Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Ekonde and Stephanie Ettiegne.
Hi Laura and Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We attended the same high school in our home country, Ivory Coast, in West Africa, which is how we became friends. We then moved to the US about ten years ago to further our education in Business Management. As we grew into professional adults, we saw the need to create an interactive platform for our community where we could promote uplifting conversations, share knowledge and inspire mentorship. In June 2019, we decided to start hosting networking events centered around specific topics to stir thoughts provoking ideas and unique solutions to challenges faced by young adults in today’s world. We wanted to establish something fun, laid back but at the same time educative and enriching. Something like happy hour with powerful conversation that will leave you with a “wow” feeling. So we thought, Happy Hour Redefined! Chilling in a smart way! Smart Chill!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our partnership was motivated by the desire to do something that makes a difference in people’s lives. However, we quickly realized that the life of an entrepreneur is never a smooth one! Networking events were not very popular in our community. We come from a very shy culture where we were taught not to be loud with our ideas. As a result, introducing this concept where we encourage our peers to share their bold thoughts and ideas was definitely tough! We were scared people were not going to find it interesting and therefore not show up to our events. Bringing awareness to the brand and finding partners & sponsors has also been challenging but we try to find innovative ways to reach our targeted audience and we attend a lot of networking events to gain more exposure and experience. In addition to that, when we finally started to get a good footprint, the pandemic hit and really slowed down our activities because we couldn’t host in-person gatherings for months. However, we braced ourselves and understood that Smart Chill is still brand new and we have faith that the brand will continue to grow to its full potential.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Smart Chill?
Smart Chill is a platform that aims to educate, share knowledge, inspire mentorship, solve challenges and strengthen relationships. Our end goal is to become one of the largest organizations that empower young adults and help them grow in their chosen path. We recently became a non-profit organization that is solely focused on supporting the community. We specialize in hosting networking events for young professionals and entrepreneurs and are also working on expanding our scope by developing the Smart Chill Show, a web-series on YouTube. Our “Happy Hour Redefined” concept is unique, as it fosters enriching conversations in a laid back atmosphere. We recently hosted a successful event dedicated to women only, “Women, Let’s Get Real,” where women from all backgrounds could come for brunch and were excited to experience sisterhood, heal, and talk about real women issues. We are constantly looking to partner with other entities in the DFW area with a similar vision to ours. Our goal is to host, sponsor and support events and activities that will promote community outreach. Through Smart Chill, our insiders are exposed to new ideas, professional opportunities and can become better individuals through social development.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk-Taking is important because that is how you are able to step up your game. In life, we can’t move forward without taking any risks. We take risks in love, business, friendship, etc. Some people feel afraid to fail because of their peers but the reward is higher than the fear. Risks can bring out spectacular outcomes if you succeed or a learning experience if you fail. No matter the outcome, either way, we grow through the process and become more resilient and confident. If you do not take any risks in your life, you will pass up every opportunity in front of you and may not be able to grow. If you are not much of a risk-taker, start with small risks and work your way through bigger risks. For example, if you have a passion and would like to turn it into a business, do it on a smaller scale as a side gig first before quitting your job.
Contact Info:
- Email: mysmartchill@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysmartchill/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MySmartChill
Image Credits
Yobo Photography Awakening Africa Media
