Adam Torres and Quiana Cloud discuss funding founders.
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify
Apply to be a guest on our podcast here
Show Notes:
How can organizations and corporations help support innovation and founders that are building, growing, and scaling? In this episode, Adam Torres and Quiana Cloud, Founder of Barazzo, explore Quiana’s story as an entrepreneur and Barazzo.
About Barazzo
Barazzo® stands as a premier partner in integrated and experiential marketing solutions, dedicated to delivering efficiency, cutting-edge engagement, and value-driven results through meticulously crafted designs, products, and on/offline experiences. Their credibility is underscored by the history of collaboration with top-tier corporations such as Porsche, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, The Georgia Lottery, and Synchrony. Furthermore, our involvement in exclusive events like the ESPYS, Grammy Gifting Suites, and the Kentucky Derby attests to their capacity to manage and excel in high-profile settings.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today’s guest is Kiana Cloud and she’s founder of Barrazo. Kiana, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Thank you. How are you today? I’m having all kinds of fun doing what we do recording the old podcast. so today’s topic, the F word finding fuel and funding underrepresented founders. So a lot of founders, a lot of executives listen to this to this program and great to have you on just to get us kicked off here, Keanu.
We’ll start the way that we start all the program. All the time. And that’s what’s what we call our mission matters minute. So at mission matters, our aim and our goal is to amplify stories for entrepreneurs and executives. That’s what we do. Kiana, what mission matters to you? Absolutely. So finding funding and fueling founders is, or underrepresented founders is very important and also allowing them.
The opportunity to have that downtime. So the fun time, in other words, and allowing them to become and present themselves authentically, but also again, just building in that time in order for them to not only be a founder, but to relax amongst the journey. I mean, where did this start for you?
when did you get interested in either underrepresented founders or just founders in general? Like when did that come about? Yeah. So I have, or I actually started this entrepreneurial journey as a, as a kid, I was a kidpreneur and so the resources and all of the information that’s readily available now was not available at that time.
And so over the course of, of course, graduating from high school and That’s when a lot of the information started to become more relevant. You were able to see people starting businesses and becoming founders. And that was the aha moment. It’s like a lot of this information was just not readily available for us and to us in our community.
And so it’s become a part of not only my journey, but also just knowing that this information needs to be readily accessible to others that actually look like me as well. Was there anything in specific that kind of made you feel that the information wasn’t available or wasn’t there? Like, like, how did that take place that realization?
Absolutely. Because I started off in the, I, I fell into the celebrity, give me sweet space some years ago, well over 10 years or so ago. And I knew that I wanted to combine my creative experience with marketing and business, but I didn’t know how to do that. There was not necessarily a blueprint that was readily available for me.
And I had to. Of course, Google everything. I was sourcing materials. I was trying to figure out how, how does this work as it relates to shipping and logistics and cost per item, everything I had to try to figure it out from scratch. And so that was the time that I realized, okay, this information is not as easy as it could be, or should be, or in this instance, maybe it just wasn’t available to people in my immediate circle.
Right? So, of course, fast forward several years, and you’re able to see accelerators popping up. You’re able to see all of these organizations providing the information. You’re able to, of course, see people around you that have the blueprint. They’re able to go from A to Z, and so this information is readily available now, or I should say it’s more pronounced whereas before it wasn’t, again, in my immediate purple.
for many founders, like they’ve had similar experiences, whether it’s age group, time you started in terms of being a founder, like, whatever the common denominator is, do you find that many have had this issue? I do. I definitely believe it’s start time has a lot to do with this thing, right?
Because this information is available right now. There are blueprints. As it relates to being able to understand how to build, grow and scale your business. Yeah. So if you imagine when we were growing up or when you were a kid, when I was like, come on, my buddy, Dr. Ben, his kid Z, I mean, this kid is like a genius.
And he’s like 12. And I’m like, what? Cause he’s got YouTube, right? We didn’t have it. Absolutely. So, you know, business owners that started 10 years ago, 15 years ago or so they are obviously, and not to say that everyone experienced that, but. They were in a different place, and that information was not as accessible as it is right now.
And, yeah, so anybody could, like you mentioned, just go to YouTube, you can Google everything, and there is a blueprint for something. There’s someone that’s teaching a course about something, how they have scaled and grown from, 100 to a million or whatever that looks like. So the blueprints are there. Yeah.
I can relate to this story, by the way. So I remember growing up when I, started in finance when I was 16. And part of that reason was because my parents didn’t have the knowledge. They didn’t know anything about business and they told me rightfully. So they said, Adam, I don’t, You, you like business.
You’re into this thing. I don’t really know anything about it. So they had me, I went and got an internship and I got, and I ended up working in Austin when I was 16, starting at my first financial advisory firm. And that’s where I started to learn about business, but it was rightfully so. My parents didn’t know anything about it.
And so they, they kind of sent me to other people that did, so to speak, but But I, I can relate to that. I’m like, man, if we had YouTube, if we had access to all these resources, that would be, you know, that, that would be a different ball game. So now I guess with the current state of entrepreneurship and, access to information, like, like where do we sit now with the situation, would you say?
So I definitely think we are moving in the right direction and there are organizations obviously that are really, you know, Holding this close to their heart near and dear to their heart, if you will, but that’s a part of their mission, right? They want to make sure that the information is readily available and accessible.
I am a member of the Russell innovation center here in Atlanta, Georgia. So that’s 1 of those organizations that they’re really. They really want to ensure that the information is available. They are partnering with tons of, of corporate organizations that also see the value in being able to fund and fuel underrepresented founders.
And so there are big things happening, obviously. You know, if anyone’s in Atlanta and around the city, they know and they see the progress. So that’s one of the organizations that i’ve been a part of as a one of those founding 100 since the beginning so I do believe that it’s important not only to Have that information for myself, but to also share that with other Founders that are in the space and or that are interested in joining this entrepreneurial journey Talk to me about ecosystem of entrepreneurs in Atlanta, haven’t made it that way yet. We don’t, I don’t think we have that large of an audience. So I think we’re like Miami. We go to pretty often New York, but I haven’t quite made it to Atlanta, but every time I go to Miami or New York, somebody’s talking about Atlanta. So when it comes to entrepreneurship, I mean, like talk, talk to me about the ecosystem.
Yeah, absolutely. So it’s very, I guess, close knit, if you will. There are. Maybe that’s why I haven’t been yet. I’m not on the end. Okay. I got it. Ke. Okay. Okay. . That’s why I haven’t been invited out. It’s okay. I got it. . . Well, it’s closing that. We didn’t want you there, Adam. Okay, I get it. No, of course not. Of course.
Joking. But , yes. So everyone there, and I just say that, you know, you’re probably what is it? Arms length or distance away from someone else, right? So, you know, someone or, you know, someone that knows someone that’s an entrepreneur or they’re starting a business. And so In that sense the circle is small, but there are of course founders that have made large footprints here in atlanta, georgia And that are and have created the blueprint.
So for example, dollar bond is one of is the top member at the Russell innovation center. And so she has. A multimillion dollar business. She’s doing great things, but she, provides advice and coaching to us. And so it’s great to have those types of resources in your network in order to bounce ideas off of.
And, and you know that someone literally has the blueprint and they’re able to spend time with you and give you valuable feedback. There’s also other founders here that have. grown their businesses to multi million dollar businesses slutty vegans. so pinky coal with slutty vegans there’s other obviously other people that are just not on the tip of my tongue right now, but They have done great things here in the city and they have the the blueprint and so it’s very important to to really just continue to to not only Network and to be in that circle, if you will, or just as close to that circle as you can, but just to, to learn from them, that’s the most important part.
Yeah, that’s awesome. And when I think about mentorship and what it’s meant my career, and just for many, I mean, in the course of doing these interviews, like, it really is I don’t know if there’s a shortcut to success, but if you cannot hit some of the hurdles or the bumps along the way because somebody else can see something that you can’t and you’re actually maybe you take their advice because it’s the right thing to do, which you never know until hindsight, right?
But, but if you take it and it works, you’re like, Oh, that saved me some time. I mean, I think that’s always a win. me about, about Barraza and like, and like what you’re doing there. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So well, we have a, we have two parts of the business. So on one side of the business, I am continuing my marketing consulting services.
I’ve worked with a variety of fortune 500 companies over the course of the last 15, 20 years. And so that part of the business allows me to consult with other corporate entities and small businesses to offer. Whether it’s digital marketing strategic marketing services, whatever they need on the marketing side.
On the other side of the business, we are relaunching the gifting suite portion, as well as our travel retail accessory. So I have a patented smart bag, the Barrazo smart bag. We’re working on additional travel accessories to launch in retail. Working through some potential retail partnerships in the future, near future.
And also again, that gifting suite portion of the business. So providing experiential marketing activations for gifting. how do organizations get involved? Like how do they get involved with this? Yeah. So the reality is that many corporate companies have their marketing division and they have a marketing budget, right?
So they’re able to participate, build out events. And or purchase promotional items. And so our goal and my goal has been to think through how can we combine what I’ve learned on the marketing side and all of my years of experience in marketing with the promotional gifting experiential activation side.
So we’re thinking through. From start to finish and how can we create a larger return on investment for the marketing for their marketing dollars So not just creating your tchotchke gifts not just creating your pens and notepads with your logo on there But we’re really thinking through how can we create an unbagging and an unboxing experience?
That will garner a larger return on investment for those marketing dollars That will also allow us the opportunity to consider. How can we You Design and create some products that not only your customers, your employees, and your VIPs want to have and wear, but we can consider how can we turn this into a retail product later?
So we’re thinking through that entire marketing initiative and those marketing dollars and how we can, again, just increase that return on investment and have additional opportunities. On the back end by building out these amazing products. Can you give an example of maybe an activation that went well for a for a corporate partner?
Yeah, so Let’s think through some of the former ones here. So on the consulting side, for example I’ve worked with portia and I was able to help build out their e commerce division in that respect we were thinking through Not only the products, but the pricing, we’re thinking about the areas and the regions for the best products.
And from there, we were able to garner some great returns and roll out a full. Toolkit, if you will, which included social media content, it included. Email content, it included all of the pricing and the promotional opportunities related to those specific regions and. We push that forward to the brand or the dealership so that they would have that entire toolkit as it relates to what’s best for, for their region.
That makes a lot of sense. And then when you think about like, so, and just to make sure that I understand this, right? So then you’re, you do this great activation. Maybe there’s a particular product that was created out of that activation. And who knows? And obviously Porsche is huge, but for another brand, maybe that, that part of that, whatever, whatever that gift was or that thing, maybe that could be even productized down the line.
Right. Like, and that could be something else that they use to make that connection with their clients long term. Am I understanding that right? I just want to make sure I understand the model. Yes, absolutely. And so there’s also, for example, which I didn’t mention, but we are, or I’m in the process of.
Working with the Atlanta Hawks. They have a business bootcamp over the next six months, along with several other businesses. But during that opera, that potential opportunity, the goal is to also consider how can we design some products that they may want to gift to their VIPs and their executives. And from there, let’s test the market, right?
So can we develop these into full products after we’ve gifted them? So there are several opportunities in several ways that we can really think through that, that initiative. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Especially and does this, is this only apply to like large companies like a Porsche or like a Atlantic Hawks?
Or is there some, a small business component to this as well? Or like, kind of give me a little bit of a feel for that. Yeah. So there is a minimum, so we can definitely discuss that with the business as it relates to the cost and the quantity, but it’s not just for corporate organizations, but we know that they have the funds in order to build out whatever that vision may be.
However, we’re open to, of course, discussing that with smaller businesses as well. Yeah, that’s great. Well Kiana, just have to say, this has been lot of fun having you on the show and learning more about your business and really what, you’re up to. And especially, I mean, this topic, so funding underrepresented founders.
One other thing that you did mention that that I want to pull out of this conversation is you mentioned something in the beginning of this about like founders being able to like, still, you didn’t, you didn’t use the word be human, but you did use the word to be able to relaxed and to be able to be authentic in their, in their journey as a founder.
Like, what did you mean by that? Cause I think as I, I think as, as. Founders and as entrepreneurs out there, sometimes we rush through life and we, we wake up one day and we’re like, wait, what happened? And, you know, there goes another decade as entrepreneurs. So the fact that you bring that up as a point, I think is super interesting.
May, maybe talk a little bit more about that. Like, what did you mean by that? Yes. So I am one of many founders, I’m sure that oftentimes we don’t build in the time for Relaxing and to just really take a break and to take a step back. And so as you get older, you realize that is important. It’s really important, not only for yourself, but it’s important to be the best founder, it’s important to be the best friend so that you can show up and be your authentic self and you’re not just working from, from sunup to sundown.
And so many founders, unfortunately are doing that because we feel like that’s a part of it. It’s this hustle culture, if you will. And again, I know that, that working and working hard is very important, but it’s equally important to have that time where you can just meditate, you can relax and really be amongst people that understand you, that understand your journey.
And during that time, you guys can, I’m sure, build and forge these friendships and You may find that they have information to share with you during this journey as well that can be helpful along the way, but it’s very authentic, right? It’s not forced. It’s not let’s talk about work, but things related to work may come up or they may not.
So, I just think it’s very important to get to take that day on time to really ensure that you are taking care of yourself, yourself, mentally, physically, emotionally, so that you can get prepared to continue the journey. Yeah, think that’s a great way to end it. Take care of yourself emotionally and physically as well.
because if you’re not if you’re not well, then your business probably isn’t going to be well either long term So making sure you’re well is is a great message one that I appreciate you bringing to the table and That being said kiana if somebody’s listening to this and they want to learn more about barraza or connect with you and your team How do they do that?
Absolutely. You can visit our website at barazzo. com, that’s B A R A Z Z O dot com, or connect with us on social media at Barazzo Bags. on social. Fantastic. And we’ll put all that information in the show notes so the audience can just click on the links and head right on over.
Speaking of the audience, if you haven’t done it yet, and this is your first time with us hit that subscribe button. This is a daily show each and every single day. We are bringing you new entrepreneurs, new founders, and we’re sharing their stories with you. And so we can all learn and grow together.
That’s the whole point of Mission Matters. It’s To all learn and grow together. Again, hit that subscribe button. And if you’re a long term listener and you haven’t left me a review yet, come on, get, get that review in there. We really appreciate it. And Kiana wishing you so much more continued success.
And I got to make it out to Atlanta one day when I hit the cool club. So thanks again for coming on. Thank you so much for inviting me.
