Member Spotlight |
The Forge community is full of diverse members from different backgrounds with so many different career paths. We love hearing the stories from our members about how they ended up where they are today. Jay Barrett is the owner and operator of Fetch! Pet Care franchises in Washington DC and Birmingham. Let’s hear more about him and his business!
Tell us a little bit about yourself…
My name is Jay Barrett. My husband, Klint, and I have a 4 year old son named Mac. We live in Jasper, but commute into Birmingham every day.
What do you do – your elevator pitch?
My team and I own and operate Fetch! Pet Care franchises in Washington, DC and Birmingham metros. For the past 14 years we have provided dog walking and pet sitting for some of the areas best clients and pets. Currently we have over 140 employees between the two locations.
Photo from the Fetch! website
How did you get into this business? What lead you to start it or become a part of it?
I started out in Atlanta, GA as a Fetch! Pet Care client for my own dogs. I traveled full-time and there were many months my dogs saw our Fetch! sitter more than they saw me. During the financial crisis in 2008 we moved to back to Birmingham and I purchased my first Fetch! franchise. We quickly grew the team and client base to what is it today.
I can imagine that it can be difficult to juggle all of the demands of work and life. How do you do it?
Delegate. There was a time I felt like I had to do everything myself and I struggled with delegation to my team. Sometimes it’s still a struggle but it’s so important to any team. I also try to have fun and always put myself in my employee’s shoes.
What is the biggest lesson or takeaway you’ve gathered over the course of your career?
Focus. Entrepreneurs often focus on too many opportunities at one time. I know I did early in my career and once I was taught to focus my efforts on fewer items my company grew faster.
If you were to give advice to your younger self what would it be?
ABC. Always be closing. I would also tell him not to take everything so seriously and take his failures as opportunities.
Photo from the Fetch! website
What is something you wish more people knew about you and the industry you work in?
Pets are family and deserve the best care. Our team exists to provide that care every day.
What is your favorite part about your job?
I love the freedom of owning my own business and watching my team work together to do amazing things. I know that sounds hoity but it’s the truth.
Photo from Fetch! website
Why did you decide to join Forge?
Location, location, location. I needed something that was clean, convenient and easy. Forge is amazing and I am thankful to have it’s resources.
Are you interested in trying out Forge? We provide open workspaces, private offices and meeting rooms designed to foster the growth of your business while connecting you with our thriving community! Book your tour today.
Member Spotlight |
Hello! Welcome to Forge Member Spotlights! This is one of our favorite types of blog posts, because we get the unique privilege of highlighting one of Forge’s incredible members. I had the honor of chatting with one of our members and learning more about her and her story.
Everyone meet Kameron Monet, a YouTuber, Influencer and Lawyer – I think you’ll find her as cool as I do!
How did you get into YouTube?
What inspires you to create content?
Unlike many other aspiring lawyers, I didn’t grow up always wanting to become a lawyer. Growing up I loved the performing arts, photography and video production. I was in several local plays, school plays, and would record my own at-home short films. I’d say I’ve always been a creative at heart. Fast forward to college, I had to pick a major and felt the pressure of picking a “real career” as people around me put it.
Also, during this time, I started my YouTube channel, specifically on October 6, 2014 I uploaded my first YouTube video not realizing this was a step towards my future career. So, I spoke with my academic advisor, who was a lawyer himself, and he told me to take some pre-law classes and check out the mock trial team to see if law was something, I’d be interested in. I took his advice, joined the mock trial team, became a legal assistant at a local law firm, and I was hooked! The same empowering feeling I got on stage, I then got while being in the courtroom.
I received my Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a minor in Criminology from Kennesaw State University in 2015. Upon graduation I took a gap year before going to law school and began my legal journey at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in the Fall of 2016.
During this time, I remember searching on Google and YouTube for law school tips and law students showing their day to day lives, but there really wasn’t much out there. So, I picked up my camera and began to vlog my experience, the raw, real, honest truth about law school. I was nervous because my content up to this point was all about hair, makeup, and beauty type videos, but I quickly realized there were other aspiring lawyers out there that wanted to see what it’s really like to be a law student.
3 years later, I graduated from Cumberland School of Law in May of 2019, I took and passed the Alabama Bar Exam in 2019 and began my career as an Associate Attorney practicing Employment Litigation, while simultaneously using social media to create content around fashion, beauty, lifestyle, as well as female professionalism and career building. At this point, the idea of a non-traditional lawyer career path became more and more appealing. So, I quit my 9-to-5 law firm job to live what I call the best of both worlds.
Today, I have built an engaging and organic audience with over 100,000 followers across my platforms @kameronmonet, working with brands from Dove to Dyson to Ulta Beauty. After realizing my social media expertise and license to practice law could provide value for aspiring “Lawyer Influencers”, as well as educate content creators about the power of contracts when signing brand deals; I launched my Influencer Contract Consulting service. On a monthly basis I help creatives on a one-on-one basis navigate the legalize of contracts to gain complete understanding and secure higher paid opportunities!
What is your favorite part of being an attorney?
And your favorite part of being an influencer/Youtuber?
I love having one foot in the door as an influencer/content creator and the other in the door as an attorney! It allows me to see both sides of the coin very clear and perfectly bridge the gap between the two.
I bet it is difficult to juggle the demands of being an attorney & an influencer. How do you manage both?
Three things come to mind when I think about how I manage juggling the demands of being an attorney and influencer.
- Staying organized and planning. I use Google Drive, Google Calendar, ClickUp, and timers to stay on top of everything I need to get done on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis.
- My manager. I hired her back in August 2020 and she has helped me so much with staying on top of brand partnerships and so much more!
- Prioritizing self-care. I’m what most people would call a work-a-holic, I genuinely love working! However, I can’t pour from an empty cup, so I really make it a priority to implement something related to self-care almost daily. Overall, I love what I do so it’s worth the crazy, busy, and stressful times, haha!
What is the biggest lesson or takeaway you’ve gathered from your time as an attorney and influencer?
My favorite life lesson quote is ‘What’s for you, is for you.’ Being in both the legal profession and the social media industry can make it hard not to fall into the comparison game or have imposter syndrome. I’m speaking from personal knowledge. But once I decided to stop focusing on how fast others were meeting their goals or how they would get an opportunity I’d love to have, I realized that I’ve always gotten the opportunities perfect for me. I love supporting others on their unique career journeys and no matter how many resources I share with them or how many connections I help others make, what is meant for me, will always be for me. I truly believe that no one can take what God has planned for my life.
If you were to give advice to your younger self what would it be?
It always seems impossible until it’s done. One of the hardest things about starting something is actually starting it. I can think of many times when I’ve talked myself out of starting something because of the fear of failure and the intimidation of accomplishing a goal that seems impossible. But everyone has to start somewhere. The successful people we’re inspired by had to start somewhere.
So, guess what I have to do? Start somewhere. Which is why I constantly remind myself to not compare my day 1 to someone else’s day 27. If you would’ve asked me on October 6, 2014 after uploading my first YouTube video if I’d make money from it, let alone build an entire career from it, I would’ve said ‘that’s impossible.’ Today my response, ‘it’s beyond possible.’
What is something you wish more people knew about you and the industries you work in?
When people think of what defines a lawyer, they immediately think of what they see on tv shows. Generally, society says lawyers are conservative, always dressed in a suit, constantly in and out of the courthouse for trials, mostly men, working at law firms, barely sleeping, stressed, and making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sure, there are a few doing some of that but that is not the majority. Even taking it a step further, law schools put a lot of pressure on law students to get the best grades, work for the best big law firms and become partner at that firm someday. However, this completely overlooks so many other amazing career opportunities that come with simply obtaining a Juris Doctorate.
As a black female lawyer leaving the traditional law firm life to build a lane to bridge the gap between law and social media, simply put, I’m paving the way to show others that there’s more than one lane to succeed in the legal profession. No, I may not be the first, but I pride myself in being authentic, genuine, honest and real. On my YouTube channel “Kameron Monet” I show the raw behind the scenes of the good, bad, and ugly through my “Weekly Vlog” series. My goal is to redefine what society generalizes as a lawyer and to inspire and motivate others on their law school journey and entrepreneurship journey!”
What is your favorite part about your job?
My favorite part about being an influencer is creating genuine connections with my online community and providing value to my audience through the knowledge and experience I gain! My favorite part about being an attorney is being able to give my clients more time to create and not worry about making sure they’re protected in their brand partnerships and watching them get excited about the power of contacts!
Why did you decide to join Forge?
I’m sure we all can relate to being tired of working from home or being more productive when working around others working, and both of those were me! I used a free day pass to get a feel for Forge and I was so much more productive that I knew I had to sign up to become a member. Forge is such a beautiful space, perfectly located downtown exactly where I wanted to be, and does a great job with encouraging member connections! I haven’t participated in many members group events, but I love that I have that option and I’m excited to start attending more soon!
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I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Kameron Monet and her passions. If you want more from this incredible women, visit her website, YouTube, Instagram, or other socials. To join Kameron and the plethora of awesome members at Forge, please visit our website. You can book your tour of Forge today. Forge is currently running a Summer Special, if you join with a Coworking Membership in May or June, you can buy the first month and get your second month of membership free!
Member Spotlight |
As we close out Women’s History Month, we’re looking to the female business owners at Forge. These women range from podcasters to marketers to estheticians- we absolutely love the variety of companies represented in our workspace. Forge even has a member who has developed an app helping prevent police violence. Read on to find out more about the women owned businesses at Forge!
CLM Experts | Lynette Samuels
Lynette Samuels is the Founder & CEO of CLM Experts. She prides herself in possessing over 20 years of experience in credit repair, collection and business. Lynette enjoys helping people develop business relationships and create multiple streams of income while creating secure true financial education and freedom.
Since January 2017, Lynette has been building CLM Experts from the ground up. She has worked with over 250 clients to help them start their own business and repair their credit stores.
Elevate Communications | Debra Nelson
As the Founder of Elevate Communications, Debra Nelson is recognized among the nation’s leading diversity and inclusion practitioners and public relations experts. Her successful corporate career includes executive positions in industries spanning media, higher education, automotive manufacturing, construction, and gaming and hospitality. Debra leads Elevate, a firm dedicated to delivering professional development and communication services.
She is a career coach, speaker, and seminar leader on topics related to diversity and inclusion, professional development and women’s empowerment.
The Popcast | Jamie Golden
Jamie Golden is the Co-Founder of The Popcast Media Group. Jamie B. Golden has been cohosting The Popcast with Knox and Jamie since August 2013. It is a nationally ranked, weekly pop culture podcast that’s part deep dive, mostly shallow end. Jamie and Knox also launched their newest podcast, The Bible Binge, in February 2018. Both of her podcasts are ranked in top 1% of all podcasts. We love that The Popcast records their podcast right here in Forge! Jamie has over 50,000 followers on her Instagram so go ahead and follow along if you want to be entertained!
One Degree Marketing | Jacqui Jones
Jacqui Jones is the CEO of One Degree MMM and founder of Elevation Academy. One Degree MMM is a core-service marketing firm fueled by the best and brightest marketing and branding creatives who empower entrepreneurs and business owners via quality marketing services that will grow and sustain their business vision. Jacqui is a talented marketer, teacher and speaker. Check out her TEDx Birmingham talk!
Empirical Data Strategies | Jami Medina
Jami Medina is the CEO of Empirical Data Strategies. Their goal is to support small and growing businesses with the same project management, software development and implementation, custom CRM implementation and dashboard-driven analytics that the big guys provide, at a price that any business can afford. Empirical Data Strategies also offers the best in Data Science Consulting. Their expertise is in providing you with the mentorship to get big work done, make big decisions, and have easy access to information to grow your company.
Shea Shea Beauty & Brow | Shea Doriety
Shea Doriety is the Owner of Shea Shea Beauty & Brow. Shea is an Esthetician and make-up artist that has been customizing professional looks for 15 years! Shea has amazing reviews from her clients like this one- “Shea not only is a professional at what she does, but she takes care of her clients as if they are family. She gives you high class treatment, doesn’t rush you, or waste your time.”
RightThere Corporation | Maria Watkins
Maria Watkins is the Founder and CEO of RightThere Corporation. She developed the RightThere protech app/wearable device to accomplish their mission of preventing police violence. The app assists in preventing police misconduct, reducing civil rights violations and much more. The wearable device will be interfaced with the RTC Protech App and provide some of the same features. Other features will reduce dangerous encounters, such as hate crimes, child abductions and domestic disputes.
La Luna Agency | Onna Cunningham
Luna is a marketing collective founded in Birmingham and committed to serving clients across the globe. Onna is Owner of Luna and an agency professional with ten years of experience in leadership, team management, client relations, business and operational development in the marketing industry. Luna specializes in marketing strategy, campaign and messaging development, social media strategy and management, website design and development, public relations and much more!
eCure | Shawn Powe
Shawn Powe is the Founder of eCure and she is also a Nurse Practitioner. The ER isn’t needed for all medical conditions- that’s why eCure is available to take care of your telemedicine appropriate conditions. eCure will soon have CureCalls (HouseCalls), where they come to the comfort of your home. Powe believes in eCure’s vision of providing affordable and convenient healthcare. Powe’s life goals are to fight for equal healthcare for the disenfranchised while also educating the community to live healthier lifestyles.
Kameron Monet | Kameron Buckner
Kameron M. Buckner, Esq. is a licensed attorney, content creator, and social media strategist. Kameron has built an engaging and organic audience with over 100,000 followers across her platforms @kameronmonet, working with brands from Dove to Dyson to Ulta Beauty. After realizing her social media expertise and license to practice law could provide value for aspiring “Lawyer Influencers”, as well as educate content creators about the power of contracts when signing brand deals; Kameron quit her 9-to-5 law firm job to live what she calls the best of both worlds.
Are you a female entrepreneur, small business owner or remote worker looking to get out of your home office? We know it’s tough to stay productive at home. Come try out Forge! We’d love to offer you a free Day Pass to try out our coworking space. Email us at info@workatforge.com to claim your free day pass!
Member Spotlight |
We love that within the Forge community you can find a variety of people from different companies with different job titles- that’s what makes the Forge family so unique. Claire Scherzer is a Forge member who works as an Interior Designer for Ellis Architects. We asked her more about her company and how the pandemic has affected her job.
Alabama Department of Public Health- State Public Health Laboratory
Tell us more about Ellis Architects and your job position!
Ellis Architects is a full service architectural and interior design firm, founded in 1992. We serve a variety of educational, residential, commercial, civic, religious and healthcare clients located throughout the state.
As a Registered Senior Interior Designer with our team, I strive to create interior environments that address the well-being, health and safety of client needs, while making informed decisions about style and aesthetics that are cohesive and timeless. I work collaboratively with our project team from the early conceptual phase through the completion of the built environment and the client’s occupancy.
What is your favorite aspect of being an Interior Designer?
Our firm is fortunate that we serve a variety of project types, so no two projects are the same. Having the trust of our clients to turn their ideas, visions and dreams into the reality of a built environment provides great satisfaction and is my favorite aspect of being an Interior Designer. No matter the circumstances, the opportunity to design interior spaces that ultimately lead to the success of our clients is positively rewarding.
How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your business?
Among the many things this current pandemic has taught us, is that interior design matters. Many of the industries that we work within on a daily basis: hospitality, education, hospitals, residential, retail and commercial spaces are all witnessing first-hand the need for their interior environments to be modified quickly to better protect the health, safety, and welfare of its occupants.
As a design professional, we are used to putting the needs of our clients first. With our “new normal”, our learned attributes of understanding, patience, and problem-solving have become critical to our path forward. Some projects have been placed on hold due to the unknown, so we have to be sensitive with our client communication and understand their challenges. Developments in virtual technology have allowed us to continue review meetings. The introduction of new materials and products currently in development that increase safety for end-users is at the forefront of all discussions. Easy to clean materials, antimicrobial finishes, touchless anything are now a must for heavy traffic areas!
It has certainly been a challenge as we navigate through unchartered waters, but striving to use our creative talents to discover the best solutions is what we do!
Why did you decide to choose Forge as a coworking space?
Forge checked off so many of the needs for our firm including convenient location for our Birmingham team members, a collaborative working environment, and so many wonderful amenities. Of course, who wouldn’t love the many dining options available with just a quick walk downstairs to the Pizitz Food Hall!
Be sure to check out the work of Ellis Architects Inc. on Instagram and Facebook.
Member Spotlight |
During the COVID crisis, CareHealth is providing meals to healthcare professionals across Birmingham. By utilizing local restaurants as their food providers, CareHealth is pouring resources back into the Birmingham small business community. CareHealth is an initiative of Urban Avenues and we love having Madison Kerns, Director of Operations at Urban Avenues, as part of the Forge community! Read on for our Q&A about how they are serving Birmingham during this pandemic!
How did you get the inspiration for the idea?
Our venture Five Loaves is focused on uniting communities through food, so we’ve always had a heart for the restaurant community in this city. While we were trying to think of ways to support our friends in the industry, we were seeing groups in cities like San Francisco and New York feeding healthcare teams with food from local restaurants.
We hit the ground running, formed the idea into a model that worked well for our organization, and worked with restaurant owners and healthcare professionals to make sure we had a system that prioritized safety and maximized our impact. In two days, we had a full list of restaurant partners, a website, and team of volunteer drivers!
What kind of response have you gotten from the healthcare community, local restaurant owners and donors about your efforts?
The response has been so overwhelmingly positive. The community has been incredibly supportive and are truly the only reason we can do what we do. They’re eager to serve Birmingham while maintaining safety, and CareHealth has created an easy way to do both.
Healthcare teams are sending thank you emails, photos, and cards daily. They’re feeling the support of the community and have expressed how it fuels them to face COVID-19 every day. Our restaurant partners have been wonderful throughout this entire pandemic!
It’s a difficult time for their industry, but their main focus has been giving back to the healthcare teams. It’s such an honor to support them and create a space for them to serve the healthcare communities.
So far, how many meals have been served? And how many departments have received food?
We’ve served over 2,500 meals across 65 departments thus far! We’re working over 15 hospitals and healthcare facilities across the Greater Birmingham Area to deliver meals to their teams and show the community’s support.
How long do you think the CareHealth initiative will last? Do you plan to continue the efforts post COVID?
Even as we hear plans to reopen states, we are still, unfortunately, far from normal. CareHealth was created to be a community response for those fighting COVID-19, and we plan to follow through on that mission until it is no longer needed. We’re open to the possibility that our model may change in the coming months to include other types of first responders and are beginning to plan for potential shifts in how we operate. Until then, we’re excited to increase our meals served each week!
We love seeing members of the Forge community out serving Birmingham- especially during a time like this!
