Nita Cooper with Stars N Skyes Travel and Monique Dorsainvil with Facebook

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by on pay Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:24] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a fun one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor on pay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories today on the Atlanta Business Radio. We have Monique Dorsainvil and Nita Cooper. Monique is with Facebook and Anita is with stars and skies travel. And the reason they’re both here is to discuss Black Business Month and how Facebook is helping folks kind of provide more value and to help them get the word out about the good work that they’re doing in their businesses. So let’s kick it off with Monique. Welcome, Monique.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:01:04] Thanks so much, I am really thrilled to be here, thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] Well, I’m sure I didn’t give it all the credit that it was due, but talk about Facebook’s involvement with Black Business Month and and kind of your vision of how you see this playing out for folks.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:01:21] Great. So thanks again for having me. As you shared, I am on the Facebook team. I’m a public policy director and my team works with third party think tanks, advocacy organizations and civil and human rights organizations. One area of work that my team is focused on right now, just coming off of August, being Black Business Month, we’re really working on support to black business owners on our platform. We know that black business owners were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, so we really tailored our response to commit financial capital. Digital skills training and proactively promoting black owned businesses on Facebook’s platform. So I’m happy to dove into some of the research that we’ve done and some of the initiatives if now’s a good time.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:12] Well, what I’d like to know, and maybe your research kind of will kind of verify some of these hypotheses. I have I see in the media on traditional media, especially a handful of entrepreneurs or business owners get kind of an extraordinary amount of the attention and that folks that are black owned businesses, minority owned businesses, people that are running small and midsize businesses rarely get an opportunity to even share their story in traditional media. How do you see kind of Facebook’s role in helping those folks, those underserved folks kind of get the word out and leverage a platform as powerful as Facebook’s to kind of draw attention to the work that they’re doing? Because a lot of times those are the unsung heroes. Those are the folks that are grinding every day that desperately need the attention.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:03:08] You know what? I think you’re absolutely right. Those are the unsung heroes. And just this past July, we released a report The Global State of Small Business, and we really focused on that economic impact that the pandemic has had. We also focused on information on how small businesses can really plug into resources. One thing that stood out to me in that report is that minority led, small and medium sized businesses, specifically in the U.S., were more likely to report a reduction in sales compared to the same period last year. Minority small businesses are 11 percent more likely to expect cash flow challenges, 18 percent less likely to be confident in their ability to stay open for another 12 months. So I think you’re right in that the focus on making sure that organizations have resources is really a priority. And there are really two things that I want to lift that we’re focused on at Facebook. And the timing of us speaking is perfect today. We we just really dug into two initiatives that we are announcing. So first, we’re introducing a new small business funding resource on Facebook that connects small business owners with purpose driven grant and loan opportunities. It also connects them to business resources, small business networking groups. This funding hub includes grants, loans, educational resources, and I’m happy to share the website at the end of our conversation so folks can have that resource.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:04:51] The second thing I want to lift up is that we are expanding the Facebook Invoice BackTrack Fast Track program, so beginning in October, October 1st. Small businesses, minority owned small businesses will be eligible essentially to have cash immediately returned for goods and services, so they would essentially their goods and services. The invoices would be taken care of by Facebook on the front end. So instead of waiting 60 days, one hundred and twenty days, the normal period that it takes to get paid, those invoices would be paid almost immediately and we will be funding 100 million in invoices on an ongoing basis. And you know, our CEO, Sheryl Sandberg, really hit it home. She did an op ed in USA today, and, you know, she really highlighted that we were hearing firsthand from our small businesses, particularly minority owned businesses and vendors, in the early days of the pandemic that they were struggling with cash flow. They told us this is often because their invoices are rarely paid or even paid on time, for that matter. It can take up to nine. 90 days for small businesses to get paid for their work, and that lags their revenue, and that really is not acceptable during the pandemic period and in particular because it adds another impact that these small businesses are dealing with on a day to day basis.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:23] Well, it sounds like that Facebook is trying to be a real partner to businesses small, small and mid-sized businesses in general, but specifically to minority led small businesses.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:06:35] Absolutely. You know, another area that we really focus on is training. So we hold large, scaled virtual events. This summer, we did an event called Summer of Support. Essentially, these events are helping millions of people get digital skills and information. They need to make the most critical choices during the sales periods when they’re most in need. So over the next three years, we will reach one hundred one million members of the black community and one million members of the Latin X community in the United States through a program called Elevate. And that program provides free training in the digital skills space from setting up an online presence to creating marketing materials and more. And we’ll be giving away one hundred thousand scholarships to black students, specifically working on digital skills certifications. And that’s through our Facebook blueprint program.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:33] Well, let’s bring Nita Cooper on to talk about where the rubber hits the road and how a small black owned woman led business has handled the pandemic, and how she’s maybe leveraged some of the resources that Facebook and other social media platforms have available to her. Welcome, Nita.

Nita Cooper: [00:07:53] Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] First, before we get too far into things needed, tell us your businesses, stars and skies travel. How about kind of the elevator pitch for stars and skies for the folks that are listening in case they have some travel needs?

Nita Cooper: [00:08:07] Yeah, stars and Skies Travel is and is a travel agency located in Fayetteville, Georgia. We do have a storefront out in the Fayetteville area. We serviced all clients, all destinations. So Solo Travelers Group, traveling, corporate events, personal travel, family travel reunions, we do it all. We started off initially, it was just myself, but now we have grown. We have six agents and we’re able to meet online and we can do it by appointment only in the office.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:42] Now explain to the listeners why it’s hiring or working with the travel agents a good idea, rather than just trying to kind of find the best deal on your own.

Nita Cooper: [00:08:53] It used to be OK to try to figure it out on your own, but right now, after the pandemic, I have definitely seen an increase in the number of people that are searching for a guidance because of the way things are now for us to move around. The days are gone for you just being able to go online or go on your Delta app and or your airline app and to book a flight, you have to find out what the requirements are to go into that country. And it’s not just the country situation. Once you arrive in the country, you have to find out what the protocols are at that hotel for you to even check into that hotel. So it’s a lot of research that has to go into place now before we decide where we want to vacation or where we want to travel to. So I feel like right now it is almost dangerous to try to move around without the guidance of a travel professional.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:40] So now a travel professional, not only can they save you money, but they save you time and they can find kind of maybe deals that you weren’t even aware of.

Nita Cooper: [00:09:48] Absolutely. We always have people that’s coming to us can say that they find found something and not only just the deals, but recommendations, because you may just be reading on, you know, the other outlets, TripAdvisor and reviews. Sometimes those reviews could be from people who, you know, could be a competitor, you know, speaking negatively about that product. So it’s very important that you speak with a professional who, you know, more than likely we have sent someone to that destination. You know, we’ve traveled there ourselves and we can give you recommendations, not by just us reading the reviews along with you, but we’ve actually touched down in that destination and we can let you know what’s the good place to stay. I even go as far as giving recommendations to where to dine at, you know, excursions and different things to do while you’re there. I’m really big on local experiences. I don’t want any of my itineraries to look like anything that you can just book yourself. I want you to understand the value of actually coming to stars and skies travel to have a complete, customized itinerary.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:47] So now talk about how you kind of go to market, talk about how you leverage social media to help you grow your business.

Nita Cooper: [00:10:55] I didn’t really go as deep into what Facebook offered until the pandemic hit. And from the travel industry, everybody went silent. If you was scrolling on Facebook or scrolling on Instagram, travel agents and other people in my industry didn’t know what to say or how to address it. So that’s when I took to Facebook Leaders Network Group and it was a group of business owners and we all got together and we all started talking things out. We started having virtual classes. Facebook started delivering different products. I was, you know, going to the mailbox and there was lighting in there. There was tripods there. They gave us a lot of resources to help us because we saw things were shifting, so it was no longer meeting in the in my office. I had to figure out how to now run my business virtually online and going live and things like that. And I did not have the tools to do that. And Facebook guided us. They gave us workbooks for that. Then, with the other products that started popping and coming in place with the room feature, I was able to start to just log in on Facebook to meet with my clients. They’re able to schedule directly through Facebook. I was able to tell my story and start showing people with what it’s like now to travel because people didn’t understand what was going on. So I was able to actually video myself traveling during the pandemic to let them know what it looked like now and what to expect when they started landing into these destinations. So as a result of Facebook having all of these tools out here, I was able to kind of jump ahead of the game and actually use it to my benefit to start showing people. And then people started feeling a little bit more comfortable about traveling, and I start seeing my followers increase and my phone started to ring.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:45] Now any advice for the business owner out there who hasn’t maybe leveraged Facebook in the way that you have? Is there some do’s and don’ts that you recommend for folks to get the most out of it?

Nita Cooper: [00:12:56] Yes. So the news is to actually start joining the Facebook groups. I know a lot of us, you know, our timelines are just filled with so much, but it’s very important that you start going ahead on and joining and becoming a part of the conversation. Don’t. Feel like you cannot, you know, step outside of your box. Don’t be afraid, you know, go. I was I had never before been in front of the camera, but I felt like it was time. It’s time for us to realize that things have changed as small businesses and we have to change with the times. So don’t be don’t feel uncomfortable. Step outside. Get with some friends, other business owners. We were a couple of us got together and we started testing each other out, you know, going live with each other until we felt comfortable. But you definitely want to get outside of your box and you definitely want to start researching, researching and seeing exactly what it is Facebook has to offer because it is a lot.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:54] Now, Anita, running a small business is hard, and sometimes it can be lonely and you don’t have maybe a group of people that are all there with you helping you. How did you kind of navigate some of this crisis? Did you have a support team around you that helped you through this? Did you have mentors that you can go to for advice?

Nita Cooper: [00:14:15] I’m in a lot of groups with other travel agents and other big travel business owners, so all of us were getting together and we’re, you know, we talk things through. Some of us was going like I started traveling maybe a month or so after the pandemic started and they were I allowed some of them to use my content. We were helping each other out. And then, like I said, I really had to step outside and go to other business owners who are not in the travel industry for guidance because we didn’t need, you know, to be live. We didn’t need rooms and all of that, but I needed it and I didn’t know how to. So I started networking more with other business owners as well to figure out how to start stepping out and going more into a visual, you know, actually being present and allowing people to see as opposed to them coming to the office. So I had to figure it out, and I did that by actually doing more networking with other business owners who were not in the travel industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:11] Now, have you found that Facebook has helped your business grow?

Nita Cooper: [00:15:17] Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Even in the Facebook leaders group, they allowed me to tell my story and they published it and it was shared, you know, throughout Facebook. So they have definitely helped me and they are still helping me every time they come out. You used to, you know, you get so many emails, but when I see something coming through with a new feature, they’re in a post up to come up on my screen. Facebook would like for you to try this. I’m immediately engaged. I’m clicking on it. They have one system called the business suite where you actually because content is king right now, so you can actually create your content loading one platform and it hits everything. So when you when it posts, it’s posting on Facebook and it’s posting on Instagram and it can post on WhatsApp. You know, it’s just so many good tools in there that’s actually saved me a lot of time.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:07] Now, Monique, you must be so proud when you hear stories like that.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:16:12] I really am. And you know what it makes me think of? I mean, one of the things that we’ve focused on at Facebook is just the discoverability of black business owners. So black entrepreneurs, small business owners, local shop owners can now identify their page as black or minority owned business on Facebook so that anyone who wants to support them can now easily do so. I mean, the best way to really find black owned businesses on the platform is to to click on business nearby. It’s a tool where you can browse offerings, you can click through messages, you can message the business owners directly, and the self designation is really voluntary. So page admins can choose to skip it, they can choose to edit it. But it’s a really way to really lift up the fact that you are a black or minority owned business owner. So I am. It’s incredible to hear all of the success that NIDA has had on the platform. I’m not going to lie. I spent some time on your Instagram. You have some really, really great content. I was checking it out before the conversation.

Nita Cooper: [00:17:24] Thank you so much, and I do want to tell you, I have been getting a lot of phone calls now where people are saying that they are contacting me because I am a black, minority female owned business. So I want to say and I asked them, How did you find me? And they said, Facebook, so I want to say thank you so much to Facebook, because finally, you know, after all these years, I do feel like I am being seen and I am getting noticed.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:50] Well, Anita, you’re definitely being heard. And if somebody wants to connect with you, whether it’s on Facebook or your website, what is the coordinates

Nita Cooper: [00:17:59] W WW that stars and Sky WSJ.com? So we’re at stars and Sky’s travel on Instagram stars and Sky’s travel on Facebook. So that’s S.T.A.R. as the letter and as in Nancy Scott. Esquire. Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:16] Travel, good stuff, and Monique, if somebody wants to learn more about all the offerings of Facebook, was there a portal or is there an easy way to find all that stuff that you mentioned?

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:18:27] Yeah, I’d love to share a couple links. So the first is to our business nearby tool. So that’s w w w facebook.com forward business underscore nearby forward slash. The other resource I’d love to lift up is the Facebook Blueprint program. So that’s w-w-what Facebook’s forward slash business, forward slash learn forward slash certification. Those are two really, really great resources that folks can can zero into for for additional information. And lastly, I don’t want to forget the fast track invoice program that I mentioned at the top. That one is w-w-what facebook.com forward slash business forward slash invoice dash fast track.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:17] Good stuff. Well, thank you both for sharing your stories today. You’re both doing important work and we appreciate you.

Nita Cooper: [00:19:23] Thank you for having me.

Monique Dorsainvil: [00:19:24] Thank you so much for having me as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:27] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Atlanta Business Radio.