“It takes a village.”
Easy to say, but hard to put into practice for many. Only 54% of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2023 said they feel somewhat or very close to people in their local community, the second lowest rate out of 24 countries.
People are often stymied by the how. How do I build a village? How do I find community?
Lakeysha Hallmon, an Atlanta teacher-turned-entrepreneur, is trying to change that reality. Hallmon’s very first business was as an ACT and SAT tutor while working as an English teacher in her home state of Mississippi. She then taught in Cobb County, before eventually working for the Georgia Department of Education. While working for the state, Hallmon saw a need to support entrepreneurs in her community, to become a village for them.
In 2016, she founded a series of pop-ups called the Village Market to help support burgeoning Black businesses. Four years later she opened a store in Ponce City Market, the Village Retail, to stock small Black brands. Emblazoned on the back wall of the store is Hallmon’s mantra: “Support is a Verb.”
Hallmon believes it is more important now than ever for people to work on building their own village.
“I really do think that every generation has something that they have to respond to,” Hallmon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And I believe our generation, the response is to build the collective and to be very strategic in how we build.”
The AJC sat down with Hallmon to discuss her debut book, “No One Is Self-Made: Build Your Village to Flourish in Business and Life,” and advice for creating your own community.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Q: What inspired you to create the Village Market?
A: I saw a need.
I love festivals and big events, especially those that feature artisans and makers and brands. And I was going to a lot of events in Atlanta, and for the larger events, I didn’t see a great deal of representation for Black businesses, and so I decided to do something about it. I didn’t have any experience with hosting any type of event, marketplace. I knew absolutely nothing about it, but I had an overwhelming sensation that I was supposed to build the village.
I started incrementally. Because I’m a former educator, I first launched a series of classes called “It Takes a Village,” and I focused on bringing successful entrepreneurs to a novice audience of those who were considering launching a business, or those who may have started.
By the third or fourth class, I got the vision to create the Village Market. … I said, “Hey, if I create a marketplace, or if I create an experience where people can actually shop from you, buy from you, would you come out?” And hands shot up.
Q: What did the first iteration of the Village Market in 2016 look like?
A: I curated a nighttime marketplace from 5 to 10 p.m. I think it was about 30 entrepreneurs, and many of the entrepreneurs came from the coffee shop series. And I had African dancers, they did a whole performance. Had a DJ, worked with a local gallery to have art on the wall. … Many of the people who taught classes, or people who were in the classes, participated in the market.
We went from about 35, 40 people applying for the first one to well over 500 people for every market. And in 2019 we had over 1,000 applications coming in, trying to be in our marketplace. We grew from about 200 people coming to the event to our very last event, we had about 7,000 people there, shopping from entrepreneurs. So this quarterly, curated, very grown up but family-oriented event like really grew to be this thing. And then when the pandemic happened, 2020 was slated to be my largest market. … I had to pivot my in-person experiences to digital.
And then from there, I took about a month to kind of rest. I was tired. I was producing a lot of events, beyond Village Market. … Somehow, I turned into like a big event planner.
I did a big road trip across the country. I went to Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona. … During that time, on this long road trip across the country out west, I got the vision to open the retail store that we have now.
Q: And where did the mantra “Support is a Verb” come from?
A: You know how Nike has “Just do it?” It’s clear what their motto is, their slogan. And for me, I was like, “Well, … what do I want people to do?” And I wanted people to shop. I wanted people to understand that if you care about something, it should have action behind it. I first wrote down on my paper “verb,” and then I was like, “Well, what about a verb?” And then I said, “Support is a Verb.”
And what’s so beautiful about it, it fits in any space, not just intentionally buying local. Anything that you love you should support.
Q: When did you start building your village and how did you go about doing that?
A: I’ve always believed in having an all-star team. I’ve always believed in being surrounded by like-minded people. From me being in high school, I didn’t want everyone to be my friend. I wanted the people who are aligned with me.
I knew at a young age that I should have a bench, I should have all-stars around me. I did the same in college and when I moved to Atlanta. I didn’t want every Atlantan to be my friend. I wanted the Atlantans who were aligned with me and we wanted to do purposeful work together. … So, I feel like every interval of my life I’ve been building a village for myself.
Q: For folks who want that community, want that village, but aren’t sure how to approach building it, what advice would you have for them?
A: I believe the first thing, first rule of engagement to build a community, is writing down your intentions for what you want from community, and how you want to feel in community.
And then from there, you gotta put yourself out there. If you’re living in Atlanta, there’s always something going on. I don’t want the person to go to every event. I want us to start going to things that we feel aligned with our values, because then you start to find your people. You begin to meet your people the more you show up to places that are aligned with your intrinsic goals and intrinsic values.
My third piece of that is be the type of person, be the type of community member that you also want. So be trustworthy. Show up for other people. So don’t always just ask people to show up for you, you show up for other people. Do not always just ask people to support you, you support other people. I believe, as we talk about karma in a negative way, I believe there’s good karma, too. So, I think the good we put out in the world, we end up getting some of that good back.
Lakeysha Hallmon
Age: 43
Education: Bachelor of Arts in English from Tougaloo College; Master of Education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Mississippi; Doctor of Education in curriculum and instruction from Liberty University
Family: Three siblings and three nephews
Resides: Midtown Atlanta
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