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!
Forge News and Updates |
Free meal planning that helps you eat healthy, save time and cook adventurously? Sign me up! That’s exactly what Forge members Xuan Huang and Alex Zotov have been working on with Mealvana. We recently saw their blog post about Immune-Boosting Recipes and wanted to share it for our readers as well. You can read the original post here!
“Earlier we published a series of blogs that discussed our immune system and what nutrients are contributing to its function. This blog is a continuous effort to put together a compilation of recipes that are high in immune-boosting nutrients: vitamins A, C, D, E, B6, folic acid, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, iron, and pre-/pro-biotics.
Recipes will be added often – so come back to visit this page. You can also go to our recipe page for more recipes, follow us (and like us!) on Facebook and Instagram.
BREAKFAST:
- Berry smoothie & Granola – introduce yogurt, turmeric, and ginger into your smoothie for added benefit of probiotics and antioxidants. This granola recipe is rich with nuts which are high in vitamin E.
2. Avocado toast with balsamic maple glaze. Avocado is among our favorite foods. It is high in vitamin E and though it is the highest fat-containing fruit, its fat is largely unsaturated fat.
LUNCH & DINNER:
- Asparagus & salmon – this power combo gets you covered with all immune-boosting nutrients, even with vitamin D, which is naturally lacking in foods.
2. Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Some people love Brussel sprouts; some don’t. If you love them, enjoy this recipe with a twist of sriracha sauce and almonds. If you don’t love them, maybe this recipe will change your opinion toward this super nutritious food.
- Israeli Couscous and Sautéed Mushrooms with Herbs & Simple Baked Cod. Both mushrooms and cod are high in selenium and vitamin B6 while mushrooms are also high in vitamin D2. We like these two recipes for the use of herbs and spice: sage, rosemary, fennel, and saffron.
Forge News and Updates |
At Forge, we know working from home is hard! At first, working from home may seem like a dream come true. But then the distractions of home bombard you- not to mention it’s lonely. That’s exactly why we’ve started Tuesday/Thursday Virtual Happy Hours for Forge members which you can see above! And it may start to feel like your work day never truly ends. With most Forge members now working from home during the pandemic, we asked for their advice on how to be most productive.
Matt’s Tip:
“Uhhh… DONT work from home. My productivity is near zero right now. So many distractions!”
We know a lot of you are forced to work at home right now because of COVID-19 – we just thought Matt’s immediate response was pretty funny! Now let’s get on to the real advice…
Donna’s Tips:
1) Security should be your first consideration. Make certain that you have secured your router with a password, keep your virus protect programs up-to-date. Do not work on an unsecure Wi-Fi network.
2) Carve out a dedicated workspace, preferably with a window and an ergonomic chair, at minimum.
3) Cloud storage for remotely accessing your files. Download the app versions of your productivity programs, which should include a document scanner.
4) Stay in face-to-face contact with customers using tools such as Zoom.
Alex’s Tips:
1. I’m sure this one has been said 100 times, but creating a routine is huge. My wife has created a daily schedule for the kids and I have my morning and evening routine too. Equally important to that routine is to be flexible if you have to stray from it. For example, I wake up with our toddler between 6:30-7 when he comes in our room, make him breakfast, get an Audible story going, eat my breakfast, shower, and get my day started by 9.
2. Determine the times you will be looking at your emails/computer and times you will not. After a certain time I will periodically see emails come across my phone, but I am not reading them or responding to them once I am spending 1-2 hours with the kids before they go to bed. Additionally, don’t let the chores that need to get done around the house distract you or cause you anxiety. When you get out of deep work to just quickly do some laundry you will find it hard to jump back into what you were working on.
3. Definitely have a separate “office” that is ideally not your couch and has most of the things you will need and is somewhat removed from kids/animals if they are going to be distracting.
4. Have your work playlist that works for you. Because I am a highly sensitive person, I find it very distracting to have background music where someone is singing/talking, so I generally have a jazz station as background music.
Autumn’s Tips:
Big things for me are to manage my expectations – this is not business as usual so have grace with myself and others. But also work can still get done – so do what works for you (setting goals, setting timers, keeping a to-do list)
- I moved my to do list to my kitchen chalkboard so that it follows me when I’m tempted by other things.
- Schedule more meetings and make more of an effort to call people because you can’t stumble upon anyone.
Jeff’s Tip:
The first thing that popped into my mind was having a headset for all the Zoom calls. On calls with people who aren’t used to doing videoconferences, I’m noticing that there’s a certain “etiquette” that “newbies” aren’t used to (muting when not talking being the main thing) and – using a headset (as opposed to computer’s built-in mic and speakers) helps with that.
Jami’s Tips:
- Try to give yourself specific ‘office hours’. It’s easy to keep the laptop open and find yourself working 18 hour days, putting you at risk for exhaustion and burnout. I like to use a pomodoro timer to help me focus on specific tasks and give myself enough brakes to remain mentally sharp
- Keep a sense of humor. Dogs are going to cry, kids are going to barge in, technology will be overwhelmed and break. Right now, we’re all in this together and laughing together is really critical to keeping us all sane
- Find ways to socialize and have fun with your teams. I’ve had a blast attending virtual happy hours where we play online games, I’ve hosted Netflix Parties where we all watch and chat through an episode of Tiger King (drinking is suggested!)–find ways to keep everyone connected and having fun. One of my favorite activities was asking everyone to go around and spend 20 seconds ‘selling’ everyone else on the call on why their drink was the best one.
- Set aside time each day to get away from technology. Whether you’re reading a book, taking a walk, journaling–screen fatigue is real
So what are your productivity recommendations when working from home? Comment and tell us!
Forge News and Updates |
We’ve been daydreaming about all the fun we had at our International Women’s Day Celebration on March 6 at Forge. Mimosas, coffee, breakfast, door prizes, networking and goodie bags all made for a fun event! Forge member Kelsey Weeks documented the party- so all the photo credit goes to her.
Our panel consisted of:
Kitty Brown of White Arnold & Dowd, Dr. Adrienne Starks of STREAM Innovations and Kerry Schrader of Mixtroz.
Kitty is an attorney, mom of two and very involved in the Birmingham community through YWCA and Junior League.
Kerry is the CEO and Co-founder of Mixtroz, a business networking company that increases engagement and collects data. Kerry and her daughter closed a $1M round of funding, making them the 37th and 38th black females to ever close a $1M+ round of funding.
Adrienne is the Founder and CEO of STREAM Innovations who equips students from under-valued and under-served communities to explore and develop their passion for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM).
Our panelists shared stories of their career journey and the surprising twists they encountered along the way. Kim Lee, our panel moderator, also asked what our panelists think about the culture of women in business in Birmingham. Ashlee of Mixtroz shared a story of meeting with an investor who disrespected her and dismissed her in their initial meeting. After Ashlee was able to have an honest conversation with him, they are actually friends now! The investor apologized for mistreating her and grew from the mistake.
The transition from employee to entrepreneur was also a topic of conversation- along with how to balance being a full time working mom with young kids. We hope our panel inspired and encouraged fellow women from Birmingham! We loved celebrating the many achievements of women in our city and learning how we can support one another.
The first 100 attendees received goodie bags filled with items and coupons from women owned businesses around Birmingham. A huge thank you to all of the businesses who donated goodies and coupons for the attendee bags! Check them out below!
We ended the IWD event with a Mixtroz mixer! Attendees downloaded the Mixtroz app and answered a short questionnaire then everyone was divided into groups and provided prompts to get to know each other. People loved this portion of the event and were able to make new connections and friends through Mixtroz.
We are so thankful for our sponsors who made this event possible: Ashley Mac’s, Hightower Somerset Advisory, Gatehouse Law, Chase and Nourish Foods.
Forge News and Updates |
Our friends at Bham Now recently wrote this piece about Forge member Ryan Robinett with Multiply.
No matter what business you’re in, sales is part of it. That’s why you need to know Ryan Robinett, Principal and Founder of Birmingham-based Multiply.
A firm believer that “good salespeople are built, not born,” Robinett helps companies do more than they ever thought possible with the sales teams they have. Check out Multiply, or keep reading to find out more.
1. Who is Ryan Robinett?
Born and raised in Mountain Brook, where he and his wife are raising their two children, Ryan’s an Auburn grad with an MBA from UAB. After four and a half years at Accenture, he spent 12 years with Computer Technology Solutions (CTS).
When he joined in 2006, “CTS was a smallish IT professional services firm with one office in Birmingham.” He played a number of roles while helping to grow the company to a thriving regional firm.
Before long, Ryan was head of the Birmingham headquarters, then went to start and grow a new office in Chattanooga.
CTS’ success was noticed by CGI, a multibillion-dollar corporation based in Montreal, who bought them in 2017. At first, Ryan served as a VP operating in four states, but found he wasn’t enjoying his work as much as he wanted to.
So, he did what any good entrepreneurially-minded person does: he pivoted. This is where Multiply enters the story.
When Ryan asked himself what he most wanted to do next, he realized he wanted to help companies scale using the three-pronged approach that had worked for him at CTS.
“I boiled it down to three things that I really like—putting people in a position to be successful, equipping people to be successful and then seeing them achieve personal results which create corporate gains.”
Ryan Robinett, Principal of Multiply
2. What is Multiply?
Whether it’s helping a salesperson succeed, building a thriving team or helping existing sales teams, Multiply helps companies grow.
Helping companies scale
“Multiply is all about helping companies scale, which solves a universal problem.
I’ve helped companies that have eight employees, and I also work with some of the largest companies in Birmingham.
I assist them with organizational alignment as it relates to their messaging, their sales processes and the human capital management around preparing their sales team.”
Ryan Robinett, Principal of Multiply
Want to learn more? Visit Multiply at www.askmultiply.com.
Year 1 was a great one for Multiply, and there’s more ahead
Multiply’s had a great first year, serving Birmingham-based public utility companies, research institutions, financial institutions and more.
“I was part of a team that built a great services firm and formed Multiply based on the things I liked to do the most while scaling that company.
I look at 2019 as my first year for Multiply. I started in summer of 2018 and moved to Forge in December 2018. My first customers signed in January, which made for a great 1st year.”
Ryan Robinett, Principal of Multiply
Years 2+ promise to bring even more success: one thing to look for is the rollout of a tech solution that will sit in front of companies’ CRM (customer relationship management) software, that enables companies to better equip and manage their sales teams.
3. While Ryan Robinett’s a one-man show, he’s not alone.
While Ryan might consider adding employees someday, for now, he’s the only member of Multiply.
Because he works at Forge, though, he never has to work alone. Located at The Pizitz, Forge provides shared workspaces as well as office spaces for small businesses.
“When I was working in an office by myself, I couldn’t wait to hire people because I was lonely. Now I still work by myself, but Forge gives me the opportunity to have a coworker experience.
The other Forge workers and I share our day—the good things, the bad things. It checks the boxes of not just working alone, and you have people you develop camaraderie with and enjoy being around.”
Ryan Robinett, Principal of Multiply
Ryan likes that his Forge coworkers are all in different lines of work than he is, giving everyone the opportunity to learn new things and bounce ideas off of each other. Robinett also credits working in the shared space for increasing his productivity.
“There’s a motivation when you see people every day, and you want to tell them that your day is good,” Robinett said.
4. Ryan Robinett’s Birmingham-area favorites
We always love to ask people about their Birmingham-area faves, and Ryan didn’t disappoint with the top three things he and his family enjoy the most about the area.
Restaurant: Parish Seafood & Oyster House in Trussville
Haven’t heard of it? Ryan and his family like it that way. Parish’s is a dress-down kind of place where they’re not likely to run into the types of people who like to be seen out and about, and the seafood’s great.
Outdoor spot: Fishing two miles out on the Gulf of Mexico in a kayak
We realize this is a liberal interpretation of Birmingham-area, but we’ll go with it—because for some people, the beach is, in fact, an extension of their back yard, even if you have to drive a few hours to get there.
Ryan’s basically happiest when he’s out catching sharks or fish bigger than his kayak, and yes, he’s a fan of the Netflix series “Chasing Monsters.”
You can also catch him fishing at Lake Martin.
Local sports: all things UAB and The Birmingham Barons
As the incoming President of UAB’s Alumni Association, Ryan’s a fan of UAB sports, period. Well, that and Auburn football.
Also, he went to the first Barons game at the old stadium in Hoover, and the first one at Regions Field.
5. Have you ever thought about coworking?
If you’re currently trying to run your latest gig out of your recliner or your kitchen table, you may want to give coworking a try in 2020. It just might change your life.
