We recently connected with Aswand Cruickshank and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Aswand thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

Growing up, with a name that is difficult for a lot people to pronounce, and being an African American male raised in the suburbs of silver spring Maryland. I was a misfit. I wasn’t being raised by a single parent in the inner city, so I wasn’t accepted by other African American peers because I didn’t have enough “Thug,” in me. I never measured up to a certain level of “Blackness,” that was required to hang out with them. My family migrated here from Trinidad & Tobago, so we didn’t have many Caucasian friends (or any other ethnicity). Because of this. Playing football was my safe space. I got my acceptance when I started playing at seven years old. What I learned is that, where you come from does not matter, what you look like DOES NOT matter, who your parents are, or HOW much money they have. DOES NOT MATTER! the only thing that mattered was who is willing to put in the work. Now, in the workplace. It’s imperative that we take that same philosophy and figure out ways to incorporate it, so every single staff member feels just as important as everyone else.

Aswand , 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?

I got into the industry of consulting, because of the years I spent as a football player. I had the good fortune to play for several coaches that made it their number one priority to teach us exactly what it takes to be loyal, and it was through that experience, that I had the unique opportunity upon my college graduation from Stony Brook University, to compare and contrast the way my coaches did things to how potential employers did things. With that, I’ve created a system that bridges a gap between what a person gets from a career coach to what an individual will get from a mindset coach.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I founded a company named, “Gym44 Consulting,” now “Gym44 Recruiting.” Initially I set the company up in a way in which the primary source for revenue would come from Advertising Sales. The way it works, is coaches of any sport can make a gym44 profile (Just like Gmail, LinkedIN, or Facebook), and they can post their tryouts. The Ad Sales come from the fact that every tryout that gets posted has a space for advertising. The ad sales were not taking off at all, I tried to start my own team by using gym44 to post tryouts, and although the players that wanted to play were coming to the tryouts, and requesting more tryouts. Not getting Ad sales limited everything I wanted to do, I had no way of paying for anything. I was virtually homeless.

I was in the Library, and I saw this guy walking up to everyone, giving them a flyer for the new barbershop he opened, and when he came over to me, I sat him down, and showed him gym44.com and explained everything to him. He wrote me a check on the spot for AD Space, and canceled an order he made for other marketing materials that he thought he would need for his new shop. The feeling was incredible, because I understood the importance of both prospecting, and targeting quality leads.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Yes. The book, that has had a high impact on my entrepreneurial thinking is a book titled “The Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell. He breaks down the way to spread an idea into three parts.

Connectors.

Mavens.

Salesperson.

A Connector is self explanatory, it’s a likable person that knows a lot of people. A Maven, has a lot of information, they love what they do, and they have a strong desire to share, constantly telling people about something coming up. A Salesperson. can get deals done, get money changing hands so the idea actually gets executed and turned into a reality. My core offer to any business owner is something called a “Move Swiftly Workshop,” in which I put current or potential employees into three categories

S-Skilled Worker.

WI- Well Informed Worker.

FT- Front Team Worker.

Once we have everyone separated, I then proceed to teach them how to add “LY,” and “Lift Yourself.” Hence the name Move Swift-LY. Just like spreading an idea takes Connectors. Mavens. and Salespeople. Getting a promotion or running an efficient business will require all three types of workers. Skilled. Well Informed. Font Team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://makeyamove.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swift_ly44/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwiftLY44/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aswand-cruickshank-3a4415b6/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Y7PvTrsMJvyIjne5ws2ew/videos

Image Credits
https://express.adobe.com/page/fMilRwXaEfvsZ/ https://www.instagram.com/kwushot/