We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gina Charles. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gina below.

Gina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Connexions Community Services is a nonprofit that I started in 2023 to bridge the gap between the community and access to available resources. Understanding the barriers that residents face such as literacy, comprehension, and awareness are not often addressed or considered when offering services. The goal is to equip and empower underserved communities with the tools to access resources effectively at no cost through education and advocacy.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a mother of 3 young adults and a dog mom. I have worked in healthcare in multiple capacities over the last couple of decades. Starting two businesses last year came on the heals of me becoming an empty nester as my youngest left for college. My first endeavor was starting Connexions Resource Group, LLC which is a consulting firm that specializes in process improvement. The why behind this start up was realizing that I had a skill that I was able to market where I can be my own boss. I’ve always had a healthy fear of being fired or laid off especially with Michigan being an at Will employment state. Then there isn Connexions Community Services, Inc the nonprofit I founded as my way of I paying it forward for all I have received in my past from those who serviced the community. I grew up here in Grand Rapids and had to utilize many of the services that are necessary for the residence that I want to reach. As a mother of three and I’m excited that I will leave a them with a legacy of good works that I have created.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

As a start up business that was self funded I was careful not to overspend on advertising for my business that had no brand recognition. The approach I used was to introduce my business to the those I was friends with on my social media pages and made sure that they received and invite to follow the page. I also used short post or videos, to explain the why behind starting the business as well as what I offer in terms of services. The most effective, however, in my opinion is advertising via LinkedIn. LinkedIn provide so much information that assist with credibility. Possible clients can view your experience, your education and achievements, all in one place, outside of a bio on your actual website. I advise clients currently who have small businesses to create both a professional LinkedIn page and then a LinkedIn page for their business as well to draw in not only possible clients and customers, but maybe even those with resources that can help grow their business .

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to make sure that the communication is clear and consistent between the leadership and the teams. This builds trust between management and the employees. Leaders that withhold information that can or will be later discovered can result in a high turnover rates due to uncertainty. One of the common mistakes that I find is lack of or poor change management. Ensuring that known change is communicated early and often is the best way to get buy in from establish teams, and remove the fear of the unknown.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.connexions-resources.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Connexionsgr?mibextid=opq0tG
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-charles-mm-bsha-37587053?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Other: https://www.connexionscommunity.org/

Image Credits
Dom Davis