dc social hues | rasberry consulting, llc

It’s been a while since my last DC Social Hues interview but when I met Leon Harvey, Jr. at a recent event celebrating Social Media Day I knew he’d be a perfect candidate for the next installment of the series.

Harvey runs LifeStyleFeed.com, a website and mobile app that provides consumers, or as Harvey prefers to call them, guests, with short videos of various local venues. It’s a great way to get a feel for a place before you get there. I’m so glad Mr. Harvey (as it says on his business cards) took time from his busy schedule to sit down with me to discuss LifeStyleFeed.com – present and future.

“In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.” - Flora Edwards

A child of a military family, the “being of service” bug bit Harvey early on. Through his early jobs as a restaurant server, he discovered that he got genuine joy from seeing people enjoying themselves. As he told me, “Not only do I want to be happy, I like seeing other people happy.” During our lunch meeting, I could tell this was indeed the case. He was more attentive to me than our server was!

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” - Bill Gates

Harvey’s 15 years of restaurant industry experience have served him well in his entrepreneurial pursuit. Throughout his successful tenures as a concierge and private dining manager at numerous local establishments, he kept his eyes and ears open behind the scenes and was the go-to person for answering customer questions. The first-hand knowledge he gained of the complaints and concerns of both venue management and customers planted the seeds for the development of LifeStyleFeed.com

Rule No. 1: Meet people where they are.

One thing about stats is they’re always changing but just to give you an idea about the popularity of online video (data from Hubspot Blog):

Online video viewers will reach 169.3 million in 2012

53.5% of the population and 70.8% of internet users (up 7.1% from 2011) will watch online video in 2012.

Mobile video viewers will reach 54.6 million in 2012

Smartphone video viewers will reach 51.2 million in 2012

As you can see, the smart money is on video. Though there are multiple online outlets for searching and reviewing restaurants and other venues, Harvey realized that no one had developed a service that focused on videos. That’s where LifeStyleFeed.com comes in. Harvey envisions the service serving as a web/mobile concierge for his “guests” – providing not only video previews but information on daily specials and other resources. The mobile app will also be integrated with Google Maps for your added convenience. In Harvey’s words, “I want the site to do all the work for the person.” Who wouldn’t love to have a personal concierge in their pocket?

As is my way, Harvey and I had more of a conversation than a traditional interview, but I made sure to ask him some key questions.

TR: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?

LH: Entrepreneurs must be willing to sacrifice. Your willingness to sacrifice correlates to how serious you are about your venture. I’ve also learned the time period from idea to concept fruition must be short. If you take too long you give someone else the opportunity to take your idea and run with it.

TR: Who’s the ideal LifeStyleFeed.com “guest”?

LH: The “ideal” LifeStyleFeed.com guest is sophisticated, savvy, intuitive, needy, cultured and is an actor vs. being a reactor. He/she is that friend everyone turns to find out what’s going on. Of course, if you don’t currently possess those traits or are not “that friend” LifeStyleFeed.com is prepared to help you change that.

TR: Other than the videos displayed on the site and the app, what role does social media play in LifeStyleFeed.com?

LH: Social media puts people on an even playing field. It gives us the opportunity to connect and engage with a much wider audience as well as potential collaborators. Our Facebook page and Twitter account are fairly new but please connect with us there to find out all about what we’re up to.

TR: What does the future look like for LifeStyleFeed.com?

LH: We’re planning to branch out into other cities and to reach beyond hospitality into the retail and fashion sectors. To that end, we’ve started an IndieGogo campaign to help raise funds to support these initiatives. We also plan to eventually include promotional groups such as meetups, brands and promoters.

“Harvey. Leon Harvey.”

The five words Harvey used to describe himself were Relentless, Passionate, Intense, Perceptive and Empathetic. I can’t think of any better traits to have for someone dedicated to making life easier for others. Download the LifeStyleFeed.com app today to get a firsthand glimpse of how it will feed YOUR lifestyle.

*Special shout-out to the fabulously talented Anthony Tilghman for the photo accompanying this post.

Nearly a year ago, during DC Week 2010, I had a brief encounter with Anthony Braddy at a seminar called Black Tech Blazers. We were both in attendance and he made a comment I can’t recall now but at the time it struck a chord with me. I felt I needed to learn more about him and Capital Management Consulting, LLC (CMC, LLC) the management and IT consulting firm of which he is CEO.

Fast forward to May 2011 – I’ve seen Braddy at a couple of events and spouting his special brand of wisdom on Twitter, but I had yet to have the opportunity to have a real “let’s sit down and let me pick your brain” conversation with him. Well, after several cancellations, I finally had the opportunity to find out a little bit more about what makes this tech entrepreneur tick. Believe me when I tell you, his thought process is one of a kind; and I haven’t even scratched the surface.

“It was all a dream…” – Notorious B.I.G.

Braddy hails from a small, rural town in North Carolina. At not quite 40 years of age, he recalls growing up without running water. Yeah; it was THAT rural. At a young age, Braddy was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug as he watched his father run his own business. He appreciated the flexibility that being a business owner allowed his father and recalls that he was “always there.” This, along with the later realization that he isn’t cut out to work for other people, set Braddy on the path to being the successful business owner that he is today.

“You can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people. You can’t save the people if you don’t serve the people.” – Cornel West

Braddy’s road to renowned and award-winning tech entrepreneur was an unconventional one. Though as a child he was given the opportunity to attend several math and science camps – and excelled in them – he attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) as an African-American Studies major with aspirations of becoming a Cornel West-inspired professor. He states that attending UNC gave him the perspective that he could do great things, due to it’s well-known alumni roster. He never felt that he could not accomplish something because he was black, hailed from a rural town, was male, or any other labels. Braddy considers this outlook on life to be his greatest takeaway from UNC.

So how, you may ask, did he end up in the tech/IT field? It just so happened that a friend knew of a company that needed smart people, well versed in logic, to take their systems from being client based to being web based. Well, he was smart, and most certainly logical, so he interviewed and was hired. The rest, as they say, is history. Braddy has now been in the tech arena for almost 15 years.

“I place a high premium on being rational.” - Anthony Braddy

Part of the beauty of being an entrepreneur is that you report to yourself. Of course you may have clients and deliverables, but at the end of the day, you run the show at your company. This has fared well for Braddy for two main reasons: 1) He doesn’t really like working for people and 2) He needs to respect the intelligence of his supervisor. Well, when YOU are your supervisor, what’s not to respect? He also has a non-typical hiring theory; regarding intellect and ability over resume’ and accolades (or lack thereof.) Having been an HR professional for over 10 years, I can tell you that that is unusual; especially in the DC area. One of the header images on the CMC, LLC website says “A strong brand begins with a strong team.” This should give you an idea of the value that Braddy places on being surrounded by the right people.

“DC is different.” - Anthony Braddy

Braddy and I had more of a free flowing conversation than a traditional interview; however, I did have a few questions that I definitely wanted him to answer; especially pertaining to his views of the strengths and weaknesses of the DC area tech/social media scene.

TR: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?

AB: I’ve had to learn that I need to take every call and talk to everyone. As an introvert, this does not come naturally to me; but as a business owner, it’s necessary.

TR: How would you describe the local tech/social media scene?

AB: As a bunch of the same people kissing each others’ asses and young people who are not realizing that this is the case. DC has a younger brother complex. It’s not New York City and it’s not Silicon Valley, so it doesn’t quite know where it fits. There is a lot of talent here; but we need to stop comparing DC to other areas and be comfortable with being DC. If this is achieved, tech can be pushed to the top, over marketing.

TR: What other changes would you like to see?

AB: You can’t paint society with one brush. I’d like to see different cultural graphs come together to establish their own hierarchies. Different groups need to be having conversations amongst themselves to address their tech/social media needs, challenges, etc. and then come together as a larger group to discuss. The cultural gap is being closed on consuming tech, but not on producing it and this is due to economic discrepancies in funding, etc.

Braddy went on to question why the black tech/social media professionals that he sees being vocal on Twitter don’t form their own group offline. Before you ask “why doesn’t he start a group?,” I already asked him. He sees himself as more of an idea person. The man behind the plan, as it were. He won’t start the group; but he’ll join and promote it.

I asked Braddy how he thinks social media tools should be used. Though he didn’t become a professor, he still has a teaching spirit – “To change a couple of people’s perspectives on what they can accomplish or on life in general.” When asked how he uses Twitter and Facebook, he responded “I use Twitter to share enough thoughts that people want to come back for more. I want to build connections. Facebook? I don’t use Facebook.” Ha!

“…Portrait of the artist as a young man…” - Talib Kweli

The five words Braddy used to describe himself were: Relentless, Teacher, Genuine, Passionate and Hungry. I would add to that list Insightful and Visionary and change “Genuine” to Super Genuine. Braddy calls himself a “Reality Promoter.” Agreed.

I couldn’t even begin to include everything that Braddy and I discussed (we did a lot of talking for two introverts,) but I hope I’ve given you enough to pique your curiosity about one of the DC tech/social media scene’s leaders of color*. Please do yourself a favor and follow Anthony Braddy on Twitter at aeb_it for more of his sharp intellect, humor and wit – not to mention a nice playlist from the self described “hip hop aficionado.”

*Initially this was slated to be a one off interview, but as my conversation with Braddy continued, I realized that this would be a great opportunity to do an interview series with local tech/social media leaders, especially those of color. This series will be called ‘DC Social Hues.’