Cultural Awareness and Immigration: "Africans and black people were here long before Columbus. And one of the major reasons that they know it, it was in Columbus's own journals talking about the black people that were already here."

Redefining Commerce Scope: "When I took over the chamber, it was the African American Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. So we just concentrated on the Greater Albuquerque area, But after only being here 4 months at that, we have way too much to offer to just offer it to the greater Albuquerque, talked to the board of directors, and we went and we changed our name officially with the state, and we're now the Black Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico."

The Importance of Rest Despite Hard Work: "Thank God I've never required a whole lot of sleep. And this is not something that I recommend. Matter of fact, I actually teach the opposite of what I have been doing the last 19, 20 months, 19 to 20 months because I don't think I've had a day off since July 1st, which is not good. And it's not something that I recommend, but sometimes when you're laying a foundation, it requires that kind of framework."

Support for Entrepreneurs: "You have to be a member of the chamber and you must live in New Mexico. Other than that, it's pretty much open to what you need in order to be successful. So you can come to the chamber and say, hey, I'm thinking about starting a business and we help you from the ground up."

Value of Clear Membership Benefits: "Before there was ambiguity about what does it mean to be a member? Now we've taken that ambiguity away and now you know what you get for being a member."

Nonprofit Fundraising Strategies: "So we're gonna offer some classes with the help of our friend at Meta for our nonprofit group for how to raise funds if you're a nonprofit."

Empowering Black-Owned Businesses: "So the US Black Chamber of Commerce has worked tirelessly in Washington DC and we can now help you get certified through a program called the buy BY BLACK, buy BLACK through the US Black Chamber of Commerce. Right now, it's completely free of charge, and you can become certified."

Resource Hub for Business Support: "And so if you want to work with the city of Albuquerque, there will be a page dedicated to the city of Albuquerque. So if you wanna be a vendor, you wanna know about their job training programs, you can do that."

Supporting Education in Africa: "I started out by just sending money to help girls go to school in Africa because I found out that if money was short, which it always is, the girls weren't able to go to school."

Integrating Refugees into Communities: "I've partnered with a couple of agencies here that have refugees coming into the city. And, you know, real often they speak very little English. They may have degrees, but their degrees aren't recognized here in the United States. And so we do things to try to help them get incorporated into the community, get some jobs while and get some place to live while we're waiting to make sure we can do something with their education so that then they can be successful."