Building a Powerful Team, Funding & Navigating DEI No No Words ft. Citi Medina
This week, host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez sits down with Citi Medina, the founder and CEO of Equal Space, Newark, NJ's acclaimed equity and innovation hub. Get behind-the-scenes insights on how to build and manage a multi million dollar business. Citi Medina has dedicated his life to creating spaces where multicultural founders, women-led ventures, and LGBTQIA+ startups thrive.
🔥 If you’re struggling with how to secure funding and close corporate deals under the new administration, this episode is for you.
🔥 If you want the play by play on how to hire the right talent for your team, this episode is for you.
🔥If you want to be a part of a community of founders that are creating wins together, this episode is for you.
In this episode:
10:34 - Authenticity And Equal Space Mission
18:51 - Therapy, Liberation, And Purpose
34:41 - Exploring Business Grant Opportunities
43:51 - Equal Space: Affordable Equity Hub
55:59 - Navigating Politics, Purpose & People
Full Transcript:
What's up everybody? Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and we are coming to you live from New York City with another amazing guest. So, Citi Medina is in the building. Welcome to Banking on Cultura. Thank you for having me. Appreciate you being here. You and I met through Aisha at Audible. Shout out to you. And I remember I was speaking with her and she was talking to me about all these initiatives and I was explaining to her, you know, what I do, etc. She was like, "Oh, do you want to walk with me a couple of blocks down? There's somebody that I want you to meet." And I'm like, "Okay." And then she starts sharing, you know, more about you and what you do. And I was like, "Yes, let's definitely go meet this Mr. Medina." And then I met you and then it was like love at first sight. Such an easy love affair for me. I like fell in love because a when you walked in, you know, people when you get their energy, your energy is just off the chart. Thank you. And then combined with like the fa of like Aisha, it just made for such a like great moment. I think that's some of the best things about my space. like impromptu ready or not moments which would totally go against my mama who didn't like people that just unexpectedly drop by the house. I'm always like, "Yeah, sure. Drop by." Same. Same. But yeah, I I don't know. When I met you, I feel like that might be the case with everyone you meet cuz I feel like you're so welcoming and so like tell me more about you and you're very that kind of energy. So, I don't know. Do you have awkward encounters? I don't know. I think the only time things can get awkward was when people didn't want to step into their like authentic answers. Okay. I think people feel pigeonholed by me when they start answering in canned ways and I start to like kind of penetrate the veil. Um I love meeting people. I think you become richer as a person. I think there's two ways, right? Travel seguro travel. I am a better person for traveling. But when I get to take someone's story in and and keep space around them, I become such a better person. I learn something. I see a new vantage point. I I become invested in in cheerleading cuz I I rarely have experienced that for myself. So, I want to be everybody's biggest cheerleader. So, but yeah, no, we usually have a good time with everyone I meet, but when they're trying to give the like cookie cutter media coached, then it becomes awkward for them because they're boxing themselves in because they're not opening the door to answer. That's the only time it gets like, well, today we're going to celebrate you, puppy, okay? We're going to cheerlead you on to Z. And let's start with this bio, darling. When I was reading this bio, oh, I got to have my phone open to read this bio. Okay. By the way, I think another reason why we connect is because we're both boras. So, that was like easy peasy, you know? So easy. It's like ma. Let's do this. Okay. So, let's get into this bio real quick. Citi Medina is the founder and CEO of Equal Space, Newark's premier equity and innovation hub where multicultural founders, woman led ventures, and LGBTQIA+ startups find community resources and capital. A creative strategist and social justice advocate, Medina has dedicated his career to building spaces where diversity and innovation thrive aside by side. Through his design agency, Medina City, he has led campaigns for global brands and cultural icons, including PepsiCo. Kickstart, Rockefeller Foundation, the Audible, and Nelly Galan's New York Times best-selling book, Self-Made. His work reflects a deep commitment to storytelling, equity, and amplifying underrepresented voices. A TEDex speaker, Just a Boy from Brooklyn, I got to check that out. And visiting professor at Ruckers University, Medina has shared his insights with Forbes, BET, Afro, and Yahoo, Finance, MSNBC, and many more. Recognized by the SBA and Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Push Coalition. Damn. Medina continues to champion entrepreneurship as a pathway to justice, driving systemic change in New York and beyond. And let me tell you something. I don't usually read people's bios, but I said, "Oh, no. The people need to know. The people need to know." Okay. The people need to know. How does that make you feel when I read that bio? man. Um it feels like I'm proud of the work and then you know there's always that like slight embarrassment of like oh yeah I did do those things and l this list is long and I don't think I look at I look at those as moments and then when the PR firm puts it all together I'm like oh yeah I did do all that right so there's pride in the work and then there's like humility because in my household in my parents household you did not you know you didn't boast it was it was very not in spirit with God to boast. So, I'm my humble my humble gene hits in real hard where I'm like, is it is it boasting or is it more of introducing? I think I think you're right, but I think you're so self-calibrated. Um, for me, it's been like in a journey to center self, whereas the work that you just said was centering others or centering brands and initiatives. So, it's it's easy to be proud of that work. When it comes to like centering self, I think it gets a little difficult. I'm still trying to work myself through that. I think people of color, confidence is is hard work to be confident in how you present your work. It's been a work in progress for me. Okay. Well, confidence or lack thereof is definitely something I would not describe you as, but I hear what you're saying and you're absolutely right. It is very difficult, I think, for folks of color just because of how we were raised and how we were told you're lucky to be in that space. Put your head down. Don't make too much noise or um oh my god, like make sure you don't do anything. You might lose that opportunity. So, we just kind of like hold it down and we don't really project and tell people who we really are. Not even necessarily our work, but just who we are. Um, we tend to put the mask on, but it's very easy for us. Same thing like in sales. It's easy for you to sell someone else versus yourself. Oh, yeah. I'm a hard cell. Yes, you are. I will I will sell to everybody. I like I'll get you to sign a lease in New It be easy, but I'm a hard cell. Yes. Yes. So, Citi Medina, is that your real name? So, that is my chosen name. Okay. Um, Medina is my last name. um which means it is it is Puerto Rican obviously but it's by way of the moors actually means city the Arabic word for city it's actually the second most holy place in the Muslim faith and city is just the double of it so I called myself Citi Medina I've called myself Citi Medina for decades but Medina is my last name and I everyone calls me Medina because my dad calls me Medina my dad is a marine and so it was either that or he he calls me boy really I could call him right now my dad's going to say hey boy what's up and And then my brother was born and and he's boy. Okay. Um and then my my sister was born and she's girl. Okay. So I don't think I was gonna step out being called boy in public. So Medina was the way to go. And so everyone calls me Medina. But it's really it's kind of like city city. Okay. Interesting. All right. It's my little clever thing of like Yeah. But I always told my old man I'm like I'm going to make our name mean something. I'm make our name worthy of something. And so it's like a reminder everybody. Every time someone calls my name it's like I can hear my old man. And I'm like, I'm going to make him proud. I love that. It's definitely got a nice ring to it. Thank you. I like it. Citi Medina. Yeah. So, we like to have guests share some gene with us. So, give us something we can't Google about you. Oh,
low key. Something you can't Google about me is that I'm actually dead ass funny. Like, I I I think publicly I am so careful and I make sure that I'm repping the brand. and I make sure that I'm doing the work for my people. It's so important to me. But when you get me like one on-one and it's not those moments or I'm not, you know, welcoming whatever, like we just welcome dignitaries into the space the other day. When I'm doing that stuff, I am low-key funny. My team, I have them dying all the time. I don't think you can Google that. I don't think you ever find that content because it's never on camera. It's never on social. But I love to make people laugh. Hm. It just it is the best medicine I could give somebody. Even when they're having a when they're having a bad day, I'm even funnier. It's interesting that you mentioned when you're repping the brand, it's another Medina. Why? So, I think I think when it's for equal space, it is a combination of things. It is truly me. Like, I'm self-made. um the lack of code switching, the switching between English and Spanish and the the the touch of hood and Brooklyn and me, the what you're seeing, the visual, all of that is truly authentically me. I think I go into those rooms brand centered because there's a mission. There's a reason I'm in that room. I'm either dissuading stereotypes about us as a people in rooms that we're not present in. And so I get to be authentically myself, but I still have to penetrate the veil of you should cut these checks for my small businesses or I'm in a room and it's media about equal space and I want to make sure I rep Equal Space the best I can cuz we built it from the mud and now to be occupying as much space that we're like one of the largest period. Oh wow. And so we're definitely one of the largest in the state. We're one of the only that's black, brown, queer owned. those things mean something to me because I'm not I'm not protecting myself, I'm protecting us. And so that's when I'm like razor sharp, like my eyes are focused. And then when we're doing a moment like this, it's easy to just be me and to like chill out because there's someone in the space you you know, you know what it takes to do this. You know what it takes to build this. I don't have to explain or translate. So then that's a that's still me and brand, but it's it's more chill. Yes. But many times like as the founder, I'm not walking into spaces like this. And and we going for big money and you know, companies and foundations don't typically give big money, but I'm I'm usually going in for that half a million or above. So is there anything that you do to prepare yourself to put on the mask? like because that's I I don't even want to say putting on the mask because you're you but when in Rome do as Romans do, right? which is always um it's a bit of a internal conflict for me because I understand why we have to do it but I also am uh not in alignment with the fact that we continue to do it which gives permission for others to expect us to perform. M listen preach. Um what I've reconciled with myself instead of code switching um that felt like a betrayal when I would code switch. And I mean I went all the way. I would be in the most pristine suit, the most like articulate. every part of my education would come forward and my voice would hit the intonation that they're asking for and I'd be direct and you know minimal hand gestures and try to almost asexualize myself in an effort to like connect with these people on their own turf and that did not work well for equal space in the first couple of years and so I really took time to sit center stay quiet and then I was like nah we're not doing that so what I do is two things one is I look at it as modes like which mode of me are you getting? Because we have to do that not for the sake of staying authentic but for the sake of like achieving the goal. So if I'm I'm in a room and I know I'm in the room with a CFO, I'm looking it as that CFO is only caring about numbers, projections, outcomes, optics, and so I'm mode I'm business mode. So I'm I'm Medina in CFO mode and I'm talking to that CFO as myself but in language that really hits them. But then if I'm in marketing mode or I'm in an interview mode, then I know I can't be I'm in entertainment mode. And so that's bringing to life being the storyteller, representing the brand and and and you know really articulating our arc in a way that makes the viewer love it because it's marketing, because it's media, because no one wants to watch someone who's boring, right? And so then that's just another facet of like the modes, right? Like in sports mode in a car. And the other part that will arm me to be there is what am I wearing and why and what of that is authentically me. So even if it's a suit, I have found the negotiation of what is Medina and how do I feel in a suit and how shall I look in a suit? And in most cases you going to see me in some kicks in a hat because that's just honoring parts of my legacy. As long as I have that, as long as I have traces that I can tap on and feel like I have all my charms under this. So, I have like a string of charms to show you. Let's see. You know the charms they give you when you were baby. So, I have all my charms on. Oh, look at that. The foot and everything. And then I have the stone for communication and I have Oh my god. a painter saint. So, these are under everything. So, as long as I can be like and I feel parts of who I am, the modes don't matter because I'm still me. Interesting. But what do you think about the fact that we play along with the shenanigans? Do you think that we are contributing to allowing the system to operate in the same way because we continue to play the game? The game is the game is rigged. I know the game is is dumb rigged. Um I have kind of coined cultural brokering. There have to be the people in between our people who are the conduit for the resources we need. And that's how I reconcile playing their game, but beating them at their own game. There's something delicious about that. There's a there's a certain like when you like you kick them at their own game. And so for me, my talent, right, um my friend Felicia Hatcher, she's the CEO of Black Ambition and she call she talks about operating in your genius, right? My genius is being able to walk into those rooms, speak in languages that they understand, and get the resources I need to create the outcomes that I want. And there's a certain brokering that I'm doing in that. I know the game is rigged, but if I can get this 250, this 20k, I can create outcomes for my people and disrupt the paths that are already forced upon them. And for me, there's a there's a righteousness in doing that kind of work because you're assuming the pain. You're sacrificing,
but you know why. And you get to see the change. I'd love to say that my game gets to shift a bit because of where I am now being in New York. And in New York, there's a certain amount of meeting with people. I've met some brilliant people of color in positions of power who are doing the same thing from inside as on entrepreneurs who are arming me to do this work out in the streets. And I think that we all understand this brokering that we're doing, but there'll be some optics issues around that brokering. And I know that there parts of them that they're having to like keep inside while they're navigating corporate venues. So, it sucks. The game's rigged, but we do know how to play this game. We do make I think that's why now we're dealing with what we're dealing with is because we were winning over these systemic obstructions. We were overcoming these obstacles in innovative ways. We were creating equity in ways that were legacy and creating generational impact. And I think it's because of this work that we do is walking into those large corporations and getting the resources we need and Robin Hooding it and bringing it back to our people. Um, and then I look at the stories that of people I've directly impacted with those dollars cuz we track everything at my space. My people are phenomenal. So, I'm seeing people who were without homes turn into coders and developers. I've seen startup founders who couldn't raise already in their series B. I've seen not for profofits go from nonfunded and struggling to taking more space. When I get to see all that, then I can like reconcile a little bit of why I'm doing this work. H I like the term cultural brokers. I've never heard that before. I think that's a really interesting term and you still didn't answer my question. Sorry about the voice level. Like I get what you're saying and I'm I agree. Okay. Right. Because we are all playing this rigged game. But the question is Are we actually doing ourselves a disservice by continuing to play that game? The answer is yes. Like to keep it short, like short answer, yes. I think I gave you all the reasons why it's okay for me. And I think my black woman therapist comes in handy every single week when I am there with something that is so unjust and so bad and why can't I do this? and why don't I have this and why is it so hard and you know all those questions that you doing why am I doing this like I could post up being la Isla chando you know what I'm saying and I'm not doing that or I could be up in Harlem with Melba like eating and chilling right and then I will do what I that the prior answer I will remember why I do these things and there's so many liberation warriors who played rigged games that carve this space that you and I now have, which is easier than what they had. Um, I just came yesterday. I went to go see Audible's Exodus at the Audible Theater, and it's the story of like the Underground Railroad leading south to Mexico. And these two brothers worked on this for 5 years. But what I loved was one of them took a moment to talk about, I am not my ancestors wildest dreams. I am the wildest possibilities they could not dream. And they paid for me to be where I am now. That's how I answer the question is yes and then I remember why because there will be more liberation down the line for someone further than me but yes it hurts and yes I got to go to therapy and yes sometimes my husband got to hear all the milda of that day where I'm like
listen to me darling I've got a story for you that part okay we call it holding space so he'll go like this you need puppy Yeah. Yeah. He just literally I'mma hold it for you. Just know Kyle, I'm talking about you in the interview cuz like you be doing this and I I'd lowkey die laughing cuz he's just like And then you get to release singalas. He will not respond, not answer. You hold space and I'm like I love that so much. He's so cute though. And and I do the same. I'll be like how long that space goes on for? Like as long as you need or is there like a time limit? As long as you need. Okay. I don't know if I can stay quiet for two hours while you go and hold space for you. No, let's not abuse things. Let's not abuse. Let's not take up the whole night. There's dinner to have dogs to walk. I wonder if that would be helpful even as someone who is looking to express and release and say you've got 15 minutes for us to hold this space and for you to release it all. baby girl. That is immeasurably impactful. Even in my team, I I've taken that tactic. Um we do the five five5. Five minutes, my team gets to tell me what's important to them. Five minutes, I get them I get to tell them what's important to me in their role. And then for five minutes, they get to tell me whatever they want and I sit silent. They just get to just what is it? And the release of that of being heard and seen is so important. Not saint. Saint caint with a t. Hard t by the way. Saint. You can't just you can't just hold the space and be like blinky blinky blinky. You got to like validate right what what them five minutes are. But you don't have to solve. I think people want to talk a lot and so they hear you and then they're giving oh you could do this, you could do that. No, you are holding space to allow them and if they want solutions and they want feedback, they'll ask for it in the end. So what happens after someone gives their five minutes of whatever they want to talk about then how does it continue on? Do you say thank you and then you continue on or personally Kyle will ask me for two modes. So personally, he'll be like, "Are you do you want me to listen to listen or do you want me to listen to solve?" And I'll be like, "I just need you to listen to listen. I just need to let it out so that I can be home and be home for the rest of the night." And then he'll just listen to listen listen to solve. Then I'm going to listen back to whatever it is he's going to feel. And them five minutes or however long we going, no phone, no nothing. You got to like make eye contact and be comfortable in the uncomfortable of someone unloading. But I meant with your team because I like this 555 framework, right? Oh yeah. I get to listen. I will write. They know I will write because this is professional land. Personal land there's no writing but professional land I am writing. So I'll give you an example. One of my teammates uh had dual roles and dual responsibilities and it was really impacting their capacity to be effective in both um project assignments. Same field, two different kind of modes of work they had to do. And so they expressed how this would be causing them hardship and you know they weren't showing up as their best self even though they were showing up and they're you know us PC people even our low bar is higher than most people clearly. So what I did was I wrote that down and what I then after our five minutes were up was do I have permission to change things? Do I have permission to support? And they were like yes yes I would welcome this. I said okay well I'm going to have an executive meeting. I'm going to ask the executives to prioritize before they deliver to you. I'm going to ask you to then create a system that everyone has to answer to for how they're asking you for assignments. Yes. And then I'm going to develop a safeguard with my assistant. My assistant is now going to safeguard you when they're seeing in these meetings that they're just people are just dumping on you and they're not following the structure. It was probably one week, one and a half weeks. It was a huge turnaround. So in professional land, you do listen for the five minutes, but you know what's the grade? Is it just like a momentary or is this something that could really impede their ability to be happy in the role? And I don't think a lot of leadership looks at that. I do want my people happy in their roles. Where does this come from? Because like who who's your mentor? Who's your trainer showing you how to run teams? like training you on how to go after half a million dollar contracts, training you on how to switch your modes. Like where is that coming from? A lot of it is like what we all do. A lot of it is patchwork. I've patched worked this through a lot of the things I saw that I didn't want to happen. Um it was the love letters that I didn't get in my journey, right? When moments where I would talk to my upper leadership and they wouldn't listen or value the feedback. Even if you couldn't do anything about it, right? If my team's like, "Oh, I need this, this, and this, and it's financial. I want to do more ads. I want to do more, and I can't do it." I still get to honor them and say, "I hear what you're saying. This is what we can do right now. Let's let's let's try to get to that level. Let's try to get there, but we can't I can't do that right now. I can do this." And and they hear it, but it's a lot of like what I saw that was toxic and hurtful. The fundraising trial by fire. That's a big issue that as a community we still don't share enough. We don't share when you're walking into these meetings with these executives. Switch your mode up because the end goal is to get you these accessible resources and this is what they want. So I playbook a lot with my people. I share my playbook honestly. I bring in speakers who share the blueprint we call it of what they are doing. And you'd be so shocked how many of our people are like hungry for it. So for me, I had uh my prior career and my current career at my agency is strategic development and that sometimes does involve fundraising. And so I've been able to through Osmosis see how these conversations evolve and see other people through example, not so much mentorship, but through example, I see how people like um Culture Con is this week, right? And Ammani Ellis, she's she's this media giant. She knows how to talk to brands. she knows how to. So, by her example of how she moves and how she's developing, it inspires me to think and go back to my playbook and go back to how I'm visioning. Am I thinking too small? Should I think bigger? What's that look like? Um, but it's been trial by fire. And that's how Equal Space happened was I wish there was a space that like made you feel brilliant and beautiful and even if it was only a couple square feet, right? Even on like 1,000 square feet when we started, you got to walk in and breathe easier and feel people and then everyone's interested in make and putting you on. How do you manage your schedule? Because you have equal space that you're managing. You have your teams that you're managing. You kind of are managing, you know, your tenants in the space, you know, these different founders. When do you find time to do your studying, to do your, oh, am I thinking too big? Okay, maybe I need to map this out and think bigger. When do you find the time for that? So, you have to prioritize a lot. I prioritize quickly, concisely, and with little regret. So, the one that's been hard is me. Who who am I and what am I pouring into myself before I get out there and I start doing all the things that people are going to ask of me, which means I have to have a higher calling of discipline. So, on most days, I'm up at 4:30 a.m. And if you do the research, a lot of people we look up to and a lot of people who are making things happen are up be between that and 5:00 a.m. They're up and they're doing things. There's this quiet rhythm at 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. And it it it kind of hits me where I'm quiet and then I pour into self. I'm meditating. Um, I'm usually at the gym by 5:45. I'm doing everything for myself before we get to 7:30. Then at 7:30 all the way to 9:30, I'm devoting to what is important to me, what is important to my husband, what is important to my to my two companies. Um, and I write those things down before anybody's even in the office. Sometimes in my car, cuz some people come in early, overachievers. And so I'm sitting in my car. Yo, what's this? What's that? What, you know, what is important? What's the top three? You know, what um what sale am I going after? what sponsorship, what partnership needs to like be pushed. Um, and and that gives me a much clearer vision at least for the day of what I have to do and how to get it done and when to stop. So, if I play my cards right, I am stopping at 5:00, 5:30. I'm in my car finishing my calls up and by the time I get to my front door, I belong to my family and I belong to my husband. Like, our one-y year wedding anniversary is Sunday. And so I'm like low-key obsessed with this part of like my life where I have a partner and I have these things and that that's important. I have my dogs and um so that's that's my my way of keeping things clean and clear when things sideline me. I don't like being reactive. So I take the deep breath every time something sidelines me or what we had state people come to the space yesterday and so my team was like I wasn't even on site so I was like and I called my team that's the other key factor so membership community and culture are two different people on my team so our members are exceedingly taken care of I'm actually not the first foremost person who's going to coach members people with the right skill set are going to coach them I am there to hear, listen, cheer them up, cheerlead them. But we have people on on team to do that, that helps immensely. Okay. Um, having people who are better at the roles than I am. So, like my chief programming and community officer, Kelly, exceedingly intuitive on what community needs are, which informs our programming. My COO Jonathan, he's so logical and analytical in a way that I can't be that he knows this is where the company's operating in health. This is where we're weak. How do we strengthen this up? But if you were to ask him to roll switch with Kelly, it's a hard dub because that's not his core area of genius, right? And so as I've learned to place people, my marketing director, Duray, under his leadership on marketing looks sick. I'm a great marketing strategist. I'm I'm also can produce it all. I could edit this film if you ask me to. I could do I could do audio engineering. But he is so passionate about it and he's so devoted to it. Like low key, my surprise to you is today our first ad is going up in Times Square today. Really? Oh, how exciting. And it's been under Dur's leadership in his area of genius. And I helped I art directed. I creative directed. I sat through all the animations. I did I did participate heavily. But under his like gan like he he brought it home. We have a Spotify ad out today. Y like low key could not have I couldn't have seen that. Like the ad is for Equal Space. Yes. Okay. And is the ad to get more tenants into Equal Space or It's brand visibility. Okay. We we always were so goal oriented. This is to get more tenency. This is to get more people in the podcast studio. This is to get more people in our event space. This one is just to low-key brag that we're ease that we we exist on this game. Yes. I love that. And Day really fought for that because I'm like D like spending this money bro without like a KPI or like a clear KPI. And D's like it's important to, you know, have our voice out there and to shout and beat on our chest that we exist. He goes, "And I know it feels like frivolous dollars, but I really I mean there's a way. It's impressions. There has to be a way for them to backtrack that back to you. Like how many times they showed the ad on average? How many times are people walking through Time Square? Like there's it's big numbers. They they did like we we grabbing on to some heavy traffic. We have QR codes out there. It's in tandem with some push behavioral stuff. So I am I'm low-key great, but also having the team building. Yeah. Um is important and finding talent you're willing to grow up. Let's talk about this because let me stop for a second.
So um I recently had an experience with an executive and was definitely an eyeopener for me. M it really reiterated the significance of hiring slow and firing fast and why that's significant because
Lord you know during the interview wowed yes fit finally thank you God for sending us what we needed. time went on, uh, that shifted a bit and it was like, damn, yo, it really is difficult a to find the right people, b to trust, and then find yourself in a position where you're like, damn, do I ever want to hire another person again? Okay. Mhm. Nhm. So, what is your process like? Okay, cool. First, let's just let's validate, right, and affirm that low key that that is the experience for a lot of us. And it was my experience, too. So, I did one of two things. I got a restrictive grant that allowed me to hire. Okay. The the grant was only for hiring and bringing talent on. Okay. And so that I I love a box. Yo, throw me some restrictive dollars. I'mma find a way to to razle dazzle you. So with that fund I wait but how do you find restrictive dollars like so there are grants all over the place right and everyone says that um first low key chat GPT can be your best friend if you load it up on what your capabilities are I am a womanowned business I'm Latina like be real heavy on who you are as the founder of the space chat GPT will find you in your area and nationally grants that are available for you to apply to I tell every entrepreneur you leaving free money on the table if once a week, just once a week, you don't devote two hours to applying to these grants. And so if you don't do that, you're leaving money, free money on the table. There are grants live right now from all of the big companies. And some of them I can't apply for. Some of them are specifically for you. Some of them are specifically for product. Some of them are for beauty, others are for tech. There are so much out there. And it's worth it. If you knew you had a 1 in 25 chance of getting a grant for 2 hours of your time once a week, I don't think anybody would have a problem devoting that time. I think as entrepreneurs, we're always what's in front of us and we're not looking at okay, but there's a bigger meal if I wait, right? So like that's the first and so restrictive is like I went for a local localized city grant and that city grant was all around hiring practice and hiring local. And so with those funds I was able to bring on a professional. Now there's two levels of this. You can put the money into like a firm or you could put the money into a consultancy or you can put the money into an individual who does talent acquisition. So we brought in I was really specific. I wanted a New Jersey based woman-owned business um womenowned talent acquisition firm and I found one. It was called define talent. Um and Tara Thurber who's the founder is not only hiring, she's doing pathology evals of everyone on your team cuz sometimes it's not that they listen, we could razledazzle in an interview. You asking me to be perfect for an hour, maybe two. I can be perfect for that long. And then when you get into the space over time, you realize this was not the right fit. And it could be the right, not that the person isn't talented, it's just they're not the right fit for your team. Right? So I needed to go home and go, what does my team look like? Where are our areas of genius? What is our core brilliance? What brings out our toxic traits? What brings out our great traits? So it started at home first. It was 30 days evaluating us, bringing us together, doing professional developments with Tara. And then after that when we saw the gaps and she did this whole like visual map. When she saw the gaps of what was on our team, she then brought people together and started to look at not just their hardcore skills but the energy and the pathology of the applicant. Interesting. And this was a whole new approach for me. So like y'all don't look at me and think I was the expert. I'm not. I just listened really well. Um, and that's what brought me my executive partner, um, Darien, who is brilliant at organizing my schedule, um, and doing all of those like tasks that I'm not so great at. Um, and then like saying no. And so Darien came into my life. Um, Duray came into my life who's our marketing lead. Um, and looking for someone to do corporate um, partnerships is our new target to look for. But it really was finding the right person to be in between even my team because sometimes your team will be like, "Do I like this person? What's their energy like?" That's not what we we need. And so that's how we've been able to bring dope teammates to it. Um and then when they're onboarded, Tara does the onboarding. We have a very strong 30-day evaluation period where we're checking in and we're looking at the work and we're looking at the progress. Tara is present for those. Tara has one-on- ones with them in their first 30, 60 days. Um, I have one-on- ones with them. Um, and I get a briefing on them before they even walk through the door. We if we said, "Hey, this person's joining." I get a briefing that shows me as the manager or as my direct report how I can lead them better or what they need or what'll bring out their toxic trait and what to avoid. So, Tara packages all that for me. Interesting. So when they walk through the door, I kind of know more about them more than just they are a great marketing lead or they know. Yeah, I think we need to take more time and in making those type of investments because you will save yourself a lot of frustration, heartache, money, anxiety, all the things if you are making those upfront investments. I totally agree with that. Um because this past experience woo it must have been hurtful for you that it was so hurtful. It was disappointing. It was a shock. It was all the things. It was like it was like Jacqueline Hyde. It was like who who is this person? And why are they this person? Who is this person? Why are they this person? And why didn't we see this? And what we learned um is that people are just really great at performing, really great at performing. Um and you need to make sure as a business owner who is employing people who are great at performing, which could be a part of the job, like part of their job could be that they need to perform, right? They need to attract, they need to get buy in, they need to create community. So part of their job is performing. So you just need to make sure that you have like ways to assess, okay, who are you beyond the performance? And who are you when I'm not in the room? And who are you when I'm not in the room? Yes. Yes. That that's really important to me. Yes. Because there's so many people who especially because in you're indoctrinated into it in American culture, they evaluate you based on your role, how much money you make, who are you in your company. And so people will treat me. I'm very very cognizant of people treating me differently cuz I'm the founder and CEO, right? Um and my team is also perceived differently. And so I love to see how people roll through um when I'm not in the room or when my team has to go on panels. I can't be everywhere. So, my team does go on panels for me and rep the brand. And when they're talking to each other, who are they? Cuz of course they're going to treat me nice. Right. Right. Right. Right. You're always going to talk nice to me. Right. But are you talking nice to each other? So, how do you find that out? Oh, transparency. I I asked my team, "How is this going? How's this happening?" Um, Daren will sit in on meetings for me. I will sit in on meetings under another teammate. I'll be sitting with another teammate. I want to know how you acting cuz you can't just be nice to me. I I will proof out. You got to be nice to each other. That bring that that energy bleeds into the product. And when you're in charge of holding space and having a campus and welcoming people and making sure that you're culturally celebratory, that that has to be in the deed. It can't be performative. So So with Equal Space, how long has Equal Space been open? 11 years. 11 years. Congratulations. Thank you. And it is essentially a safe space for us to be seen, but it's a co-working space. Correct. Right. It's like an event space. There's a lot that goes down in that space. Yo, we everything to everyone. Um, so we identify as a share space. Okay. We're in the co-working industry. Um, some of the names that people will immediately think of for co-working, I would say great, they're great co-working spaces, but they're transactional. like you're gonna enter that space and you're gonna pay your membership fee and good luck. There might be a keg or wine tasting every other week and that is their thought that they're amplifying your business. When I had the vision for equal space, it was to be a space that once you entered you felt culturally celebrated and that there was community backing you and betting on you as well. So yes, my team half my team is devoted to my membership. the other half is keeping the space going, right? But the community rally behind each other and that's built into the DNA of people of color, right? Like when I was growing up on my block, maybe my neighbors and my aunties couldn't pay mom and dad's rent, right? But they could watch me while my parents took an extra shift, right? We would cook for each other. We would have block parties and if one neighbor couldn't do this, they would do something else, right? There was this uh share economy that is built into people of color because we were all just trying to get by. Equal space formalized that practice by allowing access and resources to be the centering of how we work day-to-day. So when you're our member, we are sending you grants that we think you're good for. We're sending you tickets to events like the the FIFA World Cup. I sent that to five of my members and five small business owners in Newark that are not my members. So I I walk that walk where I'm like I want everyone to have these access and resources. Obstruction is the only reason we're not getting ahead. is not cuz we undertalented, it's cuz we underbedded. So equal space is that and then how do I get you to have A1 space that you deserve without being gouged price-wise. Okay. So like our podcast studio, our multimedia studio, the event space, all of them are built into membership and all of them are at reduced equitable rates. And equity for us is being the most economic choice in the tri-state area, not just in our backyard. And so how do we do that? keep A1 facilities ready for you. And that's equal space in a nutshell is like then when you're sitting in our living room or you're sitting in our cafe, are you making those connections? My people roll through and we tell everybody, welcome home, good morning, good afternoon, how are you? We we we introduce people who may be sharing like a proximity of this much from each other. We introduce them to each other. Oh my god, have you met X Y and Z? That's all by plan and intention. And then the food celebrates you too. And then the music, like low key, it could be salsa one day and the next day it's afroun punk. It could be beef patties and cocoa bread and then empanadas the next day. That's intentional. And I find that there's not a lot of space for us to do that. Like to be able to be ourselves and not have to put on the show and be like, "Yo, you brilliant, sis. Like I believe in your thing. Like what's up? What's good?" You know, celebrate the wins. We've had a lot of wins. Like one of our founders, she was on the NASDAQ. Oh, dope. Okay. Yeah. You know, so we like we blast that out. We embarrass the hell out of every We're like lowkey your your your little brother, little sister that's always like embarrassing. Like, did you hear what they did? Did you hear what happened? I love that. So, that's equal space. So, is it challenging right now with the shift and with DEI under so much scrutiny and people trying to suggest that quote unquote woke culture is the enemy and you know if you do anything that is related to equity and a person of color or now they're coming for women too then you are about to go out of business essentially is how they're trying to get it done. So, how are you managing during this time? Because a lot of the work that you do is centered around inclusion, is centered around bringing people of color together. So, how are you managing? Um, I think we're doing the work. Um, the other part is I'm also have a really great financial acument. So, Equalpace is a sustainable entity. SANS grants, SANS funding. We our membership pool, our event bookings, our amenity bookings, they all are allowed and enable us to sustain my team and our space. So even if funding's reduced, which it is for so many people, right? Um we're standing on business, like low-key standing on a solid foundation, like I built it so it has six and seven legs. You're not you're not kicking all our legs out at the same time. Some do, but because we have a great facility, people book us all the time. United Airlines books us, you know, like we're a very great space. So, three or four times a week, our seminar spaces, our event spaces are booked. We're almost a 7day, I'm not saying almost, we're seven days a week, almost operating like hotel level. And so, that's how I'm keeping the base strong. Um, and then you have to understand that a lot of these good companies are doing what I have coined the great camouflage. I actually wrote a blog on it for equal space. A lot of companies are choosing to take out the no words but still realizing the impact that they're doing. And I think that that's still honorable given how volatile this environment has become, how aggressive this administration has become where we're even defunding Sesame Street and NPR PBS PBS, right? So that's so so we know we have the moral high ground and these companies who also have realized through the power of our buying who may take certain people off the air and then have to put them back on because we have demonstrated our power. There are companies who are who wholeheartedly still want to do good and they're still my partners in the game. So if we have to remove some of the words but they realize what my impact is going to be then that's fine. And I equate it to civil rights movement actually because not everyone is going to be an MLK or a Malcolm X. Some people are going to be a Bayard Rustin. That's one of my mentors in my head and inspirations. Bayard Rustin was a radical black gay man and the March on Washington would not have been accomplished without his work. So much he sat as a senior adviser to Martin Luther King. So much work would not have been accomplished if not for a Bayard Rustin. But he did not sit at the front of the movement. His work was behind the scenes. And I can I can love that because that is an effective role. If it's not being in front of the camera, I am fine. if it's still doing the work and I'm behind the camera, that's just as equally viable and that's still doing the liberation work. So, I I find that some companies want to be more in that Bayard framework and that's fine as long as you're willing to give me the resources I need to do the work. What are those conversations like? How do you know they're camouflaging it? Like, are they saying whispering in your ear like, "Hey, we're still doing the work, but don't use these words." Uhhuh. Is that I love that this has become an ASMR I know, right? Interview. It's like twice now we've been like, "What are you doing?" Um, so yes. So there are no no words. There are words. There is a list of words that we have to now take off of grant applications or take off partnership applications or now in many instances, not naming names, but I've seen for friends, they're willing friend organizations, they're willing to still support. Just don't put them on anything. Don't put their logo on anything that done. Yeah. And it's okay, right? It's okay cuz they know what they're giving. But it also doesn't allow you to grow by proxy of those names. Correct. Because sometimes they'll give you 5K, but the name is worth 25, 50 or 100, 250 rooms. Yes. Now, now I've realized it and what I have realized is in many instances, you can talk to the capabilities of the work that you're doing in person. There's been a lot of that reversion too where things are not as formalized in decks and applications and meetings are going back to happening in person not even on zooms by the way because of this that part. So a lot of my meetings have also shifted to why don't you come to our headquarters or hey can we visit equal space sure can not a problem and in those spaces I encourage my entrepreneurs and my founders mention the names because anybody who's doing the work at the scale these other corporations they'll know why they will know why so it's fine but you can say I've done work with these organizations due to various NDAs and various you know competitive analysis I cannot publicly mention these names but these are the companies that have really betted on what I'm doing. We've done scalable work together. I can show you the scalable work. Mhm. So, you still got to like we again the game ain't never rigged for us. So, we got to learn and adapt. But that's been the experience. You have no no words on your website. You have no no words in how you speak about Equal Space. So, how can people who have the no words because this is the work that they do. Because I remember a mentor telling me her plan like when this was all going on and she was like, "I'm completely whitewashing my site. Like you are not going to know that this is the work that we do. I'm She was kind of like recreating her arc." What did you call it? Like your arc. Your story arc. Yeah. She was recreating it all. And it was like a new identity that she was taking on. And I was like, I'm not doing that. Yeah. No, it's still your comfort level, right? Like, I don't know. I'm I'm not doing that because it's very difficult. Like, how else am I going to describe that this is a woman's event without saying this is a woman's event? So, that's the part that I tell I tell everyone what's what's submitted for, sponsored, and agreed to doesn't have to be the public facing messaging that you're doing. Like case in point, we've got a ton of uh Newark Tech Week is October 13th to the to the 16th. It's 24 events. All of them are free um to the community and some have dope speakers, man. So, what our partners sign on to, some of them are opting to have their logos on, some of them aren't. Now, how do we shift that is this is tech and innovation. We are celebrating tech and innovation in the city of Newark. Now, anyone who understands Newark understands that Newark is a black and brown city. It's it's the inference of it that they know. Now, what I say publicly is what I'm going to say. Um, and I think if I keep if you notice, I've mentioned any sponsors names or corporations names. I'm keeping the names out my mouth. But the mission work that I've built this company for is the mission work. We're not taking the words out. It's comfort level. I I I really can't imagine taking out multicultural and diverse and immigrant out of our language. We would be just like the other contemporaries in the game. Um so that's my comfort level as the founder and CEO. Um now will I willingly lean into we do small business development and we work with entrepreneurs and cities and and and generalize? I'm okay with generalizing things on an application. I won't generalize the work. Um, and so for that, I've gotten a lot. All my key partners have given me affirmations. We're like, we know, we understand what you're doing. We know the work is critical, but they also know what this administration is, and we have not even hit the first year. Yes, brother. Talk about it. So, long game. Let's keep the long game. I mean, I I will say because, you know, optimistic V, this is who she is. The positive thing about all of this is we are building a skill set right now that will be transferable for the remainder of whatever we dream of, right? Which is basically learning how to speak people's language so that they hear you and they support you to your mode switching, right? Depending on who you're talking to determines how and what message you're delivering, right? that is being sharpened on a level beyond I think any of our wildest dreams right now. I think too, at least what I've seen and what my clients are seeing, we are being forced to create new networks. New networks of people that don't look like you. Even though a lot of the work that you do is servicing the people that look like you and sound like you, which is not necessarily something we had to do because to your point earlier, like we were winning. We could do it with just people who look like us cuz we had the money, we had the investment, we had the support, and now it's like, oh wait, hold on. I got to find those other nooks and crannies of people who get it that don't look like me cuz they're still getting funded, right? So I need to figure out how to collaborate and partner with them. And then the third thing that I think this is bringing out of all of us is I find that this moment is forcing us to get involved in politics in ways that we haven't had to before. Before was very much like, h doesn't hurt me. It doesn't serve me. It's like whatever. I don't care. whereas now it's like in your face like whether you try to ignore it or not, you're going to hear about it some way somehow. Um, which I think is a positive thing. Like we all should be involved in in how decisions are made and understand that game. And I find that we're becoming more advocates for ourselves and our communities in ways that I haven't seen before. Affirmative and yes. And I think that um I grew up in a house that was hyperpolitical and so I've always seen the nuanced ways that politics down to your block affect your everyday. Um you know I grew up in Brooklyn and our lack of participation in the political system is a lot of the reasons why gentrification dropped like a shadow on all of us. And we had abuelas who had lived in apartments kicked out and you know we didn't own the block. We didn't own the building. We were just removed, right? When things come and and I've been had the fortune of living in New York now where the political machine is representative of us. It's a black and brown um council. It is a black mayor and there's a lot of political investment in making sure that equity is centered around the city and is centered around state politics. And I think this has been a really hard lesson for so many of our people of just how divided we were, you know, and seeing things like immigration be relegated to just brown bodies. And now everyone is realizing, no, immigration is all of our causes. This is a nation built on immigrants. And so what should happen to my Mexican brother could easily then happen to my Haitian brother. And it is happening today. And so the commonality of the cause work and the politization of that work is becoming more apparent to our people. It's becoming more apparent to youth. You know, in in the last election, there was a ton of new generation um generations just opting out of engaging the political system and they've seen how that fallout, that nonparticipation has resulted in a lot of what they're paying the cost for. Um, and so there was no living in my house without an understanding of of our political responsibility, our civic responsibility also, cuz politics only plays one part. They are not built always to serve our neighbors and our communities. There's a civic responsibility to care about your block and to care about your elder neighbor and to care about uh a mom who may be raising her child singly. there's a civic responsibility we have to each other that has also been reawakened in a meaningful way where I'm seeing our community start to stand up and and stand in opposition of those things. And I think there's a lot of empathy being extended because there was such a huge divide sometimes between brown and black folk and I parlay in between. I am both and so Oh, I didn't know that. I was going to ask you if you were Afro Latino. Okay. So, so to see now these moments, even if we talk about this bad bunny moment, there are a lot of black creatives in a lot who don't speak Spanish who are defending the decision and being able and I'm seeing brown folk also be able to not center herself in their advocacy of black of a black experience. We have to continue that. Um, and our civil rights were not one women's right to vote while women were being dragged from voting booths. The fact that we have desegregation in this country was won through a hard environment, dogs being suck, hoses being suck out on us. So we have to understand that we can still make a way through all of this. Um but we can't do so divisively and we can't do it through ignorance of this political machine because America is political. Sure is. Well, Edmano, I I feel like we we need a whole new another episode on just advocacy. We'll do it ASMR. We'll do it that way so that when we get passionate about a topic, we don't hurt people's ears. Thank you so much for making the time cuz I know how incredibly busy you are and I really appreciate you being here and sharing the gems. I learned so much. You know, I ask questions that I want to know. I'm like, "Well, how do you do this? How do you do that?" Yo, that's lowkey why your segments like your I love your show. I love your content because exactto that you said there's no posturing. It's not clout chasing. You earnestly want to like the earnestness of you wanting to hear and and and grow yourself and also grow me. I grow from talk. This conversation has grown me. So, thank you for that. We need we need more of this and our community is growing too listening to it. H. Anyway, I feel like I can go on a whole another tangent because we just celebrated our 2-year anniversary, by the way. 25 million impressions, $220,000. Say them numbers. And say them numbers. Still, I'm like, why aren't more people listening to us, right? Like I feel like, yo, my guests be dropping crazy knowledge and game and I'm like, yo, like there's just so much here. But like what I see in terms of podcasts that are very popular, um, urban podcasts that are very popular, let me put it that way, that teach education, it's like so few and far in between and they're not the top 50, you know what I mean? So, thank you for saying that because it is a labor of love, darling. But tell the people where they can learn more about you, how they can visit Equal Space, all the things. So, um, Equalpace is findable on equalspace.co and we're equal space on all platforms, IG, Tik Tok, Facebook. Um, you can find us there. I am findable at Citi Medina on all social platforms. And I think people will get a really good look at like entrepreneurship and the struggles in a way that I am not filtering. Um because I think that we need to show behind the veil of like a cool outfit and posting up which I think most people see for me. But there's also the hard days of like these pitches didn't go well or you know I command a lot of real estate and I center in a downtown area and it makes a lot of other people uncomfortable. Um and so those those kind of things come through on my social. So, I always welcome everyone to understand if you go in there, you go in there for a real look at what this is looked like on a dayto-day, but you also see the joys and I also will make you laugh. I lowkey love making people laugh on social. Yeah, you definitely are funny. I love watching you. Well, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you, Edmano. And shout out to all of you for tuning in. As always, if you enjoyed today's episode, please make sure you follow City, reach out to him, check out Eaglespace, tell him where you heard about it here on Banging Out Cultura, and then of course, leave us a review if you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being here, and I'll see you on the next one. Ciao. 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.
Connect with our guest Citi Medina
📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citimedina
Equal Space: https://www.equalspace.co
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