164: How The Founder of The Village Market Is Bringing National Exposure To Black-Owned Businesses (w/ Dr. Key Hallmon)

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today in the guest chair we have Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon (also known as Dr. Key), Founder, and CEO of The Village Market. I was blessed to cross paths with Dr. Hallmon at Summit 21; shout out to past Side Hustle Pro guest</span> <a href= "https://www.sidehustlepro.co/jewelburkspartpic/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Jewel Burks Solomon</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">for introducing us! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr. Key started her career in education, but she wanted more freedom and flexibility. She wanted to be able to take her students outside. Soon got the idea for what was then called The Village Cafe, an economical vehicle that empowers the Black community through cooperative economics. From that seed, The Village Market has grown into an economic vehicle for #blackownedbusiness like no other.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prior to launching The Village Market, Dr. Hallmon had no experience at all planning events. She had never even booked a venue for an event, much less create her own event with hundreds of vendors, but she had a vision and she wasn’t scared to make it come to life. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Village Market is now not only a market, but also offers summits, trainings, and workshops for small Black-owned businesses. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listen on</span> <a href= "http://sidehustlepro.co/Podcast"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Apple Podcasts</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">,</span> <a href= "https://soundcloud.com/sidehustlepro"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Soundcloud</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">,</span> <a href= "http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/side-hustle-pro"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Stitcher</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><strong>Links mentioned in this episode</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "http://sidehustlepro.co/live"><s