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

Yvette, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for The ENVOY Guide magazine was really a culmination of several things. First, I realized in 2020 that after living in Western North Carolina for 10 years, I could count on two fingers the number of times I had seen a minority on the cover of any local magazine. There weren’t even any minorities as regular feature subjects, as writers, or even as editorial staff members. Second, by the fall of 2020, when we were all in lockdown, I was seeing so many news reports of small businesses, particularly minority businesses going under. My own business at the time, Red Angle Photography, which I had started in 2016, and was already struggling due to the lockdowns, would not have survived if it hadn’t been for my husband’s income. During the lockdown, I started watching a series on Netflix called “Altered Carbon.” The premise was basically how a person’s mind, personality, memories – essentially their whole essence – could be stored on a device that was implanted at birth. If anything happened to their body, that device could be transplanted to a new body, and as long as the device was never damaged or destroyed, you could live forever, just in different bodies. The main character of the series was referred to as “the last Envoy”, and the name ENVOY just always stood out to me, particularly because it means a messenger or representative. During this time, I had also become friends with a local newspaper ad rep, and she and I began talking about the lack of representation in our area and how many entrepreneurs, like myself, go into business with very little knowledge about actually starting and running a business, and how hard it is getting exposure and being able to afford advertising and marketing. That’s when I thought that a magazine would be a great way to not only educate people on entrepreneurship, but also give them a very affordable outlet to promote themselves. Plus, it allowed me to utilize all of my skills as an editor, desktop publisher, and photographer, and give exposure to my own photography business. No one else in my area was doing anything like this – a beautiful, high quality print and digital magazine that features, in every single issue, minorities (Black, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQ, etc), as well as women of all races. So to tie back in to the “Altered Carbon” reference, the magazine itself is my representation of a collective of knowledge and experiences that can be shared and passed on to others.

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 back background and context?

I am a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a magna cum laude graduate of Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. I worked for about 15 years in radio, television, corporate and non-profit communications in North Carolina, then I moved to Arizona and Texas. After that, I was a higher education publishing rep for 11 years. My husband and I moved to Hendersonville, NC in 2010. I started Red Angle Photography in January 2016 after leaving higher education publishing. I have always loved photography since I was young girl, and it had primarily been just a hobby. But by the end of 2015, I needed a more flexible schedule to spend more time taking care of my mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and just passed in December. So photography became not only my passion, but my career. It wasn’t until the fall of 2020 that I decided to pull the trigger on The ENVOY Guide. I didn’t know how I was going to finance it; and I didn’t do any feasibility studies or any real research. I just knew that it was a needed resource. Luckily my husband agreed. What’s interesting is that, the entire time I was working on the premiere issue, I was in excruciating pain. At the time, I didn’t know that I had a cyst on my sciatic nerve that was so painful I couldn’t sit or lie down for more than a few minutes, and I was often close to tears. But I was able to get the issue done and printed, and it published March 1, 2021. Two weeks later, I had to have back surgery to remove the cyst.

Over the last two years, I’ve been lucky to find a wonderful group of entrepreneurs and educators from across the country who contribute articles on a wide variety of topics, and share their expertise. And I am so proud of the fact that the magazine continues to get better and better with each issue. In print, the magazine has been distributed in up to 13 states. Digitally, the magazine is viewed in 47 states. I love that I can give nationwide exposure to my feature subjects from across the U.S., advertisers, and writers. There’s also a business directory in the back of every issue so that anyone looking for a specific type of business to support or partner with, and who wants to support a minority or woman-owned business or artist, can easily find them and connect with them.

Everyone who sees and reads the magazine absolutely loves it, not just for the content, but because it’s beautiful, and it feels really good in your hands. It’s a high quality magazine in every way but price. In fact, the ad rates are significantly lower than other print publications, and that’s deliberate because I never want to be out of reach for a small business or a struggling artist. However, like most other businesses, over the last two years, I have had to increase my ad and subscription rates because of the increased printing and mailing costs. I’ve yet to make a profit. This magazine is completely funded by my savings, any revenue that comes in from my photography business, and what advertising I can secure; and it’s getting harder and harder to continue as a print publication. If more advertisers or sponsors don’t come on board, I’ll have to transition completely to digital, which I really hope doesn’t have to happen. It really makes a difference seeing it in print.

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

I think what has really helped me build my reputation within my market is the quality of the print magazine, as well as my professionalism. In many instances when I initially meet people, especially non-minorities, and tell them I publish a magazine that features minorities and women, they are like, “oh, that’s nice.” But when I pull it out of my purse (because I always make sure I have a copy with me), and put it in their hands, then their eyes get big and their attitude completely changes. They are amazed at the beauty of the cover photo, and the feel of the magazine itself. It’s almost like they were expecting something that would be low quality, which unfortunately is indicative of how many people view minority businesses and products. My goal is to change that negative perception by showing that minorities are just as intelligent, persistent, beautiful, hard-working, creative, and business-minded as everyone else.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think the most significant story of my resilience is the fact that when I was in so much physical pain producing the very first issue, I could have just stopped and said, “I’m not going to do this.” I could have considered the pain as a sign that it wasn’t the right path for me. But I didn’t. I had set March 1, 2021 as my premiere publishing date, and I was determined to stick to it, and I did. I could have also stopped with just the first issue because I had contacted over 100 minority and women-owned businesses in my area to advertise and/or be featured, and 99.99% of them didn’t even respond to me. At the time, the features were free and my ads started at just $19. I still have a hard time getting support, but I’m still here because I love this magazine, what it stands for, and the impact it can make for other entrepreneurs and artists like myself. This March will mark the magazine’s two year anniversary, and its seventh print issue.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheENVOYguide.com
• Instagram: @TheENVOYguide
• Facebook: @TheENVOYguide
• Linkedin: @TheENVOYguide

Image Credits
Red Angle Photography