Facebook Photo: Freedom Georgia Initiative Families

Three things made me happy about the announcement.

1. They wanted to own their content and the rights to it.
2. They wanted to control how the show was edited.
3. They wanted to control how it was distributed.

When I first heard the news that production studios were approaching the 19 families that bought 90 plus acres in Georgia to do a reality TV series, I was concerned.

Over the summer, The Freedom Georgia Initiative bought a small town 130 miles outside Atlanta. After the murder of George Floyd, these families wanted to create a space where “Black parents can raise their children without the fear of police brutality and violence.” The new city will be “pro-Black in every way.”

Can I be honest? I was truly concerned about the safety and welfare of these families. Strong, vibrant, wealthy Black cities haven’t faired well in the United States. Black Wall Street in Tulsa’s Greenwood District and Rosewood immediately come to mind. Personally, I think I would have quietly built and then released a documentary. But the beauty of all of this is that we now live in a time where we get to control our stories and share them in a way that works for us.

Working on a reality TV series was an experience I will never forget. It gave us insight into the inner workings of the process and what we learned continues to benefit us to this day.

As a storyteller and award-winning documentarian, and especially after working on that reality TV series, I know the importance of owning and controlling your narrative. Being a Black woman in this country and in this industry drives that point home even more.

Over the past several years, I watched Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality narrative be commandeered by those who refused to hear his truth. And this “new narrative” made its way to the White House and shifted the discussion entirely from its original intent. Only after Mr. Floyd’s murder was Mr. Kaerpernick’s original narrative heard. And that led to apologies from his former employer and protests all across the globe by people of all races and ethnicities.

That’s why I was glad to see that the Freedom Georgia Initiative want to own their content, the rights to it, and control the editing. To avoid misrepresentation, they must control their narrative and tell their story. They have to own it.

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie gave one of the best TedTalks on this subject. Her conversation on “The Dangers of a Single Story” tells what happens when only one perspective—a single story is given. And the truth is, history has not always been favorable to BIPOCs when it comes to telling our stories. A Virginia textbook for the last twenty years has described slaves as “happy”, “cheerful”, and “prosperous.”

Many slave narratives beg to differ.

Our stories are ours to tell.

I congratulate The Freedom Georgia Initiative for recognizing the value in their story and maintaining ownership of it.

Oh, and dear reader, whatever you do, make sure you own your story too.

The post Whoever Controls the Narrative Holds Power, Amasses Wealth appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

If you’re currently providing health insurance to your employees or are in the market there could be a cost-saving benefit hiding in your plan.

It’s called Teladoc.

Teladoc is a health service option typically bundled with some health care plans and most small businesses are unaware of it. The upside? There’s no additional cost to you.

What is it?

Teladoc provides on-demand access to over 3,000 U.S. Board-certified physicians to your employees by phone, web or mobile app. That’s access to health care 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

How Does It Work?

Instead of going to the emergency room or urgent care, employees can schedule an appointment to see a doctor and the usual wait time is just 10 minutes. Again, you and your employees can schedule a call or meet with the doctor on the web or by mobile app.

It’s that simple.

Quality of Care

All doctors are board certified and doctors take as long as needed to answer employee questions. Continuance of care is also available meaning records can be released to primary care physicians at the employee’s request.

Not only are doctors available to treat colds, allergies, and common aches and pains, Teladoc gives your employees access to specialists like dermatologists and mental health practitioners.

Employees can even use Teladoc doctors to provide quality second opinions.

In some cases, physicians can even write prescriptions and submit to the employee’s preferred pharmacy.

What This Means for You

One Teladoc case study tells the story of a company that saved almost $500,000 in health care costs. They did so by simply educating employees on the service that was already bundled in their health care benefits package. By using Teladoc, employees visited the urgent care and ER far less and missed fewer days of work resulting in substantial savings to their health care costs.

If you currently have a health care plan for you and your employees, review with your HR or benefits coordinator to see if Teladoc is included. If it is, share the benefit with your employees by having them visit this link. If you’re in the market to buy coverage, consider choosing a healthcare plan that offers Teladoc.

Visit Teladoc today for more information.

This post is sponsored by Teladoc. All opinions are my own.

The post Dear Small Business Owner: Is Money Hiding in Your Health Care Plan? appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

The post ‘What Mercy Looks Like’ Accepted into Houston Flood Museum appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

Filmmakers Lisa N. and Elgin Alexander on the red carpet at the San Antonio Film Festival, August 3, 2018.

‘What Mercy Looks Like’ has earned a second laurel! The short documentary about the volunteers who came to help Houstonians rebuild after Hurricane Harvey was selected for showing at the 24th San Antonio Film Festival.

The project that started out as a promo reel for Vineyard Mercy Response has far exceeded the couples’ expectations.

This was the couple’s first film.

“Having my family travel with us to see the film for the first time meant everything,” Lisa commented.

All in the family: Lisa’s father Mr. Jesse Daniels, niece, and son attended the showing of ‘What Mercy Looks Like.’ The film was dedicated to Lisa’s sister, Jessica Daniels who passed away suddenly during the film’s production.

As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey approaches, the Alexander’s are hoping for a quiet hurricane season. “So many people are still displaced and trying to recover,” Elgin said.

When asked about new projects, the couple both agree that they’re open to producing and directing another work should the right story come along.

‘What Mercy Looks Like’ earned its first laurel by winning a Gold Remi at the 2018 Worldfest Houston International Independent Film Festival.

The film will be released on Amazon.com at the end of August.

The post PrettyWork Documentary ‘What Mercy Looks Like’ Earns Second Laurel appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

Photo courtesy of Mikamote. Wikipedia.

I learned the hard way that what looks easy, isn’t always so. Jill Scott makes singing look effortless but I know better. I know her performances are the result of thousands of hours of practice and good self-care. So I cringe when I hear people say, “how hard could it be?” Those my dear friends are famous last words! I can promise you that.

Video productions, even product shots often require something clients reluctantly like to give—time and money. Product shoots can easily take a half day to shoot. And half day shoots can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars depending on the project.

Yet people will say, it looks so easy! How hard could it be? Why does it take that long?

Video Project Gone Wrong

A company we’ll call Genesis pitched a reality TV show to one of the online streaming services and the concept was approved. This was enough for Genesis to start production. This was a huge project and would take a number of people to successfully complete. The shooting schedule was aggressive; 10 episodes in 10 days. For a project of this magnitude, it’s typical to hire the following:

• Scriptwriter(s)
• Director
• Assistant Director(s)
• Producer
• Production crew (camera operator, grip, lighting, audio, etc.)
• Makeup artists/stylists

And this isn’t a complete list. The only people hired were the production crew and one makeup artist. Genesis thought they could manage everything else themselves because again, how hard could it be?

We were all about to find out.

The Script

We sensed something was amiss when we kept asking for the shooting script and never got it. This is the script that tells the production crew how and what to shoot. When we finally get the document—it wasn’t the shooting script we asked for—it was the day before the shoot. It was pretty obvious that a bonafide scriptwriter did not produce the story that was to carry the show.

Because if you want your video to have a good chance of being watched, you need a good story. It all starts with the story.

Taking On Water—Fast

Genesis thought they could manage everything from out-of-state with no company representative on the set to oversee the project. Huge mistake. The project encountered one disaster after another. Part of the production crew left on day one. That left two camera operators to navigate lighting and audio and everything else. One of the cast members stormed off the set and abandoned the show. The script as it stood was useless.

As the situation deteriorated, we placed frantic call-after-call to the company but those calls went unanswered. The entire staff was unavailable due to office renovations. We felt abandoned—cast and crew—and we were left to iron out the mess on our own.

In a last-ditch effort, the crew and manager amended the script and we started shooting. Even with the modified script, a high-profile athlete backed out at the last minute. That sent another scene up in smoke. Then our two YouTube phenoms didn’t come back to finish their scenes. More scenes obliterated.

The seemingly simple scripted show proved to be everything but. Answering the question, “how difficult could it be?” Very; very difficult indeed.

The Morale of This Story

So why am I sharing this story?

1. I don’t want you to waste time or money on your video projects.
2. I don’t want you to be disappointed because the final piece isn’t what you envisioned.
3. I don’t want you to be disillusioned about the video production process.

Whether you’re planning a commercial, an infomercial, a web series, a documentary, a reality TV show, or a music video you’ll need:

• A good story or concept. Do not proceed without one. (I promise a good scriptwriter is worth their weight in gold.)
• Knowledgeable, talented people to help bring your vision to life.
• Time to plan. Rushed projects are almost always doomed to fail. Why? Lack of planning! I’ve yet to work on a rushed video project that left the customer satisfied. They usually end up having to reshoot because they weren’t aware of all the nuances it takes to make something amazing. They wanted their project completed yesterday!
• A well-defined brand. If you’re not clear on your brand, I would encourage you to hold off on producing anything major. Your message won’t be clear. Your performance will be off. Know who you are as a brand, then call for action!

The post It Looks So Easy: Behind the Scenes on Video Projects Gone Wrong appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

Not Elgin. I wish I had a picture of him on his bike during these days.

Decades ago when we lived in California, Elgin worked for Nikon as a repair technician in their Torrance, CA center. The center wasn’t too far from our home; 6.8 miles to be exact. We were a young couple with a toddler living life in the smoggy City of Angels. And like a lot of employees, we both drove to work. We didn’t necessarily have to drive. Public transportation in Los Angeles even back in the 90s was plentiful and reliable. We had options but were accustomed to getting in our cars and driving where we needed to be. Public transportation seemed inconvenient. The prevailing wisdom at the time was that traveling by car was faster than any bus making multiple stops along a route. And what if something happened to the baby? What if one of us needed to go pick her up for some emergency?

There was never an emergency by the way.

The Legislation

In 1993, the Internal Revenue Service authorized the federal tax benefit, Qualified Transportation Fringes. According to Wikipedia, the benefit is a tax-free commuter benefit, are employer-provided voluntary benefit programs that allow employees to reduce their monthly commuting expenses for transit, vanpooling, bicycling, and work-related parking costs. Monies used for these eligible expenses are excludable from gross income subject to federal taxes. Many states also exclude these monies from state and local taxes. The newly passed tax legislation did make some changes to the benefit and can be found here.

The State of California had enacted a benefit very similar the year before. The LA Times reported that in 1992 the state enacted a law requiring certain employers to pay a monthly stipend to employees who carpool, ride public transit, walk or bike to work.

Nikon took advantage of the benefit and offered employees cash if they used one of the smog-reducing methods to work.

Straight Shot Down Vermont Street

We were a young family; the extra cash every month was going to add to our bottom line.

So Elgin got a bike, a helmet, a light and horn for his bike and rode 6.8 miles to work every day.

This terrified me at first.

I didn’t trust Los Angeles drivers not to run him over.

He had a couple of near misses but always got to work and returned home safely every day.

The Los Angeles climate made this ideal and the exercise was good for him physically and mentally.

We were a young couple trying to find our way in the world and the bike rides to work were a great stress reducer.

And the extra 200 bucks or so every month certainly didn’t hurt!

Elgin was a loyal Nikon employee. He worked hard and did his best work for them. He worked there until we moved to Houston.

The incentive has lots of benefits:

1. Tax break for employers
2. Good for the environment
3. Can increase employee engagement (Employee buy-in to your brand)
4. Healthier less, stress employees (especially if they’re riding or walking to work, that’s good for your health insurance premiums)
5. Great recruitment tool

Commuter Benefits and Small Businesses

Now while you may be thinking there’s no way your small business could offer a program like this, you do have some options. According to a blog post on Human Interest, there are a number of third-party services that help small businesses administer commuter benefits, such as WageWorks, Zenefits, Commuter Benefit Solutions, and Navia. They can help you set up the program and educate your employees.

Commuter benefits are a tax-advantaged way to save you and your employees money. And you get to help the environment. Add this perk as part of your employee engagement strategy and your balance sheet, employees bottom line and health all benefit.

The post Commuter Benefits: Our Experience and How Small Businesses Can Implement appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

Receptionists serve a vital function in an office. They’re the first to greet visitors and clients on behalf of your business. They reinforce your brand believe it or not! Receptionists tell people what to do, where to go, what they can expect and make guest feel comfortable in your space. Receptionists can also be expensive!

Many small businesses, however, have office space but don’t have or need a receptionist. The office space acts more as a gathering place for employees. Clients, vendors, suppliers and potential new hires are infrequent so a receptionist isn’t needed. Automated phone systems have virtual receptionists eliminating the need for a physical person to route calls.

But on those off moments when you do have guests visiting your reception-less office, there’s a way to make your guest feel welcome and not wreck your brand.

Reception-less offices typically have two chairs in an empty room with some wall art and nothing else. Walking into an empty room can be jarring for first-time visitors to your office. One salesperson told me they’re never quite sure how to navigate these situations. Do you go roaming the halls looking for assistance? Do you stand there and yell hello? You could call but what a weird conversation that would be. “Yes, I’m here standing in an empty lobby.”

Brand Building Ideas for the Reception-less Office

Here are five things the reception-less office can do to enhance their brand and put guests at ease.

1. Communicate this fact to all first-time guests. Let them know in an email or text ahead of your meeting. This saves the shock of walking into an empty room and questions on what your guest should do next. This is a brand builder!
2. Use signage or video to welcome guests and inform them of what’s next.
3. Install a small refrigerator filled with water or mini coffee bar. Create signage that tells guests to help themselves and that someone will be with them shortly.
4. Have a phone available and ask guests to notify their party of their arrival.
5. Go high tech and use a tablet or kiosk asking guests to check-in.

Any of these will reinforce that your brand cares about all who walk through your doors and puts your guests at ease.

The post Choose How Your Reception-less Office Impacts Your Brand appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

As a business owner, you’re probably aware that health care can be extremely expensive. It’s a line item that most small businesses simply cannot afford, so it’s a benefit typically not offered. This can be a deterrent when it comes to hiring the right people and keeping your current staff healthy.

A Huffington Post article reported that “around 30 percent of small business owners buy coverage from insurance companies on their own, while just 40 percent of small business owners get job-based health insurance, either from their own company or through a family member.”

Once upon a time, according to Ehi Oyabure, business manager for KarisMed Family Medicine, health insurance used to be like your home or car insurance. It was for critical care or emergencies and priced accordingly. But, according to Oyabure, that model changed during the 1980s and the cost of health care has been on the rise ever since.

Introducing the Concierge Approach to Health Care

The concept of concierge or retainer-based medicine was introduced in 1996 in Seattle by Dr. Howard Maron of MD² International (“MD Squared”). Patients pay an annual or monthly membership fee and have unlimited access to their doctor. Doctors see fewer patients, spend more time with their patients and focus on preventative care. Doctors offering this type of care do not accept health insurance. It is membership or retainer-based; cash only.

While this type of health care service is growing, it’s not without its detractors. It’s been said that this system is only for the wealthy. That it pulls doctors away from seeing lower-income patients. Congress took issue with the concept of concierge medicine in 2005. A bill making it illegal for doctors to charge a retainer fee never passed.

KarisMed in Katy, Texas is one of the area’s newest concierge clinics and is making health care affordable for small business owners. They offer:

• Zero copays
• Same day appointments
• Telemedicine and house calls
• Free annual exams
• Unhurried doctor’s visit

Oyabure says at a typical doctor’s appointment you wait 45 minutes to see a doctor for 10-15 minutes. Concierge medicine says your wait to see the doctor is minimal and your visit is at least 30 minutes.

What It Costs

KarisMed offers three different memberships—standard, deluxe and premium. Standard is $99 per month, deluxe is $149 per month and premium is $199 per month. Add children or legal dependents age 21 and under for an additional cost. Small business owners get a 20% discount on memberships based on the number of employees enrolled. Some small business owners absorb the total cost while others share with employees. According to Oyabure, some employees pay as little as $20 out of each paycheck and enjoy excellent health care for themselves and their families.

The KarisMed model is small business owner friendly! It allows business owners to offer health care benefits to their employees and potential new hires.

Click here for a partial list of Texas doctors and clinics offering concierge/retainer-based medical services.

The post Think You Can’t Afford Health Care for Your Employees? appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

A few blog posts ago we learned that small businesses can benefit from having a ‘corporate garden.’ Even if they didn’t have a football-sized campus to do so on. Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t effect change through a structured corporate social responsibility program.

Why Should A Small Business Invest in Such a Program

A growing number of customers and employees are requiring it from those they do business with and work for. Small businesses that answer that call are seeing a return on that investment according to FrontStream. Small businesses typically run lean and the thought of adding another program can be stressful. But small business owners can be reassured that consumers take notice of companies that are socially responsible, and reward those businesses with their dollars, accolades, and loyalty.

The Benefits Are Good For Your Business

When your business is doing good stuff in the community, that’s not the time to be modest. You let your employees, customers and potential customers know! These benefits only work if you’re sharing the good you’re doing.

Here are just a few of the ways FrontStream says your small business can benefit from a social responsibility program:

• Improved name recognition – Individuals will start to attach your brand or name with a cause. If they also support that cause, they’ll be more likely to buy your product, even if it costs a bit more.
• Boost brand reputation among consumers – Social media is huge right now, and as consumers talk about the brands they prefer, those that value socially responsible businesses with socially responsible services will discuss your brand and recommend it to others.
• Increased sales and positive consumer sentiment – A satisfied customer is one who is likely to return again to your storefront for purchases.
• Assist in efforts to recruit and retain talented employees for your company – Because we all know good help can be hard to find right? Are you discussing your social responsibility campaigns in your advertisements for new hires? If not, you may be missing an exceptional opportunity to recruit people who believe strongly in giving back to the environment or certain charitable organizations.
• Improved quality of life in communities where you do business – The stronger you can help your community become, the more revenue your business will see. It’s the reason that so many local stores add a budget line for sponsorships and charitable donations. They know that when their neighbors are doing better and feeling better, they’ll be more open to making purchases.

Social Responsibility and Higher-Priced Goods

If you’re a product-based business, having higher-priced items that support a worthy cause is not the death of a business. A 2014 Nielsen survey stated that more than half of online consumers said they would pay more for products and services from companies that are socially and environmentally responsible.

Being Good Citizens Locally

After Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast, small businesses that survived pitched in to help those who weren’t as fortunate. There are countless stories of small companies helping out employees and fellow business owners who were stuck in their homes or needed help gutting homes. Small businesses raised funds and collected food and clothing, gave out gift cards. These businesses truly rose to the occasion. This is being a good neighbor. No structured program needed. It simply boiled down to neighbors-helping-neighbors. In the words of volunteer Jerry Barrington, “it just feels good to do good.”

Setting up a Structured Socially Responsible Program

As a small business owner, you can create a structured program for your company that benefits both local and global communities. Again you can take advantage of a ‘corporate garden’ and help care for the hungry in your community. You can certainly choose a cause based on your business values and find causes to support based on those values. You can choose to do something as a group on a monthly or quarterly basis. Or you can implement volunteer days and let employees choose how and where they serve. There are a number of ways to implement your program. Just be true to your values, look for ways to serve and don’t be afraid to innovate or try something new. We’re small business owners; innovation is something we do well.

The post Social Responsibility Programs Benefit Small Businesses Too appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.

It was obvious she had been through a laundry list of graphic designers for her client’s project. She was very careful to explain exactly what she was looking for. She sent pictures. Lots of pictures. She asked for references. Still, she wasn’t sure if we’d be able to pull off the concept her client wanted. Afterall, there wasn’t anything in our portfolio that reflected what she was looking for. Her project was intricately complex and one of those online design services wasn’t going to get the job done.

A lot of people told her they could but couldn’t. So after going back-and-forth through a series of emails and phone calls, I told her I would design the concept she was looking for. If she was pleased with the work, we would move forward; she would sign the work agreement and send in her deposit. This suggestion won her over. However, even after viewing and loving the work sample, she was still a bit uneasy and wanted a parachute clause. So if she’s not happy with the final product, we can both walk away from the project. And neither is any worse off for the experience.

I get it and I wasn’t the least bit offended.

I understand that good help can be hard to find.

A small business owner recently posted on Facebook of her struggle to find a new employee. Her stories were hilarious yet sad at the same time. The time she’s invested in locating a new hire; she can’t get that back. She understands you hire talent and train for everything else but finding the talent has been difficult.

As small business owners finding the right consultant, agency, vendor, or new hire is critical to the daily operation and success of your business.

Navigating Your Way To Good Help

• Check your network for referrals – Ask your friends, colleagues, fellow business owners, even suppliers if they have a lead or referral. You never know who knows who.
• Search organizations and chambers – If you’re a member of a networking organization or chamber of commerce, these organizations can be an invaluable resource in helping you find what you need.
• Online search – My newest client had exhausted her personal and professional network and was left to conduct an internet search. Feel free to ask questions, ask for referrals and even samples if applicable. A business worth its salt won’t mind providing these things for you.
• Read the Reviews – Yelp, Facebook, even LinkedIn have business/product reviews and recommendations. My business partner always starts with the lowest/worst ratings and then evaluates the company or product from there.
• Ask for Proof – My newest client didn’t ask for it but I offered proof of our capabilities. You can absolutely ask for proof of legitimacy. Call references, ask for product samples, schedule demonstrations.
• Let Technology Assist You – When you’re a small business owner, weeding through potential job candidates can be exhaustive. Indeed.com has a service that will prescreen candidates for you through an automated phone system. Candidates that pass your initial screening, vocally respond to a series of questions you compile on their personal computer. You listen to the responses and contact the candidates of your choosing. For the small business owner, this automated service can save you precious time and help you finally find the good help you’ve been looking for.

The post Dear Small Business Owner: Good Help Can Be Hard To Find appeared first on PrettyWork Creative LLC.