We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Felicia Slaton-Young a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Felicia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I actually came up with the idea to start a Chamber of Commerce when I was actually looking to find more clients. I was a investment advisor working for Edward Jones, in 2015 and I wanted to join my local Chamber to source more clients. As I was looking to see if I could find where they were, when they meet, etc, I learned that there wasn’t one. So, then I really started looking into local organizations and was told about the Greater Englewood CDC (GECDC). I meet with the leaders of the organization, at the time, and learned more about what they did and how they supported tech entrepreneurs.

I then inquired about how they helped local businesses and they didn’t have an answer. So we continued to stay in touch. After attending a few events, I got to meet the GECDC’s board chair and we also discussed a need for a Chamber. I was then introduced to Eric Mcloyd, who co-founded the GECDC and I shared with him the need for a community Chamber and he said he’d love to help me build it…and we did.

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

I’ve been in he financials services for more than 25 years and I’ve always loved working with small businesses, helping them grow. I’ve don small business lending and investment advising and so doing what I do for the Chamber is a natural next step. The Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce mission is to transform Greater Englewood into a popular commercial and retail destination by advising, developing and showcasing its established businesses and acting as a comprehensive economic development partner while creating a favorable social environment for chamber members. I work really hard to focus on delivering this mission.

We help people gain new understanding of industry trends, policy updates that impact their business and provide curriculum to help the expand and grow their business and assist them in finding access to capital. We also create space so that business owners can connect and work with each other.

We want folks to know that success doesn’t not happen overnight and that you will have to work harder than you did when you worked for someone else, but its worth it. You must not give up and always seek help and guidance from business support organizations t=like the Greater Englewood Chamber, to help you through some of the hurdle you’ll face as a business owner.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met the Englewood Chambers cofounder, Erik McLoyd in the backyard of a friend home. I learned about the work he did as we were in the same industry. He’s driven and quite the visionary. When I started saying that Englewood needs a Chamber, he agreed and did not hesitate to say that he’d help me build it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What has helped the build the Englewood Chambers reputation is that we are actively visible in the community. We walk the business corridors to chat with all of our business owners. We ask them about how they are doing, what they need, and how we can help. We stay connected and always ensure they know about programs, grants or other access to capital or networks that’s to their benefit. We are consistent and most importantly, we ensure our operations are legal and ethical as we want to be seen as a reliable, dependable community resource…always!

When our members thank us, it let’s us know we are doing something right.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gechamber.com
• Instagram: @gechamber
• Facebook: greaterenglewoodchamber
• Twitter: @ge_chamber

Image Credits
Bill Beiderman, Photographer