10: Building Community in the Gaps with Reese Hicks

What does it look like to build community where you see it needed most?
In today's episode, Adjoa and Darcie are joined by our very first podcast guest, Reese Hicks. Reese is the founder of SOBI -- a community for creatives that curates unique, cultural, art-centered events in Chattanooga, TN. As Reese and Adjoa share about their parallel experiences in building communities, we discuss:

how an idea goes from seed to reality,

the importance of diversity in a time where a divisive narrative is being sold, 

and why you should lead with curiosity as both a community leader and a community member.

Join the conversation:
What kinds of communities do you belong to, and why are they important?

Send us a text or join our Discord server to share your response: https://discord.gg/gdTMBzkNjY

We’d love to hear from you!

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST

Get connected with Reese and learn more about SOBI!
Reese's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/createdxreese
SOBI's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobiconnect/
SOBI's website: https://www.sobiconnect.com/

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Darcie
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Adjoa
YouTube - adjoaainghana
Adjoa's youth community - @ydiglobal


INTRO MUSIC
Track & Field - Arc De Soleil

#community #diversity #ThePassionfrootPodcast #Passionfroot

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

I'm always trying to push the black community here as well to just expand our horizons. Um, I think it's easy to box ourselves in. I think a lot of the time the world boxes in as well. And so I think um the more we put ourselves in different rooms and around new people, um, I only see a benefit from that.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Welcome to Passion Fruit, where we navigate life, purpose, and faith outside of the box. I'm Adjua. I'm Max. I'm Evan, I'm Mel, and I'm Darcy.

Our first podcast guest!!

The topic today: Building community in the gaps

SPEAKER_05 0:35

Let's dive in. All right, everybody, welcome back to the Passion Fruit Podcast. We are here with two Passion Fruit members and then a guest. We have Reese here joining us. Um, we've been through the ringer in the preparation for this podcast. We started recording, or we like all gone on the podcast recording platform about an hour ago. Um, and then proceeded each one of us to have technical difficulties. Um, my camera wasn't coming on, Adua's mic wasn't working, and then Reese's mic, like, it's just not picking up. And we've tried everything. We've tried, she also had random music playing on her laptop that she couldn't figure out what was coming from. So, like everything everything has happened. So, just a disclaimer Reese will not be using a mic, but honestly, I don't think it's gonna be that horrible. Um, we try to have good sound quality, but like the conversation is still gonna be here. And as the editor, I will also do my best to, you know, make her voice sound even better. So we're here, we're doing it anyway, despite the technical difficulties. And I'm really excited about our conversation today. So the theme, we're we don't have a title yet, but the working title is like something along the lines of building community in the gaps. So think seeing a gap in your local community, in your local landscape, and um, you know, creating a community that can help fill that gap, coming up with an idea that can help fill that gap in general. And I asked Adjua to be on this podcast. Um, you guys all know her already if you're regular listeners. And she has actually shared that back in her days of university, she worked to build a community. Um that I'll let her talk more about later, but she created that and it's still running, even though she's out of university now, like it's still going on what she created. Um, and then for Reese, I actually met Reese in a business class recently and heard about the community she's been creating in Chattanooga. And I think you said it started in Nashville, right? Is that is that am I remembering correctly? The idea.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

The idea started in Nashville, but like actual boots on the ground. In Chattanooga, okay. In Chattanooga.

Reese and her community: SOBI

SPEAKER_05 3:02

Gotcha. Yeah. So I I'm really inspired by what you're creating, Reese. It's a very creative-centered community, and obviously I'm like creative obsessed. Like I I love everything that has the word creative attached to it. So um, yeah, I was really intrigued by that. And I've learned a bit about it as I've gotten to know you more, but I also really wanted to share that with our listeners and just have this discussion on what it's like to build community, the importance of building community, the importance of creativity in community and diversity, and also like just in our times that we're living through right now. Like, I think community is more important than ever. So I think having conversations about how to go about building that community and how to bridge gaps with that community is a really good and timely one to have. Um, so yeah, that's a little synopsis of what we're about to get into. I'll introduce myself for those of you who might be new to the Passion Fruit Podcast. I'm Darcy. I'm a visual artist. I do things like painting, drawing, all that good stuff. And I am also, I've been gaining a new love for community and especially community that is centered around creativity as I've delved more and more into my local community and the local art scene, and just have really seen the beautiful things that are created through that kind of stuff. So that's where my interest in coming up with this idea came from. Um, I will let Reese take the floor, let us know a little bit about yourself, like what your passions are, whatever you want to share, um, and then maybe describe, tell us what your community is and like describe it in a sentence or two.

The seeds of a big idea

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Yeah, so first, thank y'all for having me. Um I'm Reese. I am a creative myself. Um, I've done a little bit of everything, but honestly, my my heart passion is dance. I'm a dancer, um I'm a choreographer, I've been dancing since I was I was knee-high. Um, so dance and um just art has always been a huge part of my life. Um, also coming from a very like musical family. My dad is a singer and um playwright, he he wrote plays um and plays the piano, and my grandma sings, and so I also grew up very much like music-oriented. I've played a bunch of different instruments from piano to violin to guitar to all the things. So I feel like uh arts and creativity is honestly just like in my DNA. Um, and so that's really just kind of been my driving factor as far as like starting Sobee, which is essentially a creative community. Um, and we host, we provide create community um through our pop-up events, which are usually art-based, cultural, culture-based. Um, and we've been doing that for it'll be four years in July. That's awesome. And it honestly just started like as a as an idea, as a passion project. Um, I'm from Chattanooga, born and raised, um, but I lived in Nashville, the Nashville area, for like eight years. And so during that time, I felt really just you know disconnected from what was happening in Chattanooga. Um, I wasn't coming home a lot, so I had no idea exactly what the art scene looked like here, but I was very much immersed into you know what was happening in Nashville and like really seeing Nashville like expand. Um, I think when I first moved to like the Murphy's Boro, Nashville area, there wasn't a whole lot to do as far as um activities outside of school. Um there wasn't the the art scene was really small, especially the the black art scene. And so while I was there within those eight years, I really saw it like start to emerge. Um and then I moved away from Nashville uh right when the pandemic hit. I moved back to Chattanooga maybe maybe the end of 2021. Um but I did that first pandemic year in Nashville at home. Um and I was working, I've always worked multiple multiple jobs. Um, but I was working at a country club and I was doing a lot of random jobs. I was working at a country club, I was working at uh a music licensing company, um, and then I was dancing on the side. So I was doing a lot of things, and then once the pandemic hit, everything kind of stopped. Um, and so I just realized that I I wouldn't be able to, you know, sustain myself in Nashville by myself with a lot of my, you know, jobs kind of stopping. And so my parents were like, come home, we'll help support you, you know, and plus, you know, that was really a time to like lock into like family, at least for me, it was. So it was honestly the best thing that I could have done was to come back home to Chattanooga. And it honestly, for a lot of people, it allowed you to pause and think about like what you really wanted and what you needed and what felt you know the most important to you. Um, and what I came back to was this idea of like really getting back to what I love to do, what my passions are within the arts, um, how I can support myself doing that. And then coming back to uh Chattanooga, I felt like I didn't really know anybody anymore. I had been away for so long. Um, I hadn't been back since high school. And so the only person I really kept in touch with was one person from high school. And so I was really like longing for that community, um, creating new relationships. Um, and so that was really the driving force of me creating SOB was again, me personally needing community and coming back home and like establishing what that looked like.

Adjoa and her community: AAYC

SPEAKER_05 9:10

That's awesome. I love that it started out as something like a very felt need from you personally. I think that is very motivating when we can feel something ourselves. Like obviously, we're empathetic creatures, and so it's very motivating when something is happening to you or you feel a lack, and then realize, oh, there's also a lot of other people feeling this too. Um, and then you're able to create that space for you and those other people. Um, I'm excited to dig into that a little bit more. I'm gonna move to Adua though first. And Adua, can you tell us a little bit about yourself as well for the new listeners? And then uh uh an introduction to what your community was.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Hey everyone, and thanks, Darcy, for having me as part of this conversation. I'm Adua and I'm part of Passion Fruit. I'm all about creating your own path in life. I think that's very much inspired by my background. Some of you might know. I grew up kind of between worlds. I was born in Australia, raised in Australia, but one side of my family is from Ghana. So I kind of grew up in a place that was very far away from Ghana, surrounded literally by ocean. And I think that played a big part in the way that I led my life. I always was searching out for places of belonging, places that would accept me, places that would embrace me. And so I think community is just always being in my DNA. I also am a lawyer by training, and I grew up quite academic. I loved my books and I love learning about the world around me. So I loved watching documentaries, and I think that also started to plant seeds of like how can culture inform how you relate to people around you. So I have always been, as well as academic, quite creative. So even the way I would do my presentations in school, I would try to recite a spoken word, or I would try to add something a bit different. I didn't care if I was embarrassing or not cool. And so I think that I've always had this pull and push between the creative and academic spheres. And so I also have an international relations background, which kind of ties into my interest about the world around me. And specifically, I'm very passionate about young people and their economic empowerment and well-being. And so for me, being at university, that was the perfect space to empower myself. I think universities have a lot of resources there that when you leave, you no longer really have access to. So one of the resources that I actually really drew on was starting my own student society, which I will probably get more into, but just as the brief overview of what it was. So it's called the Australian African Youth Collective, Ace for short. And the gap that it filled was that it was the first Africa-focused society on campus, and the reason why we felt it was a need, or I felt it was a need, is because Africa is literally the second largest continent in the globe. And Australia, while it may be geographically far from Africa, I think that we definitely benefit here from having some knowledge and awareness about what's going on in that part of the world and what contributions people from that continent make. And so it was definitely motivated by wanting to shape perceptions, tell our own stories, and portray an empowering picture of the African continent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:58

Yeah, that's really beautiful. Um, what did this? I'm curious how this looks like practically in your activities with Ace, or maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm I should ask, how did you even go about starting this in the first place? Like you said you had the idea, you saw you saw the lack, you saw that there was not very many programs for like African youth, and there wasn't a huge emphasis or like exposure to African culture, um, African art forms, I would assume, like African, the African continent continent in general. Um, so you saw you saw the lack there, you knew you wanted to start this. Um yeah, how did you go about it? What did that process look like?

Getting inspired by the art scene in Nashville

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Yeah, I so we're traveling back to my early 20s, it was 2019 when the society actually began. But I think similar to Reese, the idea was definitely planted previously. So in my first year of uni in 2017, I had the opportunity to do a study abroad trip in South Africa, and I was staying at a university in Cape Town, and I observed around me that they had a very lively student campus life, and I compared that to my experience I was having back in Sydney, and I felt like I wasn't really getting that experience of connecting in with other students beyond being in the same class, and so I think that really laid the seeds for me. I also saw that within the South African climate, a lot of the young people there, including the young African students, were very vocal about things that were happening in the country at that time, and they had a strong like social justice focus. And so when I came back to my university, I started looking up a process of okay, how can I bring people around ideas pertaining to Africa? And that's when I found out that you can actually start a student society. Uh, I think still some people don't actually know how beneficial that is because I also found out that we would get like$3,000 per semester in funding, and we could use that funding to run activities, send us to different uh events that might, you know, have a social cultural benefit for us as students. And I was like, okay, how do I go about starting it? So I spoke about this with some fellow students who were interested in this. We were all young Africans living in the Australian diaspora. So we just started the process. Like we just submitted our documents and then we started telling people about it, and that's how it grew from there.

SPEAKER_05 15:40

Very cool. I'm curious, Reese, if like Adua, was there anything that you so you you felt the lack of creative community? You knew, like generally, you wanted a creative community for you to lean on and I mean, even just like be friends with um and support each other in Chattanooga. But was there anything that you saw that kind of demonstrated the structure of what Sobey would be? Because Ajua was talking about how she went to South Africa and s almost like saw what she wanted to bring to Australia. Did you have any moments like that that went into the creation and um ideation of Sobe?

SPEAKER_03 16:17

Uh, for sure. Definitely my time in Nashville. Um, when I was so I was a student at Middle Tennessee State University, which was in my Fritzboro. And honestly, I just I just was one of those kids who uh um I just wasn't into like going to the games, you know what I mean? Like the the parties, the the like normal college social experiences. I just kind of wasn't into, and I hung out a lot with um, I spent a lot of my time in the dance department. I was in a dance department at the time, and I had joined a student-led society that was a music program. Oh, it was honestly bigger than a music program. That was kind of its roots, but you had music, uh, kids who hung out there, dancers, theater kids. And so we would travel on the weekend into the city of Nashville, and the art scene that was kind of like happening in Nashville, they were hosting art-based events. So it would be like art exhibitions happening, but they were like really small, like grassroots, you know, people like not really knowing what they're doing, but like we're all like creative, wanting to do a thing. And so I would travel to Nashville almost every weekend, and I was going to like an art gallery event um or some sort of like VJ in this other combo. Um, and so that's kind of how I was spending my time on the weekend was traveling and kind of immersing myself, and it was allowing me to meet more people that were doing things in Murphy'sboro, but also Nashville. And so it was really a way for me to connect with other people because outside of that, honestly, I grew up as a really shy kid.

SPEAKER_05 18:09

Same thing.

The joy of creative energy and collaboration

SPEAKER_03 18:09

Um, and so and so being in those communities allowed me to kind of open up, and so that was one thing I was so used to in Nashville when I came back home. Again, I was like, I don't know what's happening in Chattanooga, but I know I want to bring that energy to Chattanooga. Um, and so a lot of it was just like seeing what was happening in Nashville and wanting to kind of emulate that hero.

The makings of a creative and cultural community: How SOBI was built

SPEAKER_05 18:35

That's super cool. This is what I love about creativity and about just like human collaboration and interacting with each other because ideas really it's like there's a spark that's lit, right? When somebody starts something or or does something and then whoever sees that and is maybe inspired by it, like you literally saw that you brought it back to Chattanooga, Adjoua, you saw something across the globe in South Africa, you took that spark and you brought it back to Australia and you created something new. That's so exciting. Um, when people are like in contact with each other and just interacting with each other. I've always been more of the like solo project kind of person in school. Like whenever there was a group project, I was like, oh no, like uh I don't want to do this. But as I've gotten older and also when it's not forced in school, you know, um, I've definitely started appreciating like the the nature of collaboration and what happens when two or more brains, creative individuals get together and something ignites. It's very exciting. Um, I've been writing notes. I think there was something else I wrote that I wanted to say. Um just for the general audience, and also both of you guys, like we talk a lot about creativity on passion fruit, and we've said this multiple times, and we always try to repeat it as much as possible. That creativity is not just the this like typical society idea of what creativity is, because it that word often gets lumped in with the arts, you know, the the actual like painting and dancing and writing, all that kind of thing. Um, and I love that stuff. I'm an artist, of course I love that stuff. But I also hate the fact that we've become so used of to associating those things together, and we have, I think, kind of forgotten the idea or the the actual definition of what creativity is. Um I've heard it described before as you know, creativity is this life-giving force. It's literally anything that creates and supports life, like that's a creative act, as opposed to the opposite would be like death and destruction, right? Um, like creativity is just this all-encapsulating thing that applies to just coming up with ideas, creating something that wasn't there before, or even in human relationship. Um, I think we'll touch on this a little bit later, but I really feel like um all or almost all communities, there's just innately a creative aspect to it because when you're in the same room as other people, you almost can't help but create something new. Um, again, whether that's a physical thing or an idea or an initiative, whatever. Really passionate about this this whole topic of creativity, obviously. Um so going back to you, Reese, could you take us? So we've learned a little bit about the origin story um and kind of how it was created. Well, a little bit about how it was created. Um if there's any more details on that, like what did it look like? What did the creation process look like? Could you share those with us?

SPEAKER_03 21:44

Yeah. Um, so again, Silby really started as an idea that I was playing with when I was in Nashville. So just even backing it up a little bit before, when I was in Nashville, really it started when I was in Marfitsboro in school. I started a magazine with my roommate. And it was the focus was like alternative like hip hop and RB. Um and so we used to host events around the magazine, which is honestly how I got into doing any sort of events. Um, and so we were playing with this idea of like how to link these events with some sort of like how how to link uh the uh events with some sort of like cultural aspect, right? Like we're gonna focus on a specific culture and tie that in maybe with uh some sort of fusion with another culture, whether that be music, food. Um, and so we were, you know, very much at the beginnings of like brainstorming what this could look like. Because before then we had done more like things again around the magazine, more music-oriented events. And so we really wanted to step into this like arts and culture. And so my background, what I majored in, was uh multimedia journalism. And so my thinking was at these events, you're not gonna learn all there is to know about these different cultures, but you'll get like a little taste of it, you'll get a soundbite, um, which is where the word soby comes from. It comes from the word soundbite. So I just took the first two letters and I put them together. Um, because a lot of people ask me if SOB has a meaning, and it doesn't, it's not, it's not like a um an acronym per se, but it definitely has like an origin of like where I came up with the word. Um, it doesn't necessarily mean anything today, but it's still very much like SOB. We're about connecting you through art and culture, you know, so like that the roots are still there. Um, but yeah, just like a little background of just kind of what that word means and where it came from. But it really came from my my background in like multimedia journalism and just kind of what I was learning, and then also infusing that into like what I was creating while I was in Nashville.

SPEAKER_05 24:13

That's so cool. And so then you just got the idea and just started hosting events, like so what was the first when you well actually maybe a better question is what when you hosted your first event, did you know you were hosting that for SOB, or was it SOB kind of formed as more events started happening?

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Uh so yes and no. Uh so I we kind of came up with SOB while I was in Nashville, and then the pandemic hit, and we did nothing with it. We just had a name. We had a name, we had an idea of what this event could look like, and then the literally the pandemic hit, and we kind of sat on it and weren't able to do anything with it. And then when I moved to Chattanooga, I was like, I wanna do something. I'm so used to like creating a thing. I was like, I wanna do something. I have this little nugget that I kind of was thinking about in Nashville. Maybe I can like, you know, give it some licks while I'm here in Chattanooga. Um, so the first event, I just knew I wanted to do something. The first event was actually like an Afro-Caribbean night um at the at the Moxie Hotel. Um, and so we were on, um, they have like a nice little patio area outside. And uh I had met, honestly, it was so even like the job that I'm working at, it was so, it aligned so perfectly. I think I came home, I told my one friend that I stayed connected with what I wanted to do. Um, and then she connected me with someone else who connected me with the job that I currently have. And starting at the job, I met this girl who also wanted to do some sort of event coordination. And so, literally, within like a few weeks of coming home, like I had met all of these people just from like talking and telling like this one person, like, you know, hopes, dreams, aspirations. And she was like, You should be talking to this other person. Um, and so literally uh connecting with a girl that I was working with, um we uh she helped me kind of organ organize it, but it was like an Afro-Caribbean night. Um I had uh I had a DJ. I also ended up meeting this guy who's from uh is he from Jamaica? I don't want to misspeak, but um I met a guy who is also Caribbean, um, and he's a singer, and he literally found me as I started to promote the event. He found me and was like, hey, I actually do this kind of music. Can I perform? So we ended up actually having a performer there. And honestly, it was just like a first test run. Let's see how this goes. And so um, I definitely put the name Sobey behind it. I didn't know what it was gonna be. I didn't know at that time I wasn't thinking, let me start this like community that it is now. It was like I want to try to do an event. I may have like this event or name organization, um, but it was still very much an idea. Um, but honestly, the first event went so well. People at the event was like, okay, so what's next? Is this now a business? Is this now an organization? Like, what are you doing? And I was like, And they were like, please do it. Commit. I'm still I'm still figuring it out. Um, but yeah, so like I definitely had the name Sobey behind it, but at the time I really didn't know what it was yet. I just know I did one event and I knew um I had never again I had been away from Chattanooga, but I was talking to people, and um nothing like that had ever happened here for real. Um, that was like highlighting like Afro-Caribbean music, you know? And so it was something I think people really gravitated towards because it was missing here in Chattanooga. And so um, that's always something I'm always thinking about as well, like what isn't here, you know, like how can we highlight the things that um people are kind of like craving for? Um, but yeah, very much like I had no idea what I was doing. I was just like, I did an event and went well, and I guess I'm gonna try to keep doing it.

SPEAKER_05 28:24

I don't know. It went well, and you had lots of interest in continuing.

What do SOBI events look like?

SPEAKER_03 28:28

I had a lot of interest, and uh again, it really just like introduced me to a lot of people that also had that need for like uh just different kinds of events and also community, also community, and again, um as I've been doing it over the last almost four years now, um, it's kind of grown and taken its own life, and I've seen like what are the real needs, and that's what I've been reflecting on. That's that's what I've been pushing Sobey to be, are the things that I feel like the community needs.

SPEAKER_05 29:00

What does a typical SOB event look like? Or are they all pretty different from each other?

SPEAKER_03 29:06

They're all different. I have event series, so I have things that I like to do again, um, but they've been really different. I've done uh the first event was like an Afro-Caribbean night. Um I've done art exhibitions, I've done film screenings, um, I've done parties at bars. Um, I've done things at bars, but also introducing art, um, which is an event series that I'm doing right now. It's called Club Art. Um, and it's literally what it sounds like. We pop up at a club at a bar and we bring in a huge canvas and then we just open it up for people to paint. Um, and there's no rules behind it. Um, and I think people again really gravitate towards it because um it's kind of low pressure and it's a nice entry point entry point into art and creativity. You know what I mean? Um you don't feel like you have to have the badge on that says, I'm an artist, to be a part of what's happening. Um and so yeah, it's it's looked really different, but things that we keep coming back to are our art exhibitions, our artist talkbacks. Um, I think club art is gonna be a really staple event within SOB because people really they just really resonate with it. Um and I'm looking to do like uh some sort of staple festival. We're working on a Black History festival right now. Um and we're already talking about that'll be our first annual, so this may be a thing that we keep bringing back. Um, because I feel like here we are missing a lot of programming for Black History Month, which is unfortunate, but also a need that we can help feel. So um, yeah, that's awesome. That answers the question.

AAYC in action: Adjoa’s vision, programming, and impact

SPEAKER_05 30:52

Or for sure, definitely answers it. Um, and I'd like to a lot of things you said, I want to circle back around to them later. Um, but since we're on the topic, Adua, could you share what does what did Ace's like programming or events, activities, what did that actually look like?

SPEAKER_01 31:10

I literally love everything Reese was sharing because I think just that so inspiring, so many lessons. And around the time when Ace started, I was in my early 20s, so it was not perfect by any means, but I think it was definitely what we made it, and I think what also I just want to emphasize is something like Sobee, something like Ace, and as Reese was highlighting, you know, speaking like a conversation leads to another thing, you connect in with other people, and then other people become so instrumental in this vision. And so I think a lot of our activities and the programs that we did were really possible because we had teams of people, we had people who recommended or suggest connected us with other people. I think something probably one of our strongest kind of activities, I would say, is when we actually collaborated with African societies at other universities because it was actually quite, and I think Darcy, I don't know if this is something you were gonna ask about, but I had kind of wished there was an African society already on campus because the other major universities in Sydney all had one. So that's where I was thinking, oh, like we don't have one. So I think in that, you know, we had a lot of ground to cover to get to the same level as these other societies. But I would definitely say that that helped us actually because we were a newer society. They were like, why don't you come on board with this trivia night that we're running? Why don't you come on board with a film screening that we're already having? Why don't you come on board with this barbecue that we're going to have? So I think a lot of our activities, and this is also an interesting point as well, because I would say, yes, I love social activities, but this is where the academic part came in. I also definitely had visions for ACE to really transform the university's curriculums. So I I would have loved to see ACE be part of like creating the first African studies curriculum at an Australian university. Like that was the scale, not just me, but the early, my friends, the the early group of us, we were really thinking of that level. But obviously, and I love what Reese said, you know, you do things and you see how they're received, and then you you kind of move in that direction. So I think Ace has ended up being more uh focused on a place of social gathering and maybe some of those more political activist agendas that I love. Um that's that's not part of the story just yet. Um the society is actually, I believe it's become inactive now. Um, but there were two rounds of new uh a new executive team since I left, and they ran like so it was running, I think up until like 2024, that was when it was like still active. I graduated before then, so I think that when I look at the activities they were doing, they were more on that social side. Yeah.

Creative problem solving and social action in AAYC

SPEAKER_05 34:42

Gotcha. Yeah, that's man. I'm sorry to hear that it might be a little inactive, but hopefully it'll it'll be um what's the word, resurrected soon and come back in full force. And like a note on like the, you know, you had these grand visions for it, and it ended up being a bit more of a social club, but like as I'm sure you'd say even say yourself, like having a place where you can belong and just be with other people that are like-minded and understand where you're coming from, like that's hugely beneficial too. Um, so maybe and maybe you know, having some a structure like that also empowers people that belong to that community to go out and do some of those more political moves, right? Um, so true. Yeah, a don't like a domino effect. You you provided that support for them. That's awesome. Um, and and Ajua, so obviously Reese's community, very explicitly creative, right? Like she has it's it's labeled as a creative community. There's literally nights where people are painting a big canvas, like it's very explicitly art creativity. How would you say you saw creativity factoring into Ace? Um, whether it was like the content or things that you did around the the university town, like how what did that look like for you guys?

SPEAKER_01 36:02

I'm giggling because you know when you're thinking about your early 20s year old self and just some of the things that you that you did and envisioned, I think it's great, but it's definitely me. Uh so it's actually interesting that the first event uh that Reese did was an Afro-Caribbean night because I think that's something Reese could probably attest to as well. I think within these subcultures that we have, uh diasporas around the world, music and art storytelling is definitely a big part of anything that you do, even if it's not explicit. And I know that in the early days when we were kind of struggling for membership, because even though social clubs on campus are attractive, I think maybe this is a nuanced point, but for I guess the African diaspora, there's a lot of other responsibilities or other dynamics going on that might limit their ability to like fully invest in a social club. And so we were trying to get really creative with how we attracted people to attend these events, so we would try to center them um around food a lot um and and those sorts of things to entice people. Um but I also think that, like I said, we have big visions, so we were also thinking about creativity, like how can we connect our society with Africans, young Africans on the African continent? So one of the things that we actually started doing was we connected with some young university students at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and the University of Lagon in Ghana, and we started having these Zoom meetings, and our intention was to like have this cross-continental project where we were working on an issue that was affecting young people in both of our contexts. It never took shape, but we still we built relationships that I'm still in touch with two of the people from that group. Yeah, and I think that's the kind of creativity that came from the group was trying to think differently about how we can contribute, make a difference for our community, and also I think creative in the sense of we had a newsletter as well. And yes, there's like that branding element. One of our founding members, he's an artist, so he created the logo and everything like that. Uh, so we had a newsletter called Africa Rising that we would send out to everyone on campus, and the whole point of it was to actually try to change these perceptions about Africa as this monolithic place that's, you know, poverty, war, starvation, unemployment. And instead, we would look at even people of African descent in popular culture, great things that we were doing, and we would try to really highlight their Afro roots and how culture has played a part in their success. And I think we also highlighted African PhD students and African staff members at the university because we just really wanted to portray everybody in a positive light, a strengths-based approach to the stories that we were sharing to kind of counter this narrative of this is this place that's far away, filled with all these problems, and try to actually highlight the contributions, including in the creative arts, in music, um, but also in science and technology and everything. So yeah, I'd say that that's kind of how creativity showed up in the society.

SPEAKER_05 39:54

That's awesome. Yeah, um, I love that. So the newsletter you said it like went out to the entire campus pretty much.

Inviting diversity into community

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Yes, I think we would however we would do it. I don't know if it I wasn't tech savvy, so I think I was like manually adding people's emails. Like oh no. Guys, this is very funny because I'm literally laughing at just like the vision was there, you know, the the intention was there. Um, but yeah, it would go out very broadly, and we got a lot of leads from that of people interested in what we were doing because they were seeing Oh yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_05 40:31

Yeah. Um, I know when you were talking to me before the podcast, you were just you're talking about how um, like, you know, it was it was obviously a com a place of belonging for African students, right? But you also wanted to try to invite in non-African students as well, like for that for the sake of exposure, for the sake of also just like diversity and community. Um, and like do you feel like that was successful? How did you go about it? And yeah, yeah, do you think it was successful? Were you able to attract that kind of audience as well?

SPEAKER_01 41:03

Well, on a more legal note, not strictly legal, but you could not establish a society that uh is targeted at a specific, I guess, racial group, or like you could not create a society where membership is exclusive to a certain kind of person. I think there was more nuance around that. Um, not saying that was our intention. That was not our intention. Um, but I couldn't.

SPEAKER_05 41:30

You couldn't do it if even if you wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

Even if you wanted to, exactly. And I think the whole point is a lot of the societies that are started, like I know the I think it was a Japanese anime society at our uni. It was so popular, but I could say probably the majority of people in that society were not Jap of Japanese heritage, and it just shows how culture can traverse different cultures, like art, creativity, belonging, it it doesn't have really a specific language or belong to just a certain group of people. I would say we definitely welcomed people to join the society who were not of an African descent, and we did have people uh join who were from different parts of the world. We also, I think, we also had like a North African presence, which I guess culturally within Africa, like there is sometimes a divide between sub-Saharan Africa and Northern Africa. So that also introduced like an Arab perspective into the society. Um, and then when we connected with the university leadership, because actually coincidentally, at the time we started, the university was actually implementing an Africa strategy because they wanted to attract more African international students to the university. And a lot of people in the university leadership were not African, but they became very interested in our society, and that introduced more of this okay, dialogue conversation, how can we exchange information and things like that? But I honestly would say that probably maybe it from the society standards, we were not successful at doing that because I think that at the end of the day, it became a space that people were wanting to go to because maybe they felt safe or they felt like these communities weren't available anywhere else. And I think that there's naturally, because it's called the African Australian Collective, even though there's Australian in there, which means it could be opened up to a broader array of people, people just gravitate to the Africa, and it's like, okay, maybe this is only for people of African descent. Um, but I would say that it was definitely an open, welcoming space where friends are welcome. We call them friends of Africa, definitely welcome. Yeah. That's beautiful. Practically just. It didn't like yeah, if we look at the numbers, if we look at the stats. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:06

And on that same note, Reese, I've heard you talk before about how you want Soby to be a diverse space, right? But you've you've also shared that you it typically attracts mostly people from the black black community, and you've had a harder time getting non-black and let's be frank, white people to show up to these events. Could you talk a little bit about that? Why do you think it's been more difficult to get that diversity in there? Why do you want, you know, why do you want it to be more of a diverse space as well?

Black spaces and diverse spaces: why both are important

SPEAKER_03 44:35

For sure. Um, I mean, honestly, I feel like I'm attracting people uh because it's uh because it's it looks like me, you know what I mean? Like it's created by a black woman. And so I think people, again, kind of what she was saying, uh are able to connect with things that look like them, um, things that feel like they feel safe in, they feel like it's for them. And so uh I think when people see me, um a lot of people may assume that it's for black creatives, even although I say it's welcome, you know, it's open to everyone. Um, I think that's a thing also that's been missing here is this idea of like black creative community. So I feel like I'm filling a void here, and so black creatives are looking for a place, and so they see me and they feel welcome to say, okay, so be is at least a place where I can go and uh find community. Um, but again, I'm always looking to like expand. I'm always looking to expand. And I think the easiest way to know that you're welcome in the space is to um see yourself for sure. Is to see yourself in a space. So I'm always using that through uh marketing and social media. Um, I'm always highlighting all the people that come to my events. Um, but I will say I'm I it's a priority for me to also push black creatives. Um, because just as a black creative, um, I've just been in spaces where it just feels like I haven't been heard, I haven't been seen, I've been pushed to the background. And so um I use Soby's platform to make sure that I am highlighting black artists. Um again, just as a black woman, black creative, like I'm I always keep that in the forefront because I feel like we miss a lot of those opportunities. Um and so I'm always pushing that narrative, but always again, like welcoming it to everyone. Um and we've worked with everyone, you know what I mean? We've worked with white creatives, we've worked with Hispanics, we've worked with, we've worked with everyone. Um, I think it just really closely resonates um with the Black community here. But I think as we keep going, we will continue to expand. Um, and I think it's important because it just allows you to like invite different perspectives to to like open up that diversity. I feel like as soon as we get landlocked and like exactly only with people that look like us and have the same sort of like life experiences, it just limits um our knowledge and our perspective. So I think it's important. I feel like we all need each other, especially, especially right now. Yes. I feel like we all need each other. And so I'm always gonna be pushing to like expand Sobe's reach um and keep it open to everyone. It wasn't, I think I told you I had when I first was starting to see like, okay, I'm getting a lot of like the black community in my events. Should I, should I make that the thing? You know, should I say, okay, we're here for black creatives? Um, but honestly, that just didn't resonate with me. Again, it's something that's at the forefront, but all the creative communities, the communities that I've ever been a part of has looked very different. If anything, especially as because I I grew up as a ballet dancer growing up. Wow. And so I usually was in spaces where I was the only person that looked like me, you know. Um hard I hardly ever was in creative spaces where it was only black people, outside of maybe like going to church, right? You know, because like church can be a very creative space as well, right? I've I danced at church, I uh was in the choir. And so outside of like church experience, when I was at ballet, you know, I was one of one of two black girls in the space. When I played the violin, you know, I was like, it was maybe like four or five of us in the orchestra, you know, and so I was used to being kind of the other in the other room in other rooms, and so uh, but it was important that I even had those experiences because again, it allowed me to just like expand my perspective if I had never gotten outside of my own community. And so I always say I feel like I can be in any room, yeah, you know, like I've worked at country clubs, you know what I mean? Like I know I know what that looks like. I I know what that looks like, and um honestly it's just helped kind of shape me as a person, and so I feel like it's important. Um, I'm always trying to push the black community here as well to just expand our horizons. Um, I think it's easy to box ourselves in. I think a lot of the time the world boxes in as well. And so I think um the more we put ourselves in different rooms and around new people, um, I only see a benefit from it.

SPEAKER_05 49:41

Yeah. I agree so much with everything you said. I think you put that really beautifully. And I feel like with Soby, it seems like you're walking a pretty good line. Like you're walking, you're keeping the balance there, the kind of balance that needs to exist, I guess. Because yeah, the the whole topic of like black spaces, I think it's really important. Um, I mean, speaking as somebody in the United States, like I think it's especially important there, but obviously all over the world in Australia, um, where often, yes, black people are like kind of sidelined or underestimated or or very accustomed to being in places where they don't see a lot of people like themselves. And and so I think we should have those places and we should support those places. And then at the same time, just like you said, Reese, like it's not good for anybody to always be only around somebody that looks like them, right? And I mean, white people do that all the time. There's a lot of there's a lot of improvements that that white to make white people need to make in that area as well. And then I think also when you have black spaces, like you know, I don't I don't want to say it should be on black people to try to be like, oh, let's let other people that are not black come into our space, because I think you guys carry a lot and having those black spaces is really important. But then, like you said, with the way you're doing it with Soby, like you're kind of you're supporting black creatives in a space in a in a city that maybe doesn't do that so much, while also making sure that other people who are not black also feel like they're welcome and safe to come in and like this is for everybody, even though you're still wanting to really support black creatives in that area. That just feels to me like a really good balance that you're striking. Um yeah, in any either one of you want to say anything else about like black spaces, the importance of them, but and also how as community community leaders can you guys can we invite diversity without trying to make it a forceful thing, um, and then also while still like prioritizing giving black people a voice, um, where often they haven't really had much of a voice.

Why you should lead with curiosity

SPEAKER_03 51:44

I'll say this. Um I totally understand why there's uh black only spaces. Like I think there's a reason why that exists and it's important and and also that sacred. Um, and I believe those spaces exist just because just speaking as a black person living here in America, um I think we are really used to having like almost like our culture taken away from us, you know. Um, and so I think there's been we've we've had to create spaces just for us because we weren't allowed to be in other spaces, you know. We weren't allowed to be in other uh a part of the club, you know. So we literally had to create our own communities, our own organizations for us to be able to um to be able to express ourselves in that way. And so that's why those things exist. And I understand why, because there's a whole conversation around why do we have to invite other people into our spaces? We need to protect our spaces because people are coming in and want to take from us and not give anything back to us, and those spaces exist, you know, and so I feel like those are spaces that already exist even here in Chattanooga. And so again, what I'm doing with SOB, because I feel like those spaces exist, I don't necessarily need to create another space that looks like that, you know. I think what's important about what I'm creating with Sobe is it's I'm creating a diverse space, but it's led by diversity, you know, is led by a black woman, you know, versus that's yes, a white person starting a space and saying, oh, it's a diverse space. And then you look at it and it's like, is it a diverse space? You know, and so it's like I have I just have another perspective on what I believe diversity looks like. And that's why I say I'm gonna always keep us in the forefront. I'm I'm gonna always be thinking about how I can highlight black and brown people because I know if I'm not doing it, other places and spaces are not doing it for us, you know. So that's always gonna be in the forefront. And if that makes you uncomfortable, then this is not a space for you, you know. Um, I feel like when I first started Selby, I was struggling with that, with trying to appease everyone. And I had to learn like this isn't going to be for everyone. I can say all is welcome, but if you come into the space and you feel like you're not comfortable with black and brown people in the room, LGBTQ people, you know what I mean? Like if you're not comfortable with the the people in the space, and this space isn't for you. Um, but yeah, I think I think it's important to like it's important to be bridging that gap, especially here um in this country during this time, um, because honestly, I feel like race is just used as a mechanism to divide us, you know, literally is being used to divide us. It's a tool, it's a tool, and it's not real. Um, it's not real. Um, and so, and that's why I also don't play into it, you know. I'm just like, I love that black and brown people feel safe at Sobie. Um, but I'm really trying to push us past the point of even that being a factor, you know. Um, why can't we exist to just exist, you know? Why do we have to like again check all of these boxes? Um, so I think it's a thing that I'm always gonna push for is to just like be creating the bridge. Um, and I think for other community leaders to do that, they just have to be curious. You can't say you wanna open the door and you want this to be a diverse space. If you don't care, truly, you know, this has to be like a personal journey for you. You have to be curious about what people on the other side are doing, you know, like wanting to bridge that gap. Um, you have to want that. And I feel like it starts with curiosity, it starts with a want uh as a community leader and understanding what true community looks like, providing a resource for everyone, um, and and not because you look like this or look like that. Um yeah, that's my two cents.

Resisting divisive narratives

SPEAKER_05 56:12

In my in my notes for takeaways for this episode, I just wrote be curious and big like capital letters and put an underline under it. Cause I think that that is really, really so important. And like, you know, you said that for community leaders, and then I'd also say the same thing for community members, like be curious. Um, I I think you know, thinking of Sobies spaces and how maybe you're not as attracting as many white people, and that's because again, you know, you're a black woman leading the space, like you said, um, black people, it's a it's a safe space for them. Unfortunately, I think, yeah, like white people aren't as likely to go to a space that they're like, oh, this is for black people, it's not for me, but like that's not the mindset to have. We need to have the mindset of curiosity, wanting to go in and learn and interact and learn about people's different experiences and different perspectives and different cultures. Um, so I would say, yeah, the same thing for community members, just have that lead with curiosity and when it comes to community and building stronger communities together. Um, Adwa, did you have anything you wanted to say on this on this topic, in addition to what Reese has said?

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Honestly, I could I just support everything Reese said. Like I'm also thinking like Reese, where were you when back in 2019 when Ace was was studying? I feel like Reese would have brought some amazing vibes um to the society. I I thank you. I really I really think I'll be listening back to this episode and really like drawing from that because I think the way that things are moving, uh, it's more important than ever to not buy into these divisive narratives. And I think part of the reason why Ace became like a well-loved society within the university was because we were building the connections with people. Uh, it really was like Africa, Australia. We were trying to improve the perception of Africa for the benefit of the Australian context as well. Like look at African countries as potential trade partners, as places where we can actually all prosper, we can all succeed. So I think that personally, for me, um, I've always traversed it kind of feels like two opposite ends of the spectrum. Um I I think that for me, the things that need to get done and a lot of the changes that need to be made require us to work together. And I feel like honestly, it's even scientifically shown that organizations and places that are diverse actually are more successful because then there is more of a strength pool to draw from. There are diverse perspectives to pull from. So I think actually it's more of um it's gonna become more and more required for us to like work together. And so I agree definitely, though, with Reese, there are certain places, um, even outside of the black Afro-descendant community, that I just wouldn't be part of because that there's a reason why they exist. But then I think um definitely, as Reese said, there are now more opportunities for us, and I think this younger generation is being more even collaborative and realizing that we need to work together. So I feel very hopeful about the future and I hope that I can attend a Soviet event somehow from yes, that would be amazing.

SPEAKER_03 59:51

We should just I'm just gonna pull up to Australia. We'll bring Sobe to Australia.

How and why does creativity unite people?

SPEAKER_05 59:56

Let's go. Absolutely brings make Sobe global. That'd be fantastic. I love that. Well, I think I have maybe one or two more questions for you guys, depending on on time. Um, drawing back on the idea of creativity and bringing it into this conversation of diversity, how do you guys feel like creativity unites people? Um why do you think because I I think we do see that happen. Why do you think that is? Reese, at your events where creativity is like the focal point. Um, do you do you see this happening in certain ways? People whether it's like different races and cultures or even just different uh socioeconomic spheres or like different perspectives, um, different people from different interest groups, like uh yeah, whatever. How do you see that happening at your events and in your experience?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:52

Yeah, I feel like the arts just connects people. It's its own language. I feel like you can have different backgrounds and can connect creatively. Um, I see that all the time with Sobe, especially in the the events where you're kind of creating together, um, where people are painting together, like it like sparks a conversation. You you may be talking to a person that you would never talk to, and now you're on a canvas together and you're having a conversation. Um, so I feel like art is its own language. Um, and I learned that really early as a dancer. Again, I was introverted, I was shy, and so I feel like I really first became comfortable communicating through my body. You know? Yeah. Um and so yeah, I feel like art is just its own language. It allows uh it'll it allows that bridge, it allows that bridge um to to connect um again to people that you may uh just not have the same like life experiences with.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:59

Yeah. Um I guess like maybe one reason this could be is like art is tapping into that inner world, right? Like the emotional world or certain truths that we all just kind of understand, and that's how it can connect people because you see somebody else that is vastly different from you creating something, um, again, whether it's like something they've written or something they've drawn or or performance of some sort, and you're like, I recognize these things that this person is tapping into. I recognize the emotions they're feeling because I've experienced them myself too. I think that's really beautiful. Adjua, did you have anything you'd like to add?

What we hope you’ll take away from this conversation

SPEAKER_01 1:02:40

This is like such an exciting thing to think about because honestly, I feel like art and creative expression gives honestly, I feel I can be more honest sometimes when I'm writing like a piece of spoken word poetry or like I'm observing some art that maybe it's really confronting, it's conveying a certain emotion. I feel like it can really introduce these hard conversations, and you can kind of like use that as a way to like speak about your own experience and like connect with others, and so I think that's something that I also appreciate about artists themselves. Like I know that everyone has creativity within themselves, but I was speaking to an artist, or I came across something somewhere, an artist was saying that they never really like explain what their artwork means, it's always like there for interpretation, and I think that that is really powerful because I think sometimes when we just look at communication very narrowly, I love what Reese said about like learning to communicate through your body and like other ways of communication can be just as powerful. We don't always have to have these justifications for why we feel a certain way or why we want to express ourselves in a certain way. So I think that is really powerful because that, like Reese said, is an own language of itself that can really bridge, bridge gaps and divides, as Reese said.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:05

Yeah, beautiful. I I feel like honestly, this is like we've come to a great note to kind of end on. Um, I want to revisit some of those takeaways again. I think some some of the things for me was again curiosity, leading with curiosity. That's definitely something that I'm gonna take away from this episode, and I hope all our listeners will as well. Leading with curiosity when it comes to learning about people that are different from you, or people that are, you know, disagree with you on certain things, politics being one, um, lead with curiosity. Empathy is not bad despite certain popular rhetoric that is happening around the states right now. Empathy is really important and we can't let go of that. And I think art and community together is a great way to really start to experience that empathy. Um, it's really hard to it's hard to hate somebody that you know that you've seen face to face that you've talked to. Um, so and that's also an interesting thing. Oh man, I don't want to go on like a whole other tangent, but actually before this, Adua brought up the the top, the aspect of like, oh, digital community. Like, what if we even talked about that a little bit? Um and I think digital community is important, but we also we're seeing like like the social media world, you know, it becomes really inflamed as we're going through really p uh times of political upheaval. Um, and I think it's important to, you know, if you can handle it, be in those spaces and use your voice and like talk to other people in those spaces, but the power of physical local community cannot be underestimated. Um and so that's something else I'd love everybody else to take away from this episode. Like please go to your your local scenes, whatever they may be, put yourself in these spaces, put yourself in diverse spaces, um, and really, really lean into each other. And then lastly, the other thing that I wrote down that I think you also said this like art being its own language, art is something, it's a language that we All can speak and it can unite all of us. Um, and it's a adjuvable, you said it's a great way of approaching conversations as well. So maybe another takeaway for people too could be, you know, even if you're not an artist, don't really understand art, like try to at least understand where we're coming from, like creative expression, human creative expression, this is art, um, and you're capable of it, and you're also capable of learning through it and um giving other people a voice through that medium and trying to communicate in that way too. Any other takeaways that you guys would like to leave with our audience before we log off? Or anything also that I just didn't bring up that you really wanted to talk about with your communities?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:45

I don't think so, but this was an awesome conversation. Yeah. Like I really, I really enjoyed this. You guys are fantastic. I wasn't sure how, yeah. I wasn't sure how this was gonna go, but this was this was I love talking about stuff like this. I love and also um I appreciate both of y'all just speaking about um how creativity can just show up differently. Um I think that's always a line that I'm trying to like walk and something that I'm always talking about with like people that attend my events, um, and feeling like you don't have to be this artist creative, I paint, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cause it has that around it. And that's why I'm always trying to figure out like what's the like easy entry point, you know, of just like creative expression, you know, whether that's creative thinking, creative problem solving, creative writing. Um, you know, some people enjoy journaling, and I'm like, that's a creative expression. Um, and so yeah, knowing that creativity is for everyone.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:46

Yeah. And and your the word you used entry point, I really like that word too. Making it accessible for everybody, giving people an an entry point. That's something I will probably think on for a little while. Because I'm also I as somebody who like went to school for art and through that have been able to understand a little bit more of the ins and outs of like the art world and art history. It's so interesting, it's so fascinating, and there's so much you can learn from it. And but there's so many people that don't know about it or even just feel too intimidated or feel gate kept away from it. And so this idea of or this challenge of trying to make art more accessible for people is definitely something I've maybe not been acting on much, but been chewing on chewing on in the back of my head for a little while. So I'll be thinking about that word entry point. Adua.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:38

I would say just because I'm all about forging your own path in life and and all of that sort of thing. I think in like our young, in our early 20s, as we're like going through life, especially though at that time you might be feeling like quite lost and not sure like where you fit in and whether you have anything of value to offer because sometimes the places around you are not affirming that, they're not centering that. And honestly, I wouldn't say that starting something is necessarily like in everyone's story. I think we all start things in different ways. So this is not necessarily like advice to go and do something, but I think just from hearing like Reese's story and knowing my own story and what everything that that has led to, even now that I'm in my late 20s, uh, I definitely feel like that provided me a place to connect with other people who were feeling similarly. And so the impact went beyond me. It was like other people who were also feeling a similar way got to be empowered, got to have our stories centered. And you know, now when we're going into like leadership places or we need to speak about our experience and how we've how we've shown leadership qualities or creativity problem solving, we're like, oh well, back in 2019. So, you know, create your own table, create your own opportunities where you feel like the world is not giving them to you because you might be surprised with what you find within yourself.

Where to find Reese, SOBI, and Adjoa on social media

SPEAKER_05 1:10:10

Yes. And don't be afraid to like start small too. Again, like re-you literally started with the name and then you held on to that for a little while, and then it came around again, and like the season, the season arrived for Soviet to start. And again, you only started with one event. It wasn't even something you knew for sure you were gonna keep doing, and then you kept doing it. Um, and I think it can be really overwhelming to think, oh wow, do I have the capacity to start something as big as like an organization, a company, a community, you know? Um, but just starting small, just for like your immediate, even friend group and acquaintances. Um even if it just starts and you don't continue it, you know, you still got something good out of that, but you never know what could happen out of that. So yeah, before we go, I know I keep saying that. Before we go, Reese, would you like to share your uh social media handle for yourself or for Soby? Also, I know you have a website as well. How can people learn more about SOB?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:17

Yes, uh, my personal Instagram handle is created by Reese, is uh created X Reese and S-R-E-E-S-E. Uh my so socials for Soby is the same on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, um, which is at Soby Connect, and that's S-O-B-I connect. Um, and then our website is SobeConnect.com.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:45

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:46

Ajua.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:46

Adua's already following. Yeah, I was following guys. That's awesome. And Ajua, you, I mean, we always, you know, the the passion fruit creators, we always share our links below. But you've also been really active on YouTube recently. And I'm a bit late to that. You've actually been active for a while now, um, but it's kind of popping off. Do you want to share the the link or the so the the handle for that for anybody who'd like to check out some of your personal videos?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:14

Yes, it's Ajua A in Ghana. So yeah, if you want me to spell that, that's A-D-J-O A-A in Ghana. Uh nice. All together. All together. Uh yeah, and uh.

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SPEAKER_05 1:12:30

Awesome. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Yes, you both are fantastic. I got a lot out of this conversation, and I think our listeners will as well. And to our listeners, if you guys would like to join the conversation, you know, if you're watching on YouTube, of course, comments are always there. Um, if you're listening to this on a streaming platform, you can just press the send us a text button and give us your thoughts on the episode. We can't respond back to you via that way. But if you would like to really have more of a conversation about this and join the community, we do have a Discord channel as well, and that link will be in the show notes slash YouTube caption. Um, so check us out. Check us out on our other socials as well: Instagram, TikTok, um, like I said, YouTube. And we'll be back in a couple of weeks with another episode. So thank you for tuning in. All right, let's keep growing together, and we'll see you guys next time. Bye. Thank you everyone for joining us today. Stay tuned for our next episode, and in the meantime, let's keep growing together.