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

Alright, Kibwe thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Well as I mentioned before I am the founder of the DreamChaser International Foundation which is a 501 c 3 non profit organization that tutors, mentors and provides aid for children and young adults in underserved communities. In 2019 after finding out about the non profit work that myself and my then fiance were doing through our organization, we were rewarded with the “wedding of our dreams.” Our wedding was planned and executed by celebrity wedding planner David Tutera and it was aired on the Lifetime Network on an episode of the hit tv show “My Great Big Lifetime Wedding With David Tutera.” My wife grew up dreaming of David Tutera doing her wedding and because of our non profit work, this dream was made reality. The wedding was nothing short of amazing. Red roses everywhere, shiny crystal decor, and 100 of our best friends in a beautiful downtown LA venue. They donated 100 pairs of shoes to our non profit foundation and even flew in one of our previous scholarship winners as a surprise all the way from my home country of Trinidad and Tobago. What made this day even more special, was that my wife who is a former America’s Next Top Model had previously won a beauty pageant at this same venue, This was such a kind gesture from David Tutera and the Lifetime Network and it is something that we will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives. This is absolutely the kindest thing that anyone has ever done for me.

Kibwe, 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 am originally from Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the U.S. as a 17 year old after receiving a full athletic scholarship to play basketball in college. After college I went on to play 10 years of professional basketball and eventually retired in 2016.

My non profit foundation The DreamChaser International Foundation was launched in 2013 as a way to give back to young people in any of the communities that I ended up being a part of. We have done work all over the globe in the form of shoe drives, toy drives, read alouds, basketball camps amongst other things in an effort to keep youth motivated, engaged and inspired.

My company L.A. Lime was formed in 2017 but producing events was something I had done since college. Lime in Trinidad means “hang out or get together'” and the goal of L.A Lime was to bring great people and great energy together to network and form meaningful personal and professional relationships. We have hosted numerous types of networking events locally and internationally and continue to find innovative ways to connect people.

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

I think as a small business, your business is an extension of YOU. As simple as this may sound, being someone that’s personable and affable in the eyes of people has helped me tremendously in business. People support people who they like and who they feel good supporting. I’ve always been a people person and one that makes friends easily and gets along well with other people. In my opinion this is what endears people to me and by extension my business. Of course that’s only the beginning because once people decide that they want to support me because they like me as a person, then it is my job to make sure that the product that i put forth is of a high standard. I do the best to make sure that my events through L.A. LIME are engaging, interactive and fun for all patrons that attend. Any issues that arise, even if i may not be able to solve all of them exactly to everyone’s liking I make the best effort to find reasonable solutions that will appease the clients involved. I enjoy making sure that all of our patrons leave having a wonderful experience and that they would want to return and bring a friend to a future event.

Any advice for managing a team?

Both The DreamChaser International Foundation as well as L.A. LIME would not be successful if it were not for the awesome teams of ppl that are a part of both of these companies. As far as managing a team I always lead with respect, kindness and empathy. Without a team that’s motivated, business will always suffer. I try my best to have open communication with all team members and to foster an environment in which all members feel appreciated and valued for the important work that they do. I openly solicit feedback from team members as well, making sure that they know that their opinions are valued and that they can affect change if they see it necessary and are willing to speak up. I am also part of the team, anything that my team members are tasked with doing, I have no problem doing myself if necessary. I know that without my team my companies will not be successful and I take every opportunity to share this sentiment with my team members.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dcifoundation.org; www.la-lime.com
• Instagram: @dcifoundation; @l.a.lime; @ktrim54