Growing Social Capital

Domain Expert

1.       Who they are and what their background is.

Sharri Cagle is the Founder and President of Keys to Kindness

2.       How this person is a domain expert – Sharri founded Keys to Kindless a non-profit organization that encourages and empowers others to practice kindness in the community.  Keys to Kindness holds events and programs supporting many causes and including all members of society.  They hold a summer kindness program that is inclusive of the special needs children as well as children with medical issues.

3.       How I found and contacted this person – My niece was a volunteer who worked with the organization through her high school service club and told Sharri about my daughter.  They reached out to me for her to join their camp for two weeks and this sparked conversation regarding my chosen business idea.

4.       Nature of Exchange – Upon talking to Sharri about her organization and the many causes they support, I casually led into the conversation about my idea specifically for those with special needs and providing the service full time.  I signed the Keys to Kindness pledge and will be volunteering for events they have in the future to help others in our community.

5.       How will including this person in my network enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity – Sharri will be a great asset in learning how to organize and structure programs.  She would also be able to advise on the target market.

Market Expert

1.       Who they are and what their background is.

Jaymi Yamoah Founder and Director of Out of Zion a creative arts program for children with medical and special needs.

2.       How this person is a market expert – Jaymi’s company targets the market with similar products and services.  Out of Zion is a program that runs for 7 weeks and is targeted towards the special needs children during the summer.  At the end of the program the children put on a performance. 

3.       How I found and contacted this person – A fellow mom of a special needs boy had heard about the program through her church and she shared the information.  I emailed the organization to find out more and to take my daughter for a trial.

4.       Nature of Exchange – Jaymi and I hit it off right off the bat.  Jaymi shared with me how Out of Zion came to be, as her young son had brain cancer and he passed away. They wanted to have a living memory of his life so they created Out of Zion (his name) for children with medical and special needs. I shared with Jaymi my vision for a year round center/program that targeted the special needs community and she was very interested.  They currently use space at a drama school and are limited to a couple hours one day a weekend. 

5.       How will including this person in my network enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity – Jaymi will be a valuable asset and possibly someone to partner with.  She has a customer base and has developed some creative arts programs tailored to those with special needs.

Industry Supplier

1.       Who they are, what their background is:

Jill Bausch, Owner Dance and Gymnastics Academy Tampa

2.       How this person is a industry supplier –Jill created the T&T HUGS program for USAG.  Jill’s gym provides gymnastics and tumbling adaptive classes to those with special needs which would be a service that I would include in the center. 

3.       How I found and contacted this person – I saw an advertisement through the school which solicited to the special needs classes and my daughter is a member of the HUGS team.  I speak to Jill once a week at practice.  Her son is also autistic.

4.       Nature of Exchange – Jill and I discussed her plans for the HUGS team and the troubles she is having as class time needs to be calm and less chaotic for the adaptive program.  I told her about the center which would offer many other adaptive classes and she thought it could be a good way to have a weekly class away from the noise at her gym in a safe environment the special needs kids would be comfortable in. 

5.       How will including this person in my network enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity – Jill could provide classes to the center which would in turn broaden her exposure and be beneficial for the kids.

Reflect:

In the special needs community you find like-minded individuals who are looking for the same things.  Either for their own children or to provide a service for them.  It is a very specific market. 

Because of this exercise I have opened up and found out some very interesting details on how the other ladies have started and run their businesses and also the reasons why.  In the future I will continue to ask questions to find out what interests and opportunities are out there.  This experience did differ from the past networking because it was more personal for me in talking to other people who wanted to make a difference just as I do.