We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Eddie Francis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Eddie below.

Eddie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Small Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are some of the most underserved institutions in higher education. I worked at three of them as the head of marketing and communications, and I’m doing some work with a fourth. So, I’m intimately familiar with the issues.

Historically and systemically, HBCUs are under resourced, even the biggest and most popular campuses. Because of that, many struggle to afford the kind of high-level brand strategy services that many marketing agencies offer. I was fortunate enough to get that kind of support at one of the HBCUs where I worked but that was only because of an unexpected and large private donation. For the other two and the one I’ve just partnered with, however, working with a well-established marketing agency is almost always cost-prohibitive.

As marketing veteran who understand both the internal dynamics and the high value of HBCUs, I offer a culturally relevant option that’s affordable–not even five figures.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a native of New Orleans whose background is radio. I was one of those rare mass comm majors who got a job in the field before even graduating! I’ve pivoted to career development and talent acquisition at points. But, ironically, I found my voice in higher education marketing and communications. I LOVE higher ed, and I love HBCUs.

I work hard to help clients “speak” in their true voice through marketing and communications. For example, I do website copywriting for a health care client. A big part of their brand is empathy, but I didn’t see that reflected in the language on their site. I’ve rewritten copy so that patients can feel that they are welcome into one of the health care centers anytime. It’s about expressing your identity and value so that the right customer shows up.

But, I also see marketing as much of a leadership function as a business function. So, what’s baked into my work, what makes it different, is an undertone of ethical leadership–helping the customer feel confident that you have their best interest at heart. So much of that can be expressed through marketing copy, editorial writing, and scripts.

Looping back around to my love for higher ed and HBCUs, so many miss opportunities to tell their stories in a real way. One story that I thoroughly enjoyed writing, for example, was about Dillard University students who were into the Afrofuturism genre. It’s a part of the university culture that’s been there for years but hadn’t been let loose. They couldn’t believe that someone “saw” them and normalized their existence on campus.

On even the smallest and less well-known campuses in America, you have charming staff, quirky professors, and alumni who go hard in the paint. And let’s not even mention how important colleges are to the communities that surround them. They employ locals, they help the local tax base, and they bring business to their communities. Colleges have too many cool stories that could amplify their brands even more.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Relationships, hands down. One day, I start stressing out about where I would get new clients. Then, duh! The answer was as plain as the nose on my face. I had been making the mistake of NOT telling folks what I was up to. How crazy was that? I have a boat load of friends, family, and colleagues. And I’m a nice guy…I think.

So, I started by making a simple appeal on social media to my friends and colleagues. I asked for their support. I emailed, texted, attended conferences, asked to be included in panel discussions and presentations, and I mentioned my business at social functions. My goal was to put what I was doing on folks’ minds. And it’s been working!

But I think the most important part of this has been showing gratitude to any and everyone who even took 30 seconds to listen to me. I’ve seen the alternative, and it’s a straight bummer. So, I think having that attitude of gratitude with people has also been a difference-maker.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Honestly, this is a hard question for me to answer, because it bums me out to even think of it. But, I’m answering it, because I know there are so many other folks like me out there. I had to unlearn negative self-talk.

When I was growing up, I heard a lot of why what I was doing was a bad idea. I heard lots of “don’t” and “can’t.” I also remember folks advising me and my friends to find “one thing” that we did well and stick with that. So, even though I had lots of ideas and interests, I would immediately think of why they wouldn’t work. Like other folks, I would get an idea, shove it to the back of my mind, and I would watch someone else do it. When I got into the workforce, I worked in toxic environments where leaders made sure that their people felt dependent on that job. So, negative self-talk was part of who I was.

The day after I had worked my most recent 9-to-5, my wife asked me what I REALLY wanted to do. When I told her that I wanted to launch my own business, she told me, without hesitation, to go for it and that she had my back. It had been so long since the last time someone that close to me encouraged me so unabashedly. That moment was a game-changer. I also got myself into mental health counseling, and that has been tremendous for my self-confidence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eddiefrancis.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddiefrancis/

Image Credits

1. Southern University at New Orleans
2. Dillard University
3. Element451