Sales Executive Leverages 'Sphere of Influence' to Benefit Charities

By Shannon Prudhomme

Contributor, Gulf Coast Philanthropy

The best way to describe Susan Casias’ energy is to think of a latte with a double shot of espresso. Yes, it’s that jolting and vibrant! Her zest for life and passion for supporting charities are infectious and magnetic.  

“I often hear ‘I want what she’s got’,” Casias said. “I tell people ‘you have it, you’ve just got to pay attention and tap into it’.”

She graciously uses her ‘it factor’ to benefit Houston area non-profit organizations by tapping into her business connections and hosting high-profile Shred Days to raise money for non-profit organizations. Casias held her first fundraising Shred Day in 2008 while working with a large Houston-based recycling and shredding company.

In addition to serving on various community boards and mentoring youth in her church, she currently donates 20 Saturdays annually to coordinating and promoting the shredding fundraisers for non-profit organizations. Individuals donate a minimum of $10 to the selected organization, and their documents are then securely destroyed.

Casias’ journey to hosting these events was a logical transition, considering her background. She has always had an interest in sales and increasing public awareness about important issues. “I was doing these shred days for the public on weekend because I have a passion for the security of information, having been a victim of identity theft a couple of times myself,” Casias said.

In 2008, a colleague suggested raising money for non-profit organizations and she quickly began working to implement the concept.

The first organization she sponsored was Memorial Assistance Ministries, which was the “Charity of the Month” for the Houston West Chamber of Commerce. The first Shred Day was a huge success. “We raised $2,000 for that first event!” she said. An additional benefit to the organization was increased public awareness due to Casias’ large professional network.

At the time, she was working with a larger company, but eventually transitioned to working with Texas Security Shredding (TSS), a smaller company. Due to the cost of providing the shredding materials, TSS was only able to subsidize the cost of providing the resources for each Shred Day at a cost of $450.

Faced with this dilemma, Susan set out to research options that would allow her to still support local organizations. “I couldn’t find anyone to do this for free, and Texas Security Shredding charged the least amount for this service,” she said. In addition to reaching into her own pocket, Casias said she also recognized the power of her “sphere of influence” and opportunities to tap into her resources.

“My former clients from my previous employer hunted me down,” she said. “I realized companies didn’t care what company I was working for – they just wanted to work with Susan,” she said.

She decided to roll the dice and reach out to her colleagues to donate the funds needed for the first Shred Day she planned to host with Texas Security Shredding. “The first time I e-mailed my business friends, it took less than thirty minutes to get the underwriting the organization needed,” she said.

Casias also sent word out to her business colleagues to ensure a large turnout for the event. Sara Rice, Volunteer Coordinator for Memorial Assistance Ministries, said the organization has hosted eight events with Casias and Texas Security Shredding, which has exposed more people to her organization.

“It’s been a new way for people to come out and learn about us,” Rice said. “We also pair the shredding events with Houston Computer recycling, so it’s a green and environmentally-friendly event.”

For Casias, the Shred Days have affirmed her belief that “there is always a way to help a charity.” She provided the following suggestions for individuals seeking to support non-profit organizations:

• Think beyond money and large amounts of time. “Dedicating just an hour a week to volunteering for a local charity is a great way to help.”
  
• Co-op your efforts to maximize the impact. “Combine your funds with friends and contribute your funds to one organization,” she advised. 

• Use your voice to support an organization’s fundraising or public awareness initiatives. “Find a charity who needs people to make phone calls,” she said. “Let’s say you’re homebound; this is a great way to support a charity and interact with people.” 

• Reach out to your circle of friends. “You’d be surprised by how many people in your circle already contribute to a charity, and don’t say anything about it,” she said.

Casias said these events have reinforced her spiritual values. “To be forthcoming, I wasn’t always the best citizen,” she said. Since turning her life around, she said she feels empowered by her ability to give back and watch her efforts grow through the organizations she supports. “When you’re doing everything you’re supposed to do, God just puts things in front of you and gives you everything you need.”

Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) is currently seeking underwriters for a June 18^th shredding fundraiser with Susan Casias and Texas Security Shredding. To support this event, please contact her at susan@sitesbysusan.com or (713) 320-8019.

Guest Feature: Continuity of Plans for Nonprofit Organizations

By Sharie A. Blanton
Guest Contributor, Gulf Coast Philanthropy

As we embark upon the month of June we are reminded that hurricane season is upon us once again. Luckily for south Florida, our major disasters are somewhat seasonal and predictable and therefore we should be better prepared than some of our neighbors facing unannounced tragedies such as earthquakes, flooding and tornado damage.  

As community based organizations we have a responsibility to: 1) protect our staff and property (physical assets and agency records); and 2) also to serve as a resource to our community in times of need. In my area, the Miami Dade County Office of Emergency Management has a template for organizations to use. Organization may also design their own plan or to update/strengthen your existing plan using the Continuity of Operations Plan provided by the Virtual Community Action Network. 

According to the county-provided Continuity of Operations Plan, “the plan should develop procedures for alerting, notifying, activating and deploying employees; identify mission essential functions; establish an alternate facility; and roster personnel with authority and knowledge of functions.” 

Disaster and emergency preparedness should not be limited to the hurricane season and wind and water damage.   Fire, electricity outages and hazardous waste spills are probably more likely to occur than an explosion at Florida's Turkey Point or a tsunami in Biscayne Bay. Having mission-critical information stored in a secure and accessible off-site location or on the “cloud” are great first steps to ensuring data is not lost and downtime can be minimized. 

An Emergency Communications Plan should be in place to share critical information with key people and agencies. Defining, in advance, what role your agency can serve in the event of a localized disaster is another value-added sign of your organization’s commitment to the community’s well-being.  Residents might seek your agency out in a disaster as a communal gathering place and a source of information and safety whether you plan for that to happen or not. Is your organization ready?  

Sharie A. Blanton is Managing Director of Conscious Connections LLC in Miami, Florida. She provides strategic advisory consulting to local and international nonprofits and emerging social enterprises.

Texas Entrepreneur and Prairie View Graduate Inspires Austin Youth to Achieve

By Shannon Prudhomme

Contributor, Gulf Coast Philanthropy

Cover of Mittchell's self-published
book. To win an autographed copy,
scroll to the end of this article.

Photo courtesy of R. Mittchell

Most people never refer back to past homework assignments for inspiration, let alone to just review them. However, Ramont Mittchell, owner of Austin-based Supreme Clientele Hair and Massage Studio, referenced an assignment from an old college course and converted it into a successful business.

“A friend and I developed the idea for the business for my engineering economics course while at Prairie View [A&M University],” he said. “I am literally carrying out the exact concept now.”

The project detailed futuristic barbershops that included innovative technology for clients. “My business actually has a café, private TV rooms and Wi-Fi internet for clients,” he said. “People can come on their lunch break and get their hair done.”

In addition to his salon, Mittchell is also an author and fitness trainer. “My philosophy is that everything I can do well, I will turn into a business,” he said. “I am essentially turning myself into a walking portfolio.”

The 35-year-old Detroit native said he committed himself to retiring at this age when he was a teenager - and he did just that! “Last year on my 35^th birthday, I submitted my 30-day notice to Dell,” he said. “I figured whatever I was doing for myself at the point, that’s what I would do.”

The young entrepreneur honed his skills perfecting the hairlines of his undergraduate classmates while studying electrical engineering at Prairie View A&M University. “I realized I was good at it and enjoyed it, so I planned to open a barbershop after I graduated.”

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree, he worked for Fortune 500 companies, including Dell, for three years to secure the capital he needed to fund his business aspirations. In 2006, he secured a facility and worked as the lone barber in the shop. “I started off with one person then, and now I have thirteen employees in 2011,” he said

Mittchell is just as proud and proactive about his charitable work as he is about this business. After recognizing his unique position as a barber and the potential to impact the lives of young males, he decided to use these opportunities to encourage and inspire his clients.

“People talk in salons,” Mittchell said. “I realized I had the opportunity to speak with so many male high school students who come in for haircuts.”

The multi-talented entrepreneur first decided to focus on having constructive dialogue with his clients, and serve as a positive role model. . “I wanted them to see that I own this business, and that I don’t just talk about success – I am success,” he said. “I started asking young black males about school and their favorite subject before discussing the latest basketball game.”  

Mittchell’s commitment to youth stems from his upbringing in a tough Detroit neighborhood. “If you think of the worst neighborhood scenario, that’s where I lived,” he said. “I want to show young people that they can be a success no matter where they come from.”

This philosophy and his desire to change the lives of young people motivated him to launch the Ramont Mittchell Foundation in 2006, which promotes “continuous investment in the development of self” to high school kids through academic, aptitude and attitude awareness. " 


Initially the organization offered free hair cuts and hair styling to high school students throughout the academic year, provided they maintained a certain grade point average. “That was the backbone of the Foundation,” he said. Mittchell also began to host annual school supply drives to provide resources to students in need.

Now, the organization is developing monthly sessions on leadership development, money management, healthy eating and entrepreneurship for high school students. “I try to get it in these young people’s heads that ‘hey, you don’t have to just cash the check – you can write the check’,” he said.

His salon staff and operations also serve as a positive example to his clients. Supreme Clientele’s maintains a strict dress code policy for both staff and clients, and only Rhythm and Blues music is played throughout the day. “I want both a child who is five-years-old and an 80-year-old to feel comfortable in my shop,” he said.

His future plans? “I’m working on two more books and I plan to franchise,” he said. His goal is to become what he refers to as “the Wal-Mart of barber shops.” In essence, he wants to offer clients everything they could possibly need from a personal service with regard to hair and nails.

Mittchell said he also aims to have a sustainable impact in the greater Austin area. “I’m here to support my community for the long haul, and I honestly just want people to remember me as being sincere,” he said. “Everything that I do comes from the right place.”

* CONTEST: Gulf Coast Philanthropy is giving away an autographed copy of Ramont Mittchell’s self-published poetry book, The Collection: Everyday Poems. Everyday People. To qualify, please complete the following steps: 1) Subscribe to our blog; 2) E-mail the Editor with your twitter name; and 3) Tweet our blog handle (@GCPhilanthropy) through Wednesday, June 1st at noon. The subscriber with the most tweets will win!

Flex space and mixed-use buildings: changing times, new opportunities

By Dodie Jiffar

Contributor, Gulf Coast Philanthropy

Business incubators have been around a long time. They provide office space for small businesses and start-up companies that is shared, making it more affordable than locating office space individually.
 
Business incubators are usually sponsored by community organizations that promote entrepreneurship through education and mentorship. There can be intense competition for spots in these coveted incubators. But where there’s competition, there is innovation.

Enter the flex space. The term flex space typically refers to larger offices that have been updated to allow several types of business in a single location such as light manufacturing and shipping. But today’s flex space is more versatile and more accessible.

Americans are working from home in record numbers, either as a telecommuters or as a self-employed contractors. This shift has led to home offices becoming the norm, either as a stand-alone room in a home, or simply a small area carved out for a small workspace that can also serve as (or flex) as living space. This idea has also merged with the rise of mix used buildings.

Land developers and city planners across the U.S. are embracing the idea of mixed-use buildings, which allow consumers to live, work and shop in the same area in some cases. These buildings typically feature an anchor business, such as a bank or grocery store, as well service-based businesses, such as dry cleaners and restaurants. These anchor or service-based businesses may be located on the ground level, while the apartment or condo units are on the upper floors. This flexible model has been expanded to include the small business owner. Mixed-use buildings seeking to attract small business owners often provide an apartment or condo that is attached to a business space, which has a separate street level entrance from the living quarters.

A few examples of various mixed-use buildings in Gulf Coast states include Houston’s CityCenter, the Downtown Development District in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the award-winning Tapestry Park European Village in Jacksonvilla, Florida.

Depending on the type of business and location of the building, the cost of renting or buying this type of flex space in a mixed-use building is often much less expensive than seeking out a separate office. This concept allows more people to bring their business aspirations into reality. 

Cooperatives: Models of Community and Sustainability

By Dodie Jiffar

Contributor, Gulf Coast Philanthropy

Today’s businesses are in fierce competition for customers. More and more, customers are aware that what they buy and where they buy it has a direct impact on our communities through sales tax and how businesses reinvest in the communities they serve.  Common ways that businesses reinvest in the community include offering scholarships, donating a percentage of their profits, or simply making regular contributions of money, services, or volunteer hours to charitable organizations. However, cooperative businesses go even further, defining their purpose and success in terms of how they support the community.

Cooperatives, commonly called co-ops are, “autonomous associations of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprises.” Examples of co-operative businesses include credit unions (this is why members of one credit union can use teller services and ATMs from another credit union free of charge), as well as some grocery stores and apartments complexes in large metropolitan cities. 

Cooperative businesses are based on 7 principles

1.      Voluntary and Open Membership

2.      Democratic Member Control

3.      Member Economic Participation

4.      Autonomy and Independence

5.      Education, Training and Information

6.      Cooperation among Cooperatives

7.      Concern for Community

Modern cooperatives typically view the seventh principle, concern for community, in terms of their relationship within the community and sustainability. They strive to build relationships with other coops and local businesses and to serve the people who live in the communities through charity events and education. Further, their business model is based on environmentally conscious growth that is sustainable and equitable.

To find cooperative businesses in your area, enter the following terms in a search engine:

“Cooperative + type of business/service + city”

Already know a great cooperative in the Gulf Coast Region?

Leave a comment on GCP!