this was a video now. <laugh>.

Jarad: <laugh>. I was always kind of headed in that direction. So when the bottom dropped out, I just decided to make a go of it. And, I started my own company down there, which was called Genius Entertainment. Ran that successfully for almost 15 years and then when we moved up here, my first attempt was to try and franchise or run both offices simultaneously from a distance. So I was managing the Florida office. We managed six DJs at the time. I started up over here under that banner in Rockville. So I had Genius Entertainment North, the Genius Entertainment South. But it got very tricky trying to manage the Florida office from up here without actually being there on the ground. So I decided to sell that brand to my longtime business partner, one of the first DJs I hired down there. He had been with me the whole time and I knew that he would be the right fit to carry on the brand. So I sold that brand to him -- lock, stock and barrel. And I decided to rebrand up here. That actually happened again as the pandemic was hitting <laugh>. We signed the contract literally on March 9th, 2020. 

Ashleigh: Oh my gosh.

Jarad: <laugh>. And then everything shut down. So it was pretty crazy. I was all set to launch the new brand, but I obviously had to wait to do that. So, I waited a little bit ‘til at least we were a little bit further into the pandemic to launch Benefactor.


Ashleigh: Maybe that actually ended up being more of a blessing in a way of not having to deal with two businesses and two separate areas during a pandemic. You know, trying to manage up here, down there, and you can't even travel cause you weren't allowed to go anywhere. 


Jarad: Exactly. Exactly. 


Ashleigh: Now is that how you ended up with your DJ name? Will you tell everybody what your DJ name is?

Jarad: DJ Genius is what I go by. So that was actually [from] a DJ who trained me while I was being trained how to DJ. He would always ask me questions and I always had the right answer. <laugh>. And one day he kind of sarcastically looked at me and he was like, “Oh, you think you're some kind of genius, don't you?” <laugh>. So, that became my DJ name. 


Ashleigh: Awesome. Well that's pretty cool. So, for those of you who have been to Alive @ Five at all this year, or if you were at Alive @ Five last year, Jarad is the good music that's in between the bands that are going and still keeping that energy and that vibe going. But absolutely, there's a lot more than just DJing you've been doing in Frederick, which has been great to see. I've seen you DJing at nonprofit events, and not just DJing, but actually controlling the situation. My favorite story about you that you probably don't know is -- I was at the I Believe in Me Christmas event. And I was sitting at one of the tables. We had not signed our contracts for any DJs or anything yet. We were still in our deciding phase of everything. Not that there was anybody you were competing against <laugh>, but we were still in our deciding phase. And I watched you, that entire night, work that whole room. And the kitchen staff was being loud in the middle of the speeches happening. And you noticed it right away and went back and had them quiet down, which I was very impressed with, because you won't see a lot of that happening. I mean, a lot of times, that noise would just keep going and it would be somebody from the group who was there doing that. And I went home that night after, and I told my fiance, Jim, I said, “You know what?” I said, “That's the right DJ for us. He noticed a problem immediately and immediately handled it.” I watched you go around, say, “Hey everybody, it's gonna be five minutes till the speeches.” So, very impressed. That’s my favorite story of you. And now you know it. Going back into what you've been doing in the community, you've been involved in Soul Street and other types of community events, so how did you kind of decide that those were things you wanted to start navigating in?

Jarad: The reason that we named our company “Benefactor,” when I started Genius Entertainment down in Florida, we were focusing on the DJ stuff, I kind of wandered into doing nonprofit stuff because nonprofits would reach out to us to DJ their events. At the time, it was just a great way to advertise. It was just kind of, “Hey, we can do this community event and get our name out there. And it was great advertising the more I did it.”  And the more we DJed for those nonprofit events, the more I saw the value of the service that we were providing for these nonprofits who, a lot of times, don't have a budget for good entertainment. You go to their event and they're trying to talk to 500 people on a small speaker and a wired microphone and nobody in the back can hear them and it doesn't help to get their message across. So, I saw the value in what we were providing and we started to do more and more and more of that. So when it was time to choose a new brand, when I started to think up what the new company was gonna look like, what was just something we had started to do, became a core value for the company. And so that's why I chose the name “Benefactor,” because that's what we want to be, is a benefactor to the larger community. So we donate 5% of our sales to a different charitable organization each quarter. I choose a new organization. We donate 5% of our sales right off the top. We also sponsor -- I do four full sponsorships per year for community events. Like we just did the Boys and Girls Club Golf Tournament. We did that for free. Organizations have the opportunity to apply for those spots. I do two 50% sponsorships, and then I do a standing 10% discount for any non-profit events. 

So what was just something cool that we were doing is now a core value and at the heart of what drives our company -- is community involvement. So that led us into working with a lot of the nonprofits in the area and then the community activism stuff that just kind of flowed out of what happened in 2020. So 2020 obviously was a very challenging year for everyone. Obviously after George Floyd's murder, like everyone else, or like a lot of other people, I had a lot of mixed emotions, most of which was anger and trying to figure out how to navigate, what to do with those feelings. Standing on the protest line wasn't really an option because I had a newborn right at the time.

So the dynamics or the dangers involved in that prevented me from doing that. And I was a little mad at myself for that. But, I also, through that, found another way to channel that anger and that desire to do something. So I got invited to participate in Soul Street through my sister who knew Shana and, you know, Shana and a couple other people got together and decided that one of the ways that we could help the situation was to help promote wealth and business growth and development within the black community. So that is, in my opinion, a big way to solve a lot of the issues from from a root level. In all honesty, it's money, it's power, it’s land ownership and wealth ownership that translates to being able to make real change.

A lot of times people don't listen to you <laugh> until you control or until you own some things. And that's just the reality that we live in. So we decided that the best way to help make a change in our community was to help businesses grow and develop and get to that point. So, that's what Soul Street is about. That's our mission, is to support and uplift and empower Black-owned businesses in the community. We do that through markets. We do vendor markets all through the summertime. We just did our second annual one -- our third annual one  -- at Sky Stage over the July 4th weekend. And so, we invite Black-owned businesses and producers in the community to sell their wares, as it were, to the larger community, as a way to get them exposure and to help increase revenue. We've also started a business development workshop series called Black Owned and Brunch. That was our second one. And it was very successful both times. We had a lot of business owners attend and we had great speakers at both events. Just really trying to get that information out there. Get them access to that higher learning, that next step business development education that can really help them take their business to the next level. 


Ashleigh: I think you guys just celebrated Soul Street for the second year. Second year of doing this. And, out of all the sadness and anger that came out of 2020, there's been so much good that has come out and so much support. And I think it's important to highlight the fact that you guys are celebrating the second year. Because as I think we've all talked about [in the minority community and] especially in the Black community, we don't want this to just be a fad. You know, DEI is the new fad word thrown around everywhere. Everybody needs DEI. And I know I've sat on a number of committees and focus groups and all that to talk about DEI.

And honestly, I sit back and I'm kind of like, these problems have been here. <laugh>. It's not new or something that just all of a sudden just showed up in 2020. These issues have been here for years. We've all learned how to adjust. We've learned what we can do in our capacity. I think if anything, 2020 helped to empower a lot of our community to say, “No, no, no. We're done sitting in the background.” And like you and I talked about, if it means being the token or if it means being the poster child for something good, I'll do it all day long. I have no problems because if it's gonna help for somebody else to see -- cause if you’ve gotta bring your own seat to the table and if you're the only one sitting there, that's okay. 

Jarad: And sometimes you gotta build the table.


Ashleigh: And sometimes you're bringing the table. Right. And this leads me into the next thing that you're working on right now too -- your work with the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, working to help underrepresented groups. Obviously the county has their EmPOWER program that has been great for helping to promote and get focused and Shana's now over there too, to help with that and try to get it all organized. But the Chamber really has lacked a little bit when it comes to that support. And so, and I think it's something that's been recognized. I just don't think they knew what direction and how to take that direction. Right. Like I mentioned to you earlier, I'm a graduate of the class of 2018 -- best class ever <laugh> of Leadership Frederick County.


In my class of, I think there's probably 43, 48 -- whatever -- of us, there were only three of us that were minorities -- three of us who were Black. It was very alarming. I was actually very surprised to see how much lack of diversity there was. I know that's something that's been a sticking point. And once again, it's hard to not know how to deal with it when you're not in those communities. When you don't know, and you haven't personally experienced it. So I'd love to learn more about what you're doing right now, because I know you've been working on a brainchild with the Chamber to really kind of help promote that. 

Jarad: Yeah, so like I said, I grew my business in Florida for about 15 years. And about two years in, I was approached by someone from the Chamber of Commerce down there. It was a young woman and they were really trying to get people who were younger and more diverse involved in the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce. And it was the best move I ever made. She came and sat with me and talked with me and she mentioned that specifically. She said, “A lot of people have a misunderstanding of what the Chamber is, and we're trying to fix that. And so, we want to include and recruit more business owners just like yourself to come in and help us do that.” So I had never really known what the Chamber of Commerce was or how it could benefit my business, but it was one of the best moves I ever made.

Especially in my industry. DJs and DJ companies don't often join the Chamber. You see a lot of realtors, you see a lot of people from banks or insurance salesmen and stuff like that. But there's not really usually ever DJ companies there. So, it was great because I was really the only one in my category. So it was easy for me to stand out. Joining the Chamber was the best move I ever made for my business. It really helped me to access the larger community, get a lot of corporate work and a lot of the nonprofit stuff. And I met a ton of people who helped me to advance my business. So it was a great move. So obviously when I started my business here, I reached out and joined the Chamber here.

And it has been hugely successful. My wife did the same thing with her company, -- AK’s Grafix and Photo <laugh>. It's been hugely successful for both of us. And, right away I saw the benefits again of being involved in the Chamber here. And so again, working with Shana, we started to have a conversation and she was already in talks with Rick Weldon, who's the CEO of the Chamber, about how to address some of these issues with Diversity and Inclusion. And I was invited to participate in that meeting and we didn't want to go in unprepared, so we put our heads together on some ideas that we wanted to present, what we would like to see happen, and one of the main focuses was creating a committee to help address some of these issues.

The Chamber has a number of committees that help focus on different areas within the Chamber membership. Like the Women in Business Committee that you sit on. They do great work with trying to help promote and uplift the women-owned businesses. But we thought we could create one to help with all the other underrepresented business populations in the community. So we presented that idea. <laugh>. We had a great, great conversation. And the Chamber staff was very receptive to that, and right away said that that was something that we could definitely do and he would present it to the board, but he knew that they would be supportive of that effort. And then at the end of the conversation, he asked if I would chair the committee. <laugh>. 


Ashleigh: Welcome to Frederick. <laugh>

Jarad: <laugh>. I didn't go into that meeting expecting to do that, but sure, why not.

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Jarad: So here we are. And what I lack in experience, because I've never been involved in an effort like that -- I've never chaired a committee like this. But what I lack in experience or knowledge, I think what my strong suit is, is I have a superpower for connecting people and gathering people around me who are smarter than I am. <laugh>. I think I put together a great committee. I won't mention names yet because I haven't been able to, to make sure that they're okay with that.  <laugh> But, we have a lot of really, really great community leaders that I think really represent the larger business community and some of those underrepresented populations. So I think we have some folks on the committee who are really committed to trying to address some of these issues. It's like I said -- it's not that we're trying to place blame or talk about what led us to this point. It's great to acknowledge the past and understand the mistakes that led us here, but that's not what we want to focus on. 

I think what we are here to do is try and make sure that people have access to this information. The Chamber of Commerce is at its core a business tool. It's a tool for business development. It's a networking organization specifically built to help connect businesses to new clients and new revenue streams. And it's not a business model that works for every single business, but what we want to do is make sure that every business has the opportunity to at least get to see what the Chamber offers and what those membership benefits are and decide if it's right for their business. And what we don't want is for businesses not to have access or [not] feel included or feel like they are welcome or that there are [not] other people that they connect with that look like them or can understand them. 

So those are the things that we want to focus on. And one of the other things that I said right in the meeting was: we're not trying to change the world. <laugh>. There's a lot of organizations out there that are really trying to change the larger community, the country, Maryland, Frederick. There are a lot of people running in this election to try and change things that we're doing in Frederick County and in the city. And we want to support those efforts, obviously. But this committee is very narrowly focused. We just want to try and focus on the Chamber membership itself to make sure that when we walk into those networking events that they truly represent the diverse community that we have here in Frederick. That's the goal.


Ashleigh: Well, and I think what you just said is: we're not trying to change; we're trying to support. And that's the important thing. It's not about coming in and saying, all right, let's make this automatic change. Because first of all, you can't change history. I would say having a place and a resource for minority business owners that they feel supported and feel like they're connected, I think is [great steps forward]. The Chamber has great networking events, and this is something we've talked about in our Women in Business committee is: how do we make it feel inclusive to everybody? How do we make it so that when someone shows up and they're new, that they don't feel like they just walked into the high school cafeteria and you can't sit with anybody.


Jarad: Exactly. 


Ashleigh: We’re focusing more on a female issue, but on the minority side too -- how do we make people feel comfortable and how do we make them feel like they're not the only person in the room? And so I think it's a great effort and I'm looking forward to seeing how you guys continue to help and to transition. It sounds like the angle would be to have more minority businesses a part of the Chamber and not just a part of it, but also promoting the chamber too as well.

Jarad: Absolutely. And, when you say minority, people often think of just Black people or Latin people. So we're going even beyond that and including all of our underrepresented business communities. Like our Muslim American business owners. Or like our deaf community -- Frederick has a very large deaf community. We are gonna start having ASL interpreters for all of our Chamber events to make sure that they feel comfortable and they have a way to come and participate and understand what's going on as well. And for our LGBTQ+ businesses in the community, we have great representation on our committee from someone who's really invested in that community. So, we want to make sure that they feel supported and they feel included as well. And combing through everything, we're going to start with trying to understand the metrics and what the diversity level already is based on the larger community. Trying to just identify any barriers to entry that we can and ways to improve that. So focusing on inclusion, access and representation.


Ashleigh: Awesome. Well, and I know the team over there. I know Rick Walden, President of the Chamber. This is something he's very focused on too. He always wants people to feel included and to feel welcomed. So I think it's great that it's coming together. I've heard secretly some of the people that are a part of it. <laugh>. And you do have a great team that's well represented too. Because I think a lot of times, when people think DEI, they automatically think Black and white. Like all they're thinking is: black, black, black. 


Jarad: It's way bigger than that. 

Ashleigh: It’s so much bigger than that. DEI can just spread across the board. And our community is a community that is changing drastically and starting to diversify so much from so many different areas of the world. So I'm looking forward to all of that and hopefully by the time we release this podcast, we'll have a good website that we can include when we put this out on social media so that will be forthcoming. 

Jarad: By the time you hear this, we will have a link to a webpage on the Chamber website that will give you a lot more information on the committee, what we're doing, the events we're hoping to host and, and all that. So stay tuned.


Ashleigh: So if somebody wanted to get involved or learn more about it, could they reach out directly to you?

Jarad: They could reach out directly to me. You could email me, text me, call me, and whatever method works best for you. 


Ashleigh: Perfect. We'll put all your information on social media. We'll just put everything out there. <laugh>. It's a great resource. It sounds like it's building a lot of building blocks. So it's just gonna help to diversify. And I think what's gonna end up happening is it's gonna start leaking into so many different groups. And, recently too, the Builders Association and the Frederick County Association of Realtors have all kind of started to join forces on a lot of things recently. And we are working on our side. So I sit on the Diversity Equity Inclusion committee at the state of Maryland for Maryland Realtors. And we're actually bringing something like that to Frederick to help support our diverse minority realtors in the area too as well. So we're not launching that ‘til some time in early 2023. So hopefully maybe we can even start talking about some cross groups. I mean, it would just be great to see these groups working together.

Jarad: And that's what we're focusing on with Soul Street too. We've got our internal infrastructure down and now we're starting to collaborate. So we realize that especially since 2020, there are a lot of groups that have started up a lot of organizations that are pushing a lot of this stuff. And so now we're trying to start to try and work together. Because a lot of what's happening is duplication of efforts. So we're all working towards the same goal, but we're all kind of doing this a lot of the same thing. So, trying to identify where we're doubling efforts where we can collaborate instead of competing against one another to do this work. And one thing I do want to say too, which I think is, is very important. I fell into the trap -- they say don't read the comments. <laugh>. The Frederick News Post did an article about the committee. And even my wife was like, “Don't look at the comments. Don't look at the comments.” <laugh>. A lot of people get angry, and it's hard to see that. I think some of it is, when we talk about Diversity and Inclusion and Equity, a lot of people feel like we're trying to take something away from them or that we're trying to choose winners and losers. Like, “shop Black” doesn't necessarily mean don't shop white. <laugh>. So that doesn't mean we're trying to push other people out of business or we're trying to take resources away from anyone. We're just trying to expand the realm of who's included at the table. It's not trying to take seats away from anyone. We're not here to try and support one business over another business or to put your shop out of business because you're white. That's not the goal. That's not what this whole thing is about. And that's what little I can offer to those who may be apprehensive about all of this.


Ashleigh: Well, don't read the comments. Acacia's right. <laugh>. I'm glad you brought that up. 

Jarad: I think it's important to let people know that, right? To understand that this is not something where we're coming after anyone. We're not trying to vilify anyone or make people feel bad for something that happened before. We’re really just trying to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities for success. So that's our goal. 


Ashleigh: Well, it's equity. We talk a lot about what equity means and equity and equality are not the same thing. Equity means that someone may need a bigger boost to be on the same equality level as somebody else. 


Jarad: Right. Exactly. 


Ashleigh: Like I said, I'm happy you pointed that out because when we start working and evolving these groups together -- the minority support groups and things like that for businesses -- I think that's a common misconception. Especially if you're not in that community, and you've never experienced it before. And I think when you actually sit down and talk to people. I'm sure you have stories you can tell, I know I have stories I can tell.


And I think when you sit one-on-one and they actually have a chance to hear and listen to how you're feeling, it's almost a mind-blowing experience. It's a little [challenging] because if you've never had to experience walking into a room and no one else looking like you -- and I'm not talking about, oh, they don't have blue eyes or the hair color’s different or something like that -- but really walking into a room and realizing you are the only person that is of any sort of diverse background, it's noticeable. I know personally, I've dealt for years with my own anxieties of walking into a room and being the only Black person in the room and I've had to learn coping mechanisms to make myself comfortable. And to start getting out more and putting myself out.


When I first started in Frederick, I would not go to networking events without my boss. I did not want to go by myself because [of] social anxiety. I had so much discomfort. I knew nobody there was gonna look like me most likely and I wasn't going to have anybody to talk to. And, I had to mentally break myself out of that. And once again, I love the idea of mentorship anyway, but you wanna just keep doing that for other people. And it sounds like this group would be the kind of group that's going to help to do that so that they absolutely can network and really work with all different types of backgrounds. All the types of businesses. So I'm happy you pointed out that because that is an important thing to mention. It is not about saying we're only promoting this type of business. It's just to remember that we've been promoting one type of business for the last umpteen years.

Jarad: <laugh>. Exactly.


Ashleigh: Now, we want to include. As we wrap up, my one ending question is, as always: what is your Frederick Factor? What, to you, makes Frederick what it is?

Jarad: So I love everything that I've seen of Frederick so far. Being new to the area, I'm just still getting to learn the lay of the land. But especially through a lot of the protests and things that were happening here in Frederick, I went to one of the first big marches here at Baker Park. I saw thousands of people there and that was heartwarming because there's a misperception of Frederick. Or there's an old idea of what Frederick is. And I haven't really seen that here. Granted I haven't been here very long, but, what I have seen of Frederick has been warm, welcoming, supportive -- everyone I've met here. Frederick to me feels like a big small town. You know, it's a lot of people, but everyone seems to know each other and to be connected. And so to me that's the Frederick Factor. It’s that warm, connected energy that I've felt from everyone here and from all the business owners.

Ashleigh: It's the huggy town. That's what I call it. I call Frederick the huggy town.

Jarad: <laughs>. It really is. 

Ashleigh: You meet people once or twice. You're hugging the next time you see them. It’s the huggy town. 

Jarad: Exactly. And I'm the type of guy -- a lot of people have said, “oh, you're brand new here, but now I see you everywhere. Like all of a sudden you just kind of came in and now you're everywhere.” And that's my nature. I don't get in the pool by the steps. I jump in the deep end all the time. So, whenever I do something, I'm all in 150%. So, I came into town and just kind of blew through everything and everyone and like I said, all I have encountered has been support and connection and warmth. So to me, that's what I like most about Frederick so far. Downtown is just such a quaint nice place to be. And, all the business owners and people I've met so far have all reflected that. So, that's why I love it. 


Ashleigh: Yeah. I was at the march in 2020, and one of the most uplifting things to see was how many people from so many different backgrounds were there. Peacefully there. It's the huggy town. 

Jarad: And that's the Frederick I hope to see more of in the future. That's the direction I think we're headed as a community. And, I see it more and more all the time, like all the efforts that we're seeing in the community from so many different [communities] Frederick Pride was just here. And, it was amazing to see that happening here -- to see an event like that be so successful and so well received by the community. That kind of stuff inspires me for the future of Frederick. So I'm very happy to be here in this community and happy to help in any way I can.


Ashleigh: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here today. This has been great. The conversation's been great and next time, we're doing this on video, because we all want to see those backup dancing skills. Now you all know that if you see him at any Alive @ Fives, you just need to ask him to do some dance moves for you. If you hire him for your wedding, he will back up dance for you. I'm putting all these out there and he's probably thinking, “uh, no way” but hey…

Jarad: I got you. I'll do it. Yes. There you go. I'll bust a move.


Ashleigh: You've heard it here. It's being recorded. He will bust a move for you. So, thank you again for being here. I love seeing what you guys are doing and I love it when people who are not from the area come in and truly make this their home and truly give back. Frederick is that kind of town where you're not measured by the money you make, you're measured by what you do to give back to the community. And you are doing that. And it's great to see. So thank you. Thank you so much for being here and hopefully all the links will be up. If not, you can go find him at… 

Jarad: www.benefactorevents.com, Or, on any of the social medias: @benefactorevents


Ashleigh: And just, maybe leave nice comments for him from now on. <laugh> That’d be helpful. So, thanks again for listening and this is Ashleigh Kiggans signing out for Season Two.

You've been listening to the Frederick Factor. Want to find out more about our diverse community that makes Frederick so special? Visit our website at www.frederickfactor.com. ‘Til next time.