How to Secure Sponsorships: The Hidden Secrets to Raising Money for Events | Tony Waller
This week we welcome Walmart Executive, Tony Waller. Tony is constantly asked for money. In this episode, he breaks down how entrepreneurs and fundraisers can differentiate themselves to secure corporate sponsorships. We also get into his experience as an LGBTQ+ Afro -Latino being forced to choose a side, mental health, and how the Black and Latino community can embrace Afro-Latinos without bias.
In this episode:
11:48 - What Are The Most Effective Strategies for Successful Fundraising?
20:51 - Transactional VS Transformational Relationships
28:11 - How To Identify a Funders Profile
39:31 - Solid Strategies For Creating Impact With Corporate Sponsors
44:35 - Should Latinos Define Latino Identity Rigidly or Embrace a More Inclusive Definition
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Full Transcript:
What's up everybody? Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and I'm so excited to have you back here on this show. We talk about the vibrancy and complexity of Latino culture, entrepreneurship, and of course all the gene in between. Now, today's guest, darling, I am so excited for you to meet him. He and I met during a conference in gorgeous Napa Valley in California over some wine. And it was a beautiful moment for us to connect because I actually got to see him in a moment of giving. And at that moment is when I decided like, you know what? I got to keep this guy. I gotta keep him close to me because he he represented such good energy and such a great soul. So he actually gave his designer glasses away to the host of the conference who said, "Hey, I think those glasses are fly." And he said, "You think so?" He literally took them off and gave them to the founder. And I was like, "Wow, talk about a giving soul and just like a dope person." It was at that moment that I was like, "Okay, I need to make sure that I keep Tony close to my life, okay? close. So, let me get into this intro so you guys can meet him. Okay. Tony Waller is the vice president of constituent relations and racial equity at Walmart. In this role, he said strategy for driving reputation, augmenting outreach opportunities, and maximizing social investments in diverse and multicultural communities. He holds several board seats across social equity, gender equality, and fashion, darling. And you guys will see why in a moment. He has received numerous prestigious awards and has garnered recognition from the NAACP, the National Urban League, and has been tapped by governors and mayors in our Kansas to serve on advisory boards driving policy at the federal and state level. He truly is an all-around badass, and I am so honored to welcome him to Banking on Cultura. Welcome. [Laughter] Who? Me? You, darling. You in the flesh? No, not me. It is you. It is you. Uh, you know, I am just a hoodlm trying to make it, girlfriend. That is all I is trying to do. I think you made it, darling. You think so? I think so. Oh, I thank you so much. I think so. I think so. But you do definitely keep that urban swag to you for sure. We can never let that part of ourselves go. We cannot. It's a part of our DNA. It is what it is is our swagger. Yes. So, I'm really excited to have you on today's show because Tony is on the receiving end of a lot of inquiries and requests for money, right? He serves in a philanthropic role. Part of his role is investing, right, in organizations and putting social responsibility to work. And for a lot of you entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs who are tuning in, you guys want to raise money, right, for your events, you want corporate partners, you want funding for your nonprofits, all the things. And so, we're going to break that down during today's show. And I'm really excited to have Tony here because he's going to give us the tea, like the insider scoop of what corporate executives are thinking about when they are making decisions around who they allocate their funds to. So this is going to be super important. Make sure to grab your pen, make sure to grab your notepad, all the things. But of course, we always like to start with some wine. So give us some wine that we cannot Google about Tony. Well, there's a lot out there that you can't Google, but I would say uh probably for uh many people would not know uh that I am a huge advocate uh for mental health and mental health services. I've actually had uh a therapist in my life since I was 16 years old. Wow. way ahead of my time, way ahead, way ahead of my parents' time. Uh I had wonderful parents who knew that I needed help and despite the fact that family and friends were saying, "Well, take them to your pastor, you know, or take them to uh you know, this or that." Uh my my mother was uh very keen on recognizing that I needed more. And so, uh, I am a huge proponent of therapy, of mental health services, um, and view it not as a a solution to a deficiency, but more so as a solution to one's wholeness. I go to the doctor twice a year or or yearly for a physical, right? I go to the dentist twice a year to get my teeth checked and clean. I get my eyes checked every year. Why would I not get my brain checked out? Why would I not get my head checked out every once in a while just to make sure that we're whole and we're doing well? And so, uh, my therapist is somebody who, uh, I will go and see her today and she will say, "Tony, you're looking good. You're sounding good to me. I'll see you in six months." or she may say, "hm, that was interesting conversation. I think I need to see you next week or in a couple of weeks. We need to delve into this a little bit more and kind of fine-tune this thing to make sure that you are in a good place, that you are whole, that you can be whole for somebody else. So, um you will never ever hear me uh say anything bad about uh therapy, about talking to somebody, about seeing someone. I will never allow you to use the excuse that help cannot be found, that I can't afford it, that I can't find somebody. There is somebody out there for everyone. There is a type of experience out there for everyone. And there is a range of affordability out there for everyone whether it's you know a group whether it's through public health uh services through there is help out there. So Tony Afro Latino see Latino households they kind of discriminate right against therapy. It's kind of frowned upon especially I find men have a hard time with it. So what would be your advice to someone who knows a man in their life needs help but they refuse? What would be your advice? You know the best thing that you can do uh at the end of the day he has to take that first step right? You cannot take that step for him. The best that you can do is talk it out with him. never from the standpoint that you're putting him on the defensive because that's often times what happens. People will dig in if they're trying to defend themselves. And so what we often do is try to point out to people what is wrong with them. We try to point out to people why you need to do X, Y, and Z. For most folks, it just doesn't work, right? It puts them on the defense. It puts them on the defense. What you have to do, what I what I try to do is ask a lot of questions in hopes that it that in hopes that their answers when they hear their answers, it automatically says, "Okay, there's something here. Perhaps I might need to do something about this." But you can never you you can never be the one, as much as you love them, you can never be the one to tell people what to do or to get them to do it. It never works. And last but not least, pray. Just pray for them. Just pray that that something someone a moment will happen that will that will move them in the right direction. And I'm I'm a believer. I'm a true believer of prayer. I love that. See, this is why I love to open with wine because I never knew that. And nobody would know that unless they asked you for some viche. So, thank you so much for being vulnerable um and transparent with that, especially for our community. Like, we have a really hard time with uh accepting therapy as a form of wholeness, as you put it, which I love, versus as an illness that people think that they need to solve for. Yes. Um it is about health. Again, you know, this is not about mental sickness. It's about mental health. If you want to be healthy, there are things you must do, right? You don't get muscles by just sitting around and hoping for muscles. You want some big arms, you do bicep curls, right, Mi, I've got the perfect freebie for you. So, I just dropped a 17page workbook to help you get your mind right, especially in this climate of so much uncertainty. So, if you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur and you're just feeling stuck, you're not feeling too good about what the future holds and all the turmoil, the politics, all of it is just throwing you off your game, this workbook is actually going to act as a journal for you. It covers goal setting, efficiency tips, how to manage your time, financial management tips, strategies on how to wrap your head around the next big thing that's coming down the pipeline to bring you consistent revenue in your business. It covers what you should be doubling down on in terms of your well-being. And it is just my favorite jam-packed journal full of marketing and sales strategy to help you get clarity, but most importantly to help you secure the big bag. So, make sure to tap on the link in the show notes. I've linked it there so that you guys can get really clear on the top hacks that you can put into play in 2024 to set yourself up for success. I hope you love it. You want a strong mind, you get yourself checked out, you read, you do things to develop your mind. And part of that development is also seeking other people's help to help you on that journey. Yeah, totally amazing. Okay, so sponsorships, let's talk about that. Let's talk about how in your position, you're always getting asked for something, I'm assuming. Yes, correct. Okay. always getting asked for something, the smoozing, they're always trying to like get something out of you. So, as an entrepreneur who has a super cool project, they're looking to fund raise for um or they have an event that they're looking for sponsorship dollars, what should their approach be? Fundraising, seeking funds is both an art and a science. And uh the tendency is for folks that are looking for money that they just go out and ask anyone and everybody uh you know for you know for funding without fully without fully understanding who who they're asking funding from. And and so uh if I were out there fundraising, I would uh be very very focused on organizations, foundations, and entities that align with the work that I'm doing. There's no use you asking Ford Motor Company for some money on a floral competition. Ford a into flowers. Ford is into cars. Right. Right. and engineers and scientists and mathematicians and all that. They're not into, you know, I mean, they may be, but that's not what they're known for. They're not known for flowers and art and, you know, all that other kind of stuff. Know what you know who you're going after. Second, you have to plan it out. Now, I know often times it's frustrating because people have things that they want to make happen right now and so you're going to ask for, you know, you you just want to ask everybody in hopes that somebody's going to write you that check. And so, I I I get that. Uh, however, I believe that the ones who are the most successful are the ones who have crafted out their plan for how it is that they're going to tackle the money. and that comes along with the building of their program. So if I was doing it, I don't know that I would put a program or or an event in place until I knew exactly how I also was going to tackle the funding. Right? So, if I'm going to do a gayla uh that's focused on uh the next generation of entrepreneurs, I'm already planning what they want it to look like, who my potential guests are going to be, who I'm going to who I'm going to potentially invite, who I'm going to potentially honor, right? I'm planning all that out. In the same vein, I should be planning out who am I going after for the money, right? and be ready so that when I'm ready to to execute this thing, I've already started my plan for going after those for going after those dollars. The other thing that I would say, last thing I would say is you got to hunt instead of fish. And so what I mean by that is when a fisherman goes out there, he or she just casts their net and drags in and and hope that something's in there that's worth having. A hunter knows specifically what what he or she or they are going after. If they want a lion, they going after that lion. They're not looking for analopee. They're not looking for uh you know a boar. They're not looking for a rabbit. They're not looking for anything else. They might come by their way, but they're not going to shoot that because they out here shooting for a lion. Know who you are going after and why. I am on one end the one who give who who a lot of times gives, you know, find ways to give money. But I also um spend some time raising money for different organizations, different nonprofits that I that I work with, etc. And I I am very intentional and targeted how I go after that money. So let's talk about that thought process, right? So cuz you first of all, let's do the key takeaways. Research like know what the organization is already supporting. Know what they care about. know what their values are and making sure that there's actual connections there. Yes, it will help you sell the story better and also not waste anybody's time, including your own. So, the research piece and also being very targeted to your point, you're not a fisherman or woman, you're a hunter. So, be specific and intentional about that. And then to your point about the thought process of building out like who is your list? So, where do you start when you're like building out your list? You know, I start from a couple of places. One, uh you can always find every kind of list of, you know, business organizations. Uh if you're going after the business community, hey, look, you got a Fortune 500 list. Fortune 500 list is easy to find. You know, it's it's it's public. It's it's public information. And then I just go to their websites. their websites will always tell you what they're into. So there's no you don't have to hunt for this stuff. It just takes a little leg work, but it's there. And I typically start from the bottom of the list. Why? Because most folks are trying to get that Fortune 5, Fortune 10, Fortune 20 when the list is Fortune 1,000. There are 900 organizations that are there that you could be going after. So, if my competition wants to go after the top 100, have at it. I'm going to go to the bottom 1,000 to, you know, 1,000 up because they got money and green is green, so it don't matter. You know, was interesting, Tony, that I saw that really made me rethink my approach. So, I got this random email one day from someone that I don't even believe I've ever spoken to before, but he runs a diversity conference and he was looking for he was like, "Hey, I'm looking for somebody to interview Hillary Clinton or Magic Johnson." And I'm like, "Yeah, I'm ready to interview. Like, what's up?" And then he's like, "They are looking for a sponsor in order to interview these people, right?" So, I was like, "Okay, send me your deck." Cuz I'm like, "Look, if I'm going to speak to Hillary and, you know, Magic Johnson, I'm I'm going to throw some coins." This man sent me his deck, Tony. And his lowest level was $100,000. His lowest level. And I thought to myself, "Wow, am I playing too small? Like, how I'm out here asking people for 5,000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000? This dude is asking people for 100k start. So talk to us about how does one get to that level? Like what would make you write someone $100,000 check? Well, everybody, again, you've got to understand where everyone is coming from and what they are doing. Everybody has uh a priority. For me, priority is always going to be impact. Am I truly making a difference? Not to say that having a conversation with magic isn't going to be impactful, but at the end of the day, I don't know that uh it's going to be enough of an impact for me that it's going to change the lives of the people that I'm trying to touch. I'm always going to be focused on things that actually touch the communities that I'm trying to serve, like really touch them, right? I live the whole model of helping people save money so they can live better. And so me it's am I investing and investing it is am I investing in opportunities that uplift the people that I'm trying to serve? Am I investing in opportunities that are helping the people that I serve save money? And am I investing in opportunities to help people that I serve live better? You know, it's interesting. So, first of all, Walmart Ambassador right here because I went to the website like last week when we had our prep call and the first thing you see it says live better. And I was like, okay. So now when we're talking to Walmart, we're using language live better. And literally we're hearing you say it, which I think is like a great takeaway for folks. When someone has the opportunity to speak to an executive like yourself at an organization, ask questions that probe them to speak the vernacular of the organization because each organization has their own culture, their own kind of language and use that language to communicate back to them to show like there's alignment, there's understanding here. Would you agree with that? Absolutely. And you know then you also have to ask yourself the question what kind of relationship do you want to have? Do you want a transactional relationship or do you want a transformational one? Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. Do you want to be a shady satie or do you want to be a married lady? Okay. Wait, see that again? Do you want to be a shady Satie or or or a married lady? I love that. Right. So I'm trying to be a married lady. Yes. Okay. which means I, you know, I want it to be longterm where we're doing things for a long time that is really having an impact. There is nothing wrong with being transactional. I'm not throwing judgment out, but you have to know what the organization that you're going after is all about. There are organizations that are very transactional. Again, no judgment, it's not a problem. Yeah. But there are organizations that are very transformational. that means they really want to do something that's long-term that's really going to have an impact. You have to know that because if it's a transformational relationship, funding and or resources may not show up on the first ask. It may show up on the 10th ask. It may show up on the third. You never know. But you have to, you know, you have to court them. Court them. Exactly. Right. Like you know how it is. You know when you like that man, what do you do? You know, you send him a text message every once in a while. You say, "I was just thinking about you." You just, "Oh, I read this poem the other day and it made me think about you. I heard this song." Right? That's how you do the same thing when you're trying to to create a transformational relationship with the organization. When I'm trying to do that, I will say, "Oh, I know Victoria Jenn is interested in uh sustainability. I just read this article about sustainability and fashion. Oh, let me send it to her." Victoria Jenn, I saw this article. I thought it'd be interesting to you given some of the conversations that we've had. Victoria Jenn, I'm I'm getting ready to go to XYZ event. I've got an extra ticket. Do you want to come? Because it goes it it aligns with the work that you're doing. Right. So that the right moment that when I make that ask, you'll be like, "Oh yeah, I'm in." You know, I'm in because I have that relationship. I tell people all the time, it's like your cousins, right? There's your first cousin, right? That you know, my ace, you know, we talk all the time. We do things all the time. I just love my first cousin. And then there's a fifth cousin, the one who only calls you when they want something. You don't hear from them for months. You don't even for years. All of a sudden, hey, Victoria Jenn, it's your cause and our needs, right? And what do you do? Like, right? Hey, hey, baby. How you doing? Hi. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you need something? Let me think about it. Click. And you never call them back. Right. I want you that when my name pops up on your, you know, on your phone that you get excited, that you want to talk to me, that you want to do things with me. That's the kind of relationships that we should all, in my opinion, should all be striving for. And that's the one I'm that's always what ones I'm looking for. Yeah. Let's talk about that because that takes time. Yes. To build that type of connection. What would be your thoughts for somebody who doesn't have the time but has the access, right? They know they're going to be in a room full of executives. They're going to be at a networking event. They don't have time on their hands. What should their approach be? I would say utilize it to the best of your ability uh and be very uh strategic and tactical on the ask that you make. You know, I might not ask you for the $25,000 this round. I might just ask you for $500 because I think we, you know, we're at a $500 level right now. And then I'm going to show them what I've done with that $500. I want to I want to show you this was not a charitable gift. I'm going to show you that it was worth it for you to give me that $500 because I'm going to maximize the mess out of it to the point that I say, you know, next time next time I get asked, I might do a little something extra. Okay, let's talk about this for a second because this is good because I find that you get a sponsor, somebody comes in to partner and I see a lot of entrepreneurs, it's like a wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. See you next time, maybe. I don't know. How should entrepreneurs be positioning or anyone who's fundraising be positioning the followup after somebody gives money? Like what does that look like? Can you give some examples? You know, it doesn't have to be anything much. I mean, it could be it could be a simple note to somebody and it could just be a thank you for your contribution as a result of what you've done. This is the impact that we've been able to make as a result of this $500. You know, I've been able to buy shoes for 20 kids, you know, who wouldn't have gotten a new pair of shoes, right? All those kinds of things make all the difference in the world. But often times, you're exactly right. We get what we want and and we leave it at that. Just a simple thank you will help. uh if they're giving you a lot, maybe it's a phone call or it's a handwritten note versus an email. Uh all those things make a difference. You have no idea what a handwritten note does for folks because we are in this world where nobody writes anymore. Everybody types, everybody texts, nobody nobody sits down and take a piece of stationery and write something on it and and actually physically mail it. They don't do that anymore. So when people get that kind of stuff, it's special because not everybody gets that. I know I do. I love I love getting handwritten note for somebody and I love writing handwritten notes. Yeah. Okay. So handwritten notes. Pick up the phone. Make sure you're following up when somebody gives you money. You know what I found interesting? And I've had this happen with some of my sponsors. I will follow up with them after they partner with me and give all the thank yous. I even send them like pictures like of like their team and like I make it heartfelt because it is right. And I'll be like, "Okay, well, I would love to talk about next year." And it's so interesting because some of them will share, "Oh my god, I had such an incredible time. This was amazing. I told this person. I told this person. This is so great." And then when I'm like, "Okay, let's revisit for next year." I've had them go ghost. I've had them not come back to me till like seven months later and it's been kind of like interesting. So, what are your thoughts if you have a partner, you've done the due diligence, they came on board, they were happy, they said they were happy, you've got great feedback, you've done the followup, all the things, but it's like pulling teeth trying to bring them back to the table for the following year. What would be your recommendation? Maybe they're not Maybe that's it. You know, there's that old adage that says, you know, some some are in your life for a reason, some are in your life for a season, some are in your life for a lifetime. And that's just the same way here. And you have to determine how much time it's worth for you to, you know, how much is it worth to you put to put in the time in certain opportunities. Mhm. Uh for some it may be worth going at going going after them for another 7 months. For others you got to say I I I have better use of my time. But you have to figure out you have to judge that out for yourself. There's no right or wrong no right or wrong answer. But I think we have to be okay that not every funer is going to be in our life for long term. It's okay. Mhm. You know there is a lot of money out there believe it or not. The other thing uh that I would say is we have to be very sensitive to the fact that there is more ways right to raise money. Everybody wants and I get it. We all want that million dollar check from somebody. Yeah. Sure. But do you know that 80% of giving in this country comes from the individual giver? It's not from corporations or foundations. And of that 80%, the majority is not somebody who's giving $100,000, $25,000. It's the it's the giver who's giving 5, 10, 15, 20, $100. And we miss on that giver all the time. Now, the challenge with also with that is is that it's labor intensive. You put the same amount of labor going after the million dollars as you do after the 10. And so, I get it. People want to, you know, people want the the the biggest return for their investment. I get that. But I also believe that we are missing out on tremendous opportunities when we don't have a plan in place for that smaller giver. My other piece of advice is have a a variety of fundraising efforts going on at the same time. Diversify your portfolio of asking. Interesting. I did not know that stat. I did not know that. That is very interesting. Okay. So, key takeaway, diversify like who your your fundraising strategy essentially. Like it doesn't need to just be institutions. It could be individual and it doesn't have to be just money. And and it doesn't have to be just money. Correct. But also, I feel like family offices is probably another angle for folks to reach out to. Sure. For those who are not familiar with what a family office is, and maybe you can help me explain this, Tony, if I don't have it completely all the way together, but essentially, wealthy families hire a family office to manage their funds. And they are the ones who make investments on behalf of the family. They are the ones who decide who gets what. They're kind of like their not financial advisors, they're their trusted fund allocator. Correct. Yeah, we interrupt our program to bring you this important message. Ooh, this is really good. You should know about this. So, I don't know about you, but I've been known to procrastinate, especially when things scare the hell out of me. The fear alone would have me stuck, overwhelmed, confused, and all types of self-doubt. And don't even get me started on the imposter syndrome. Okay. Okay. After getting laid off, not once, but three times, honey. I realized that the security blanket that I made up in my head was just an excuse because I didn't really want to bet on myself. The corporate benefits that had me in that headlock girl, they went out the window once my job decided that they no longer needed me. It turns out that I'd save a whole nickel if I cut your salary completely. The truth is the only security blanket guarantee is the one that you create for yourself. In other words, until you start a business, you will always be at the mercy of a company's headcount, and you will never have complete control over your time, which means you'll be renting out your thought leadership and helping build someone else's dream instead of your own. If you've been waiting for a sign, this is it. Don't you think it's time you stop playing small and tap all the way into your powers? Click on the link above or below this video to learn my three-step process, the exact three steps that I took to make the transition from corporate to entrepreneurship. And this is helpful even if you don't know what type of business to start and have only one source of income. And this is absolutely free. It is my gift to you. I want you to win. It's winning season. In fact, what's that? It smells like winning season. Okay. So, tap in and I'll see you inside the training. Let's go. They basically are subject matter experts, right? So, uh you know uh how do I better how do I best understand uh how to give, right? How do I best understand how to invest in communities? Uh because we may have the desire, right? And we may have the good intent that you want also wanted to do the best work that it possibly can and create the most impact that it possibly can. And for that, you need somebody who can help you out, who can show you what it is that you need to be considering and thinking through as you decide what to to give. Ultimately, the family, right, is going to give the money, but they're looking for the office to make the recommendations. And then, of course, the family must do their homework. It's not in the family's best interest to just go along and say, "Okay, whatever y'all say, this is what we're going to do." You need to do your own homework, ask questions, and making sure that uh that whatever giving is taking place aligns with the kinds of things that you want to give to. Yeah, totally. So, I want to circle back on how entrepreneurs, how nonprofits can approach partners differently because you had shared with me that you're kind of like over the same proquo like doing the same type of programs, the same type of events, the same type of experiences. So can you talk a little bit about your thoughts on that and how people should be thinking about being innovative? You know the world is always changing. Uh but what I've noticed is that while the world is changing, uh organizations are not. Uh and you we all get comfortable, right, when when something's working right and it served our purpose for decades, why why would I want to change it? And what we're see what I'm seeing is a a world where what worked 10 years ago isn't necessarily working as well today. And I would say if I'm looking at the trend, what worked 10 years ago is halfway working today. And 10 years from now, it probably won't be working at all. And we have to get in front of this thing. Again, the world is changing dramatically. The things that we're dealing with today are not the things that we dealt with 10 years ago. And so, in order for us to be able to keep up and do and get the work done that we're supposed to get that we want to get done, we have to have a real clear understanding of what is it going to take to get it done when it, you know, you know, 10 years from now. And how do we shift things over? You know, I look at often some of the organizations that we work with of what they do from year to year. They have the same type of conference covering the same type of information. It's kind of held the same time of year every year. You know, every same time of the year every year. You pretty much have the same thing happening except that it's just taking place at a different location. And you have to start wondering is my investment that I'm making in this particular event worth it for me. More and more I think you will see funders, corporations, foundations, phil you know philanthropists. I just think that they they will come to a time where they will say this is not what I'm interested in putting my money any because because I'm not getting any real return for it and the return is not you know my company is getting something out of here but you know the return is that I actually feel that the work that I'm doing is really making a difference that at the end of the day when the books of history write about me they will say you know here is blank corporation who who is most definitely known for its work in X, right? We all want to be known for something. We all want to be seen as a winner. Well, you know, the fact that I sponsored a particular event 20 years in a row would beg the question, is that the kind of impact I want to be known? And again, I'm not saying that that's not impactful, but you know, at the end of the day, is is it the kind of impact that I want to, you know, that I want to be known for? And so we're going to see a big difference and I think it's going to be the organizations that are thinking about how it provides services to the constituents that it's trying to serve in a different way. Those are going to be the ones that are going to be the winners. It's not going to be the ones who have done the same thing for the last 20 years and you know and expect that it's going to continue for 20 more. It's just I just don't see it happening. So, what is one one thing that someone can do that's different to me? It's it's how do I develop an overall relationship with a partner that involves more than just one event, one transactional event. It's saying, "How can I partner with this organization or with this corporation on X and what can I make that look like all throughout the year?" So, let's say uh I decide that I really want my focus on hunger and I'm having a a relationship with some, you know, uh some food company. I would want to go in with them and saying, "Okay, I'm sure you're a food company. I'm sure that you are just as concerned about hunger as I am. How do we put something in place where we can say that this partnership has done its part towards ending hunger? Could be anything, right? And let's say we're going to talk about let's say that what we decide is on the value of corn that having more corn is a beautiful thing. Mhm. Right. So maybe at the conference I talk about the value of corn and then later on in the year we have a lunchon that's focused on corn and maybe the after that we do a series of conversations a series of podcasts with corn experts and maybe after that we'll you know we'll have a corn Christmas party because at the end of the day I am trying to use corn as my tool to end hunger And again, I'm oversimplifying it in that, but but but here's a couple things that happen. Once it helps to develop that brand for you because every time I hear, you know, this particular company and corn, I automatically think, oh yeah, that nonprofit's involved in this. They're the ones that are doing it. If I ever hear this corporation, this nonprofit together, oh, I know they got to be doing something around corn because that's all they talk about, you know, now you've developed this reputation whether you're involved in it or not, right? You just you just know automatically and that's the kind of difference that I want to know. It's not just also obviously it's not just because I want to be known for, but that I'm actually doing the work, right? But it's that kind of it's that kind of thinking to me that's really going to that's going to really make a difference. It's going to create um a difference. You're going to know something different about this set of companies versus this set of companies over here. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. I like that. I like I like it having multiple touch points essentially versus just being like a oneoff and really building seeds with the partner that you are collaborating with on that. So I love that. Okay, so we've got major takeaways of how to approach an executive, how to know what an organization cares about, how to make sure there's alignment, how to ask for money, how to relationship build, how to foster relationships, how to do the followup after you get a check to get more checks hopefully, how to manage the whole sponsorship fundraising space. Thank you for those insights. Um, I love to, you know, we have a lot of entrepreneurs on our show, but I always love to bring in executives in the corporate space to understand how how they operate on that side because entrepreneurs can be very siloed in how they work and their approach and not really having a keen understanding of of how corporate operates or what it is that they think about and how they make decisions. They either miss the opportunity to work with corporate, which leaving tons of money on the floor. You guys always know I'm a big advocate for working with corporate, going after corporate and government contracts, securing that big bag. That's what we about over here. Or they mess up the opportunity cuz they don't understand how to play the game. So, thank you for that. I want to get into the talk that talk segment where we challenge something taboo in the cultura. and you and I have had conversations about this and I think it's really important for us to speak publicly more and more about it. So, Afro Latino, where's your family from? Well, my family is actually from Virginia. Okay. But I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. In Borqua, hey, Puerto Rico. looking at you, people will assume, oh, Tony is a black man, even with your name, Tony, black man. So, can you talk to us about in corporate how how this has played out cuz you had shared some really interesting stories with me of how people like try to test you. Yeah. Well, you know, I mean, the the the sad part is that we Latinos are very narrowminded. Uh, and this is Tony Waller speaking, you know, so, you know, take it for what it is. Uh, but we tend to be very narrow uh, minded on what what what being Latino is or is not. That a Latino is mystiso, darker hair, um, you know, etc., etc., but waver from that. And then there's always the question, it's interesting. Uh, it's become more and more complex as time has gone by, in particular in this country. I'm actually finding a lot of what I've seen in this country now in other countries, even in even in Puerto Rico, I see it now where I never saw it before, right? Is this notion of what again what being Latino is or is not, right? When I grew up in Puerto Rico, you know, the Puerto Ricanos, we were blondhaired, blueeyed, and dark skin, curly hair, and every hue in between. Mhm. There was no question when people said, "What are you? I'm Puerto Rican. I'm Puerto Rican." No, but what are you? I'm Puerto Rican. I moved back to the to the mainland. Uh I I moved to back back to where my parents are from which is Danville, Virginia, southern part of the state. And it was incredibly a difficult time for me because of the fact that in that community everything was black or white, you know, uh people were black or white, issues were black or white, you know, etc. And here I was this black kid with a thick Spanish accent because I used to talk like this all the time. All of a sudden, hold up. Wait a minute. You're not black. What are you, right? Well, you know, my parents are black. No, no, no, no. But, but you know, but you're you're not. Okay. For obvious reasons, I'm not white either. What? little bit back then that they that the community knew about Latinos. The little bit they do, they had very limited exposure and what little they knew, they could only relate to the migrant workers who had come to harvest over the summer, primarily from Mexico, right? and I didn't like them either. So, I was just kind of out there. And for the longest time, there was this expectation, even to this day, there's still some expectation by some, that I'm supposed to pick and choose a side, right? What are you black? Oh, no, you're not black. Cuz you were born in Bayam, Puerto Rico. Okay. What are you, Puerto Rican? Oh, no, you're not. Your parents are from Virginia. So then the question became why do I have to choose? Both of these are very important to me. I had parents who made sure that I knew my Puerto Rican culture as well as my black culture. I grew up on fried chicken and string beans and collard greens, but I also grew up on a roco poojo yabichuelas to maduros balitos. My favorite. Mine too. You know, my mother never made me choose. She wanted me to embrace all of it. So why is the world asking me to choose? Why can't I embrace it all? It's been quite a journey over the years. I'm very secure in myself now that it doesn't matter because I'm I'm like I tell people all the time, it ain't what you call me is what I answer to. And so, uh, you can call me whatever you want to call, but it doesn't mean I'm going to answer to it cuz I don't have to. I tell people all the time when they say, "Who are you?" Well, baby, I'm a gay black Puerto Rican who embraces all of who he is and has been put on this world to help you do the same. And uh and you can take that for whatever you want it to be, however you want it to, you know, to manifest itself. That's on you. Not my problem. Cuz I'm very clear on who I am and what I'm going to do. And so we have got to get past this whole notion of categorizing ourselves to a point where it limits who it is that we are. We are a bunch of things. All of us as individuals are a sum of all of these components. And we should embrace all of them. The good, the bad, and the ugly. That's what makes us who we are. And we should support our brothers and sisters as they figure out how they going to define themselves. At the end of the day, how are you def the way you define yourself have an impact on my life? And that's the part that I'm always amazed because I've chosen to define myself as X. You get upset. But why? How is that impeding you from living your life? How is me calling myself a gay black Puerto Rican impeding you from being the beautiful person that you are? That's what I try to do. Help me understand that. Yeah. Help me understand. Now, if what I call myself is getting in the way of you living your full life, okay, now let's have a conversation. Let's figure this whole thing out. But if all I'm trying to do is live my life like you're trying to live yours and the different is that I call myself a certain thing, you call yourself a certain thing. Really, we got to work ourselves up to that kind of a thing where it just becomes such an issue that it divides communities, divides families, divides, divides, divides. Help me understand what is the benefit of that. What would you say to the black community who doesn't accept Afro Latinos? And what would you say to the Latino community who doesn't accept Afro Latinos? I would say the same for both sides. Help me, you know, and I'd be asking the question, why? What is it? Because you will often find out that they really don't have an answer. I'm just trying to understand. And I always approach conversations, difficult conversations like this, with the whole notion of, you know, before we have this conversation, Victoria Jenn, I'm not gonna I'm not here to try to convince you that you're wrong and I'm right. I'm not trying to convince you that you're bad and I'm good. I'm just trying to understand. Let's make sure that we're on the same page. I believe that you're a good person and so am I. We just happen to have a different point of view. And is that a bad thing? Is that a right or wrong thing? No. We're still good people. At the end when we when we leave this conversation, you're still a good person and so am I. Nothing's changed. And so I want to understand what what is it that upsets you so much that I consider myself Latino even though I got black skin. Right. One of the things that probably bothered me the most
throughout the pandemic and throughout the kind of racial equity movement that took place is how Latinos did not see themselves, how Asians did not see themselves in this conversation. They did not see themselves as part of the journey that was taking place. And I had, you know, my brothers and sisters to come up to me and said, "Well, you know, what about me? What about me?" me and I'm like saying, "What? What do you mean? What about you?" Well, you know, you know, my family's from, you know, X, Y, and Z. We went through we we went through a lot of discrimination, blah, blah, blah. Nobody's arguing that. I I completely agree, but we're not in the conversation. Wait, what? Black Puerto Ricans, black Dominicans, Haitians, Brazilians, black Peruvians, black Mexicans. You don't think that they're over in this country being treated like black people? You don't think that by supporting them, you're not supporting your community, too? Victoria, that was hurtful to me to that that you thought so little about me that I was in this fight just for a certain group of people. I'm in this thing for everybody because I know black Asians. I know black Japanese. I know black Koreans. I know black Vietnamese who are going through the same thing as I'm going through who are being treated just as a black person. They're not even being looked on the Asian side of things. They're being looked as black people because what they see is what they see. They see black and they're not questioning whether you from Cuba or whether you from Vietnam or whether you from Argentina or whether they're not questioning that. They all they see is a black person. And you don't think that they're not going through all kind of stuff. You don't think that by supporting them, you're not supporting our the our entire community? Because if Cubans are black Cubans are lifted up, the whole Cuban community is lifted up. And for us to think not to think that, man, heartbreaking. Heartbreaking to me. It was very heartbreaking. It was for sure. You know, Tony, what would be your advice to someone who is Afro Latino and and struggling. They're kind of like in this identity crisis. They feel the pressure to choose. What would be your advice to them? You just got to be courageous. I mean, you know, I've had to learn to be courageous and again just live with this added the the adage of I'm not going to let you define who I am. The world can call you all it wants to call you, but you don't have to answer to it. You don't have to acknowledge it. You have to establish who it is that you are going to be right and put it out there. Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me be real. There is a cost for being who you are. Sure is. There is a cost for defining how you going to be. And you have to be okay with that. You have to decide what price you're willing to pay. Because no matter what you decide to do, there is a price to pay. You can define yourself how you want to define yourself and people will talk about you, do stuff to you, make it difficult. You got to be okay with that. You got to be okay with that. Mhm. Or you can do what they want you to do. You be unhappy, live with it. You're paying a price. And again, no judgment, ladies and gentlemen. No judgment. Cuz look, all of these journeys are hard. And I am not about to judge you because you decide to take a different path than me. I'm going to honor you. I'm going to support you. I might not agree with you. I might even tell you that I don't agree with you. But you will always know, Victoria Jenn, I don't agree with the decisions that you're making, but girl, I got your back because this is your life and you got to live it. I got to live my own life. It's hard enough. I can't be living your life and my life, too. So, I'm going to support you despite the fact that I might not agree with you and that's going to be okay. And so, for all of you who are struggling, first you got to figure out who it is that you are. How are you going to define who it is that you are? What is your mission statement? What is your eight words? I believe that every mission statement could be can be done can be said in eight words. What's yours? Embrace my full story helping you do the same. I love that. Okay, I'm gonna work on my my eightword story. Yeah. Yeah, I want to work on that. Yeah, some people can get it to seven, even six, which I always get jealous. You know, I've been trying to trying to get mine down to six. I want people to know who I am. I want people to know that this is what I'm about. And if I'm in an elevator and I only have but 8 seconds going up from first floor to second floor, I want you to remember who I was. I want you to remember you. You met in that elevator. So, you should got to get it down to eight words. Um, they're going to remember you before you even open your mouth. I don't know about all that. You're very kind, darling. You are very kind. Uh Tony, this was amazing. Thank you so much for joining us here on Banging Alura. Tell the people where they can find you. I know you also have a podcast, so please tell the folks. Well, you know, I'm always doing a little something something. Uh you know, how do you find me? I am the one soul searcher on Instagram. It's the number one s o l e searcher cuz it's all about shoes and a little inspiration. I have a podcast. Yes. It's called hanging out in my closet. Conversations with a gay Afro Latino on just about living and we just try to tackle all the things just like you trying to tackle all the things that we should be t talking about but don't take the time to do so or aren't courageous enough to do it. And then I also have a YouTube channel called Real Talk at the Barberhop. Uh, and I get to do that thanks to my company Walmart. Walmart has has uh graciously empowered me to create this forum again where we have more conversations uh that are uh the kinds of conversations that uplift, that help us to refresh, that help us to revive, that help us to recharge, and that leave us leaving better, looking better, feeling better than when we came in. And so, uh, I've been having a lot of fun with that. So, check them check them all out. And, um, of course, LinkedIn, I'm Tony Waller. And, uh, you know, let's stay connected. I love it. And we'll be sure to tag all of that in the show notes to make it easy for people. Thank you so much, Edmono, for joining me. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. It's been an honor. Uh I always enjoy having wonderful conversations that can potentially help to uplift us and put us on the right track. Right? We don't we don't have enough of these kinds of conversations. We don't spend enough time thinking and reflecting and learning from each other. And we have lost the art. We really have lost the art of how to have a conversation with somebody. We have we have these conversations and all of a sudden if somebody says something that you don't like, right? All of a sudden now you're either cancelled or you're labeled or now you're a bad person. Now all of a sudden all because there's a difference of opinion. Why? Why was I a good person before the conversation started and I'm not a good person anymore? That makes no sense to me. That's a whole another podcast. Oh, for real? That's a whole another We'll have to run that back. Yes. And so I'm trying to get people to be courageous to have these kind of conversations and figure out how it is that you do. Now, I will tell you, you will sometimes have some conversations that will make your toes curl. Like, oh my goodness, I can't believe certain person said X, Y, and Z. We've had a few of those here on the podcast, right? Yes. But, but at the end of the day, they came in as a good person. Yeah. And I and and and it's up to us to make sure that they know that they're leaving still as a good person and that they know that you're a good person, too. Just because you and I again see something different, right? And I said something you didn't agree with, I hope that you still see me as a good person. Yeah. Right. Yeah. But that takes work. It takes work. And it also takes you being uh comfortable in your own skin to accept people for who they are. Correct. And where they are. Correct. which is a great way for us to say thank you for joining us today on Banking on Cultura and I'll see you guys on the next episode. Hey guys, if you enjoyed this video, I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one. So, make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.