We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Edward Smith III. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Edward below.
Edward , appreciate you joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
Many people get to a point in their career where they start to question if what they are doing is helping to make the world a better place… a lot of times, that answer will be “No.” This moment may cause you to build resentment towards your job and career path. For me, this was a moment when I felt the most depressed as I regretted the use of my time despite the financial reward. Nothing about this was filling my soul. Little did I know that this would be the defining moment that would get me to start my business, Do What You Think, a motivational & wellness platform designed to encourage people to be the best version of themselves.
When your current situation doesn’t present the joy you seek, you should take a step back and create an opportunity that will. As what often may feel like a breakdown, you will soon discover it’s a breakthrough. Keep Going!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Edward Smith III is a father, husband, Creative, Marketer, Community Builder, Activist, Entrepreneur, Leader, and Kappa Man. He holds each one of these titles close to his heart, as they help to define him as a man and will subsequently define his legacy. Since graduating from St. Johns University with both a Bachelor of Science degree and an M.B.A, Edward has spent 10+ years at top global advertising agencies leading strategic brand partnerships, award-winning campaigns, as well as managing millions of dollars in media budget for Fortune 500 companies such as Canon, Marriot, Venmo, and BET.
After achieving success in advertising, Edward decided to turn his attention to the Black community as a whole. Edward recognized the need for wellness and inspirational-focus resources that speak to the black community and believes that providing the community with daily gentle reminders to pursue their dreams with positive reinforcement can go a long way. With this mission established, he founded Do What You Think!
Do What You Think is a motivational and wellness platform that aims to inspire people to reach their goals by simply doing what they think. The platform offers daily morning motivational text, positive visual reinforcement via Instagram, live events, and merchandise purposefully designed to motivate those pursuing their dreams. DWYT events have included an entrepreneurial-focused panel discussion at Google, pop-up shops, and multi-media yoga experiences.
Through his platform, he has helped bring wellness experiences to underserved communities throughout New York, sent motivational messages to over 10,000 people, and was awarded a proclamation from the NY City Council for all of his work within the community.
“My goal is to inspire 1 million people to live the fullest version of themselves by gently reminding them that they must keep pursuing their dream. I believe that with a little motivation, people can go a long way.”
Site: www.DoWhatYouThink.com | Instagram: @DoWhatYouThink_ | TikTok: DoWhatYouThink
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
One of the most effective strategies I’ve implemented to grow my followers is to put on my blinders and run my own race. The more authentic you stay to yourself while keeping the reason you started this top of mind, people will gravitate to you. At this point, competition doesn’t matter as what people are aligning with goes beyond any product offering and instead gravitates towards the ethos and value of your company.
Trends come and go, but authenticity last forever.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Lead with empathy. Employees are human first, and we are allllll going through something in our life. While the size of what we are going through may differ or have different impacts on our life, we are all suppressing something for the greater good of the work. If you see someone is having a challenging day, give them permission to step away or ask to assist them versus reprimanding them. If you hear about an unfortunate event, create space for people to discuss it or process it however they feel.
Showing your team that you care about them first and then the work second will allow them to feel valued at the company and help maintain high morale.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DoWhatYouThink.com
- Instagram: @dowhatyouthink_
- Facebook: DoWhatYouThink
- Other: TikTok: DoWhatYouThink