Crystal Foote, Award-Winning Marketer, Author and DE&I Champion

Erik  00:03

We want to welcome all of our listeners to another episode of MRP, Minority Report Podcast with Erik and Kerel. Each episode, we talk with real operators and leaders in media, tech and business. And today joining us is Crystal Foote. Crystal is an Award-Winning Marketer, Author, DE&I Champion, Entrepreneur and Founder of Digital Culture Group. Let's jump in and get to know Crystal. Crystal, welcome. How are you?

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Crystal Foote  00:28

Doing well. Thank you, Erik, thank you, Kerel, for having me.

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Erik  00:32

Excited to have you and excited to learn a whole lot more about you. But for the folks that don't know you tell us about where you're joining us from today. Where's Crystal Foote today in the world?

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Crystal Foote  00:45

Well, today I'm in Atlanta, Georgia, the amazing Atlanta, Georgia. But yesterday I was in like Denver. So to your point, it's gonna change everyday almost.

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Erik  00:56

That's right. That's right. And for those listeners, we've got more Atlanta alum here, seems like, so that's exciting. And Crystal, tell us about what you're up to these days for work. What's keeping you busy?

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Crystal Foote  01:09

Well, (laughs) being in sales, as Kerel knows, you know, clients keep us busy, which is amazing. Busy is great in advertising sales. Also coming up with innovative solutions, it keeps me busy. And then also my book, The Inclusivity Superheroes. That keeps me busy as well.

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Erik  01:29

I can't wait to ask you have a whole lot of questions about your book, but tell us a little bit about you, too. Tell us about where you were born and raised and where you grew up.

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Crystal Foote  01:40

So I was born in Oakland, California, shout out to the Bay Area. I was raised in Vallejo, California, which is near Napa Valley. So it's like Napa Valley, then it's American Canyon, and then you hit you know, Napa. And then I decided you know it's too easy in Vallejo. I have grapes in my backyard. Like I'm right next to Napa Valley. So I decided to take the jump and move to New York City to start my career in advertising.

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Erik  02:08

Crystal, tremendous background, working for some amazing companies. I'll name them so you don't have to - MEC, RGA, Publicis, then you moved into tech, right? You moved into Exponential and Amobi and tell us about how that started and kinda like your climb through all those great companies.

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Crystal Foote  02:27

Yes. So I started agency side in New York City and I decided that I needed a break from this fake socialite life that I was trying to, you know, create for myself in New York City, and I wanted a backyard or front yard and I wanted just more peace and work life balance. So I moved to Atlanta, which I didn't know anyone here. No friends, no nothing, started completely new. And when I was on the agency side here, because I didn't know anyone, I decided to go on the sales side so that way I can explore the South East more, get to know more people and really build my ecosystem of like strong relationships in the industry.

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Kerel  03:07

West Coast, East Coast, South, I'm gonna put you on the spot - which one you prefer?

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Crystal Foote  03:13

Ohhh! (laughs) I love California, because that's where I'm from. That's where my heart is, right? New York made me into the woman I am today and I will forever be grateful for that. The hustle and the grind definitely came from New York City. And I would say the more personable softer side of me is from the South. Definitely from Atlanta. I had to adjust my character coming down here because there is not giving "hurry up and run" and do something so fast that you feel like you left your body behind because your brain is 5, 10 feet ahead of you. I had more of a work life balance here, it made me slow down. So I'm very appreciative of Atlanta for giving me that.

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Kerel  04:01

Yeah, and you raised a good point there because very different areas geographically where you live, but very different areas culturally, where you live as well, too. And I have to imagine that in each of those places, you've learned something different, something new about people, how has that level of diversity from a geo-perspective helped you in your career?

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Crystal Foote  04:27

Oh, I think it really helped me understand more about diversity, and also understanding that it's really a beautiful thing when you can learn from places where you've never lived before or not your background. I think it makes you smarter, to be honest, right? Because you know that you can't have that same type of go-go-go mentality in the South, but you also appreciate what the South has to offer because they are different. And I just really I embrace that journey and I'm so grateful for it because it also allows me to empathize with different people, and to see, you know, their point of view. And I love it.

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Kerel  05:08

Awesome, awesome. Tell us about the book, The Inclusivity Superheroes: A Tale of Diversity and Unity.

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Crystal Foote  05:15

Yes. So, that is my passion project. And being in advertising, you know, we influence a lot of things. We influence [inaudible] as a salesperson, we influence agencies and advertisers. And a lot of times, I felt like I had to do a lot of education about why inclusivity and diversity really needs to be in the fold of things when we're trying to create advertising campaigns. And so because of that, I said, what can I do to have more scale and communicate that message? And I decided to make a children's book, because if you start with those foundational concepts really early on in a child's life, the more accepting they are of diversity, inclusivity and understanding of unity as they get older. So hopefully, it's not too much education that you have to do as a salesperson, when you approach that person, because they already have that background, they already have that knowledge because of how they're raised.

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Erik  06:12

That's great. Crystal, I have to ask you, when you were writing the book, were there any personal experiences you kind of drew from, from a child's perspective, right? Like if you, you know, dug back, and were thinking, hey, how can I take some of that, and maybe transport that onto some pages? Was that part of your process?

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Crystal Foote  06:33

Most definitely. So being from California, being from a diverse background myself, and having an auntie that's Filipina, and for every family occasion, she would bring lumpia and that was like, so near and dear to me. And so I incorporated that in the book as well, and a recipe on the website so children can also have some type of experience with other cuisine. Also, Mexican food is really big in California. I had more tortillas in my refrigerator, and my kitchen counter than I had actual bread. When I came to New York, I used to cook breakfast for my friends, and there would always be breakfast tacos. And they're like, why are you making breakfast tacos all the time? Like, what happened to like, [inaudible] and stuff like that. I was like, that's not how I was raised. I was raised on tortillas (laughs) so I incorporated that as well as like different cuisines to help really expand people's mindset about, you know, trying different things in different cultures. So I took that, but I also had a focus group of two, so my children, that also gave me their input about what they want to see and how they felt when they saw the book. So that was really helpful because at the end of the day, my audience, of course, are children, I want to make sure that they see themselves in the book, and they were comfortable, and had a lot of fun reading it, too.

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Erik  07:48

That's great. That's awesome. And being Filipino and Guatemalan myself, I certainly know tortilla and soy sauce one night, and the next day, it's a whole other thing, so here it is, chino Latino, I'm definitely there. (laughs)

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Kerel  08:04

And I'm just over here getting hungry right now. (laughs)

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Erik  08:07

(laughs) I mean, Kerel, we could knock back from lumpia, oh man, it'd be so good. I'm curious, you know, with the success of the book, and you know, you're sort of reaching out and connecting with kids, take us through a couple of magical moments that you've had when children discover the book, and even families sort of discover the book.

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Crystal Foote  08:28

Yes. So when children discover the book, they say, oh, that looks like me and so that makes me feel so good, because I have a page and it's like a spread in the book where it's children of all different backgrounds and all different abilities. And even when the characters in there, one of main characters, Aisha, she's Caribbean, and my husband is Caribbean, well, he's Antuigan, so having some of the bun and cheese recipe in there and the colors as well what that represents is a very proud moment I feel like for the children who read it, because they're like, yes, thank you for including me. My daughter, even though the character in there, her name is Victoria, she doesn't look like me, I still relate with Aisha because she does more of the things that I do and she looks like me. So you know, that feels really good. And then I also have tips in the back of the book for grownups so that way they can have these conversations with their children about inclusivity so that way they can weave that into their professional life as an adult you know, maybe you need some updates about what you can do, but also in their personal lives with their children and how their children communicate at school, on the playground and then their own little you know, play dates as well.

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Erik  09:39

That's great. There's something for everyone there sounds like and has this kind of inspired you to perhaps take this on and extend it and do more with writing?

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Crystal Foote  09:50

I would love to. So, definitely thinking about the second book. Of course, when I was done with the first one I was like, whew, that was a lot of work. We got there to the finish line, my daughter was like a okay, let's talk about, you know, the second book - where are the concepts? I'm like, okay, wait a minute, seven year old. (laughs) Let's celebrate this moment for a little bit, please, I still have my day job as well. So let's take our time. (laughs)

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Kerel  10:15

Crystal, where can people find the book?

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Crystal Foote  10:17

They can find it on Amazon. Or they can go to the website, theinclusivitysuperheroes.com.

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Kerel  10:23

Gotcha. Okay, thank you for that. When Erik introduced you at the beginning, there's a lot that you do, a lot of titles, right, and it's all good. Where do you find the time? Like, how do you manage your day to day? And I ask that because one, I'm curious, but I know our listeners, that's one of the top questions that they like to hear from our guests is like, how do they go about managing their day? What does time management look like? Work-life balance, if there is such a thing, right? So tell us what does a typical day look like for you?

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Crystal Foote  10:55

So to be honest, that work life balance statement alone is interesting for everybody, because [inaudible] differently. And for me, my secret sauce is really commingling the two. Because of my relationships that I have - professional, personal - sometimes that intermingles and allows me to enjoy my professional relationships like my personal ones. Because we have gone through so much together, or because we have an amazing bond, that we do things like travel together, or go to concerts together, so it doesn't feel like I'm working, right? And then sometimes their children go to same school as my children. So we have play days. And so we're able to like, talk about work, and then talk about personal stuff, and then have our kids play. So it's really like an amazing formula. Also, my children's school opened a co-working space, right after kind of like transitioning from home life to like being back in the workspace during the pandemic. And so it allows me to drop them off at school, go two minutes across the street to my office, and then go home together. So I am really saving four hours in a day from like commuting time because we live like an hour away, going back and forth or going to see clients because that co-working space. So again, just finding opportunities where both professional and personal can co mingle. You know, even if you have to go get your hair done, making sure you have your laptop with you doing it at the same time. Making it work. It's all about that or else, I would be going crazy right now and we would be drinking wine during this podcast. (laughs)

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Kerel  12:31

(laughs) We've done that before, right Erik? (laughs)

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Erik  12:35

We've maybe tried that out. Yes, yes we have. (laughs)

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Kerel  12:39

What gets you excited? What motivates you?

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Crystal Foote  12:43

I mean, again, being a mom, my children [inaudible] excited, right? Seeing that I'm leaving a positive impression on them and being a positive influence for them to recognize that and the work that we're doing professionally, even personally, but really professionally, to let them know that you can have your dream job and still really positively influence the world around you and do what's right. And so my children keep me excited knowing that we work really hard and helping the industry understand inclusivity, that makes me happy. When someone reaches out to me, and they say thank you for teaching me something new, you know, that means a lot.

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Kerel  13:25

Gotcha. What's one thing that you wish you were better at?

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Crystal Foote  13:30

Ooh. Playing the piano. (laughs) I can't play it at all. So I love to entertain, as you know, as part of our work. If there was a piano at, let's say a bar, at a restaurant we went to, just start jamming out, that would be so cool to me. But I'm not good at playing the piano. Really any instrument.

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Kerel  13:53

Yeah, I've always wanted to learn how to play the saxophone. I've never gotten there yet, so... (laughs)

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Crystal Foote  13:57

(laughs) One day.

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Erik  14:01

Crystal, I want to ask you a little bit about your family. We had our buddy Doug Melville on a previous podcast talking about an incredible, amazing true story called Invisible Generals about his family. And I wanted to ask you about an incredible family member of yours. Can you tell our audience and tell our listeners and viewers who Sergeant Alfred B Hilton is?

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Crystal Foote  14:28

Yes, you did your homework, Erik, look at you. (laughs) Alfred B Hilton is my great great uncle. And he is an American war hero, fought in the American Civil War and a Medal of Honor recipient. And he is known for sharing our colors of the country, the nation's flag. And he told, you know, his troop save the colors, because at the end of the day, he wanted to make sure that he was really fighting for the equality of everyone in this country, and he got injured, but was like, you know what, this means more than my life. And because he got injured, he came back, you know, after everything was said and done, came back home and his injury actually took his life because he wasn't able to get the medical treatment due to segregation at that time, which is very unfortunate, because he fought for our country. I am very proud of his legacy. It is the heartbeat of everything that I do, everything from work to personal, and he has a statue in Havre de Grace, Maryland that we visit and pay respect to, but I'm so proud of what he has done.

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Erik  15:42

That's fantastic. I was just going to ask you about what it's like to actually see a statue represented physically there, that you can go to, others can go to, what's that feel like when you see that?

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Crystal Foote  16:00

Honestly, I feel that every day I wake up that it is intentional in the work that I do. And that because he fought for our country and, you know, died at such a young age that I just want to make him proud in heaven and my family proud. I mean, that is such a legacy to live up to. And I know I'll never be able to accomplish that, but just to know that I'm doing my part in the modern day of, you know, corporate America and what we're doing from a work standpoint, I just have to keep on pushing and making sure that I do focus on inclusivity, on equity, because those things really are important. And I've had, you know, my great, great uncle die for this country for fighting for that. And I'll continue that as well.

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Erik  16:46

So tell us a little bit about your family. Tell us about where they came from and how they ended up where they did. 

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Crystal Foote  16:52

Wow. So on my mother's side, my grandfather and his family, they are Jewish, and they came from Latvia, Romania, and then migrated to Chicago, Illinois. And my grandmother and her family, they're from the Maryland, New York area. My grandmother was raised in the Bronx. And she decided that she wanted to go to California. My grandmother is very much a person before her time. And she moved to California to experience life there because she was like, you know, I grew up in New York, I got into NYU, but it's not really the college for me, a lot of people I know are going here. And she went to California, that's where she met my grandfather. And they have three amazing children, my mother included in there. And my father's side, they came from South Boston slash Halifax, Virginia. And he's one of seven. And he decided, you know, I'm going to come from this very rural area, and go to Howard University, HBCU. And that's where he met my mother. And that's where everything started, you know, the family of three, myself, my siblings, my sister, my brother, and we grew up in California. And I decided I wanted to go to New York to start my career, and then came down here to Atlanta.

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Erik  17:00

You're a mom now.

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Crystal Foote  18:20

I'm a mom now and a wife.

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Erik  18:22

And a wife.

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Crystal Foote  18:23

And a dog mom. (laughs)

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Erik  18:24

And a dog mom.

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Kerel  18:27

(laughs)

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Erik  18:27

We should have added those in the beginning. (laughs)

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Crystal Foote  18:31

(laughs) The most important titles.

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Erik  18:33

(laughs) That's right, that's right. What kind of interesting lessons do you feel that you're passing on now to your kids, and even sharing with your husband?

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Crystal Foote  18:41

I think empathy, that would be probably the number one lesson. Empathy and understanding. What moves people, what motivates people, what gets people really excited to do their day to day and also, again, positivity. We have a choice when we wake up - either to wake up on the right side of the bed or the wrong side of the bed, and I choose to wake up on the right side of the bed and pay gratitude because I am awake and I get to see my children and you know we're healthy. And so that really I feel like are the lessons that I want them to learn from me.

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Kerel  19:22

Crystal, what advice would Crystal today give Crystal first starting out in her career?

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Crystal Foote  19:31

I would tell myself, I'm not gonna date myself about how old I am, or you know, how long I've been in the industry, but I would probably tell my younger self that there are going to be challenges, but do not let bad break you down, to keep pushing because there is something to learn in every challenge that I faced. I'm not gonna lie, when I moved to New York, I was like, you know, I'm here big city, here I go, but I was terrified and was afraid to ride the subway, because I was by myself in the big city and I called my mom crying one day and I was like, I want to come back home, it's expensive here, I can't even afford toilet paper, like, you know, this is just not where I thought I would be. And she said, you're not coming back home. And my mother is a very much so like, she didn't want me to leave, so for her to say that, I knew it was serious that she knew that I was starting my future there, right, she knew it was bigger than her and me. She knew that it was something that really was destined for me to achieve in my life to be in New York, to make the connections, to work on the accounts that I did. I mean, I'm very grateful for having to lead the agency side for Chanel, as a woman of color. And the ads didn't look like me, but educating the marketing team at Chanel, or leading reach mods, which includes Cartier and Mont Blanc, and, you know, several other brands. So I'm grateful for those experiences. And I'm so grateful that my mother said, don't leave, stay. Because if I left, I wouldn't have had those same experiences, and I probably wouldn't be who I am today.

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Kerel  21:10

Gotcha. Thank you for that. All right, fun question, what's in your music rotation?

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Crystal Foote  21:15

(laughs) When I'm at work, or when I'm in the car?

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Kerel  21:20

You decide, you tell us. (laughs)

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Erik  21:24

(laughs)

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Crystal Foote  21:24

It's very different. So when I'm at work and I need to make sure that I am all the way in knee deep, eyebrow deep, I listen to jazz music. And there's a station on Spotify, Jazz for Work that I listen to, it's very relaxing, because as you know, we're in a very stressful type of environment. We get calls and fire drills and all this stuff, we got to be on it. And so I listen to jazz music to kind of balance that out, that energy. But if I'm in the car, if I'm listening to music, it's typically it's like my, my university on wheels, but when I'm listening to music (laughs), this is gonna sound so bad... it's, you know, some like 1990's Jay-Z, you know (laughs)

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Kerel  22:12

There you go. We're with you. We with you. (laughs)

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Erik  22:15

Didn't even know, we were with you all along. (laughs)

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Kerel  22:20

Listen, if anyone actually pays attention to what Jay-Z is saying in his catalogue, what he's talking about can help you in the corporate world, period, as well, too.

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Crystal Foote  22:30

Right, 100%. So, you know, '96 was a good year for Jay, when he [inaudible] and I was listening to his music. I've always been a fan. And so that just puts me in the mood like, alright, let's do this. Very educational, too. (laughs) Philosopher in his own right. So, I have a good time listening to Jay. You know, I listened to some Nas, Drake. The other day I was listening to Lil' Kim, too. So, you know, I was born in the 80s, I really enjoy hip hop, old school hip hop, because I know what they're saying, I can understand it. No shade to the new rappers but like I understand it. And it's just nostalgia for me. You know, just like, I don't know. I just enjoy it.

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Kerel  23:12

Love it. Love it.

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Crystal Foote  23:14

(laughs)

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Kerel  23:15

Great. Well, Crystal, it's been a lot of fun hanging out with you. Tell us again where everybody can find the book.

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Crystal Foote  23:23

So, they can find the book on Amazon, The Inclusivity Superheroes: A Tale of Diversity and Unity. They can go check out the website as well, theinclusivitysuperheroes.com. And if you want to follow me, see what I'm up to, reach out to me, you can go on LinkedIn, Crystal Foote, so like your "foot," but with a E at the end. It's very British. But yeah, that's how you can find me. And that's how you can find the book, too.

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Erik  23:48

Excellent. Well, thanks again for spending some time with us. And thanks everyone for listening to another episode. Be sure to find more episodes where you find all of your audio and video, just search for the logo and find an excellent catalog with more great guests. Thanks again.

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Crystal Foote  24:04

Thank you.