DiversifyHER
DiversifyHER is a Gen Z-led podcast where I, Raven Heyward, engage with leaders to discuss the importance of representation. My mission is to inspire young girls, create meaningful mentorship opportunities, and explore ways to empower and uplift individuals in various industries and leadership roles.
DiversifyHER
EP 41: Gen Z Dreams: Thriving as an entrepreneur with Alycea Rae
Listen as Raven Heyward, founder and host of DiversifyHER, converses with Alycea Rae. Alycea Adams is an entrepreneur who embodies authenticity and grit. A fourth-year student at UNC-Chapel Hill, she will graduate in May with a B.S. in Information Science and minors in Entrepreneurship and Urban Planning, earning Summa Cum Laude honors. With 1.2M+ followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, Alycea collaborates with top beauty brands like Aveda, Mielle Organics, and Sephora. She was recently named a Sephora Squad 2025 creator.
Passionate about technology and storytelling, she co-founded HairMatch, a consumer app recommending hair products based on hair type. She also launched the She Means Business podcast, featuring industry leaders. After graduation, Alycea will join IBM as a brand specialist in their sales program.
Connect with Alycea!
Instagram/Tiktok/Youtube: Alycearae
Podcast: Shemeansbusinesspodcasts
HairMatch: HairMatchapp
Hi everyone and welcome back to Diversify Her Podcast. I'm your host, raven Hayward, and today I'm joined with Alicia Rae Adams. This is such a special episode for me. Not only is it going to be the first episode where you guys will actually be able to watch and listen, but also I've known Alicia since what senior year in high school, when she came to my track practice to meet me because I was interested in joining the Carolina cheerleading team. So I'm really excited for this episode today. So Alicia is an entrepreneur that embodies the power of authenticity and grit.
Speaker 1:She's a fourth year student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who will graduate this upcoming May with her BS in information science, with a double minor in entrepreneurship and urban planning with highest distinction, summa cum laude. She's a social media influencer with 1.2 million and plus followers across Instagram, tiktok and YouTube. Her partnership portfolio includes household names in the hair care and beauty space, such as Evita, miel, organics and Sephora. Recently, alicia was announced as one of the creators for the Sephora Squad 2025. With a passion for technology and storytelling, alicia retired from her three years of college cheerleading to launch an app focused on natural hair care. She is the co-founder of a tech startup called Hair Match, which is a consumer application that brings synergy to natural hair care to provide recommended hair products based on users' hair types. This year, she launched her podcast she Means Business on Spotify, where she curates conversations with individuals excelling in their field.
Speaker 1:After graduation, alicia will be starting in her full-time job at IBM as a brand specialist in their sales program. So I just read her lengthy bio. You guys know that she has her hands in a lot of different things. So, alicia, I'd love for you to just start off by telling us how you even got to this point, to where you have basically like your jack-of-all-trades.
Speaker 2:Yeah, raven, I think it really starts from high school. So, going back to when I was probably like 14 or 15 and seeing how I was always doing something extracurricular wise and I was always pretty much hustling, trying to figure out, okay, like, do I want to do pre-med, do I want to do something involved in technology? Because my brother's involved in technology? So high school is really pivotal for me because I really figured out, okay, what drives me to get up every single morning besides, like you know, doing something as far as like for the outside validation. So I kind of like did a lot of soul churching in high school and then I decided to come here to Carolina, where it's been not like the easiest road but it's definitely molded me into like the woman that I've become.
Speaker 2:So came into Carolina. Pre-med. Neuroscience quickly changed my mind. Organic chemistry took that out for me. But then I realized the major that I'm currently in was like something really new and growing and like just talking with my brother, my mom, christina, as you know, someone really close to me and a role model. So it's just a lot of hard work, a lot of long nights, but realistically it's just every day I wake up wanting to be better. So if that means I'm going to try something new each day, then I'm OK with that and I kind of embrace that, because the journey is really up to you. And that's something I had to learn and not kind of look at social media so much. So now that I'm in social media I'm kind of desensitized to like the things that sometimes in the past, when I was in high school, would like make me feel like, oh, I'm not ahead of the game enough, I'm not moving fast enough. So now, being a creator, I just kind of like stay in my own lane and just keep doing good work.
Speaker 1:So you're mentioning social media and the number was huge 1.2 million, plus with the amount of followers you have across the platforms. Could you just talk a little bit about what made you get into social media and how you were able to grow your platform?
Speaker 2:Yeah, social media for me. It started off for me being a user and then I realized, okay, a lot of people ask me questions about my natural hair, whether are you mixed? Is it real Like, what products do you use? And so initially I was like, ok, cool, I'm not a dancer, I can't dance. Cheerleading and dance are completely different. I give props to anyone who can dance, I applaud you, but I'm just not blessed with that skill set. So when it came to TikTok, I was like, okay, I know what's authentic to me and that's my hair. So I just started making videos with that, primarily on TikTok. I kept my Instagram separate because it's kind of like the social LinkedIn for people our age and, honestly, it's just become a growing platform. So it was very separate. But then I had a video blow up that was like 100,000 views overnight and I was like, mom, I'm famous, oh, jk.
Speaker 2:I didn't really say that. But she was like what does this mean? Because she's not on social media. So I'm like, OK, so I'm explaining it to her. And she's like OK, that's cool. And I just started being consistent with it, literally recording on, I think, like my iPhone 13, like some trash and growing it where it really like took off. I signed with my agency, Dulcido Group, that I'm with currently June 2023. And so I've just been very strategic about posting like cross-platform posting for like Instagram, YouTube Shorts and TikTok, so it's very much. My face is saturated on all platforms surrounding about natural hair and started for me to kind of be like the building, the confidence of like. You know, I would kind of be like weirded out somewhat when people ask me like can I touch your hair? Or like, is your hair real? And I was like why?
Speaker 2:does everyone think my hair is like fake and then you know it's an education piece into that and like maintaining natural hair is a very huge task. So I just took what I learned had to learn by myself by watching like YouTube videos when I was like 12 years old and put it on a platform like TikTok.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned you signed with your agency in June of 2023. When did you start social media? And then what made you decide, OK, I should sign with an agency?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I would say I started creating content on TikTok going into my sophomore year of college and I kind of did it as like a get back, like, oh, like, people are not understanding my hair, like okay, like let me just make a video and explain to them. Like this is my daily routine. And I didn't really necessarily take it serious, I just thought it was, oh cool, I have like TikTok followers, but I didn't understand the monetization that's behind that. So my agent, my past agent, olivia, she reached out to me. She's not an agency called kg and they're like huge agency, amazing agency as well. Um, and I thought she was a scam. I was like I don't know. But she caught my eye because she's black and I was like, okay, like I can, I can vibe with this. So we had a meeting while I was at delta at my internship and and she explained it to me and she asked me so, like transparently, like, how much are you charging for like a video? I was like girl, like $250.
Speaker 1:Like that's enough for like groceries gas.
Speaker 2:It's a college student and it's like 30 seconds and she was like people with your numbers are like charging like $1,400 for a 30 second video.
Speaker 2:And that's when, like, my following count was probably like 42,000 on like, I think, maybe like 30K on Instagram and 159,000 on TikTok, so I was like just getting started in a sense. But she took a chance on me and, like saw my potential to be able to like really hone and like own this space that I'm in with natural hair care. So the rest was from history, but I thank her all the space that I'm in with natural hair care. So the rest was from history, but I think her all the time because I was literally just doing it for fun. I didn't think of doing it for like monetary purposes, because I didn't really understand the money behind social media or marketing.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned something saying you thought she was a scam, but then you noticed that she was black, and I think that that's something that's super important, especially in your industry and just in life in general. You want that representation. You want someone that sees you, that understands you, that knows you for you. So could you just speak on a little bit about what it's been like being just a black woman in this industry? Have you had to face any adversity and what has that been like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what has that been like? Yeah, so, being a black woman in the space of natural hair care, especially like large brands like L'Oreal, garnier, fruits, tresemme and sometimes the person on the bottle doesn't look like you and so I think it's my due diligence to be able to really be authentic when I'm working with these brands. Like I tell them all the time no, I'm not straightening my hair for any campaign. First of all, I can't do it myself, I'm not going to go get it done, but that's just not how I naturally wear my hair, and so just breaking those beauty standards of straight hair is more, I guess, pleasing on the eye than curly hair has been something that I've tried to really stay firm with. So a lot of my partnerships that I have don't involve heat, because it's just not really authentic to who I am. Heat because it's just not really authentic to who I am.
Speaker 2:And when it comes to representation, especially in this space as a young black woman, I think it's really important for me to explain to brands outside of what I do with social media, like a lot of times we'll have briefing calls and I'm explaining to them. Yeah, so I have three classes this day. I'm a senior in college and when I was cheering at the time, I really had to be transparent with them. I have a schedule, I have a game to cheer at, and so they just really kind of looked at me like, oh, like she really has a lot of stuff going on. I'm like, yes, so I'm not just doing social media as like full time, as people would say, but it's pretty much a hobby that I really enjoy. That happens to pay me very well.
Speaker 2:And when it comes to the representation piece, that starts with the agent for sure, because, like my agent Olivia told me, not everyone is looking out for you in this business. At the end of the day, you're a part of a portfolio of a brand, so essentially you're making them money. So you want to work with someone that's like one going to do well behind you and not try to rip you off, but also pitch you very well to companies that are of your interest. For me, like I'm a part of the sephora squad now, so like getting into the makeup space, right, but you know I don't know anything about makeup. I don't know anything about makeup, but it's okay because I'm going to learn. So it's just like you know doing different master classes of that nature and seeing like okay, like I'm more of like the natural glam type of look and just telling them what my interests are up front, and that's the biggest thing with representation being vocal. You know, I've never been scared to be vocal.
Speaker 1:Never been scared to be vocal, but really knowing how to work a room and that's something that in the space of content creation and working with brands who have like a huge dollar sign behind them, building that relationship, because at the end of the day, they're using me as diversity, so I want them to respect you know my wishes and things of that nature, but it's really a two-way street when working with brands right and it's so funny y'all me and Alicia we lived together my sophomore year, her junior year, and so her just telling y'all the story, I remember like sort of being in the background or know I'm getting ready and I'm hearing that she has a meeting going on in her room, so being able to like kind of see this in real time and it play out like truly am so happy for her, so proud of you, like I've seen all the hard work, the late nights, and on top of that you were cheering because we were past teammates.
Speaker 1:So how was that decision? What went into it? I know what went into it, but tell them what went into it when you had to ultimately decide to kind of part ways with cheer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think so, probably last year, you know, like for real, for real, like our coaches knew they were like I think this might be like the end of Alicia's like story when it comes to like cheerleading, because fun, not only is it like physically taxing, sometimes it can be mentally taxing. When you're dealing with okay, I'm diving into content creation and last year I flew out to LA for that CurlyCon event and I was like okay, so I have to rearrange two exams.
Speaker 2:I have to tell my professors. I have to tell my professors that I'm a content creator, which is so cringy to think about back then and and so it was a lot of moving pieces but I was able to do it and that was a time I missed, I think, the Campbell football game. So just communication up front, like with the coaching staff and like my professors, kind of really helped me. But going into the summer, I was like okay, like sitting down.
Speaker 2:I'm like, all right, I'm about to be 21. Okay, body is not the best shape right now. Like I can't like my back, my knees, and then, you know, my freshman year had a concussion. So I was like, okay, all these different moving pieces. So when it came down to what I thought would add value to my current situation, I thought about what if I didn't have cheer in my life at that current time. So, you know, you know I was going through the phases of like okay, like dang, I'm going to be left out, I'm not going to like see, like the friends that we've made, and like I was kind of on the edge.
Speaker 2:But I was really focused on getting a job. Like I think that was the biggest thing that I was worried about post graduation. Okay, cool, cheerleading is not going to pay my bills. So I'm trying to figure out what full-time job do I need to get? So I started the recruitment process for like full-time positions in the summer.
Speaker 2:So, like June, july, august, I was applying, like, doing like briefly, first round interviews and then, come September, like I kind of figured out and honed down, like cut down my list of like different places, because now I'm considering, okay, where do I want? You know, I want to live in Atlanta. But then I'm like, okay, there's positions in Austin, there's positions in Charlotte, la, but I'm like I can't. California, that's like a huge jump to be from, like Charlotte, north Carolina. So I'm like all these different things are going through my mind so I'm like, okay, I'm stressed out, what on the table can I take away that could free up time, free up stress and just a lot of different things.
Speaker 2:And so, like I had a heart to heart with like our coaches and like everyone on the team pretty much knew, but I think it was just like a homecoming for me to basically know that I paid like three years of, like UNC cheerleading, which has been a phenomenal experience of just exposure, traveling for tournaments and all these different things. So I have that experience that I can speak to and now, like my body feels a lot better. So it was hard, but just talking to my mom, grandpa and brother, and especially Christina, because she, you know, she's my coach for since high school and she was telling me, well, you know, I stopped cheering my senior year because, like everything just got really hectic. So I was like okay, and like I kind of went back like this year and wanted to see, do I want to do it, do I not want to do it? But I would just like I can't be overwhelmed by school cheer having a startup too, and then like the social media, space and after you stop cheering you realize how much time you have.
Speaker 1:And especially with cheer, we don't get paid, we don't get scholarship. Unc barely recognizes cheer as an athlete yeah.
Speaker 2:So that's another thing and that's that's one thing that I wish, like at the ncaa level, that they would. You know, we're not considered a varsity sport out of like, I think, 28 sanctioned varsity sports for ncaa. But you know, we have practice monday, wednesday, lift tuesday, thursday. If we have a saturday football game, we have field practice on friday, lift tuesday, thursday. If we have a saturday football game, we have field practice on friday, saturday game all day, depending on when it starts. If it's a hot game it starts at 3 pm. We're there until like maybe like eight o'clock. So it does take up a lot of time, but you don't really notice that when you're in it, but when you're outside of it I'm like wow I have a lot of time to really feed into myself, and I think that's the one thing that I can say about cheerleading.
Speaker 2:I think people just think like we shake our pom poms.
Speaker 1:I'm like no.
Speaker 2:I'm literally standing on a guy's hands who's like six feet plus. So it's like a lot of body control, body awareness, core strength, all these different aspects. Flexibility for her, Flexibility for me, and it's just, but it can be taxing on the body For her. Flexibility for me, and it's just, but it can be taxing on the body, I know. Shout out to Elisa best trainer. We shared her with UNT football Like she would do acupuncture and sim on my back like every week. So it's a lot to have that impact consistently. Don't even get me started on the tuck.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness the mental blocks, the mental blocks.
Speaker 2:That's so huge and that's the one thing that cheerleading like really like taught me is how to really get over a mental block. But it's also, if I can do a tuck in front of like 20,000 people, I can get up in a class and talk in front of 200 students. So you kind of like put into perspective different things that you've done, especially with cheerleading, and it's just like wow, like it really helps you really build that confidence. So that's something I'm super thankful for. But I'm glad my knees feel better.
Speaker 2:And life skills like having to smile through I know, you know, knowing how to fake a smile is like one of the best things ever, and facial expressions, but also just body language and being able to draw people in. I think that's the one thing that cheerleading really amplifies, is like the performance art aspect of it, because people want to be able to watch you and not be boring. So, you know, just adding a little pizzazz here and there, right.
Speaker 1:So now to the meat and potatoes, as you like to say, I'm a country girl.
Speaker 2:I love meat and potatoes, it's all the things.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about your app, startup, hair Match. I remember you saying that you wanted to get into it. It was one of your goals and now you're making it happen. So can you talk about how you were able to put it into fruition?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it started off as an idea Initially. Just the hard pain points of like finding hair care products for me was just like okay, I'm tired of like wasting money every time trying new products that don't end up working for my curls and like my porosity and things like that. So I ran the idea by one of my intern friends that I met while I was at Delta, the first summer actually, and then I went back to Delta but he went back to Microsoft. So his name is Matthew, he's a senior also at Georgia Tech and he's wicked, smart, comp sci major. But we kind of bonded over like our athletics because he used to be a swimmer for Georgia Tech and he went to like the Olympic trials. And I was like Matthew like so he had to make that decision of like swimming his whole life, to retire from swim so he can invest into his comp sci major. So he like is an avid coder, avid builder, and he was like I think I can make this idea work. And I was like cool, like I think it would be cool if I could like take a picture of my hair and be recommended hair care products.
Speaker 2:So we started in July meeting bi-weekly on top of everything else we had going on. I was taking an online class as well, so I was busy in the summer, but I was just trying to get ahead. So I knew that the fall semester for my senior year it wouldn't be too overbearing because I knew that hair match would pretty much be coming to fruition. So we started July. We ended up launching in November. Right now we're like over 4,000 downloads, generating over like like $1,000 in revenue, 1,100 followers across different social media, primarily Instagram, and we're in two accelerator programs, one that's at Georgia Tech called CreateX, and then another one with is Microsoft for Startups Founders program. So it's been. I just like it because it's something very authentic to me. I could have joined, like you.
Speaker 1:I don't know a sports app.
Speaker 2:But I'm like okay, whatever, but natural hair care is so underrepresented in just like the beauty space, so I wanted to do something that's kind of like, you know, paying tribute to the lineage. You know, black History Month, a lot of different aspects coming to natural hair.
Speaker 1:The crown act, like just accepting natural hair, has been a big thing for black women so to create an app that can potentially help millions and thousands of people, I think is something that I really am just excited about so I mean, maybe y'all know and I don't know, but what goes into creating an app like how are you able to actually start from scratch and build? Because there's nothing I don't think like hair match yeah so it starts off with the design thinking process.
Speaker 2:So that's something that I've learned through my entrepreneurship minor program, shuford, here at UNC, chapel Hill, and we're pretty much trying to figure out is this the pain point that other people experience besides myself? So early on, we created user interviews and talked to probably like eight to 11 people and just seeing how OK, what pain points do you have with your hair care or finding hair care products? And what we saw in the customer journey, like discovery, was that a lot of people were either getting recommendations from online influencers or from, like, their hairstylist and so, outside of that, they really didn't have a roadmap to follow to find hair care products. So that's when we had that basically confirmation that this is a problem that people are experiencing. And so, going from that initial step, figma Figma is your best friend for creating wireframes.
Speaker 2:I started knowing how to use Figma from a system designs class here at UNC with my major, so a lot of school things that I was learning really applied to the aspect of building an app. And now, on the software development side of things, that's where Matthew pretty much spearheads. So we use a lot of cloud credits, which is a general like from either Azure, which is just cloud computing, like inside the cloud. It's kind of like a complex thing to explain, but building it out is. I think he uses so for iPhones. It's Swift, which is like this building language type thing. I really couldn't explain it to you but just meeting Matthew and him explaining to me like how little things like UX design are super important, like color, abstract, making sure that people it's very accessible, so if people you know may have vision impairments or hearing impairments, that they're able to navigate the app like without feeling, without feeling like they can't do it the right way or effectively and I just figured out through the space of building an app.
Speaker 2:it's very it's, it's quick, like especially with AI. Ai is running. Ai can be expensive when it comes to like computing and like you have users that are calling querying information because we use right now like open AI for certain stuff and like, but a lot of times you can do a wireframe or like a prototype for mobile applications with like a no code, like AI. So it's pretty cool just to get that you know MVP the minimal viable prototype just into the market and like seeing how customers interact with it and how do you scale from there. So we're in the process of scaling right now, figuring out you know where subscription based consumer applications, so finding a price point that's sticky enough for users where they either have the monthly subscription option or annually. So we're just doing a lot of like data analysis to figure out what works best for our target market.
Speaker 1:That's really cool, like you explaining using all the coding terms, like I'm kind of picking up.
Speaker 2:Because you're a data science minor.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I'm able to like pick up on some of this stuff. So I also know you started your own podcast.
Speaker 2:I know you were the inspiration, yeah.
Speaker 1:So tell me about your podcast and what motivated you to start that, and was that also in tandem? As you were building up Hair Match, you were also like, ooh, let me start this podcast. Tell me how your brain works.
Speaker 2:You're already doing different things and you're like oh, let me add this on too. Yeah, I think when it comes to podcasts, I just love the conversation piece and I learn a lot from listening instead of reading per se. So just hearing from different podcasts and just listening all the time, I was like I love to talk, so why not do something where it's like I can share what information I've learned with my network to other people, because I'm just trying to positively, positively impact people as much as I can. So I started the podcast January of this year, so January 2025. And I was doing outreach like around the holidays and yeah, it's just pretty much from there has grown. I've had three guests so far. First episode was really knocking the ball out of the park with Brandy Marshall from Netflix.
Speaker 2:And she's like a luxury real estate agent out in Orange County, california and she's amazing and we connected over social media because she followed me, because of her daughter, because her daughter has hair similar to mine, so it always goes back to that hair piece and just social media being a very powerful tool for connectivity and using that to my advantage to basically share the stories of others who've had monumental journeys, and just having like an outlet for people to listen into. Because we're college students, a lot of people right now are trying to figure out OK, what am I going to do after graduation? What internships am I looking for? Do I really like my major? What can I do with my major am I looking for? Do I really like my major? What can I do with my major? So just providing them with like a podcast to show them like, hey, this is what someone's journey has looked like. It's not the easiest, it's not the prettiest, it's not the flashiest, but this is something that you can do too.
Speaker 1:So you mentioning just college students and wanting this to be a platform where you're able to kind of showcase other people's journeys, what would you say has been the most critical part of your journey thus far of just being a college student, being able to balance all that you're doing? You now have a secure job in the future, working at IBM. What would you say has been like the most critical piece in your journey to lead you to where you are?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think probably the second semester of my sophomore year when I literally crashed out after failing a biology exam and I was like I don't even enjoy doing this, like I can do it, but it's just I'm not seeing the return on investment right now, which you know may be my impatient nature, but the stress from academics at Carolina, specifically for STEM and the sciences, I was like, do I really want to go into medicine? And then I had an internship that I've kind of spoke to with the University of Florida, I think the sophomore, my sophomore summer, and it was like an immersion program and I realized, yeah, health care is not for me. And I think that's the one realization that I had that kind of made me feel set back because I said like since high school, oh yeah, I'm gonna do orthopedic surgery and this and a third I want to do for like a sports franchise, all these different things. And so once I kind of like, all right, scratch that plan, like what are we going to?
Speaker 2:I had to figure out what skills I was good at, trying to figure out. Okay, what do I? What am I interested in? Learning and technology was always something in my family. My dad majored in mechanical engineering. My mom she's in education, but she did psychology, as everyone back in the day did Not too much. And my brother he's in the software development side and I was like OK, william, I don't want to be a coder, OK.
Speaker 2:I don't want to sit behind a desk all day and just code and just look at my screen. And so when I had my internship at Delta, that kind of showed me what technology looks like from a business standpoint. So I was in business strategy for IT operations and so that's when I was like, ok, what majors do UNC have? That's not comp, sci, but still in that technical space. And that's how I landed on information science and I actually didn't get accepted into the program until my junior year because I waited to switch my major. So I had to take all these prereqs.
Speaker 2:So I was pretty much like a shoo-in because I already took like some of the electives that are not required but like you could still take them even if you're not declared that major. Not required, but like you could still take them even if you're not declared that major. And that was basically like the most pivotal moment for me, just recognizing the change that I wanted and being willing to say it out loud, because a lot of people I feel like don't want to say out loud that, oh crap, like I don't want to do this anymore. I'm all for saying, yeah, I'm gonna wipe my hands of this, I'm not doing it anymore and moving on to the next thing, and I think that's what has helped me in the journey Just like okay. I might have my moments where I'm just like okay, in my room, stressed out, cry a little bit, but you know, I regroup and I just keep moving forward.
Speaker 1:And I think we do have the luxury of that, since we are still so young to realize, like you know what this is not for me. I don't foresee myself wanting to do this for the rest of my life. So let's pivot. Let's switch to something new which I think is really cool, and all about just diversifying your kind of network. Excuse me, I'm sorry, I got to lock in, ok.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Y'all it's been hard. It's so crazy Like we're actually being serious yeah.
Speaker 2:And not too much, before I start laughing into this mic.
Speaker 1:Ok, and not too much before I start laughing into this mic.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, that's leading us to our last question, which is my signature question that I have on my podcast, which is what's one piece of advice you would give Gen Z? To go out and diversify themselves, go out and be bold and be resilient in the sense that ask questions and be prepared for people to say no. A lot of times I so in high school. I quote for my senior um quote was a quote from kobe and it was essentially around like you miss 100% the shots that you don't take. Like send somebody emails, send somebody linkedin, like people are really eager to help college students and that's something that I've learned. There's no real other answer besides no and that's the worst that it can get. And just don't feel embarrassed when you're trying something new. Like everyone has to learn how to walk and fall before they can run.
Speaker 2:So for me, the advice that I would give Gen Z because we are very ruthless and we're very blunt with a lot of things that we want be bold and go out for whatever you want to achieve, because no one is stopping. Literally the world is our oyster, even though right now, everything that we're in is very everything feels like on edge, like someone's waiting for a shoe to drop, but I've always felt like, even though, like you know, I'm from Charlotte, that doesn't mean that I can't, you know, be a. I'm a black woman from Charlotte. You know two parents, military family. That doesn't mean I can't be a CEO of YouTube one day.
Speaker 1:Shout out that.
Speaker 2:But be bold and go whatever. Go for whatever you want in life.
Speaker 1:I think that's great, and also you saying that like send that cold email. That just reminds me LinkedIn. That's also something that I wanted to talk about on this episode episode. Could you just speak on how you've been able to like utilize LinkedIn?
Speaker 2:yeah, LinkedIn. I started using it seriously early on in high school because I just had I was in the AP capstone program, so we talked about LinkedIn. I'm like what is this this feels like for adults? So I started using it in high school just to you display different volunteer things that I was doing community engagement, things of that nature. But it's really the professional Instagram, like I was speaking to earlier, and using it as a way to connect with people, whether it be like I randomly connected with a lady who's like a global director at IBM and I was like hey, like I applied for this position. X, Y and Z. We connected and she was like hey, like I applied for this position x, y and z we connected and she was like, yeah, feel free to like schedule time on my calendar.
Speaker 2:I was like there's no way it was that easy. But I've just, I've learned that, like, for example, when I had a um like connect with, uh, georgie, who was like the former um agent for shador sanders, like travis hunter and shiloh, I got connected with her because I sent the agent for Deja that I know.
Speaker 1:Cecil.
Speaker 2:White and he just put us in a group. Chat was like you know, so introductions. But relationships go a long way. Relationships and impressions with people go a long way and LinkedIn is just basically like the icebreaker. I got my job from a code application I didn't know anyone at IBM, and a lot of people were like like, what referral did you have? And I was like all my referrals are at Delta.
Speaker 1:They're not.
Speaker 2:IBM, but just like having that resume, which is a big key, and then the interviewing skills, but also LinkedIn, to ask people who are like in a similar space of like. Hey, also, if you have an interview with a person, stalk their LinkedIn before Research, research, because you always want to have like a casual conversation even though it is an interview. Because people remember that, like one of my interviews, we were on Zoom and he had Minnesota in the back and we just played Minnesota and barely beat them.
Speaker 2:And then our starting quarterback broke his leg, so it was so much to talk about, and he was just like yeah, we're a huge sports fan, we love Carolina too and stuff like that. So the connections go a long way.
Speaker 1:And especially everyone's always preaching. You know, your net worth is your network.
Speaker 2:And I think social capital is key.
Speaker 1:So key. But also you want to be genuine and authentic and I think that that's something that's kind of been hard for Gen Z or even just people that I know in my classes. You know one of their always follow up questions is OK, but how do I maintain that relationship and stay genuine? And, you know, don't make it seem like I'm trying to get something out of them. Just like Lisa said, like doing your research and actually having casual conversations that come up just naturally as you're talking to someone, because I think that's really imperative.
Speaker 2:come up just naturally, as you're talking to someone, because I think that's really imperative, yeah, and even if you have like an opportunity in mind for somebody or, like you know, podcasts are a great way to have people like to build conversations with, but that doesn't mean you necessarily have to go out and start a podcast, but it's a lot of ways of like, if you have their phone number, just be like hey, happy holidays, like stuff like that, like I always do that. But it also goes back to, I think, like how I was raised, like my mom has always been, like you know, like the kindness that you put out will like be returned to you and things like that. So it's just by nature. I'm like hey, girl, like you know, I saw you did x, y and z. Congrats on that. And just being authentic, it really does go far, because I would rather it be authentic and they think of me for an opportunity than me being like hey, so I need a job, what you got for me so it's just a.
Speaker 1:It goes a long way of being authentic and kind and I think that is the perfect place for us to end this episode. Thank you again for coming on. It's been a long time coming with having you on the podcast. Thank you all so much for listening and watching and be sure to tune in next time for diversify her podcast.