Antoy Grant With ICF NYC & Mangoseed Entertainment LLC

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Anthony Grant, who is the president and founder of Mango Seed Entertainment. And also she’s with ICF in New York City. Welcome.

Antoy Grant: Hi, Lee. It’s so great to be here today. I’m excited.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited too. Well, let’s first talk about mango seed. Tell us about that. How are you serving folks in that area?

Antoy Grant: Oh well. So Mango Seed Entertainment was kind of birthed out of my work in the entertainment industry. I started out when I was really young, modeling, acting, you know, writing. And as I worked in Hollywood and in the entertainment industry in New York. I felt really unfulfilled. I felt like a lot of the roles that, you know. Especially women of color at that time were doing, you know, we were going up for roles like the prostitute or the hooker or the prostitute, you know? That was literally what I was going out for all the time during, during the, you know, the 90s. And so it was just very unfulfilling. I felt like there were so many more roles that people could do, and I felt like the best way to empower myself was to create a company where I would have the power in my hands to write, produce, and create content that I felt was more representative of just everyone.

Lee Kantor: So did you actually do that? You started actually producing your own content?

Antoy Grant: Yes. The first thing I produced, I co-produced a show off Off-Broadway called Goddess City, and that ran for maybe two and a half years. Wow. It was very successful. It was a live show. And then that kind of led me to say, hey, you know, I think I want to move out to LA. So I ended up moving out to LA and pursuing, um, acting out there. And that’s where I started my company in Beverly Hills. And I was creating projects for companies within the Beverly Hills market. So a lot of internal videos like pitch videos, corporate videos, videos where, you know, they’re trying to sell their products, things like that. So yeah, so I got to do it some a lot of multimedia projects for the web. It was a lot of fun. Um, actually being in a space where I could create things from scratch, like from an idea to a finished product. So I really love that.

Lee Kantor: So did you purposely kind of not doing the live theatrical and moving on to video, but not just video to be like kind of through a streamer or a mass entertainment, but to be more industrial or commercial. Was that on purpose or did just circumstances kind of led you down that path?

Antoy Grant: I’ve always really had a fascination for television and film, and even when I was living in New York doing theater and, you know, TV and film there. New York is a very popular, you know, it’s Broadway. It’s all of those things. So it felt like a natural progression to do a theater production there. Um, but being in Hollywood, um, it kind of lends itself more to film and television. So I think it was just a natural, organic, you know, flow that happened. But I, I totally love film and I love television. I love the opportunity to do a retake. If you mess it up when you’re doing live theater, it’s just whatever you just did or didn’t do. That’s that’s it. So I really like, um, film and I like theater, and I like the opportunity to do different, um, takes on things and, you know, even do a better take than you did last time.

Lee Kantor: So then how did that path lead you to coaching?

Antoy Grant: It’s an interesting story. So I’ve since I was really young, people would always feel really comfortable telling me whatever was going on with them. I was I was a kid, people. I’d be like, hi, how are you? And they’d say, oh, I’ve had a terrible day. And, you know, they would go into telling me. So I, I always say that I’ve been naturally and organically coaching since I was a kid, but I just didn’t know I was doing it. So, you know, people had told me aren’t or you should really, you know, be a coach. And I was like, oh, no, you know, I couldn’t do that. And they’re like, yeah, but you’re kind of already doing it because I was always the go to person. If someone wanted to get started in an entertainment, if they wanted to, you know, do a production or if they were having relationship problems. I was just a really good listener and would always be able to kind of guide people if they wanted it so and about. It was around 2010 or so. My spirit was really feeling like, Anthony, you, you know, you should go to school and learn a little bit more about what this is that you’re doing.

Antoy Grant: And, you know, maybe it’s something you could expand on because I felt like I was doing it organically and naturally, but if I was going to do it professionally, I needed to go to school and know what I’m doing. I don’t want to mess anyone up, you know? Right. So, yeah. So I, um, went back to school and got certified in coaching and then, um, I, you know, I always have to do everything. I’m an overachiever to do it beyond. So I ended up deciding to go ahead and get credentialed, which, um, International Coaching Federation’s the governing body for coaches worldwide. Um, the largest. And so I went through their credentialing program to get my credentials. So yeah, so that’s kind of how it transpired. Um, I’m kind of still trying to figure out sometimes how does coaching fit into the entertainment business, but I think a lot of my work has has a through line with this, which is transformation, inspiration, empowerment and, you know, motivation. So I think, um, you can also do those things with entertainment or you can do it with coaching. So it all kind of ties in together that way.

Lee Kantor: Now are you doing your coaching primarily in the, you know, with the niche of entertainment folks, or is it kind of anybody can come to you and say, you know, I work at a nail salon and, um, you know, having trouble trouble, um, you know, of what my next move should be like? Is it industry agnostic, your work, or is it primarily in the entertainment industry?

Antoy Grant: Well, you Lee, that’s an interesting question, because this is probably the most confusing questions for myself. And I do a lot of marketing, like when it comes from my, you know, to my clients, I know exactly like you’re going to do, this is your brand, this is your demographics, this is this. But sometimes when it comes to ourselves, we’re kind of like totally confused. So as far as niche, um, I’ve been trying to niche down because that’s what people say that you have to do if you really want to target a specific audience. Um, but I find that in reaching down because coaching is, is coaching the person, not the problem. You know, um, a coach could theoretically coach anyone, but in from the business sense, when you’re marketing yourself, you want to make sure that you know you’re targeting a specific target, right?

Lee Kantor: Because it’s just not affordable to advertise to everyone. Like, it’s easier to advertise to dentists than it is to advertise to the world.

Antoy Grant: Exactly. So what, what I think I was having the difficulty was, was the niching to a who versus a what or a need. So recently I took this course because I’ve been really trying to figure out who my target market is, because when you’re when you first become a coach, you are kind of coaching everyone because you’re trying to get all your hours in in order to qualify for your credentials. So you end up coaching the nail salon person, or, you know, the guy starting a business or the person getting a divorce because you’re just trying to get your hours. But now that I’m beyond that, I need to figure out who my audience is. So now, after taking this course, I found out that you can also target kind of what you do. So I’m kind of I’ve looked at the through line that lands between all the clients that I currently have, and what I do is I can get people from point A to point B, I can help them get focused. I can help them put a plan together and support them in executing with accountability. So I’m still working on what that phrasing looks like. Um, primarily I work with leaders, creatives, um, and entrepreneurs, and I have a small niche of IVF clients because I went through IVF. So when I share my story online, people are very interested and want to work with me. Um, and the great thing that I learned also in this recent course that I took was just because you have a neat, it doesn’t mean like you’re stuck in that niche and you can’t go outside of that. So even though you’re marketing to, let’s say, women, you know, professional women, it doesn’t mean that you can’t if a, you know, if a man comes to you who’s not professional, that you can’t take them also, it’s just that you’re not marketing to that right target audience.

Lee Kantor: And that’s an important point for people. Who are. They feel like they might be missing out if they focus on one area. I think that that’s a misconception because a lot of times when you are focused, it’s like you said, you’re just investing maybe your marketing dollars and talking to the niche, but you can still coach whoever you want. I mean, that’s your practice. It’s like you don’t have to say, sorry, I don’t do that because my marketing says I only do this. That’s just the way to keep your marketing kind of focused. I don’t think it has anything to do with where your practice goes. I mean, your practice will go where it goes.

Antoy Grant: Exactly. So then, you know, it’s up to the coach if they want to work with that client in that specific niche or not. So that really that’s the piece that really made a difference for me is because when I thought about there’s all these clients I’m working with now that if I reach down, I’m not going to be able to work with. And I didn’t, you know, I didn’t like the feeling of that. Right. So but in knowing that I can target a specific niche, but if someone comes that’s not in that niche, I can still choose to take them. You know, if I if I.

Lee Kantor: Want if you want to. And that’s as I’m sure as your coaching career just continues to evolve, you’re going to work with exactly the people who you want to work with and that’s it. You’re going to be very selective at some point where you’re like, no, I only these are the kind of people they have to, you know, they have to make me smile when I meet them, or else I’m going to pass because I can.

Antoy Grant: Yes, yes. And I do that now, though I really I try to keep positive energy around me. Um, so in, in any circumstance I try to have those types of interactions. So, um, luckily I’ve been blessed to have primarily great clients, you know, um, and we really set up in the beginning of working together how we can best work together. And we create those agreements that we can reflect back on Gone. If things come up throughout our engagement. So it’s it’s very helpful to have that at the top.

Lee Kantor: And that’s a great lesson for all coaches because it’s a the vetting process is a two way street. They’re not just vetting you. You’re vetting them too. It has to be a good fit from both sides in order to be effective for any length of time, I would think.

Antoy Grant: Exactly. And I think one of the challenges I ran into a little bit was before I started coaching, working in entertainment and kind of being the go to person that people knew. If you want to get somewhere, do something, you know, contact and voice, you know. And so, um, then when I started coaching, which coaching is not consulting, which is more what I was doing before, I really had to clarify that at the top of the agreement, because people would pick me and say, oh, well, you’ve done all these productions so you can help me do my production. And I would have to say, yeah, but, you know, do you want a coaching agreement or do you want a consulting agreement? Because if you’re hiring me as an expert, it’s consulting. If you know, in the coaching engagement, you’re the expert on you. I’m just here as your guide. So those distinctions are really important to when, especially if you have an image that’s out there where you know, you’re an expert in certain areas and then people are hiring you as a coach.

Lee Kantor: Right. And that and in your specific situation, you were kind of wearing both hats at different times. So it’s important to be clear and get agreement upfront, like you’re saying in order to understand. So everybody’s on the same page when it comes to, hey, you’re not hiring me to get your production going, you’re hiring me to just be that sounding board and this, you know, kind of Sherpa. Uh, if you want me to do the production, that’s a different hat I wear. And I’m sure the pricing is a lot different for that.

Antoy Grant: Mhm. Yeah. So and I do both I do coaching and consulting. And that’s why clarity is vitally important at the in that initial consultation. Because I’ll go over what coaching is, what it’s not. And I’ll go over what consulting is and I’ll go over what. Therapy and counseling.

Lee Kantor: Right. That’s a whole other ball of wax there.

Antoy Grant: Yeah. That’s a whole other thing. But, um, you know, I’ll ask the client, are you? Which engagement with you best? Do you are you looking for someone who is going to, you know, give you all the answers? Or are you looking to find them on your own? So they have that option with me at least, because I do both. Um, but sometimes, you know, like I said, you have to have that agreement because you could be in a coaching engagement contract, and at some point they’ll be like, so, Anthony, what do you think? You know, what should I do? You know, and I have to reflect back to them. I’d be like, okay, so you know your situation best. What would what do you think?

Lee Kantor: Thing, right?

Antoy Grant: And kind of remind them, like, we’re kind of might be. Blurring the lines a little bit between coaching and consulting.

Lee Kantor: So when you got into coaching, how did the path lead to becoming the president of ICF in New York City? I mean, how did. I mean, is that just because you’re kind of a born leader that that just you’re you’re kind of wired that way.

Antoy Grant: You know, it’s it’s really interesting. And some days I’m still like, what? What am I doing? So I’ve always given back, like, no matter what I’ve, what I’m doing, I’ll always like be volunteering somewhere, doing something, you know, in addition to that. Um, and so when right before it was like literally right before Covid, I was I kind of moved, um, got a place in New York and I was looking for somewhere to volunteer. And, and so I said, okay. And then I found out that there was a, you know, International Coaching Federation NYC that were, you know, was looking for volunteers. So I’m like, oh my God, this is perfect. You know, I’m getting into this coaching thing, you know, and they have Volun they’re looking for volunteers. So I could combine two of my, you know, things that I like to do. So I started volunteering, I joined two committees and I was volunteering with them. And, you know, during that time I was still kind of like people were telling me, don’t you know, if you’re in entertainment, don’t tell them you’re a coach. And if you’re, you know, doing coaching, don’t tell them you’re from entertainment. And I just didn’t understand why I couldn’t be my full, authentic self in any given space, you know? And it’s not natural for me to be inauthentic. And I feel like if you’re hiding parts of yourself, you’re not being fully authentic. So I just said, you know what? I’m just going to put it out there.

Antoy Grant: I’m going to tell them, you know, I work in entertainment, but I just became a coach. And so I put it out there, and I was literally the only one that had, you know, all the technical skills that I had, like I could do graphics, edit camera, you know, all of that stuff on, on these committees. So I naturally ended up doing all of that stuff as part of my volunteer work. Um, and as a result of that, um, they asked me to be their director. You know, if I would run for director of marketing. And I said, okay. So I ran for director marketing. I did that for two years. I built out there. They didn’t have a director of marketing previously, so I built out their whole marketing department. Um, I, you know, got a marketing team together and, you know, establish how all the policies, procedures, processes that would work with the chapter and then. So, you know, when I, when I was done with that, I was like, okay, I’m going to go build my coaching practice. And they’re like, hey, do you want to be president? So so then I ran for president and I got it. It was it’s just it’s been that journey that’s been completely unexpected. I came in thinking, oh, I’m just going to give back over here. You know, some of my time, and then I end up being the president. So it’s it’s really a fun trip.

Lee Kantor: Now is, um, is marketing not something that when someone becomes a coach, that there’s a lot of, um, kind of teaching in that area or, uh, training in that area? Do they just assume the person is it knows how to do that part?

Antoy Grant: I don’t think that that at least right now, that is the focus. The focus is to train someone in the core competencies, the, you know, the the ethics, the core values, and pretty much the things that they will be able to pass the tests for ICF. Um, and so that’s the primary focus right now. I feel like, um, in a lot of the meetings I’m in with ICF and um, they’re moving more towards. Okay. So once people are credentialed how do they get, you know, get clients, which is an important aspect. A lot of the coaches within, you know, even my chapter, once they get their credentials, they just, you know, don’t know what to do next. They don’t know how to build a website. They don’t know how to do all of these things. So, um, it’s it’s a very important part. Um, I think, uh, the training now is primarily focused on getting people credentialed to pass that exam. Um, but beyond that, there’s not a whole lot, um, of support in that area. And that’s why I’m, uh, partnered with this. Um, he’s called the Billion Dollar man in the UK. He’s someone who’s created a lots of marketing successfully for many coaches and individuals and people like that. And we’ve created a new program that encompasses all of the pieces that we feel are missing for coaches when they, you know, decide to enter this building, you know, of coaching. So it’s like the training, it’s the business development, it’s the social media, it’s the I. So I literally we literally just formed this company and we’re in the process of building it out and filling those gaps in those areas that, um, that are missing for coaches.

Lee Kantor: And it’s not a slight on the coaching industry to not cover this. Most professional services, you know, like whether you’re a CPA or a lawyer. They don’t typically teach them how to do the marketing side. They teach them how to be a CPA or a lawyer. They don’t teach them how to market themselves as a CPA or a lawyer. So it’s not unusual that a professional services wouldn’t kind of put this at the top of their list of things to do, but it does seem that it’s a common challenge for a lot of folks that are in professional services.

Antoy Grant: Yes I agree. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, what is there some advice or some tips you can give that new coach when it comes to, um, business development? Is there anything you can share right now that might help them? At least some of the low hanging fruit of the some of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to this?

Antoy Grant: Sure. Yeah. So like the first thing, which is the thing I was having struggles with, was finding your niche. Um, and knowing that it doesn’t have to be a who it could be a what, and it could be a need that, um, that they feel, um, as their authentic self. Um, it doesn’t have to be like, you know, a specific type of person. It could be a, you know, a what? So that’s the first thing. Um, they they have to if they don’t have the business acumen and the business skills to do a website or do social media, There are lots of people out there that’s going to have to be an investment. Um, and finding, you know, the right person. You know, primarily people who focus on websites for coaches. And it’s best if you’re in a particular industry to find someone who specializes in creating websites for whatever industry you’re in. You know, do the research, look at, look at their work. Pick someone who’s style you like and, you know, get get it out there. Even if it’s a one page, even if you don’t have all the answers yet. Just something, you know, something about you, your contact page, if that’s all you’ve got. Um, and then definitely build your social media. It’s like such an easy way to get in touch with clients. Um, LinkedIn is very popular for businesses. Um, you know, even if you have one following, start posting consistently. Um, I know people have a problem with that, but now with AI, you can totally use any of the AI apps to put your authentic story in and ask it to create, you know, posts for you for 30 days or however many days or tomorrow. Um, so people that had excuses in the past like, I don’t know what to post.

Antoy Grant: Now have the support of AI to, um, to create those posts for them, but just putting themselves out consistently. Um, I always tell coaches because a lot of their work is virtual, that imagine that your business is a storefront business. And if it was a storefront, you would have to open every day at certain hours, and you would have to have offers for your customers and you would have to have merchandise. And that’s what, um, when you’re doing sometimes a virtual business, you don’t think about, you don’t want to you’re not posting every day as if you would open your storefront every day. You’re not giving people offers as if you, you know, would have merchandise in your store every day and you’re not having offering sales as Most storefronts do, so it’s important to act as if you are. You had to pay an overhead and you had a storefront. And just be present. Be in front. And not everyone’s going to buy. Just like people pass by your storefront. They may not come in, but they see you and they know you’re there and they, you know, get to know what you’re doing. So that’s probably, I would say, the most important things, um, and really do what you love because then it won’t be such a, such a grind to get up like, oh, I gotta get up and do this, you know? Um, if you stepped into coaching anyway, there’s a desire to, um, help people. Um, so really, you know, put that passion, find that true passion and how you want to help some. You know, everyone has a different lane that they’re in. So find your lane so that when you’re doing what you have to do, it doesn’t feel hard or it doesn’t feel like work.

Lee Kantor: Right? You’re excited to do it every day because you it’s your passion that you love it.

Antoy Grant: Yes. And also, I think one part that sometimes missing is self-care. And this is across all service platforms. Um, with ICF they do kind of build in built in. Um, if, you know, even when you’re doing your coaching hours that you do a certain number of, you know, paid hours and a certain number of unpaid, and then you also they suggest that you have a coach as well, because sometimes you’re taking in, um, a lot with your clients. So just really building in that time for either having your own coach that you can offload things with and run things by, um, or, you know, definitely making that time for your massages, your bike rides, your walks in the park, your time with family, your time with your pets, whatever that looks like for you. Naturally, building that into your schedule. Because if you don’t, it probably won’t happen. And then the last thing I would say is just celebrate all the wins, whether they’re small or big, um, along the way. Because if you wait for that big, big win, you know, it, it might it may take a while. But if you’re celebrating each each step of the way, it builds more momentum towards that final goal that you might have.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And I think that when you celebrate small wins, it it kind of heightens your appreciation and your gratitude of the little things that are happening every day that a lot of times we take for granted.

Antoy Grant: Definitely, definitely. And it’s just fun. It’s just fun to celebrate. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Now, if it wasn’t enough that you were kind of running mango Seed and you’re the president of the ICF in New York City, you also have time to write books. Can you talk a little bit about. I mean, you must be a master organizer. Planner, uh, in order to be able to do all of these things. Uh, it’s at a high level. So can you share a little bit about your books and, um, what they are and where people can get them?

Antoy Grant: Sure. Yeah. Um, my books are on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Um, and they’re the. It’s called the best Year ever planner plus journal and best year ever goal workbook. And these were kind of born out of my work with clients and even just my people coming to me over years like Anthony, how do you get all this stuff done? Like, you’re always juggling like a million things and you’re getting that. You’re actually getting them done. So instead of telling each individual person one at a time, I figured I’d just put it in some books and then that way they could just go buy it and I wouldn’t have to, you know, tell them, um, all individually. So, um, what the book series is, it’s, um, it’s a a year, one’s a yearly planner and journal. It has a lot of prompts. You can start it at any time. It’s undated, so you can start in, you know, February or December whenever you choose to start and you take it through the year. It has daily prompts, weekly prompts, yearly prompts. It has it has quotes, it has affirmations. It’s everything I use to get the stuff I need to get done and get. Keep me in the right frame of mind and keep me focused. So I just figured I’d put it all in there and people can choose to use the parts or all of it if they choose to use throughout the course of the year. And then the Best Year Ever goal workbook kind of came second.

Antoy Grant: And that was because when people got the first book, they were like, can you just create one that’s just focused only on, you know, just accomplishing your goals, you know, without the planner, without the journal. So I created the second book, um, in order to just focus on goals only. So it was really fun to put it together. I, I was under kind of a lot. I put myself under a lot of pressure to, to write the first book and the second one, um, because I don’t know why. Writing for me, I have to be in the zone to write. But when there’s so many things going on, your brain’s not free enough to really be as creative as you need to be. So I kind of had to put a timeline on myself, and that kind of accelerated my brain having to kick into, you know, full gear to be able to juggle everything I needed to do. But it was it’s a it was a lot of late nights, a lot of sleepless nights. And this was before I came out. So I literally had to write everything myself. Um, so yeah, um, it was a lot of fun, though. Um, it’s another part of my brain that I love to, to use, which is writing and to write, um, something that I know is transformative, or when someone reads it, it’s going to help them. It was really a pleasure to be able to create that.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about, um, well, let’s start with mango seed. If they want to know more about that and need help in that area. What is the best website and coordinates for that? And then after, if you could share maybe the IFC. New York City, um, kind of coordinates for them if they want to learn more about coaching.

Antoy Grant: Okay. So, um, my website is my name. It’s an toi a n t o y grant grantee.com. Um, mango seed is mango seed. If you want to learn more about the International Coaching Federation it’s coaching federation.org. If you’d like to learn more about ICF NYC, it is ICF NYC chapter.org. So those are all the cool places to learn more.

Lee Kantor: Well, Anthony, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work in so many areas and we really appreciate you.

Antoy Grant: Can I can I share one more site because it’s the new site I forgot. Um, the, um, the temporary site that you can go to right now to learn and get more information. Laters. Um Marco robinson.com Marco robinson.com. And that’s and that’s for the new international coaching school that we’re creating that covers business and coaching and AI and social media and all of that cool stuff.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, Anthony, thanks again for sharing your story.

Antoy Grant: Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.