Staff Member Spotlight: Kenzi Mayberry

Staff Member Spotlight: Kenzi Mayberry

Meet Forge’s Operations and Hospitality Coordinator, Kenzi Mayberry!

 

Kenzi Mayberry

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

“I am LaKenzise Mayberry! My friends call me Kenzi. With a bachelor’s degree in social work, and a master’s degree in public administration, I have had a pretty good and fulfilling career being in service to people.
First working in nonprofit community programming, and then government human resources, learning and development. I am very passionate about helping people identify their strengths and reach their goals. I thrive in environments characterized by teamwork, collaboration, and a little fun! I speak the language of order and organization, but a small part of me likes to throw it up in the air and see where it all lands. I call that balance!
My biggest goal for the next leg of my career is being in a position where my efforts, my contributions make a difference; help move the needle forward. As a self-proclaimed Girl Scout, I want to leave this world better than I found it!”

What brought you to Forge?

 

“I was working from home, and would occasionally get out of the house, going to different spaces around the city, to work. Pizitz Food Hall was one of the places I frequented. One afternoon, while at Pizitz, I was scrolling on Facebook and saw the position at Forge advertised.
At some point I had followed Forge, but could not recall ever seeing a post. So I took seeing the post as a sign and applied! I was coming to the end of a contract I was working on, and was looking for new opportunities. And of course, once I took the deep dive to learn more, I was convinced this was the place for me!”

What are you looking forward to about working at Forge?

 

“I am looking forward to learning! Learning how to build community among individual entrepreneurs and professionals. Learning how to create an environment that promotes creativity, productivity, and peace. And learning all about the systems, processes, and little nuances that make Forge special.”

What do you do when you are not working at Forge?

 

“I love reading, watching documentaries, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. I especially love spending time with my two nephews, Houston, 3, and Dallas who will be two in July. Their names are what happens when I am not around to supervise my two brothers. And no, my nephews are no twins and neither of my brothers has lived in or spent time in Texas!”

If you could choose to do anything for the day, what would you choose to do?

 

“I would love to travel back in time to spend a day with Cleopatra. Her story fascinates me! And if traveling back in time were not an option, I would love to spend one day on Michelle Obama’s annual girlfriends’ retreat. I can only imagine the wisdom and knowledge I could soak up in the company of such an amazing and accomplished group of women.”

What is your favorite thing about Birmingham?

 

“Birmingham was never on my bingo card. And although I have lived here since 2016, I am just now starting to feel at home.
What I love most about Birmingham is the location. If you are not against road trips, you can jump in the car and be at a number of southern cities and attractions in less than five hours. I also love the “big city, small town vibe” that Birmingham offers. It is the best of both worlds.”
Meet Forge Member Hudson Hufham

Meet Forge Member Hudson Hufham

Hudson Hufham

 

We are excited to introduce you to Hudson Hufham, Owner of Easton Film Co!

 

Tell us a little bit about what you do/your company does.

“Easton Film Co documents once-in-a-lifetime moments through unforgettable wedding videos. With more than ten years of experience, we’ve earned the trust of couples and planners alike – capturing weddings with care, craft, and timeless style. Based in the Southeast – filming nation wide.”
Easton Film Co

What is your favorite part about your job?

 

“I love building and taking on the challenge of merging creativity with business strategy.”

What made you decide to join Forge?

 

“It felt like the right place for our small but ambitious company.”

What is your favorite thing about Forge?

 

“The location and everything that comes with it!”

What are your favorite tech tools to get your job done or keep your life organized?

 

“ChatGPT”

What is the last show you binge-watched?

 

“The Studio”

What is your ideal weekend in Birmingham?

 

“Hanging with friends!”
7 Tech Tools Forge Members Can’t Live Without

7 Tech Tools Forge Members Can’t Live Without

At Forge, our members are constantly discovering new tools to help them work smarter, stay organized, and grow their businesses. So we asked them: What’s your favorite tech tool right now? The responses did not disappoint. From productivity powerhouses to design favorites and game-changing apps, here’s a roundup of the tools our community swears by—and why they love them.

 

#1 – Monday.com

“Our company uses Monday.com, which helps our teams with workflow management. It’s very helpful with organizing tasks individually and in a group setting.” – Drew

 

Monday.com is a project management and collaboration platform that helps teams plan, track, and manage their work in one centralized workspace.

 

Monday.com

 

 

#2 – Grasshopper

 

Grasshopper for client calls. I get 1200 calls a day so I couldn’t imagine them coming to my personal cell!” – K’la Inman

 

Grasshopper is a virtual phone system that allows small businesses to use a professional business number on their existing mobile phones, with features like call forwarding, voicemail, and custom greetings.

 

Grasshopper

 

#3 – Asana

 

“I’d be lost without Asana. That is where all of my “To Dos” & “Tasks” live that I need to execute or ideate on.” – Michael Testa

 

Asana is a project management tool that helps teams organize, track, and manage their work by creating tasks, assigning deadlines, and collaborating all in one place.

 

 

 

#4 – Loom

 

Loom for sharing processes/feedback with the team.” – Rosie Stafford Smith

 

Loom is a video messaging tool that lets you quickly record your screen, voice, and face to create and share video updates, tutorials, or walkthroughs—perfect for clear, async communication.

 

 

 

#5- Airtable

 

Airtable is a fantastic tool for tracking projects.” – Murray Lee

 

Airtable is a flexible, spreadsheet-database hybrid that helps you organize, track, and collaborate on everything from project management to content calendars, all in a visually intuitive interface.

 

 

#6 – ChatGPT

 

“Probably ChatGPT. It’s helped me speed up my data analysis by providing help on complex formulas, insights, dynamic OKRs/KPIs updates and more.” – Melissa Ralph

 

ChatGPT is an AI-powered assistant that helps you brainstorm ideas, write content, solve problems, and get answers—basically your smart, friendly sidekick for work and life.

 

 

#7 – Google Suite

 

“Google Suite because of all the different things that it offers to work and stay organized!” – Grace Lockett

 

Google Suite (now called Google Workspace) is a collection of cloud-based productivity tools—including Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, Drive, Calendar, and more—that help individuals and teams collaborate and get work done from anywhere.

 

 

 

Whether you’re managing projects, streamlining communication, or just trying to stay on top of your to-do list, these tools are helping Forge members do it all with a little more ease and a lot more efficiency. From well-known platforms like Google Suite to favorites like Asana, Monday.com, and Grasshopper, there’s something here for everyone. We love seeing how our community works—and sharing their go-to tools might just help you find your next favorite too.

 

Forge Member Spotlight: Derrick Magnotta

Forge Member Spotlight: Derrick Magnotta

Meet Forge Member, Derrick Magnotta!

 

Derrick is the COO of Quality Counts, Inc. – an employment screening company – they do background checks, drug testing, and medical exams for employers around the country. We love having Derrick as part of the Forge community!

 

What is your favorite part about your job?
“Problem solving, hands down. Every customer brings a unique set of challenges, and I love digging into those—figuring out their processes, pain points, and goals. Then I get to match that with our capabilities and experience to craft something tailored and effective. It’s like building a custom solution every time—and that never gets old.”

 

What made you decide to join Forge?
“I had been working from home a few days a week, but wanted to manage better work/life balance. When my office was at home, I could always work. Going to a clean, neutral third space helped improve my focus at work and improve my enjoyment of life at home.”

 

What is your favorite thing about Forge?
“It is bright, clean, and there’s always freshly brewed Domestique coffee. What else can you ask for?”

 

What is your favorite spot/place to work at Forge?
“I like to sit overlooking the window onto the street. It’s amazing how many people don’t know how to drive in a city.”

 

What are your favorite tech tools to get your job done or keep your life organized?
“The best tech tool for me is one that reinforces my daily rituals and keeps me focused. I use a personal Google Site as my home base—it’s where I link all my core systems, applications, and dashboards. Each day starts with a review of our performance dashboard from the previous business day—order volumes, error rates, fulfillment rates—so I can immediately get a pulse on operations. Having everything centralized in one place makes my workflow feel streamlined and intentional. It’s the first page I open every morning and the top item on my bookmarks bar. Other applications include our proprietary systems, Google Sheets for analytics and dashboards, ChatGPT (including a custom trained bot on my company’s SOPs), and Any.do for task tracking and scheduling.”
Is there a product you cannot live without?
“Endel! It generates sound based on mood to help me focus, gain energy, or decompress after the day.”
What is the last show you binge-watched?
“Veep (for at least the fourth or fifth time)”

 

What is your ideal weekend in Birmingham?
“My ideal weekend in Birmingham starts with a quiet Friday night—cooking pasta or pizza at home for my wife and just enjoying some downtime together. Saturday kicks off with a walk at Ruffner with our dog, Roosie, grabbing a coffee at Domestique, then meeting up with friends for wine at Red or White or a beer at a brewery. We’ll usually head to a second spot for dinner – ideally Hattie B’s. On Sunday, we sleep in, grab a taco from Taco Morro Loco, and hang out on our screen porch. Simple, low key, relaxed.”
Meet Forge Ambassador LaToya R. Mims

Meet Forge Ambassador LaToya R. Mims

Meet LaToya R. Mims- our newest Forge Ambassador!

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is LaToya R. Mims. I am a proud native of Birmingham, AL. I am married to my best friend, Henry Mims and we have two beautiful children, Harper (6) and Mason (almost 2).
Professionally, my background is in Clinical Laboratory Science and Infection Prevention, but I have recently shifted gears to really utilize my strengths of breaking down barriers in communication and truly fostering relationships to work in serving others, through my nonprofit.
I am an avid lover of volleyball and basketball, and have 12 years of coaching volleyball under my belt.

What brought you to Forge?

 

I was familiar with Forge because I previously utilized the Cahaba conference room and was impressed with how effortless the process to book a room was. So when Catrice, who is also an Ambassador at Forge, recommended the opportunity to serve as an Ambassador, I was very interested.

What are you looking forward to about working at Forge?

 

After meeting with Kim and learning about how the Ambassadors serve, I was truly amazed by the opportunities to network. So, I am really looking forward to participating in the panels and other community networking events.

What do you do when you are not working at Forge?

When I am not at Forge, I am putting in the work to build my nonprofit, The WildFlower Alliance, into a sustainable organization that will impact families for generations to come.
I also am a part of 3 different leadership cohorts, UAB Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and other related Disabilities (LEND), Partners in Policymaking Alabama (PIPA) and Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) LEND Scholars based in Connecticut, to truly invest in building my knowledge base of policies that impact individuals with Disabilities.

If you could choose to do anything for the day, what would you choose to do?

If I could do anything for a day, it would be to sit on a beach in front of the ocean and just be.

What is your favorite thing about Birmingham?

 

My favorite thing about Birmingham is our ability to evolve and thrive. We have seen and endured some remarkable times, historically that set a precedent. Birmingham is stronger today and our growth continual.