Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Crystal Victoria. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Crystal, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?
The most innovative thing I’ve done in my career is creating a unique space inside of high traffic shopping malls for youth ages 12-19 that have their own business or brand, called Trail Blaze Shop. We made history by creating a brick & mortar retail business and “pop up shop” model around youth entrepreneurs, which is sustainable and scalable, and that attracted the attention of national retail brands and a partnership with one of the world’s largest shopping mall owners. To add to that, we’ve been able to secure government funding to help sustain operations and hire other youth to manage our stores as an apprenticeship program, enabling youth to be qualified and experienced Store Managers after two years of working in our stores. The ability to do this as a 501(c)3 nonprofit with government funds on a national scale has never been done before and extremely hard work, but it’s been exciting to watch all of the pieces and community partnerships come together to make it work for the best interest of the next generation. I’m excited for our kids because the opportunities that we see developing now will give them many chances and pathways to have a great future and career doing any thing they can dream of.
Crystal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My story begins as a kid and observing what appeared to be two completely different worlds and lifestyles in the same city. Back then, social media didn’t exist, so observing wealthy people’s lives required that you have access to certain networks and that you leave your community. My grandmother worked as a maid for an extremely wealthy family in Denton, Texas. Some days she would pick me up after school and take me to work with her to help out with housekeeping duties and cleaning in the homes of the wealthy family she worked for, who owned several massive homes in the most expensive area of town. At the time, she had been their maid for over 25 years and also their Nanny, helping to care for their children and later their grandchildren.
My job was to iron bed linens and sheets, then neatly fold and stack them in the linen closets. After that, my job was to vacuum clean the stairs. One day, it occurred to me that this family lived a very different life than I did. It seemed much easier and not burdened with the challenges of having enough money for bills. They had a full-time Maid, Nanny, and other staff in their homes. My mom, aunts, and uncles all worked hard to provide a stable life and sometimes worked multiple jobs to pay bills.
My mother had a very good job at a local trucking company and made a decent middle-class income, but we still struggled a lot. My father died in a car accident when I was six months old. My mother raised me as a single parent and was always at work to make sure I had a better life and education than she did. The interesting part is that I’m from a family who was not exposed to entrepreneurship nor business owners. I am the first and only entrepreneur in my family.
So when I first observed the family my grandmother worked for living “more comfortably”, I wanted to help my mom and my family out. I started asking questions because I was a very smart and curious kid. I had questions like, “Why can’t we live like these people?”, “What are they doing that we’re not doing?”, “What do they do for a living?”. Neither my mother or grandmother could answer those questions, and some of the answers I got made me frustrated and confused. I didn’t understand. According to my mom and sometimes the rest of my family, I was “just too smart for my own good.” I never understood what that meant because I was praised for being a straight “A” student. But when I would get told, “I’m too smart”, I thought it meant something was wrong with me, or that I was bad. The frustration from being confused led me to get in a whole lot of trouble at a young age. When I got to high school, I quit listening to most adults because I was living in a ton of contradictions by doing so, and it was driving me crazy. I could never figure out what they wanted me to do. Maybe I simply didn’t understand balance back then, but something didn’t make sense about life at all. I felt like I was missing some information.
Looking back, I realize being “too smart for your own good” really means you courageous, creative, and curious. I also think it means you are an entrepreneur. Being smart and asking questions as a kid can make adults uncomfortable. I asked questions that were sometimes uncomfortable and hard for adults to answer and explain to a child. The answers I was seeking required knowledge of entrepreneurship, but also a harsh reality check. Although life isn’t fair, and being a minority female is difficult, in some cases, it required that my mom and family accept responsibility and certain things about themselves that they may not have wanted to admit to me at that time. In addition, it was just a different time and generation. They didn’t have computers and cell phones or access to information the way I did growing up.
To sum it up, we live in a world of “haves and have nots”, but “Why is that?” was the question I was always confused about as a kid. I honestly believe our youth see this on a daily basis now due to social media and the same frustrations and questions I had, there are now millions of kids with these same thoughts and who will suffer without having programs and spaces like what I’ve created with Target Evolution Inc and the Trail Blaze Shops. My family wanted the best for me and they all gave me the best they could with what they knew and had. Entrepreneurship education wasn’t a popular concept or even an educational subject back then, but now we have the power to change that and give equal access to entrepreneurial education to every child.
After getting into lots of trouble and navigating my way out through education and starting a business, I realized that the whole time I was an entrepreneur who didn’t know it or have guidance and neither did they. Nothing was wrong with me at all, but it was far too late for me to change some of the mistakes I’ve made. Those mistakes are some of my biggest regrets.
Ever since I figured out that I’m a natural-born entrepreneur, life has been completely amazing. I’m no longer confused and frustrated about life. I’ve built two successful companies in the last 10 years and had a few failures too. Today, I’m a published author of four books and a college textbook, and Founder and Executive Director of Target Evolution (which is the #1 After-School & Summer Youth Entrepreneurship Program in Texas). I’ve been interviewed in magazines, radio shows, and news stations internationally, and I’m excited about the work I was born to do with youth and young adults.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe what helped me build my reputation was the direction I began, which was tied to the criminal justice system, politicians, and judges in particular. Because I had made so many mistakes as a kid, I got to know a few judges. Looking back, I would’ve never guessed that the same people who once locked me up, would support my life change to the point of listening to me, and allowing me to help them improve diversion court programs and mentor others who were where I had once been. One judge that I had been in front of a time or 2, bought 100 copies of my book, “The Vicious Cycle” and asked me to sign them all so she could give the book to her probation officers to read, as a Christmas gift. Their listening ear, was the single most important vote of confidence I’d ever received.
I was always a very intelligent and educated person, and being able to communicate with judges and other politicians over time made me want to be smarter and work harder to improve the pathway out of the criminal justice system for so many youth. I studied everything I could on recidivism and strategies to help people get out and stay out. The truth is everyone won’t be as strong as I was to overcome the devastating effects of incarceration and reentry. By the grace of God and my family, I made it out and stayed out, but so many times I almost didn’t. One wrong move or decision, one wrong friend or partner, one wrong anything could have sent me back just like it does so many others. I was intentional about surrounding myself with different people, but that even required learning who really understood me and the issues, and who really cared enough to help beyond just listening.
What I learned most from being in this environment is that helping people after they’ve been incarcerated is often a little too late. It was more important to get help and positive resources to them before they left jail or preferably as kids, so they won’t go down that road to begin with. It can happen to any one, any kid, in any community. After spending almost 4 years listening to politicians and observing the issues, I realized that we needed to develop programming targeted at an younger demographic to completely distract them from getting in trouble in the first place. If earning money (or hustlin’) that could potentially motivate them to get in trouble, then let’s use money to help them stay out of trouble. My thought was let’s create an opportunity that is lucrative for them, attractive, fun, cool, hip, engaging, and real. Creating this opportunity was the foundation of Target Evolution Incorporated, in addition to the inspiration behind the name. Target Evolution means “focusing on change”, a changed life, earning “change” (money), and societal change. The 21st Century Workforce and Economy will look and be very different then the world we grew up in. The COVID pandemic accelerated that fact, and added millions of frustrated kids to the equation.
My job in life is to make sure they are ready for this new economy and new workforce, and there’s equity and understanding for them. I was born for the entire purpose of going through absolute hell to ensure I was ready for this moment in time, and to ensure that these kids had a way around, out, and through. My ultimate motivation was my own story and saving the younger version of me. I had a “bone to pick” with the criminal justice system because of what I had gone through, and I vowed to make a difference and fix it for good. That vow is the only reason this organization survived COVID and some other really dark times and moments. That vow is also the reason, we’re a #1 program. This organization was built on solving the problem and making an impact. There was no ego involved. Only love, team work, and a sincere desire to solve the problem and build a “bridge over troubled water” ensuring that NO MORE YOUTH would have a story like mine and have to go through the challenges that I went through. We are on the forefront working with kids from all backgrounds and environments because again, no household or community can guarantee their kids won’t get into some kind of trouble with the criminal justice system at some point in life. Programs like ours and Founders like myself, are here to help youth because we truly understand and we have stories that will make a difference.
We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.
My second business was a business brokerage firm that my best friend and I started together. I give her 100% credit for encouraging me to take the classes to learn the trade. As a business broker, our job was to match people buying businesses with those selling their business and negotiate the deal to close.
The best advice I can give is keep your business and personal financial activity and income tax returns separated. We had millions of dollars worth of deals fall apart at closing or not even get there because business owners had their personal and business bank accounts and tax returns mixed up together. The issue is that we cannot calculate an accurate business valuation (or sale price) for your business, when that’s the case. Also, I advise people to start the business with the goal of selling it in mind whether you plan to sell it or not because you’ll build the business differently and think differently about the business while it’s growing. The same things that apply to business valuations and selling a business also applies to financing the business and raising capital. If you start off right, you won’t miss out on millions in financing to grow nor spend thousands of dollars trying to fix it later.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.targetevolution.org
- Instagram: @targetevolution @trailblazeshop
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/targetevolution
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/33202876/admin/
- Twitter: @targetevolution @trailblazeshop
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8udHluzLBZ0Cy2wzSlq5g
- Other: Guidestar.org Profile: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/45-1555898 Top Rated Nonprofits Profile: https://greatnonprofits.org/org/target-evolution