A Dollar and a Dream-apolis @dreamapolis - Tumblr Blog

A day in the life...whew, I'm tired! (Taken with Instagram)

Taken with instagram

Be GOOD (Taken with instagram)

New video from Jace of A Million Other Things, one of the most talented people in Indianapolis--no exaggeration. Check it out here!

Dream it forward!! (Taken with instagram)

There is a permeating barrier that blocks many entrepreneurs from taking the plunge and moving their business idea to the next stage. More often than not, the paralysis of fear inhibits many of us from pursuing our goals, and instead, turns our attention to the laundry list of limitations rather than advantages that may be facing us.

Do we live with the mentality of scarcity then?

What is the Scarcity Mentality, you might ask?

The Scarcity Mentality, coined by Stephen Covey in his best-seller, The Five Habits of Highly Effective People can be explained as...continue reading

It was all a #dream.. (Taken with instagram)

#dream

Back in the Saddle pt. 1

I haven't blogged on this thing in quite some time, but I think that my New Years Resolution for 2012 is to START BLOGGING AGAIN!

So I guess the question is, where is Derrick Braziel Dreamapolis now? I'm so glad you asked!

The past few months have been some of the craziest times of my life. Here's a snapshot

September: I decide that I will work on Dreamapolis full-time (with no sources of income mind you)

My only form of transportation at this point is also a bicycle that a great of friend of mine let me borrow (and was later stolen!)

We apply for our first grant opportunity through the Mid-North Quality of Life Early Action Grant and...WE WIN! Woo-hoo! This grant allowed us to hold five workshops through the fall and also award seed grants to a small cadre of entrepreneurs. (more to come)

Did I mention that I'm doing all of this with no sources of income?

October: The first REALLY cool thing that happened in October is I was given an opportunity to speak at the Indianapolis Museum of Art during the Urbanized Summit. Preceding this event this RAD columnist from the Indy Star, Erika Smith wrote an article about me/Dreamapolis. I mean, people were sure to ask who that random, Gary Coleman lookin black dude was, right? Well, she let em know what the deal is!

Then, the VERY NEXT DAY we held our first workshop! BOOM! and at that point, Dreamapolis was born.

Another momentous moment was the very tragic passing away of my mother-in-law. She was a beautiful woman who gave so much of herself for others. She still inspires me today. But out of the tragedy of that situation I was given my father's old car (BALLIN! aka, pockets on E ALONG WITH THE GAS TANK!)

November--December: In short, workshop, workshop. Meeting, meeting.

I should mention that at this point Dreamapolis has built a pretty damn strong team. When the new website is completed, you'll see their bios. Hopefully I can even convince them to write on here?

I should also mention that at this point Dreamapolis has started to take a mind of its own. We've started to meet with potential clients, we've been invited to attend events/groups/etc, it really looked as though 2012 was going to be a special year..

January--today: WHOOOOOOOOO! WHAT A JOURNEY! What started out as just an idea last Winter when I was unloading trucks at UPS and devising ways to keep from freezing to death has turned into something special. Who would've though that five individuals working on nothing but 'a dollar and a dream' could achieve what we've achieved even today? Not to toot our horn (TOOOOT!--MY B) but take a second to check us out:

Early Action Grant: We are on pace to award THREE dreamers with grants to start their businesses. These are urban entrepreneurs who have the passion, will, and determination (those are all synonyms, I know) and we're now able to provide some cash to help them.

We also held five BALLER workshops that gave urban entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn from local business leaders while also networking amongst themselves. It was special to be a part of. We're going to start a new series in February so stay tuned!

Social Media: This is an area that we kind of stumbled upon as we did our own social media. Our guru (Nichole Hall-Permell), is INCREDIBLE at finding great content. But what is great content if there isn't an audience? That is where we've really experimented with different tools and I think we're on our way to finding a winning combination. One client of ours, the KI-EcoCenter, went from 0 followers to 332 352 as of January 21st. Two of our other clients went from 7 to 384 448 and 0 to 148 344 in a little less than a month! We're learning and growing, but I think we're on to something special.

Check our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Business Services: One area that we're passionate about is supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners. As a result, we've decided to offer services ranging from business strategy development to creative fiscal feasibility planning to marketing, branding and advertising assistance (that was A LOT to type!) In order for us to build our portfolio, we've taken a few clients pro-bono to prove our ability to execute. Some include:

The KI-EcoCenter: We've been working with them on developing a social media strategy that can translate into sales for their social enterprise KI-NuMedia and their Day School. The two areas of focus for us are on Twitter and Facebook, and we're trying to figure out how we can 1. build brand awareness and 2. have that awareness translate into sales.

The Earth House Collective: So the folks at the Earth House are awesome. Not only are they awesome but they are have an equally awesome Cafe. This Cafe sells French Pressed Coffee (I have no idea what that means, but I hear it's good?), they sell completely Vegetarian/Vegan dishes, AND it's in an Art Gallery. Plus, the baristas are super cool. They've asked for us to help them develop a strategic/development plan for them and we're working HARD to get that done!

Five Points Bakery: Five Points Bakery is the brainchild of entrepreneur Charlie McIntosh and his cadre of business partners. Five Points wants to be a production bakery producing European style bread. Their product line will focus on breads in the Italian tradition with the use of a natural leaven. I have absolutely no idea what that means, but it sounds DELICIOUS!

In short, 2012 is going to be the year where we take the dream to the next level. We're so excited about where we've gone, and where we will be. Coming soon you can expect new workshops, a new website, social media campaigns, and anything you can associate with doing it BIG! I mean, December 21st IS around the corner :)

You are not alone.

Here's to the Crazy Ones

I do not come from a family that ever had a great amount money--or in some cases, any money.

I do not come from a family that ever had a great amount of influence.

I do however, come from a family that always taught me the value of believing in yourself.

Both of my parents grew up dirt poor, and neither of them used that as an excuse. Both of them persevered through difficult times and thrived, my mother recently graduating Cum Laude from college and my father becoming a licensed social worker, consultant and acclaimed author. Their life is a testimony for me that anything is possible with the right mixture of determination and luck. Their example gives me the assurance that you know what? Maybe I can do this.

But today isn't most days. Maybe it's the weather, or maybe it is something else, but the day after we celebrated the dream of MLK, my dream feels as though it is on the ropes. I will likely feel different in an hour, DON'T FRET! But I felt the need to write this to help me express to others the true cost of trying to make a difference.

When I was in college, and honestly up until I started working with Dreamapolis full-time, it would've been difficult for me to understand how much sacrifice is needed to live your dream. I didn't understand that I had to make a full-time commitment with little to no consistent income; that I'd have to compromise for the sake of must-needed resources; or that I'd have to dig as deep as I could to work consistently with a passion that is stronger than any metal on the Earth--I mean, people are rushing to invest in job creators, right?!. I didn't understand that this lifestyle often means that you cannot have much of a social life (it's hard to go anywhere with no money or time). It's a vicious cycle, you need time to make money, and you need money to make money!

Plus, the worst part of it is the LONELINESS.

I often feel as though I were born on another planet and I have to explain the mores and manners of my native culture to a people who have no reference to help them understand. Even Oscar Wilde once said,

"Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

Further, dreamers must withstand an almost constant assault from those who want to disprove or invalidate that their work. You're too young! You're not experienced enough! You're [insert lame excuse]! Oh, it's easy to be a critic, but it is so hard to be a builder.

This experience has been the most challenging of my life. I have had to depend on family for help, I have had to donate plasma, I have had to work odd-jobs, I have had to do any and everything for my dream. And do you know what? I am unapologetic about how I feel right now. I know I made this choice. But do I have to be strong every day? I can't always be my own drum major.

But you know what else? I know that I'm not alone. I know that there are people just like me out there who are sacrificing their lives, their careers, and their reputations all for the cause of humanity. I salute you, and I hope you know that there is a brother-in-arms that is in the struggle with you. Even though it's hard to believe, keep the faith that the dreams we give our lives to build, will one day become a reality.

May this quote provide you with the motivation to give it another day.

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. Author Unknown

#dream #dreamapolis #entrepreneurship #change the world #martin luther king

I Have a Dream Too

"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream." -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is a bittersweet day for me. On one hand we celebrate the life and impact of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the great champions of justice. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the current state of America almost fifty years since the celebrated "I Have a Dream Speech."

America is known throughout the world as "The Land of Opportunity." People migrate to our shores of full of dreams and hope for the future of their family. But today's America is MUCH different from the America of lore. As Paul Krugman of the New York Times writes today,

If "King could see America now, I believe that he would be disappointed, and feel that his work was nowhere near done. He dreamed of a nation in which his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” But what we actually became is a nation that judges people not by the color of their skin — or at least not as much as in the past — but by the size of their paychecks. And in America, more than in most other wealthy nations, the size of your paycheck is strongly correlated with the size of your father’s paycheck."

This transition from racial discrimination to economic discrimination has left millions of Americans behind, both Black, White and [insert color.] Further, Krugman points out that by 2035, America "will have even less mobility than it has now, that it will be a place in which the economic prospects of children largely reflect the class into which they were born."

So where do we go from here? How can we possibly reverse the trajectory of the American dilemma?

I believe that the same admonishment Dr. King used on August 28, 1963 still applies today. Americans in the 1960's could never recognize the power of their dreams; in the midst of Jim Crow, lynchings, and rampant racial inequality, they had no idea that if only they could dream bigger, better, anything was possible.

I still believe that anything is possible. Even though the media constantly inundates us with sex, drugs and Tim Tebow, we can still move past rhetoric and towards action. You can still start a boycott, call your legislator, get a mentor, volunteer at a non-profit. DO SOMETHING!! I still have a dream that I we can change the world. "Never doubt," Margaret Mead once said, "that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

I still have a dream that we can.

#Martin Luther King #New York TImes #Paul Krugman #Tim Tebow #change the world #I have a dream

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Meeting with the great folks at the @EarthHouse (Taken with instagram)

A sign?! (Taken with instagram)

@KIEcoCenter and their new aquaponic system! (Taken with instagram)

The @KIEcoCenter is building a hydroponic farm that will farm fish right here in #indy! #dreamitforward! (Taken with instagram)

#indy #dreamitforward

@allenimagery and @jebbanner sorting out "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Taken with instagram)

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