Harvard and the Hole Principle
There’s a certain sense of accomplishment when your child’s taste in music mirrors yours. Even if it’s for just a moment. Even when they’re only five years old. The most […]
Author: Delores Thomas
A dedicated professional and great multitasker, Delores studied at Alcorn State University, where they honed their skills and developed a passion for music and connection. With a strong work ethic, they approach every challenge with determination and creativity. Believing that laughter is an essential ingredient for building relationships, Delores enjoys fostering connections through collaboration and authentic conversation. Their enthusiasm and commitment to excellence shine through in every interaction, making them a valuable team member and friend.
An Open Letter to Everyone Who Has Helped Make Creative Work for 15 Years
In 2012, President Barack Obama gave what was, at the time, a pretty standard campaign speech. As we all well know, standards and norms have taken a back seat to […]
Public Safety Means Protection: Asia’s Jackson Story
I never knew Jackson was dangerous until I was told it was. I was severely sheltered, and my upbringing was characterized by a suburban HOA and the occasional visit to my grandmother’s house on Northside Drive. My neighborhood was predominantly white, and I rarely had to consider public safety.
Public Safety Means Protection: Sherri’s Jackson Story
When I think of public safety, the first question that comes to mind is: Who is actually responsible for it? And when I ask myself that question, my mind takes […]
Public Safety Means Protection: Delores’s Jackson Story
Growing up on the west side of Jackson, my view on public safety is shaped by every street I walked, every porch I sat on, and every face I recognized. […]
Public Safety Means Protection
What does it mean to protect something? Or someone?
The verb protect requires a subject and an object. For example, an umbrella can protect you from the rain. Simple. Or, as a father, I believe it’s my duty to protect my son from people, powers, or principalities that may wish him harm. Not so simple, especially when there are people, powers, and principalities that are actively angling to make the world and our community less safe.
Standing Up for Mississippi Families: A Call to Protect Federal Assistance Programs
From The Lighthouse: Did Kendrick Lamar Sell Out?
Note: We’re resharing this article from our good friends at The Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects, a revolutionary organization that steps beyond offering “leadership development for Black girls and women” […]
From Our Partners: Joint Statement on Medicaid Expansion
Today, four of our trusted partners and allies in the work to ensure everyone in Mississippi has access to the resources they need to thrive issued a joint statement urging […]
Farish Street: Jackson’s Diamond in the Rough
As a child growing up in Jackson, I never realized the importance of the Farish Street Historic District. My parents would advise me that it wasn’t a place for anyone […]
Daddy’s Home: A Father’s Right to Paternity Leave
As Father’s Day approaches, and we begin to notice and appreciate all the little things our fathers (or father figures) have added to our lives, it’s hard to ignore the […]
What, to the New American Negro, Is YOUR Juneteenth National Independence Day?
Emphasis on the word your. If you’re not familiar with Frederick Douglass’s speech entitled What, to a Slave, Is Your Fourth of July?, you should be. You can read the […]
How We Talk About People: Affirming Dignity and Humanity
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of words in our work. Not just how we write but also what we say about the people and communities we […]
Black Businesses in the Red | When Equity Meets History
It doesn’t take any real level of scholarship to understand Mississippi has struggled with equity since it was granted statehood more than two centuries ago. That trend has continued with […]
Why We Chose Not to Play the Mississippi Lottery
Let me start with a few disclaimers. As a leadership team, we chose not to accept an invitation from another agency to submit a joint bid to provide creative and […]
On Being a Human Being 1.1
Inspiration is the good friend who sends the unexpected but perfectly timed text message or DM. This morning I noticed a police car idling in the parking lot. My lived […]
Awake
What remains is contradiction: We must believe in the dream and we must accept that it is false—then, perhaps, we will be capable of building a land where it will […]
Hiring with Humility
We’re currently looking for a creative support specialist, but that’s not what this blog post is about. Well, that’s not all it’s about. Like everything we try to do here, […]
Representation Matters: The Dangers of Subliminal Messaging
Over the weekend, my sister recommended that I watch the television series Siren. I was partly excited to hear the show was about mermaids due to an interest in science […]
The Death of Context in the Sea of Cacaphonous Content
“…by always quoting works out of the context the public forgets that they have a context.” – Theodore Gioia Theodore Gioia makes a very salient point in this article about […]
Doodle the Dust Off
Working in a creative field can be incredibly rewarding and fun. You get to do the work you love, sometimes effortlessly, by simply working those God-given left brain muscles. However, […]
A Persistent Truth about Inequality
It seems like a new study comes out every day about something. Theories are posited. Hypotheses are proven or disproven. Claims are made, then retracted. It can all be a […]
The Miseducation of the Americans
“And we appeal to the friends of progress and to our citizens of the several states to continue their efforts to the various legislatures until every state can boast of […]
Should You Disclose Cosmetic Plastic Surgery To Your Spouse Prior To Marriage?
A few years back I scrolled across an article that I am still not one hundred percent sure is real, but it made me think about mandatory laws requiring spouses […]
The Battle of September 31
Later is a creeping, cunning, Siren-Decepticon. Later has this tricky way of shape shifting into something else entirely. The word “later” is actually an adjective AND an adverb (already doing […]
Operation Shoestring Celebrates 50th Anniversary
No Cookie-Cutter Approach to Leadership
There’s one common mistake that scores of leaders make. Okay, so there is more than one standard mistake, but this post will address only one. And here it is: LEADERS […]
The Classifieds
A few weeks ago, we had a brief discussion about the our moral obligation to people who work with us as employees or contractors. I had a similar conversation at […]
A Serious Look at Comic Sans
Comic Sans is a font that people love to hate. I’ll admit it—I myself am one of those haters. But I didn’t know the backstory of this designer-despised font until […]
The Importance of Telling the Whole Truth
As I scrolled through my personal Twitter feed this past weekend, I scrolled upon a post of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. The post included the above picture of Bezos […]
Cooking Up Some Creativity
Last weekend, we had our annual team retreat in New Orleans. Yes, we actually worked while we were there. Probably because Mardis Gras hadn’t yet begun, but also because we […]
Now Departing ATL
Research and development. Trial and error. Risk and reward. They’re all a part of doing business, no matter what business you happen to be in. Our commitment to learning at […]
Yeah… Leaders are Cool, but What about the Followers?
There’s a lot of attention given to leaders. In fact, there are endless books written on the top, bordering on leadership overload. According to Gary Yukl, one of the most […]
Congratulations to SBA Emerging Leaders Graduates
I just wanted to post a quick word of congratulations to the fellow graduates of the 2017 SBA Emerging Leaders Executive Training Program, listed in the Mississippi Business Journal article below. […]
The Cost of Courage
It’s hard to believe it has been three years since I read this New Yorker article chronicling the graphic and traumatic experience of Kalief Browder, one of the most courageous humans to […]
Woodward Hines Education Foundation Partners with Mississippi Business Journal for NEXT! Magazine
How we can help you elevate Mississippians to a higher degree by Jim Mchale, President and CEO of the Woodward Hines Education Foundation When I moved to Mississippi from […]
You Need A Social Media Expert…And That’s OK
We are in the height of the technology age, where phones are used for everything except calling, cars park themselves, and social media is the number one source of information.
A strong social media presence is essential in the marketing efforts of nonprofits and small businesses, so it is important that you have social media expert on staff or outsource to an agency with expertise in inbound marketing through social media. Gone are the days where social media was optional. Your customers, donors, volunteers, beneficiaries and partners are all using social media to communicate, and a social media expert provides the flexibility, organization and analytical acumen to ensure your business is a part of the conversation.
Get Busy Getting Productive
Disclaimer: This post is really just way for me to share some dope new and old school hip-hop videos, but you might find something of value. Actually, you’ll definitely find […]
Journey or Destination
How many times have you heard someone give a motivational speech and say with authority, “It’s not the destination, but the journey that matters” or “life’s a journey, not a […]
GJAC X Save the City X Heal the City
So, basically, all I have to say is watch these videos and shout out to GJAC. Later.
Capital Area Human Services District Awarded a Grant to Prevent Opioid Misuse in Women and Girls
Capital Area Human Services (CAHS) has been awarded a major grant for opioid misuse prevention targeting women and girls in the greater Baton Rouge region. The three-year, $300,000 competitive grant, […]
When Marketers Make Mistakes
The world ends. Or at least it can feel that way. This, like many if my random revelations, has an odd derivation. I have very excited about seeing The Foreign […]
You Should Be Seeing Spots
See spot. Good. Don’t see spot. See spot run. See spot run your business into the ground. Seeing spots is healthy. I’m not referring to ocular health. If you’re seeing […]
The Gender Pay Gap Still Exists and is Persistent
I recently stumbled upon a headline on forbes.com that read “New Report: Women CEOs Make More Than Men”. This headline caught my eye… but not for the reasons you might […]
Thoughts on Thought Leadership
There’s a lot of talk about thought leadership. Many nonprofit organizations and leaders often speak about ways to position themselves as “thought leaders” in their respective fields or service areas. […]
Four Tips To Tune Up Your Small Business
Have you ever been in your car and heard a strange sound? Something that was just a little off…a little shaky…a little weird? When this happens the first thing that […]
What Not to Say in a Statement
“How a product performs is our single measure for what stays on our shelves and what goes.”
How Do These Ads Get Approved?
I know most people are over Pepsigate by now. That’s how the 24-hour news cycle works, I guess. I pulled some quotes from an article in the Atlantic (How on […]
Unpaid but Valuable. An Internship Could Equal a Job.
I learned early in my college career that if I wanted “real-world experience” I needed to get out into the real world. I was fortunate enough to have an incredible […]
Internship or Internment?
I never interned while I was in college, so I missed that whole experience. After six years, I have gained plenty of experience being on the other side of the internship equation, and as an employer (i.e. the offerer of internships), I have gleaned a few things from some extremely pleasant interns and other excruciatingly painful internship periods that may be helpful to other small businesses thinking about offering an internship and for college students considering starting an internship.
NCTOH: Turning it up another notch
On Wednesday, March 22, 2017, the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), working in coordination with numerous other health organizations, will convene the 2017 National Conference on Tobacco or […]
Woodward Hines Education Foundation: More than Just a New Name
Education Services Foundation, a nonprofit working to help Mississippi students plan and pay for college, has announced that it is changing its name to the Woodward Hines Education Foundation (WHEF). […]
A Lesson In Crisis Communications
At some point, every organization will experience some type of crisis. The crisis may be minor – like you post the wrong pricing information on social media. Or, the crisis […]
Reality of Transitioning
Transition – 1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc. to another; change 2. Music a. a passing from one key to another; modulation b. […]
Web Design and Storytelling
One thing I’ve continued to learn since joining FCG is that the most important part of designing a website isn’t composing something that is aesthetically beautiful/appealing (although we think we’ve […]
An Open Letter to Enterprise Rental Car
Disclaimer: I usually don’t waste time writing open letters to corporations unless there is some gross violation of civil or human rights. This letter is definitely not that. However, there […]
How to Lose a Customer in 60 Seconds
Why I Love/Hate Last Chance University
The Netflix series Last Chance University is arrestingly interesting. It’s also maddeningly disappointing, gut-wrenchingly frustrating, and unfortunately truthful. If I were able to watch Last Chance University for pure entertainment, like […]
Frequency & Effectiveness: Communicating for Success
Communication is essential to foster strong and productive relationships with team members and stakeholders. When our message isn’t clear, it effects outcomes and success rates. Ensuring communication is clear and […]
Finger. Nail. File.
So, this is a very random post. Kind of. We devote the last 30 minutes of our day every Friday to writing (or preparing to write or thinking about writing […]
What Pinky & The Brain Can Teach Us About Success
Cartoons are normally the last place we expect to find some sort of worthwhile life lesson but there is one series that I recently revisited from my childhood (Netflix FTW!) […]
Easy Like Saturday Morning
Toward the end of Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc., Catmull includes a chapter dedicated to tech and design legend Steve Jobs. In that chapter, Catmull shares an exchange between Jobs and a Pixar […]
Leading from Beside
I’ve seen the phrase “leading from behind” a lot. I never knew the derivation, so I did most of us do when curiosity strikes us while surfing the internet – […]
Not Winning Isn’t the Same as Losing
We didn’t win last week. Technically, one of our clients didn’t get the win it was seeking, but from our perspective, when one of our clients doesn’t achieve its goals […]
My Thoughts on “Life and Death in the App Store”
But the App Store’s middle class is small and shrinking. And the easy money is gone. I found this article (Life and Death in the App Store by Casey Newton) on Longform.org (a […]
Hurry Up and Be Patient
Everyone wants to go fast, but fast doesn’t always win (see Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare as told through this classic Walt Disney cartoon). Paul Graham outlines a basic […]
On Being the Best in the World
What does best in the world mean? Seth Godin poses that question in “The Dip” episode of his Startup School podcast. The concept of “the dip” is interesting enough to […]
Generation FREE Hosts Middle School Tobacco Prevention Conference
Generation FREE, Mississippi’s youth-led tobacco prevention program is ready to launch its 2016 Inspiring Future Leaders Youth (iFLY) Conferences. This conference provides seventh and eighth-grade students with the opportunity to […]
Smokefree East Baton Rouge Launches Campaign
The last remnants of lit cigarettes legally allowed in Baton Rouge’s bars and casinos could soon turn to ash if the Smoke-free East Baton Rouge campaign is successful in creating […]
I Am Not My Job (Repost from SeeJonesCreative)
This is a repost from one of our good friends, and a very talented designer/artist, Chris Jones of SeeJones Creative. I Am Not My Job So…about a week ago, I […]
Snapchat Advertising and Why You Probably Will Never Need It
Earlier today I was randomly navigating from article to article, and I landed on a short piece by David Berkowitz titled Why Snapchat’s 3V Advertising Model Is Flawed. Full disclosure: I’m not […]
6 Surprising Ways to Get More Creative
Here are six surprising facts you might not already know about how the creative mind works, which can hopefully to get your own creative juices flowing: 1. Workplace clutter […]
6 Tips for Creating Useful Content Really Fast
Creating content on a regular basis for your company’s website, blog, and social media channels is no easy task. Therefore, our strategy focuses on efficiency and effectiveness. We understand that our […]