We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angela Flowers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angela below.
Angela , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I never knew I was going to be a business owner. I kind of fell into it. I was going through the pages of Black Enterprise Magazine and I saw an ad for a contest from Miller Coors Brewing company advertising the Miller Urban Entrepreneur Series (MUES) which was a business pitch competition. I had two weeks to develop a business concept, write and submit a plan. I’ve always been a solid writer so I felt like the task at hand could be done. I was currently employed as a school social worker and two of my friends had similar positions in other local schools. We came together and brainstormed a business name using the initials in our first names which were Meleika, Angela, and Dakota and we came up with “Making A Difference Consulting, LLC.” Our business would provide mental health services, summer camps and programs, professional development and workshops to youth, families, and schools. We decided to come up with our three year strategy and submitted our plan. We were invited to Chicago and found out we would be taped for this reality tv show (think Shark Tank before Shark Tank) where we were interviewed and asked questioned by a panel of judges about our business concept, ways to scale and make money, and our long term strategic plans. We thought we completely bombed the pitch. Although we didn’t win the grand prize, we were awarded a monetary gift which allowed us to host our first all girls summer camp in 2008 and we have been serving the needs of over 25000 families over the last 15 years.
The biggest risk I personally took was to quit my full-time job in the summer of 2010 without a plan, draw down my 401k and decide to become a full time entrepreneur. I didn’t know the first thing about business, but I knew that I couldn’t help children and families the way I wanted to by being confined to a traditional job. The politics and constraints of working in a school setting limited me to the impact that I was able to make so I knew I needed to leave. I was taking a huge risk, but, at the end of the day I knew I had transferable skills that would make me a great asset to any company if I ever needed to return to a traditional job on top of the fact that I had a master’s degree in social administration to fall back on.
I knew the programs and services I created worked because I would see families that I’ve worked with years later and they always talked about what they learned, how the services helped them, and expressed gratitude d for the care they received. Making A Difference Consulting has become a staple in Northeast Ohio and we pride ourselves on offering innovative programs for youth that focus on equipping youth with social skills, improving self esteem and confidence, and helping youth identify their unique gifts and talents. We also aim to demystify the stigma behind mental health through community conversations on mental wellness, stress management, and healthy coping skills.
Angela , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Angela C. Flowers is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW-S) with Supervisor designation in the state of Ohio, grant writer, and program developer. She speaks and facilitates conversations with children and teens on topics that include self- esteem, bullying, suicide, depression, sexual abuse, and witnessing violence. Ms. Flowers has created D.I.V.A.S. (Demonstrating Inner Value, Acceptance, and Self-Worth) and Boys II Men support groups for youth to help them identify their inner strengths, talents, and worth while developing social and life skills. Angela has written over 200+ grants and has received funding for numerous school districts, churches, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations totaling over
$3.5 million in funds. She has been writing grants for over 15+ years and specializes in youth development funding and programming for K-12. She served as the Alternative Schools Grant Administrator as a consultant for 10 years with the Partnership to Alternative Learning program, where she wrote the yearly program grant, provided data analysis and fiscal management, and served as a peer grant reviewer for Ohio Department of Education. She recently served as a technical assistant grant reviewer for the second round of the Cleveland Black Futures Fund and has participated in the Out-of-School Time Collaborative (OST-C) and “She Rises” cohorts under Cleveland Foundation.
Angela was selected by Cleveland Magazine as one of Cleveland’s Most Interesting People of 2019 and Crain’s Cleveland Magazine as a 2019 Notable Woman in
Entrepreneurship. Ms. Flowers has been featured by business incubator Jumpstart as a premier entrepreneur and is a finalist in the 2019 Cleveland Chain Reaction Pitch Competition. Due to her work with “State of the Teens” at the beginning of the pandemic, Angela has been featured as a panelist discussing mental health issues, anxiety, and educational stressors with various national organizations in over 42 states and has recently trained over 21,000 professionals on dealing with work related stress and burnout.
Ms. Flowers is a co-founder of Making A Difference Consulting and in private practice in Children & Family Therapeutic Solutions. Ms. Flowers is an author of a children’s book, “Footprints in the Sky,” which focuses on grief, an E-Book “Show Me the Money” which is a workbook to help novice grant writers understand the process of searching and receiving funds, and has created a “YouthBiz Academy” E-Book to help youth understand business plan writing and elevator pitches. Ms. Flowers is an advisory board member for the Cuyahoga County Youth Work Institute (CCYWI) with Case Western Reserve, is a faculty field instructor at MSASS with Case Western Reserve University, and a board member for Victory Center for Youth, BrandNew Youth Mentoring, T9ke Charge.
Ms. Flowers received her M.S. in Social Administration from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University and B.S. in psychology from John Carroll University.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Making A Difference Consulting was primarily a service business that provided 75% of our business to schools so when the pandemic initially hit and schools shut down, we immediately lost a huge revenue stream once schools went to virtual options. This forced us to pivot our business model, learn how to engage youth through zoom and develop and adapt our programs to be held on the various platforms. Had we not been able to shift, we would have easily gone out of business. What the pandemic taught us as a small business was to consistent innovate, create digital products, and multiple streams of income. During this timeframe, we were able to create courses, facilitate more online workshops, and expand our reach to other states due to the flexibility of being able to provide professional development online. This newfound stream of income has allowed us to hire additional consultants and increase revenue. We are currently working on some on demand and learning tools that will allow more consumers to experience our programs and services on their own time.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
The initial capital for the business came from personal savings as well as startup capital that was won through a business plan competition. Outside of those initial funds, our fee for service model, grants, and private investors has allowed us to grown and obtain a brick and mortar space to provide services at our location and deliver at various schools and community centers. We are always taking advantage of the entrepreneurial ecosystem within Northeast Ohio and had the opportunity to be accepted into Jumpstart Inc which is a non profit organization that provides resources, access to funding, and support to for profit businesses. Through the core city program, we were able to gain access to marketing, business coaching, and even funding through investors to help with sustainability.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.makingadifferenceconsulting.com
- Instagram: Madconsulting
- Facebook: Making A Difference Consulting
- Linkedin: Angela C Flowers
Image Credits
Angela Flowers