We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tra Verdejo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

I think we need to take the corporate new hire approach when it comes to the educational system, especially in HS. We have to prepare them with the right resources to be successful now, not 5-10 years down the line. We can’t wait until they go to college cause by then we lost them.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I have several businesses that I operate www.Beardifuloils.com

That’s my website I have my own Beard oil company. When you visit my website click on the book and films page .You will learn more about entrepreneurial history.

I wrote and published several books even signed a major distribution deal for 2 of my books “Corrupt City 1 and 2”
I also wrote, produced and directed several film projects.

And lastly I have been focusing more on my Photography and Videography and that’s where I fell in love with Canva.
I have a YouTube page called “HustleurHustle” My Hustle Ur Hustle channel focuses on up and coming business. I filmed and interview entrepreneurs in the Baltimore area.. you will also see a Podcast I do with my wife called 1+1=2.

IG @Beardiful_oil

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When Covid changed the world, small businesses felt the pain first. My company Beardiful oil at the moment had a physical location that closed for several weeks and even when we re-open business never picked up like Pre-Covid. I used social media to my advantaged. I started posting daily videos. Every day at 6pm I would announce a new special. That really boosted my online presence and now my online sales are matching my in-store sales. I closed the store, saved on the overhead and my business has grown since. I also started traveling more for festivals and fairs where I set up as a vendor. Don’t be surprised if you see a Beardiful Oil stand in a city near you.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My consistency and work ethic. My brand is a representation of who I am. I also understood I just couldn’t build relationships or grow by just being a quality product. I embodied a sports quote into my routine “First person in the GYM, last person to leave the GYM” That’s how I approach my business and I’m always looking for ways to expand my business. One thing that also separates me from my competitors is my customer service. I embraced the importance of customer service. I don’t treat my customers as a number. I called that “transaction sales” . You wanna stay away from those and start having “interaction sales” . That’s when you interact with your customers. That’s how you build long lasting business relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Beardifuloils.com
• Instagram: Beardiful_oil
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/HustleUrHustle