Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adolpha Cole. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Adolpha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
When I moved to San Jose, I met my cousin’s wife who is white. At large family dinners, the two of us would have conversations about things happening in society and life experiences as a black woman and a white woman in America. They would listen to each other’s opinions and not always agree but we would walk away learning from each other and became friends. I wondered if other people would want to talk to people with different life experiences from their own and just like that, a thought became an event.
Candidly Speaking started by asking San Jose residents to meet at a library to talk and listen to each other. The turn out confirmed the need to have a space where people could meet and talk to a person they may have never met otherwise. Five years later, Candidly Speaking is a 501c3 with its active listening development program is used across the U.S. in businesses and schools while keeping true to its origin of inviting the community to join the monthly virtual conversation. Candidly Speaking facilitates deep conversations in small groups through structured speaking and listening exercises with participants from all walks of life to help foster and cultivate authentic relationships in schools, the workplace and the community.
Polarization is at an all-time high in America. Adults and children alike lack consistent opportunities to talk to each other, which opens the door for misunderstanding and fear. This plays out in communities, schools and the workplace and with isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an even greater need to connect with others and be heard. Candidly Speaking: Conversations Across Cultures is a way for people to have a social, emotional experience that can enhance their life during this uncertain time and beyond.
The program directly implements California’s Common Core Standard component for grades K-12 of Speaking and Listening, a standard that gets the least amount of attention from educators in classrooms because it is the hardest to teach and assess. Now, more than ever, students need to feel heard and need a since a belonging.
In surveys, 90% of students think that Candidly Speaking is a good use of their time and increases their sense of connection with other students. We are definitely on to something.
Many places of work are suffering from poor morale and lack of trust among workers and management, which has led to lower productivity as well as a smaller bottom line for some companies. In part, this has created what is now known as The Great Resignation. The importance of empathy and social-emotional skills cannot be overstated in the work place. Technical skills can always be learned but to work as a team and confront and manage change, soft skills like empathy and communication are needed to solve problems as a group.
It has been wonderful to watch participants experience ah-ha moments through Candidly Speaking’s program. The organization will continue to dismantle inequality, discrimination and racism one conversation at a time.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Marketing leader and published author, Adolpha has over 20 years of B to C marketing experience. She specializes in product messaging, brand awareness and staying ahead of lifestyle and culture trends relating to generations X, Y and Z; leading to significant increases in company revenue and growth. A community organizer, Adolpha founded Candidly Speaking, an experiential program to help students, communities and companies build understanding, trust and productivity through uncomfortable conversations. My volunteerism includes being on a mentor team with SHE-CAN organization and as a writing mentor with Cinnamongirl organization, both San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits. I have also been volunteering at the Program Director for the Silicon Valley African Film Festival, a festival that showcases films from Africa and the African diaspora made by African filmmakers to help dispel myths of what the continent of Africa is and the people that live there. Because of the demand for Candidly Speaking’s program, I left marketing consulting work to focus full-time on growing Candidly Speaking throughout California and the United States. I am the author of two books and a Reiki Master. I received a BA in Broadcast Journalism from Georgia State University and a Specialized Associate Degree in Film & Video Production from Full Sail University.
We are a non-profit organization that helps administrations, businesses, and schools to communicate in diverse and intercultural environments .
We believe we can create better communities by teaching people to speak and listen so that they can foster meaningful connections with others.
To date over 2000 people have participated in Candidly Speaking’s program. We now have a large team of facilitators to accommodate virtual and in-person events to maintain a safe space for any topic of conversation. We are helping students, people develop their communication skills and helped various organizations to develop their workplace culture and build trust with improved employee engagement.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
Because this super fresh. I mean the wound is still open…Sigh. A certain bank that shall remain nameless closed the business account because a form was filled out incorrectly. Turns out because so many business fill it out incorrectly they have a sample form for you to follow. Only, we never received a sample form so anyway, it closed the day before 2 ACH payments were to be deposited and bills were do that day. The money from the business account was sent by check with the name of Candidly Speaking, a company that no longer had a bank account to cash the check. So, client payments and donations for Candidly Speaking can’t be processed until another business account is opened. The lessons learned here is to ALWAYS have more than one bank account for your business and also, find a bank that cares about small business owners and non-profit organizations because we need a little more hand-holding than big businesses.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Positive results helped build the companies reputation and we didn’t know that teachers and government administrators were attending the event until they started inquiring about bring the program to city departments school. When cities and schools started using the program, it became easy to find more clients who saw us as reputable.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.candidlyspeakingworldwide.org
- Instagram: @candidlyspeakingworldwide
- Facebook: @CandidlySpeakingWorldwide
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/30709598
- Other: linkedin.com/in/adolpha-cole