Meet Andrea Smith | Co-Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrea Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, how does your business help the community?
It took a long time for me to find my voice – and it’s a job everyday to continue to use my voice in situations that effect myself, family, friends and community.

Speak into the Mic gives our community a platform to share stories and amplify their voice through visuals and events. We host a variety of events throughout the community to help serve you by bringing resources, solutions and much needed conversations to move “US” forward one voice on the mic at a time!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Speak Into The Mic started as a podcast and turned into a multi media nonprofit during COVID.

We now have several podcasts, annual events and webinars we host to help inform and provide resources to the community about mentorship, mental health, building together and more.

I’m most proud of where we are today because it’s still a grind to keep going in order to pursue our dreams and seeking out our vision to help our community. We recently hosted a mental health series in Oakland bringing together experts to expound on putting mental health at the forefront as it continues to plague black and brown communities.

As we continue to see all of the things going on across the world and learning ways to use our voice to make a difference.

It is a challenge at times to not let your fears or time get in the way. A friendly reminder “Don’t be scared to share your work. Remember you have to start somewhere and everything doesn’t have to be “perfect!”

I’ve learned that in order to help others you will have to release your grip over certain things and let others support the work you do.

I want the world to know Speak Into The Mic is here to amplify our voices and we will keep pushing forward and pulling up our community as we climb.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So I have found a few new spots in the Bay Area particularly in Oakland that I love to eat and enjoy the scenery.

– Piedmont Street in Oakland – Park your car and walk to find food, shops and just enjoy the scenery

– Lake Merritt – It canoe a family day or a kick back with your folks.. they always have food and shopping vendors

– Grizzly Peak Park to see the view of the Bay

– Rob & Bens – Looking for a good laugh on a Friday night check out the comedy show, drinks and food. You won’t be disappointed with the desserts.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We Lead Ours has gave me the opportunity to work directly with the youth and young adults in their program. They through me in and gave me the hands on experience I needed to run some of my programs that we run in our community.

Website: https://www.speakintothemic.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/info.speakn2themic/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwpgmrKxNUzILnrvrdp-suw