Growing with Ryan O'Neil Knight, Afro-Caribbean Business Network & Detailing Knights
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In this episode of Growth for Good, host Daniel Francavilla sits down with the serial entrepreneur and community leader, Ryan O'Neil Knight. As the founder of Detailing Knights and the current Chairman and President of the Afro-Caribbean Business Network, Ryan brings a wealth of experience and insights into driving social change while achieving entrepreneurial growth.
Ryan shares the story behind the founding of Detailing Knights, a unique and socially conscious car detailing business. He reveals how he merged his passion for automobiles with a commitment to empowering individuals facing barriers to employment, such as those who are homeless or at-risk youth. He discusses the challenges and triumphs he encountered while building Detailing Knights into a successful enterprise.
The episode covers the impact of social entrepreneurship and how it can serve as a powerful catalyst for change, benefiting both the community and the business itself.
Ryan explains the importance of fostering economic empowerment within the Afro-Caribbean community and how his organization, Afro-Caribbean Business Network, serves as a platform to support black-owned businesses, create meaningful connections, and advocate for social and economic equity.
Throughout the episode, Ryan provides valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to integrate purpose-driven initiatives into their business models. He emphasizes the significance of resilience, dedication, and a strong sense of social responsibility.
The conversation also touches on the importance of collaboration and partnership in advancing social causes. Ryan shares how forging strategic alliances with other organizations and stakeholders has been instrumental in expanding the reach and impact of his social initiatives.
Ryan leaves listeners with a message of hope and possibility. He encourages individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams while making a positive impact on society, reminding us all that success can be achieved not only in financial terms but also in creating a better world for everyone.
Ryan-O'Neil Knight is a Brampton entrepreneur who founded Detailing Knights and the Afro-Caribbean Business Network, where he is currently President & Chair. After founding one of the first social enterprise car cleaning companies, he now uses ACBN Canada as a platform to encourage businesses to become social enterprises.
Episode Transcript
Daniel
Ryan, welcome to Growth for Good and I appreciate you being here.
Ryan
Thanks, Daniel.
Daniel
Thanks for coming. So we're gonna start off by talking a little bit about what ACBN is, if you can pitch us through a little elevator pitch in 30 seconds or less on ACBN.
Ryan
Love it. So the Afro Caribbean Business Network was started to unite and educate entrepreneurs of African and Caribbean heritage. We really sit down with the entrepreneur, figure out what stage they're in, and then help them create a strategy to grow their companies exponentially.
Daniel
I love that. And how long has it been since you launched?
Ryan
We just the past five years. So December was our five year anniversary. So yeah, piece by piece. Congrats
Daniel
Congrats on five years.
Ryan
My pleasure. Thank you.
Daniel
I remember my nonprofit organization ACCESS we were looking at. March is our anniversary. That's when we were founded. And I was looking at some pictures to do like a throwback post. And I saw I remember this cake, I saw a picture of the cake for our five year anniversary. And it was like Brampton City Hall. So now it's been almost 17 years for the organization, which is which is wild.
Ryan
You were the first grant that ACBN ever got. So thank you for that.
Daniel
That's right, the ACCESS bright ideas pitch and we're doing we're doing the pitch again this year. 2023. Super excited to do it, where they're doing it this year in Toronto, did an online version during COVID. We did it in Brampton before that. So it's I love all the synergies and being able to connect and support
Ryan
Let us know how we can support.
Daniel
Yeah, absolutely find that I would love to. So for those of you who don't know your story, how did you actually end up in this role of running ACBN?
Ryan
Yeah, so this start because of my entrepreneurial journey. So I started a company called Detailing Knights been running it for 14 years now. Now at the time, we're just hitting about nine years going on 10 years. And Detailing Knights it's a mobile waterless car cleaning company. So we go to people's houses, their offices, clean their cars on the spot, without water, and our plant based eco friendly cleaning supplies. Of course, I'm most proud of our youth entrepreneurship program. So we work with high school students, college students, even those out of school that teach them they have the potential to start their business. So they run a mini version of our company.
Daniel
So to be clear, that is a social enterprise as well. exactly. So
Ryan
Exactly. So Detailing Knights, that's where we became a big corporation, and really, because of the MaRs Discovery District, understanding what a social enterprise was, just as the term was starting to materialize. So being able to work with youth, when they're graduating our programs, and even for myself, as I was looking to franchise, lysing, the company across Canada into the US, there weren't a lot of black focused business organizations to go to that had the mandate to scale up companies. I remember going to the Jamaican consulate and be like, oh I have this company I'm looking to I'm Jamaican, my parents are Jamaican, I was born here. Can you help me grow the company? And they're just like, we that's not what we do. It didn't know what to do, like, completely out of scope. So but also other organizations were out of peel. So the Black Business Professional Association, were in Toronto, So nothing was in Brampton, or Mississauga. I was in Brampton. So we said, hey, let's bring six entrepreneurs together, could we create this entity that would sit down with an entrepreneur, again, figure out where they're at, and then help them grow. And thus ACN was born.
Daniel
Amazing. So you created an organization to essentially help solve the problem that you would have faced as an early stage.
Ryan
And that's the beauty of ACBN is a lot of the things that we do it was to fill the gap that I was seeing as an entrepreneur. And really our first event that we had five years ago in Brampton, at the jacuzzi, ski chalet, we actually did our five year anniversary there kind of nostalgia nice, but I realized that I as an entrepreneur wasn't alone in those barriers or gaps that I was facing. So we put the call out, and we had 5060 people show up saying like, yeah, we would love support. There's not enough support people coming from Cambridge, from Durham, all to Brampton, because there wasn't like adequate support. So we knew we were onto something. And now by being able to talk to more entrepreneurs, we're able to determine what's actually needed and build those programs.
Daniel
Amazing. I think it's important to for those to know, too, that you know, usually when someone's in a startup, they'll do the phase of testing, sometimes iterating testing being nimble, but when you're running a charity or nonprofit, oftentimes you just kind of put out a program to the world. And that's it. And so you've kind of applied the the startup, the lean startup methodology, it sounds like to your, your charity.
Ryan
And that's where like, because knowing that whole methodology, I'm not in the tech space. So as I learned about the Lean Startup, you realize, yeah, the trial and error is how you actually make good decisions, right, by just thinking everything and putting out something and trying to convince people that you have the best thing never works.
Daniel
It evolves over time. Yes, I think that also allows you to be successful with partnerships and with funding opportunities. So Tell, tell us a little bit about some of the the funding or the grants or the partnerships that a ACBN has been able to get
Ryan
Yeah, absolutely. And it's interesting, because we do grant writing info sessions used to be every Wednesday now we do once a month, but we have this funding track record. So that's where now creative was at the top isn't now that gave the grant or ACCESS. So that was a sponsor. But yes, ACCESS was the grant. Yep. So we go from $500, all the way down to now 1.3 million was the most able to obtain over the last five years, and over $2 million in grant funding. So that journey is what we teach, to say, there's so much money flowing around us, we have to position ourselves in front of that flow of money, and understanding what others have done before. That was the missing piece, especially in the black community, we don't share notes. So other organizations out, go to them, like, Hey, I'm new, what can we do? Or what should I be doing? They would say they give high level generalizations, but to open up their grant that they wrote the application and say, here's the template that wasn't being done. So that's kind of the wrinkle that we brought, is once we got that million dollar grant, the next month was The million dollar blueprint. Come and see how we did what we did. I just love to share and use myself my journey as that template. And that's where Detailing Knights really came in. Because we started getting grant and support for that social enterprise, right, we were able to share that with other entrepreneurs, and show them how to one structure a social enterprise, because a lot of times they're running businesses, and not even realizing that they're a social enterprise, they have the community work, they want to make a great impact. And they're like running a service or selling a product. But they've never combined the two. And then so they miss out on a lot of those opportunities. So we're here to really bridge that gap. So and again, we've got funding from city, provincial federal sponsorships, pitch competitions, I mean, anywhere that we qualify for funding. That's why I don't consider myself like a grant hunter. I was like, I don't consider myself a grant writer. I'm more considered myself a grant hunter, just whatever's out there. Let's go get it.
Daniel
Amazing. So congrats. On the success of that, too, I think you shared that a big part of it is actually taking a step forward and getting momentum of like, once you put your ideas down on paper, and you've been able to budget and plan, you can then parlay that into any other ideas and grants you have. Yeah, and look at the wide array of options that are out there. So for those who are listening, who haven't taken their first step, really look at Ryan as a success story with what he's done with ACBN. And with your business Detailing Knights. So next, I want to chat a little bit about your personal brand. So your network and your brand, of course played a role in your success and your journey as an entrepreneur as a founder. So what role do you believe that it has played a lot of people, a lot of founders take a behind the scenes approach, and they let the organization be the brand, or they have maybe one of their their their marketing person is the brand. But I believe you have done an amazing job at being the face of that. So what role would you say your personal brand has played?
Ryan
Well, that's an interesting question. Because I know, it definitely plays a big role. And I'm a big fan of LinkedIn. I feel like it's one of the most underrated super powered tools that we have at our disposal. So the connection that I have over about 5000 connections right now on LinkedIn. So that was the initial spark to say, this is what we're building. If this is a value, come and join me, So it was more people that knew me to say, “You know what, I do need support” or “let me just go see what Ryan's talking about”. And then from there, it kind of snowballed. Being the face at the beginning, you realize that your potential to run an organization at optimal level is limited. Luckily, we did have co founders, but then bringing in a co executive director was actually the missing link to not saying I'm running this as kind of the executive director on my own and it's Ryan's way or no way, right? It's not to say and have that balance of male female because Nicola Harris is my co executive director. So she brings a different perspective. And then we can work together to make better decisions, and then again, bring the entire team together. So instead of her Having that kind of hierarchy, it's more like a circular model with ideas coming into the center. And I call that the black singularity, where the ideas become bigger than any one person could create. So that singularity is what now we tried to bring to the full ecosystem to say, how do we play our role, whatever our puzzle pieces in the node ecosystem, and then have all the players and the partners coming together to share ideas.
Daniel
Incredible. And I think what's great about that, too, is again, back to what you were saying earlier about the mother grant is spreading the wealth, right, you're, you're not concentrating it all on one person. That being said, leading up to the launch of ACBN, you had some type of online presence and type of reputation in order to be able to leverage that, So right, what did you do, I guess, in your entrepreneurship days, like earlier on to kind of build up that that personal brand presence?
Ryan
Yeah, I mean, I'm a bit old school and like old school, like the 90s 2000. The company started in 2009. But we used to do a lot of door to door marketing, and a lot of networking events. So being part of something like BNI, which is the business network international thing stands for, where it's like weekly meetings to network, being on LinkedIn early, being on Twitter early, like things like that, to really get the brand awareness out, and then staying consistent. So the biggest piece that I know when I go to networking events, and even when I'm coaching entrepreneurs, now, it's the money is in the follow up, you're so surprised, or people are so surprised when you follow up with them. And they react different, because a lot of times they'll give their business card, and people don't follow up. So when you're that person that sends a follow up, email as them to LinkedIn, sends a message books of breakfast, says listen to how to cook, we work together, you put yourself in a different category, in their relationship world. So that's one piece that I think I did very well is to say anybody that I met, and I wasn't always selling, like, hey, get your car cleaned. So the car cleaning is one thing, but then building a relationship, because eventually your car will get dirty. So you'll know I'm here. But in between that time, just loving to find out what people are working on and how I can support.
Daniel
Exactly. I love that. And that's kind of that important personal branding piece of building relationships just genuinely. Because even if, like you said, maybe they don't even drive a car, they live downtown. But they can refer people to you. That's another huge important factor of this too is your personal brand is your reputation. If they trust you, they will easily refer someone to you.
Ryan
And what makes a person refer like they have to have some sort of relationship with you. If they're just saying like, Oh, that guy cleans cars go use him, it doesn't hit as well. But you mentioned something around reputation, yes. But preceding the reputation is our character. And one thing that I noticed with that word character is that first word, like the sound of is care. And I noticed that the more you care about people that actually shows better character, and then they build that trust, and then they'll refer you. So internally, all the things that are outward facing comes from how you, like build up yourself in your internal personal development. So I'm trying to actually lean into that character and getting people to talk more about it when they're building up their brands. Because if you have bad character, it doesn't matter what you're selling. It won't last long, that relationship won't last long.
Daniel
I like that approach. I've done a lot of work in personal branding and workshopping stuff and the word character doesn't come enough doesn't come up enough. So I'm glad to hear that I'll definitely be be sharing this clip. So no matter what size or stage you're at, in your organization, there's always going to be challenges. Whether it's your very first days getting motivation, your startup phase, or whether it's how do we deal with this budget need or the staffing need? What are one or two challenges that you've seen in your in your entrepreneurial career as a founder, either in business or in the nonprofit side?
Ryan
Yeah. And like you mentioned, kind of wearing two hats. So as an entrepreneur, that the challenges are typically your bank account, not matching the vision in your head. So you have these grand ideas like, Hey, I was thinking of franchising across Canada into the US. Do you have the infrastructure to even do that to build that infrastructure typically takes capital, right? Do you have the capital? So knowing that the capital is not always there? It's now how do you grow? I guess they call it bootstrapping, like what can you do with what you have? And a lot of times we don't realize how much we have in outside resources. We always talk about our bank account looks low, so I can't do anything, but our personal and we talked about earlier relationships, you can actually leverage that to accomplish what you're working on. Now in the nonprofit world. I feel like because I'm an entrepreneur, I'm always looking for more problems. So we get to a certain level. It's like, hey, we just started. We need people to know what we do. Like, okay, that's great. Now, what's next? So we tackled VR was and you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, they're struggling with mental health. That's something we didn't even think of. So that type of issue that's coming up, we weren't equipped to handle it. So we went out, started partnering with counselors, and we actually created a VR Metaverse for counselors to interact and that had been during COVID. Wow. And then we realized there's not a lot of research on black entrepreneurs. So we're making decisions, but blind. So we went out to actually do one of the first black labor market assessments. So that report allowed us to get the data that you know, in your mind, you already know a lot of the issues that are happening. But when you're able to present it, and make others understand what you're personally going through, then you can enlist a lot more support and Ally ship. And using that data, you make such better decisions. I encourage people to learn about spreadsheets, I love spreadsheets, but people tend to shy away from spreadsheets because like all the numbers is just it's too much. Trust me numbers tell stories. And that story. And I talked about this when we do cash flow projections and teaching about how to structure your business, the numbers, tell the story and help you make decisions. So if you're shying away from numbers and making better decisions, you can see where the business is going to go. So now when I talk about looking at, like bigger problems, we're looking at moving into an old Nordstrom space. So people initially hear that and they're like, that's like, too big. Like, why are you taking on this type of problem, because that now allows us to generate the infrastructure to do bigger projects. If you're always just thinking about opening a mom and pop shop, the infrastructure is never there, when the opportunity comes about to walk into a Nordstrom building. So this is where stretching and really looking for problems, I think is what separates us from other organizations, not just reactive issues, but actually searching for bigger problems.
Daniel
I love that you're, you're looking at those problems as opportunities, clearly 100%. That's definitely the perspective that you have, which is the perspective that any any founder should have, of course, but I think given how you're you're very growth, growth focused, that helps you to create even bigger impact. You started off ACBN very locally, kind of in the Brampton area. And you've been able to expand so can you talk to us a little bit about that expansion.
Ryan
Yeah, and I would say expanding in South Southern Ontario, right, so we're looking at being that bridge between, let's say, Hamilton, Windsor does have representation, but Hamilton to Durham. So we were in Peel, of course, my heart is in Brampton, I'm actually not wearing my I love Brampton shirt, which is rare, but I actually moved to Ajax. So in Ajax now building out in Durham, knowing seeing that there's not a lot of blackness and support out there, we're able to kind of grow some roots, and then also work with organizations in Hamilton Akka, the Afro Caribbean, Afro Caribbean, no Afro Canadian Caribbean Association, being able to partner with them, because now they have community work. People in the community want to start businesses, but they didn't have the expertise to support them. So we want to start a Hamilton business hub there. So moving through the regions to see who's already doing the work. And then how do we add on what we're experts in to amplify what they're doing? Not just ACBN trying to open up now community centers in other cities, it's like, no, how do we connect to what's already happening, and we're seeing a lot better results from that. Because now that organization, they're actually able to get additional funding, because they're able to add on that entrepreneurial piece, which I believe is the best tool to be able to pull a person and one out of poverty to to economically empower them. So that these programs aren't just fluff. It's actually empowering the community. And entrepreneurship is the best tool to do that, that I've seen and research is backing it up to
Daniel
I love that that's that's very powerful. That also speaks to you know, the world of social social enterprise right and using business to solve the world's but that's the tagline of B Corporation. There you go. For those who don't know, what is the B Corp, and you decided to become a B Corp by Detailing Knights.
Ryan
so the B Corp is done through B LAB now. Yes, B Lab and B LAB they do assessments of those that deem themselves social enterprises. So you go through full assessment, I believe it's out of 200 points. Last time I the first time I did it yet to get over 80 I think they upped it to 110. But being able to go through that assessment and understandRyan
And what is your environmental impact? What is your community impact? That was the first time I learned about a living wage. And thankfully, we were already paying above a living wage. But it helped us to be purposeful to make sure, hey, we actually need to increase because you don't want somebody just at the bare minimum. So looking at now, where our suppliers are coming from, are they local, are they you know, greenhouse emissions, because of the travel to exactly to all these things that we never really took into account. It highlighted it and made us more purposeful to improve our companies. And then being part of the B Corp network, which is global, and trying to figure out how to bring it to our local because because worldwide, I think I was the first one in Brampton to become a B Corp. Somebody can fact check me on that. But I was definitely the first auto detailing company in the world to be certified as a B Corp. And it meant a lot, because now we can tell the story of me learning about a social enterprise and the impact it can have. And now using other case studies, which is 1000s of businesses around the world that have made that move as well, so that they can see a sustainable is not only about struggling and supporting the community and going broke, because so many people are starting nonprofits, they're doing it out of their bank, their bank account, and it's not sustainable. And then we see a lot of great work close and shut down. Because hey, whoever was funding them change their mind, or their bank account has dried up. So being able to add an element of social enterprise to current organizations, so that they can use it to become sustainable, huge. And we've seen the federal government now create a social and a social Finance Fund, which is $800 million dollars that they're investing into social enterprise, the social finance fund that's gonna roll out soon, they want to invest into these organizations that have a sustainability plan, and can actually grow and amplify their work. But before they do that, they actually had to create the investment readiness program. So that IRP now was to say, whoever is working on the social enterprises, how can we get you grant money to be ready to take on bigger investment. And this is where it took a lot of coaching and education. Because like I said, some people didn't even know they're running a social enterprise. Some organizations, when I do presentations to board members, and charities and nonprofits, they're very resistant to risk. So when you talk to start talking about business, yeah, all they see is the problems, but how are we going to make enough money? I've heard it all. But what is more risky, which is more risking having an attempt at a business that can possibly create enough revenue that can now lead it doesn't have to fully replace the fundraising that you're doing, but it can reduce the strain on your team. And I've been to those fundraising conferences, and the teams are stressed. So so it alleviates the stress or relying on all those eggs in one basket. The government's interested in youth this year, the government switches now they're interested in seniors and your fundings gone. And I literally saw that happen with an organization that was doing amazing work, and you get the email. We're closing our doors, because our funding dried up, that that pins instead of being able to work with that org to say what can you do to generate revenue and start a social enterprise?
Daniel
Amazing, yeah, that ties into that sustainability piece and not being so reliant on one source. I love that I love the bridge between social enterprise and nonprofit I think, even in Canada, there isn't necessarily a legal structure for a nonprofit anyway. So you are either a nonprofit, or your business. So that's really, that's really great. And for those listeners on growth for good, you can also listen to the episode with the founder of the Center for Social Innovation. And you know, she's been at it for nearly two decades and really paved the way for social for social enterprise, and created a blueprint. Yes, exactly. That we can follow somebody we can follow. And she's done so much advocacy work. And now, yeah, I think what you're doing is you're it sounds like you're informing entrepreneurs, that this is actually an option. This is the path they can take.
Ryan
And a lot more support now. 2013 is when we did the impact aid with Mars Discovery District where they just added that element of social enterprise, that that was the only support back then. And now we have the social Finance Fund. We have the investment readiness program. We have funding that's flowing and a lot more organizations that are partnered with the government to produce it. So you can get like anywhere that you're at in Canada, you're going to be able to connect with somewhere that can support you. So you're not on this journey. One entrepreneurship journey is lonely, and then to doing the work in the community is difficult. So you're telling a person to do both, if they're on their own doing both, that's where a lot of times, initially social enterprises would fail because they're operating at a loss and not realizing that they're operating at a loss. So every week or every month, the bank accounts empty. They know they made money, but the social cost wasn't accounted for. Because it takes a bit more time, if you're working with a segment of the population that has difficulty finding employment, and you're now opening your doors to them, but they need wraparound supports that typically the founder would be doing, that's a cost, but you're not accounting for it. That's where businesses, the initial social enterprises typically fail, or they need these grants to stay afloat. So every year, you're still looking for money just to keep the doors
Daniel
open. So you become you become too reliant on it. Exactly. I love that switching gears to the marketing and communication side. So of course, he talked about how you know, you need to showcase your your impact and tell those stories and capitalist stories. From a marketing standpoint, what are one or two tactics or even platforms that you use for your organization to keep you connected?
Ryan
Yeah, I did mention LinkedIn, which I feel like it's underutilized, especially by now. It's amazing to me, yeah, nonprofit executive directors that aren't on LinkedIn. Like, that's literally a pool of people you connect with, yeah, but we utilize Facebook, really heavy, especially when we're promoting our events. And something like Eventbrite, that allows you to create your event, and then it supports you in like the real marketing of it. Because you can create it on Facebook, you can email your attendees, your past attendees. So now we have a database of over 5000 people that have engaged with us come to our events, that anytime we're doing something, we can send it out to them. So email marketing is huge. And being able to segment your actual list, because if you're sending everybody the same message, people to now some people do No, absolutely. But if you're able to figure out and this is what we do with our business needs assessment, so you come to our website, you fill out our form, that really talks about what you need. So a person needs help with marketing and capital. Typically, if you're sending out a blast about marketing, the person that only checked off capital, like I don't need help with that I need the money. But then the person that said capital, if you send out everything about money, money, money, and then the others that are like, I just need to help with my marketing. So when you segment them now capital, you talk to them, and marketing or grants, everything is segmented, and events, like every so often you send out the mass one but being able to really survey your audience to say okay, now we know what you're interested in. Let's dig deeper. Let's capital, what type of capital? Are you only looking for grants? Are you open to micro loans? Are you open to investment? Are you open to sponsorship? Have you created a way for people to actually engage with your doing? So and then when we talk about loans, ACBN. We saw a gap there. So okay, let us create. And this is where because people kept saying, the programs that are created, we don't need 250,000 We just need 5000 microloan program. So in partnership with alternative savings, so shout out to Susan Henry, I love you being able to work with that financial institution and see what the government is going to support 25,000 up to 250,000. With their black entrepreneurship loan program, the gap was between zero to 25. We went to Alterna and Susan had been mentioning this and you should think about starting your own microloan program. Because Ryan Knight has been a beneficiary of micro loan programs, through shout out to Access Community Capital Fund shout out to rise development, Rhys acid development, being able to support me with Detailing Knights on that journey. And it's surreal because now I'm on the other side, I was on the side as an entrepreneur struggling a the credit is not amazing. And then somebody's saying yes, we will help you. And then helping that helped my business grow now on the other side, engaged with entrepreneurs that need that same support. And were able to say yes, even though the bank said no, because your credit isn't spectacular, we still have an option for you. So being able to really grow that and support more entrepreneurs is a big piece of what we do going forward.
Daniel
Love that. And so back to the marketing tactics question, it sounds like you have a very kind of engaged and fragmented are setting up fragmented engage in segmented email community, which is which is awesome. You have Facebook, and then also I noticed you have a whatsapp distribution as well.
Ryan
Yes. So for those organizations who utilize the another platform,
Daniel
do the same for people who have never considered that for the organization. What is it that you do with WhatsApp? Yeah,
Ryan
just being able to create lists of people interested in specific things. So those that are interested in what ACBN does, I have that ACB and list so when I Are events are happening, like 500 people that get the message? I have black fathers that I'm connected with. When something's happening around fatherhood, boom, I can send that to them. And then like, like I was saying before, sometimes people that might be interested in ACN, or they're not interested, they're still interested in fatherhood stuff, right? So if you're only sending them stuff that they're not interested, your number gets blocked. Yeah, not, you're not sending me stuff that I'm interested in. So WhatsApp is a great tool that lets you segment and create these lists. 250 is the maximum you do need to create multiple groups if you have a lot of people, but having those labels so that you know what people are interested in. When something happens, you go to that group and send them the message. So yeah, WhatsApp, I don't think a lot of people utilize that as well as they could.
Daniel
That's incredible. I think that's you're probably the only guest who has mentioned WhatsApp. Okay. And I think that's why I want to ask you about it. Because, I mean, I'm on one of the lists, and I find out about stuff directly that I would have missed on social media, for example. Yes, Or sometimes you don't get to open an email because your email swamped. Yes. And then even within the email stuff can be hidden in there, Like there's a lot of content sometimes in different newsletters. And so that WhatsApp, here's a direct thing you need to know about or
Ryan
we're going live with this happening now. Yes, I can recall reminder more timely
Daniel
alerts that people need for sure. So definitely a great a great tactic that that you guys are using. Whether you've learned from experience, Rhian or on the job, or whether you've got training or workshops or not, what are what are some? Yeah, first of all, what are some things that you did to to inform yourself to be in the role you're at today? And then what are some recommendations for those starting out?
Ryan
Because I am not of the nonprofit world. Yeah. So yeah, coming into it, really humbling myself to say, I need to learn. And a lady that did help me in this journey, Rosemary Powell from the Toronto community benefits Network, an amazing human being, she was supporting me when I was running Detailing Knights and say come, she was working at scales for change at the time, really supported me with the work that we were doing with youth. And so when she shifted to to CBN, and then I was starting ACBN, I was able to lean on her to really learn about what does it take to run and man to be an executive director, really, because that wasn't even my title. When I started ACN. I was like, I am just a ACB. Like, I'm just here. You're the guy. But there's structure and protocol that does help with creating a proper container to be able to be trusted with resources, right? That was something that I didn't realize was as important because I wasn't in the nonprofit world. So when funders are looking for people, actually, when they're looking for things to get done, they then turn to those that have infrastructure. And so a lot of times will complain, Oh, why are the same people always getting funded? Because there's a comfort level that people with money, build with those that can receive the money. And again, what they do with the money, people can have their opinions, are they effective, do they have a great impact, that's one thing, but you can't knock the relationship that they've built. So now if you want to combat that, and create an alternative, that's where I had to really learn, start to do more work on how to create theories of change. So LinkedIn, I'm telling you LinkedIn, you have to get on top. And you get free access to LinkedIn learning, if you have a library card. I mean, that's something that a lot of people didn't know. So now tapping into those courses, learning about creating financial structures for nonprofits, because typically, the only be creating it for the business. There's a different element to it when you're doing it for your nonprofit. So learning about that, learning about high level grant applications. So those grant applications really being able to structure and understand the language. It takes it took a person showing me so asking the question and not thinking you can come into a space, that you know everything, and that there's nothing left to learn. Humble yourself, I would say to anybody that's starting something new.
Daniel
That's definitely great advice, because you don't know what you don't know.
Ryan
And when that comes up, and then you'll get embarrassed when you're in the room, thinking that you know, but then you get asked the question, or you present something that doesn't make sense. And you embarrass yourself. Yeah. So take a lot of time to prepare and plan.
Daniel
And that reminded me of many, many years ago, you and I were on a panel at lobby and Brenton which doesn't exist anymore. Granted, it was called Take the leap. And the theme of that made so much sense because of course do I remember the questions we asked during the time? No, but you and I run this panel we we've done hundreds of events since then. And the whole concept That event was that you're taking the leap before you're ready, right? Like, I launched a nonprofit when I was still a student. Right? I started my first agency having never worked at an agency, right? So yes, there are things that we do to to figure it out along the way. But we continuously are learning and I think that the that mindset is what's so important, right is having that learning mindset where you know, you're gonna keep learning, you don't believe all I know enough, I got it all. I haven't figured it out. Be open to this, And you mentioned a couple of people who have been incredible resources and mentors, it sounds like yes, throughout the journey. So that's another thing that we don't want founders to ignore, right?
Ryan
And you hit on something really important is that lifelong learning. And this is something because we work with Sheridan College a lot. And it's shifting from just that three year two year certificate through your diploma and you're done. Like, no, what does lifelong learning look like? And how can you be a part of somebody's when they need you, you can insert your expertise. And exactly like you said, not coming into rooms thinking that you know, everything, but us learning altogether. And I mean, AI is taking over the world right now, what is AI, but the accumulation of all knowledge, but then being able to ask a question, and it's ready. So every day, we should be generating our own knowledge from those that we know and saying, I don't know everything. And hey, AI will prove it to you. Because anything it asks you that you don't know, it seems to know. But now, how do we be lifelong learners, and really lean into that? Like, I love that you mentioned that.
Daniel
I love that. So I know we're kind of three years past the the start of the pandemic, right, Which was, which was a huge had a huge impact on not only businesses, but nonprofits. And of course, the community as a whole. We saw new funding opportunities open up on on both sides. We also saw during that period, a ton of funding up a ton of funding opened up specifically to support black owned businesses, which is incredible, a lot of you know, platforms and showcases launch and you were there already. Right? You were already there ready as a platform. So what was that time like for you personally? And then secondly, how has how have things changed? For your organization since COVID? Like how is it impact?
Ryan
Oh, man, it's like you block it out of your mind? Yeah, it was gonna go back. But um, yeah, it was such a surreal time. And I call it the time warp. Because those two years all kind of meshed into one experience where you're home, you learn a lot about your partner. So I'm married, and I have two children. And being in that confined space, not being able to run, I think was the, what they called the litmus test for a lot of marriages to say, like, is this truly legit, but um, yeah, being able to, one learn a lot more about my kids that because during the day, they're typically in school, when you have to engage and parents, you learn about about yourself, too. So I learned a lot about myself, where my flaws were that my wife was willing to point out, I love you share, being able to get better. So now it was either you adjust these flaws that you you identify in myself, and you're gonna, you can't really stay in that space, because it makes life miserable for everybody around you. So I learned a lot about how to grow my personality. And that's where the character came in. Because the reputation is a byproduct of your character, right? It's like, what do you do when people aren't watching. And then at one moment in time, your family was all watching, they there was no behind closed doors anymore. It was that you had a core group that saw everything that you did, so all of your flaws or all of your good things, too, and could say, “You know what, now I know this person”. And that's where I really felt it strengthen my marriage. Because we hide behind work. A lot of times, my wife's a nurse, and God bless her. She was in the fight MMA in the battlefield, you can say she saw her coming home, but then having to prepare herself to go to battle. I got to witness a warrior, like somebody that I knew went to work, but you really didn't take into account the level of it. And so now it's the same we went through this time, or how can we use it to come out of it stronger? And one person they mentioned, Robert F. Smith, he's a billionaire in the US. He talks about not wasting a crisis. So now the crisis hits, those that crumbled. A sum couldn't make it through but also how do we look at it and find the opportunity? Because the shift online if you didn't embrace that, now when AI hit your like 10 Steps behind. So if those that embrace technology, when AI is coming on the scene, people are out there ready? There's like, Yo, how do I integrate this into everything that I do, instead of looking at schools, they went to online learning didn't really grow great. Now AI comes on the scene, our students are just in a, it's like a weird, paradox universe that we're not prepared for yet. Technology keeps going. So if we're not going to embrace how technology is, like seamless into our lives, we're going to be way behind they call it the fourth industrial revolution, how do we get a feel like we have to catch up? And then we have to get ahead of this trend? To see where could it take us? And how do we actually steer it? Instead of just holding on for dear life? Wherever it's gonna take us? You know,
Daniel
I love that answer you. You touched on so many different things like home life to feature from technology, and how industry is going. As you wrap up, I wanted to ask you a couple more questions. First one is you must do a lot of learning as we talked about the your lifelong learner. What are some resources, whether it's like a book, a newsletter, a blog, a podcast that you turn to that you could recommend to founders and leaders?
Ryan
Oh, boy, I was a big fan of Tim Ferriss, Tim Ferriss, his interviews, I guess it was a blog. But those interviews, yep, there's, I think over 300, maybe even more, now, you can find topics. And like the top of the level expert in that topic, Tim Ferriss is probably interviewed. Yeah, just look through and see like, Yo, I'm interested in neuroscience, I'm interested in marketing, like, bring on amazing people that have built those types of companies. So that's one piece. Again, I mentioned earlier, LinkedIn learning, lean into these resources that are around, we have people willing to teach, I've put their content on websites that you can access for free, YouTube, that University of YouTube is there, find the topics that you need, and really dig in. So yeah,
Daniel
I love that this is a ton of it that's available for free. And even if it's a small investment, sometimes it can put you a year ahead two years ahead three years ahead, just by making that investment.
Ryan
And quickly, two books, the E Myth by Michael Gerber. I really love how he structured treating your business as a franchise that yeah, systems and processes and a new book that just came out. And I believe the gentleman's airy Leviathan that started wave, no ways ways. Yeah, the map app. So he wrote a book fall in love with the problem, not the solution. I, my nose has been in this book, I got it two weeks ago. And I love how you structured that iteration. You talked about trial and error, learn from it. That's how they built ways. And so we can really use that to build our companies to
Daniel
and ways got to a billion users around the world. So I think that's a great case. to Google for billion Exactly. There you go. Last thing before we wrap up is what is one piece of advice that you would give to people in your shoes who are maybe a few years behind who are just starting just nonprofit organization?
Ryan
Yeah, don't be afraid of the business element. Because a lot of people that start nonprofits, they see the problem, they have an idea how to fix it, and they jump in and you're talking about leaping before you have a plan. I talked to new nonprofit, executive directors and say, the thing that you're about to execute, is there any other organization that already executes or is trying to solve that problem, go bring your idea to them, see how you use their infrastructure. Because if it's a person that has a business idea, ACN has infrastructure that we cannot one support them with getting more money to take the stress of having to execute everything on their own. And then when they get to a certain level, they can you let the bird fly off the nest. And they're prepared.
Daniel
It's like getting the Bayesian model. They can apply to to nonprofits and 100%. I love that. And it's I've always been about collaboration over competition, I think you definitely embody that as well. So thank you for all the work that you do to support founders entrepreneurs. But yeah, we got to wrap up here. Ryan, thank you so much for being on both for good. I really appreciate you making it down here for the show, man.
Ryan
It was a pleasure. Thank you so much, Daniel.
