Eliza Fillo
we’ve been talking before this.

Thanks for joining us. How are you?

Lesly Washington
I’m doing great, how are you all?

Eliza Fillo
Doing great. I think we can just go ahead and jump into it, and maybe with a question that will give people an idea of who you are, how you got started, et cetera. So can you tell us a little bit about what inspired you to start your own business, and kind of what challenges you did face during those early stages?

Lesly Washington
For sure. Yeah, so I launched my business literally in the beginning of pandemic. So at the time, I was a few months laid off from my previous job and I was freelancing here and then, and then COVID happened and I was like, okay, this is kind of my opportunity to kind of do my own thing. It’s like the whole world is shut down. I have more time. I’ve been in marketing forever. So it’s like, why not try to do it? And I spent a lot of years also working under a few people.

agencies, big businesses, and I was like, I can do this myself. I can try it and see how it goes, and I think this is the perfect time to do it.

Irene Muchai
For sure. I feel like a lot of people do say that about COVID that, you know, has made them start their own businesses and become entrepreneurs, which is really exciting to see. But I’m curious about like, you know, your background behind fashion and things like that. I know you had a vintage clothing company. How does that kind of influence your marketing company today?

Lesly Washington
For sure, yeah. So when I launched my, yeah, so this is my second rodeo of starting a business. But yes, my first business was Chopped Vintage. And at the time I launched it when I was just also starting my digital marketing career with Alternative Apparel. And at the time I was like wearing a lot of hats at Alternative in the marketing industry, but there wasn’t like, I didn’t have a creative outlet. So Chopped Vintage served as my creative outlet. I was also like grieving the passing of my dad. So it was like I needed something to do.

Um, and, or just the guinea pig for all things creative and marketing. And, you know, I was running like a website and updating everything, doing photos. I was, um, doing emails, copywriting, but also I was doing the same at alternative. I was very a part of like the photo shoots that we were doing. I was writing copy. I was like, project. I was like basically learning as I went in those first, um, I would say four years. Um, which I’ll vintage. And I think now it kind of like, I was able to like really just see.

how people responded to social media and marketing. And I spent a lot of time building up that following with Chopped Vintage. And I figured why not, I can definitely do it again. Was for something I’ve been doing for a long time, which would be marketing. So yeah, it kind of came naturally. It just kind of, it made sense. And I figured, yeah, we were in COVID. It’s just like, what else will I do? You know?

Eliza Fillo
Yeah, I feel like COVID was a time when people kind of like shed their imposter syndrome. Um, and they were like, I’m just going to do this thing. Did you feel any sort of imposter syndrome when you first started? Were you like, I don’t know how to do this? Or did you kind of just go full force and say, what the hell, let’s do it.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, I definitely had imposter syndrome. Yeah, I mean, for definitely the first few months. And even so now, it’s like, you know, like, you kind of get in this space where you like, you know what you’re doing, especially something you’ve done for such a long time. But it’s very scary putting yourself out there and kind of putting the attention on yourself is just like, oh, this is what I do and like, hire me. And this is how even though I really kept.

you know, the marketing side of myself very hidden when I was doing top vintage. I mean, people, like they would ask me about like, okay, like I do this thing, but it wasn’t something that was really shared. So definitely, um, I was pushing myself a little bit more. Um, yeah, the first, the second go around with my business. So, I mean, yeah, it was definitely very scary and I definitely still get a few insecurities, um, when you’re doing it, but you just kind of have to put yourself out there and I feel like you don’t. Like if you don’t try, you like never know kind of thing is like, it’s really cliche, but it’s just like.

And I’ve just kind of like just try it and see what happens. And if you fail, try something else. If that fails, try something else again. Yeah, and just keep going basically.

Irene Muchai
Yeah, awesome. I mean, now that you’re like, I guess a two time entrepreneur with multiple businesses, what would you say are kind of like your favourite things about being an entrepreneur, you know, something that you’ve gained from being an entrepreneur that you might not have gained, say, if you were still working as part of a marketing company?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, I definitely think it taught me self-discipline. I think it’s definitely hard. It’s very different. So if you’re working for someone else, of course you have a set schedule. You’re working with a lot of people. Instructure is always a good thing. But then when you’re working for yourself, especially at home, being in COVID, it’s like, how do you keep yourself on a schedule? So that was something I definitely struggled with. Because some things that’s really important to me is like,

work-life balance and making sure I still do work, but also take care of myself and, you know, have made things for all of my passions. So yeah, definitely staying on the schedule was just something that, yeah, I definitely struggled with and I would have never realized like I have to actually be on the schedule and get things done, so work is done. But yeah, I would say that’s probably like one of, yeah, the bigger struggles I would say. And also probably just staying motivated because sometimes you do get like slower periods of…

Yeah, I mean, you’re basically freelancing. So it’s like sometimes you get slower periods of work. And sometimes you get like high increases of work. So you just kind of keeping that momentum, even when you’re a little bit slower, is definitely a challenge at times as well.

Eliza Fillo
Yeah, you mentioned a lot of like a balance between work and your personal life. I think for a lot of people who do start their own businesses, that can be a really big struggle, at least for the people that I know who have. Can you kind of share some of the ways that you make that a priority is that a priority for you? And how do you think that affects the work that you do?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, work-life balance, I’ve always believed in that for years. I think taking care of yourself is very important. And basically, when you take care of yourself, you can be better to other people. You can be better at your work, be better at what you’re passionate about. You kind of show up better when you are taking care of yourself. And for me, I’m a big believer of yoga and meditation. I love also really hot yoga as well, very intense. But it’s another way it challenges me to get outside my zone and get out of my head.

I would say like, yeah, neighborhood walks was something I kind of picked up in COVID as well that I’ve kind of kept up. Just like walking as much as possible, getting outside, getting as much sun as possible. And also just like listening to myself, like listening to my body. So if I’m feeling like really out of it or feeling really tired or just feeling like not inspired, like just listening to what I need and kind of like honoring that has always been pretty important to me, definitely. And it’s very important when you’re running a business as well. Yeah.

Also part of the main things.

Irene Muchai
Definitely. I’m curious about your experience with starting your marketing company and that whole kind of thing. So did you find that like, you know, it was because I did take a look at your website and I saw there was some pretty big names under your client list, which was really exciting to see. Did you find it kind of difficult to break into that space and, you know, build those relationships with those bigger kind of companies? Or did you find that smaller companies were more willing to work with an entrepreneur like yourself?

Lesly Washington
That’s a great question, actually. I honestly, there’s not really a big difference between the two as far as bigger companies and smaller brands. I would say both of them kind of found me through, most of them found me through word of mouth, of course, good SEO on the website and posting. But I mean, I think there are different ways, of course, in how you handle each relationship. Of course, if it’s a bigger company, depending on what you’re launching or what you’re kind of.

being thrown into, like the workload could be a little bit more different than like a smaller business. I have found with smaller businesses, the, I guess the pacing is a little bit slower, where it’s kind of like faster, the timeline shorter, we’re kind of pushing more faster. Those are kind of the main differences. But as far as like, I guess attracting the talent or speaking with them, I’ve kind of handled my processes the same as far as, you know, how I, you know, do my consultation calls and asking questions and just making sure that

you know, we are all stuffed with success and we all meet our goals for the campaigns that are happening or what we’re actually pushing out.

Eliza Fillo
Great. And do you have any, I guess, that’s kind of piggybacking off of that. Do you have advice for people who are trying to get started and make it on their own words of encouragement or just kind of lessons that you learned that you were like, ugh, I wish I had known this when I first started?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, um…

Eliza Fillo
Well, I know that’s a big question.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, it’s a big question, but a great question. Yeah, I would say definitely do all the things that you’re passionate about. I think I meet a lot of people who are like, oh, I wanna do ABCD, but there’s not really a passion behind it. And then there’s like a frustration that something’s not working out to what they wanna be. So I would suggest like just making sure that whatever you’re striving to be or what you wanna become, just be passionate about it because it’s gonna be a hard journey. There’s gonna be like ups and downs.

You can’t really predict it. And I would say just keep going. Like it’s just like, you know, it’s unpredictable. I think in all things that we do, like, you know, life is very unpredictable and you can’t really control anything. So as long as you’re like, you have that passion and that drive, I think you’ll be good. And just to keep going. Like honestly, yeah, just keep going. And of course, like, you know, after a while, if you’re like, I actually don’t wanna do this, I think that’s okay too to be like, I don’t actually want this anymore. And I’m gonna try something different.

So it’s being able to pivot and shift and yeah, just be flexible.

Irene Muchai
I guess on the flip side, obviously there’s a lot of things that you’ve overcome and things like that. But what are some of, you know, maybe some misconceptions that people have about becoming a female entrepreneur like yourself? You know, I know people obviously have lots of big goals and aspirations for what they want to do, but you know, maybe there might be some misconceptions that people have when they do start their business. Is there anything that you’ve kind of thought of that you was like, I didn’t expect that to happen?

oh, I didn’t know that this was gonna go this way. And how did you kind of address those misconceptions when they started to come up?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, okay, I’m gonna try to remember the whole question. Just let me know if I forget anything. Yeah, so, okay, sorry. So first question, oh, just like misconceptions and just kind of starting your own business, right? Oh, what was the last part? I’m sorry.

Irene Muchai
I’m sorry.

Eliza Fillo
Thank you.

Irene Muchai
As you’d expect.

Seems like you didn’t expect to have the misconceptions you had about starting a new business. Yeah.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, so I think maybe like the biggest misconception I’ve heard about is just kind of like starting a business and thinking immediately you’ll see something like different. So a lot of people are like, oh, like I want to make this amount of money in the first month and this much in the next year. And like, of course it’s great to have those goals, but also it’d be very realistic. Like with a new business is like, there are a lot of things you have to work out because it’s not kind of, it’s not this one size fit all formula with every business that you have, right?

And I knew like when I started my business, I had already worked for a lot of small companies, agencies, and I’ve seen like, and a lot of times I step a lot of their processes as well. So I was kind of like used to like, okay, I know that this can go wrong here, this could not work because I already kind of tested it with other places I’ve worked and just with other kind of like, you know, building the departments. I’m trying to see this as something that I didn’t

Lesly Washington
I do think starting out just being like first year in COVID, I did think that like I would have no clients. Like I was like, the world is quiet. Like everyone’s getting laid off. Like everybody’s put on to their money. And also I was like, I just haven’t again, put myself out in this way before. Like in the marketing way of like, hey, I’m doing this for myself and it’s not closed this time. It’s actually marketing. So, you know, just being able to.

Eliza Fillo
Right?

Lesly Washington
shift and know that like I’m no longer doing clothing, but here’s the third thing I’ve been doing, blah, all those things. And actually, yeah, I was pretty busy that first. I mean, I would say probably up until this past February, I’ve been pretty consistently busy for about like two years or two and a half years, just like constantly getting clients and a lot of people who are like, hey, we have been…

We figured out our brand in person, but for some reason, because we’re online, we haven’t, we’ve ignored this and we need help and how do we make this pivot? So I mean, yeah, that was something I just didn’t expect, what I just didn’t expect to be so busy. Like honestly, I expect like no one to show up for at least two years. And then I was like, oh wait, actually people are here and I have to work and I have to figure out my processes really fast. Yeah, cause I think I was still figuring out what would be the best way to kind of

Irene Muchai
Yeah.

Lesly Washington
handle clients being kind of like the only person doing work. Yeah, it was definitely a lot of figuring out in the beginning. And yeah, just didn’t expect it.

Irene Muchai
It’s funny you should say that because I would have expected the opposite actually, because I know during COVID, yeah, everyone was inside, but everyone was looking at their screens more. So like having, you know, marketing clients would probably be a quite lucrative business at that time, because everyone’s watching their screens, watching content, TikTok was rising rapidly that year too. So I wouldn’t be surprised if you did have loads of clients, because you know, that’s kind of the only place that people could focus their attention at that time.

Lesly Washington
Yes.

Lesly Washington
Yeah.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, yeah. And honestly, I think self sabotage was just really real. It was like, oh, this is not going to happen. Like, it’s just like, you know, everybody is just, yeah, I just, you know, yeah, you know, you just you’re like, you don’t think something’s gonna happen. And you’re like, oh, actually, yeah, this makes sense. Yeah, you’re right. It was a very like everybody was paying more attention and was definitely more online. And, you know, of course, there were businesses, of course, that, yeah, they needed to act fast on the digital marketing around and they need to help. So, yeah, it was definitely a real thing.

Eliza Fillo
Nice. I’m glad that you’re so transparent about all the struggles. It’s comforting to know that you feel them too. You mentioned brand, like figuring out your brand a little while ago. Can you walk us through what that looks like? Did you, before you started, did you have kind of an idea of what you wanted or did you kind of have to figure that out on the fly and what did that process look like?

Lesly Washington
Thank you. Yes.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, and branding as far as my colors and copy voice, all of those things are kind of.

Eliza Fillo
Yeah, like how you just want to like come across to clients. Like what’s your website will look like? Like your, yeah, social media, just your, the, your, the embodiment of your brand, I guess.

Lesly Washington
For sure, for sure. Yeah, and that was actually another thing about it was probably one of my struggles before I launched. Cause I, yeah, cause basically, yeah, and I’ll hop back into it, but basically like when I started, I spent like three months like doing my branding and launching and then from there it was, you know, yeah, here and on, here and out. But I was struggling with the idea of because, because I was so well known for Chopped Vintage, if I should keep the branding very similar to Chop, or completely pivot and do something else,

Um, and I did play within kind of more of like those color schemes and like, I use a lot of like shapes and chop vintage, like logo. Um, and I still do love shapes, but I just, I felt like I was a little bit more grown, I think, um, as far as, I mean, of course as a person and also branding, like I, you know, I started chop when I was 25 and now I’m almost 35 and I’m this colorful person and I’m very. Like.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, I’m a very colorful person and my branding for Chop was very much like black, white, geometric shapes and iridescent and I feel like I just needed something more. So I kind of played on the notes of iridescence within my personal website, so kind of bringing in the shades of pink and little shades of orange and red. But then I still wanted it to be kind of a little bit more modern and clean and not so crazy. So it’s definitely something to figure out by just for like it didn’t

It could still be fun without it being like so much, but also not exactly the branding was. So that was kind of something I was scared that it would be so different than CHOP, which it should because it’s different businesses, but it’s the same person and face behind the brand. So I just was like trying to figure out what, yeah, that branding looked like. And obviously it just was playing with college, figuring out what looked best and what felt like me. I did study graphic design, so I’m able to kind of like,

see fonts and prints and be like, cool, like this feels like me or no, like I don’t like the sans serif and like all those things. So that kind of made it a little bit easier to kind of be able to play with those colors and fonts and figure out what, yeah, I felt like me.

Irene Muchai
Well, sure. I had this question that I really wanted to ask actually. So being that I’m also a female BIPOC person in marketing, what kind of challenges have you faced yourself and how did you kind of overcome those challenges as well?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, so definitely being like BIPOC in the marketing, tech, e-commerce field is definitely dominated by a lot of, I don’t know, I would say like older men, more male dominated. And definitely the places I’ve worked is definitely have been mostly like white spaces, older men, people who have been in the field forever, but then here millennial comes and we’re like, hey, this is what we’re going to try to do and change up things.

change is very different for a lot of people. So that was like something I’ve always kind of struggled with like just of course being a black woman in those spaces and definitely being like a little bit more outspoken is always, yeah, I think that’s always like a challenge, but yeah, I think, I don’t know, I kind of beat it by showing up as my true self and try not to hide myself or make myself smaller. Any place that doesn’t kind of accept me for who I am, I, you know, I stay away from it.

It’s definitely something that’s very real. It’s just like, you know, something’s been done for so long, but then things change and people have other ideas and new people come on the scene and different experiences. And it can be hard at times, but yeah, it’s definitely a real thing. And I will admit, maybe in the last like four or five years, I have been seeing more like BIPOC people in those spaces, which has been very refreshing. Cause I mean, yeah, starting out in this industry and I don’t know, 20…

I mean, 2013, it was, yeah, I mean, no one really looked like me. And if we did, it wasn’t in New Orleans, like it wasn’t, I lived in Atlanta for a long time, so I didn’t really see it that much in Atlanta. Yeah, it just was a very, yeah, I didn’t really see myself in those spaces, probably up until recently. So it’s good to know that. Yeah, I mean, I know we exist and I know it’s here and I’m glad to see that, you know, we’re being hired and included and all of those things.

Irene Muchai
Yeah, I can definitely resonate with that because and it’s definitely getting better. But oftentimes you might be in those spaces. And like you said, there’s not a lot of us in those types of spaces. And so oftentimes people who may be not in your company, who know your position, will downplay who you are in the company and assume that because you’re a woman in general or because you’re a BIPOC woman at that, it’s like you must be not a decision maker in the business that you’re in.

Lesly Washington
Yes.

Irene Muchai
And so having to speak up and be your true self, like you had mentioned, goes a long way in showing people that, hey, no, I am a decision maker. I wanna learn about your business. I can be helpful. I’m not just this kind of lower level person, so to speak. Like you said, being your true self and just being outspoken sometimes, it goes a long way.

Lesly Washington
Exactly.

Lesly Washington
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Lesly Washington
Right?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.

Eliza Fillo
there been any people that you felt like during maybe just when you started but also now that you felt like you’ve looked up to or you’ve looked to for guidance within the field or outside of the field.

Lesly Washington
Yeah.

Eliza Fillo
or like a mentor or people that you model your business after. You don’t, there’s had, doesn’t have to be an answer.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, no, that is a great question. I have to think about this. Yeah, I mean, I think there’s a few people, of course I can’t think of them all right now, but I know I do have a friend, one of my closest friends actually, she is also very similar in a way of like, we’ve had a lot of shifts and pivots in our lives. Like I also, I met her.

like a pop-up market when I was doing vintage stuff and she was like making bags and she’s also recently kind of like switched and she’s just basically has started a lot of businesses as well. Her mom has started businesses and I’ve definitely asked her opinion on a few things of like oh like if I’m trying to do this thing, what do you think about this or you know hey can you look this over so like she’s always been kind of inspiring to me in that way and she’s just like it’s really awesome like she just knows her stuff and yeah we have very similar values and ideals and I’m just like

Yeah, Rachel’s great. My friend’s Rachel. But yeah, she’s awesome. I try to think of anyone in maybe the professional sense or any celebrities. Not anyone I can think of, but I’m a part of a few Facebook groups where it’s a bunch of lady entrepreneurs of all levels. There are people who are just starting out all the way up to people who have been featured in like-

essence magazine and Forbes and it’s like being able to kind of have that camaraderie and like talk and be able to share also like business tips and kind of brainstorm have been very actually helpful for me as well. Definitely when launching the business as well like I remember posting in that it’s very active too like I remember posting in that group and being like hey I just launched my business this is what I do please like look at my website and let me know if you have any feedback and that was scary in itself because I was like I’ve never posted in this group but I need

like a third opinion, I guess. And yeah, it’s just been very helpful and I think crucial in my business is being a part of that group because I’ve also have found clients through that group. I’ve just gotten tips, I’ve shared my own tips with people. It’s just like a great community space on Facebook. But yeah, I can’t really think of anyone else kind of professionally. I think model my business against is kind of accumulation of a lot of places I’ve worked and just being able to kind of.

Lesly Washington
be able to realize what works in those spaces and what didn’t work and being able to apply the things that did work that we put in place to my own business is how I’ve started that process.

Irene Muchai
It’s funny that we’re talking about mentors and people that we admire in the kind of female entrepreneurship space, because right before we actually had this cool, as me and Eliza were talking about Slutty Vegan, the restaurant chain, and that’s owned by Pinky Gold, who’s a black female entrepreneur. And it started, I think, with one location in Atlanta, and now it’s like multiple locations across multiple different states. But I think I’ve seen an interview with her, and she was talking about how, you know, she knew she wanted to make something a bit provocative, a bit out there.

Lesly Washington
Oh my god! Oh! Mm-hmm.

Eliza Fillo
Thank you.

Lesly Washington
Yes.

Irene Muchai
and now she’s doing amazing things across multiple states. So I was just someone I wanted to bring up because it was just the first thing that came to mind the minute that we had this discussion.

Lesly Washington
Yes, and no, you’re totally right. And actually she’s based out of Atlanta. Like I believe she went to school in Atlanta or she lived in Atlanta for a long time. But yeah, I totally forgot about her. But yeah, she, yeah, that’s someone who has a great marketing strategy. Cause I remember when she, I was in Atlanta living there when the first study vegan, I guess, like pop, cause she started off as like a food truck. And there was just like lines out the door for like months. And I was like, this is like the best like.

Yeah, you just saw her everywhere in Atlanta. Like you would see like trucks as billboards with her like videos playing. Like celebrities of course were eating her burgers and she was posting it. But like it was a definitely a very, yeah, she grew very fast and I think it was very admirable. And I think she started at where she is. And I think like she’s only been in business for the last three years or four years. It’s something like very small, but she’s already.

Yeah, she’s a few locations and I believe like on the board of a few other companies as well. She’s done, yeah, she’s done great things. Yeah, I can’t believe I forgot about her. But yeah, she’s, yeah, she’s, yeah, she’s doing great stuff.

Irene Muchai
Speaking of inspiration and people that we admire, what would you say are kind of your future goals as a female entrepreneur? Where do you want to see your business in like one year and five years, let’s say?

Lesly Washington
Yeah, this is a question I think about all the time. So I’m just like, where am I going to take this? What is going on? I am kind of in a space of personally just focusing more on operations of what’s happening in the business with things I haven’t had time to do. Because right now I am facing a slower period with clients, which I’m like, oh, this is the time for me to actually focus on things I have not had time to do on my to-do list. So it’s just streamlining these processes and maybe upgrading my software.

I believe Irene, you and I have met at Entrepreneur Weekly. That’s like my first thing. I’m in a network with the NuOwness community. So it’s like, I just have been putting plans in place and I, yeah, I think right now I’m kind of focusing on operationally, but I mean, I don’t know, in the next year, like I don’t want it to be this huge corporation thing where I’m just attached to it for 100 hours a week. Like that is not in.

Eliza Fillo
Thank you.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, that’s not in my heart to do. Cause I still want to kind of keep, yeah, my work life balance and still be able to enjoy life. Also be able to work, of course. I don’t know. Like I think about it all the time, to be honest. And I don’t know really where I want to take it. I just know I don’t want to be giving my entire life to it, but I still want it to be very successful and still be able to be hands-on with it without kind of like losing myself or.

my life basically.

Eliza Fillo
Yeah, you kind of tied that full circle beautifully because previously you were saying how a lot of people have these goals for themselves, but there’s no passion behind it. And I feel like you’re doing a really good job in kind of just seeing how things go, of like preserving that passion that you have for it. And yeah, just like making sure that you still enjoy it and that you’re still holding onto yourself. And I feel like it’s a really beautiful thing.

Lesly Washington
Mm.

Lesly Washington
Thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah, that’s always my goal. Yeah, I definitely don’t want Yeah, I don’t want to be in a space where I’m doing something I don’t want to do and forcing myself to do that And I do think kind of like actually going back to chop vintage like I did end up in that space I think that the last two years where I was like this thing started off as my passion and I just feel like I’m not passionate About it no more and I am doing it to kind of just show up and people expect to be there

But I just, I wasn’t into it. And yeah, I think after a while, I was like, I had to just let this go. And I think people still ask me, they’re like, oh, are you gonna bring back Chopped Vences? And I’m like, I don’t know. It’s like, I don’t think so. But yeah, I think it’s important because I think people feel it. Like I think people feel when you’re super passionate about something and when you really want to be somewhere, you want to do it versus like you being forced to do something that you don’t really, you know, I think you show up differently. The thing is very different.

Irene Muchai
For sure. And obviously like having that passion is what gives you that momentum to keep forward, to keep moving forward. So what would you say for you are kind of your biggest inspirations, biggest motivations to keep your business going and to try and expand it and make it successful? Cause I’m sure there’s many times when you’re just like, oh, I just want to get a job and do my nine to five and go home. But I’m sure it takes a lot of motivation to be like, no, I’m going to continue working and try to make this as successful as possible.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, I think that’s an everyday struggle. I think it’s always like, there’s always a thing of like, oh, I can always get a nine to five and have a different type of comfort level. But then there’s also something beautiful in a way of challenging yourself to keep going, even when things feel slower or harder in your business. Yeah, I just try to remember what those goals are and just remember just being able to…

do what I love at home and have flexibility and autonomy in my schedule was something that I’ve always wanted. Even when working nine to five businesses and even when I’ve worked in nine to five, I’ve looked for those values in the companies I’ve worked for just to make sure that I stay true to myself because I definitely have worked at, I think like places where autonomy was not valued, where personal time and space was not valued, like PTO, you had them but they didn’t want you to take them.

And I just knew how I felt when those values were not prioritized. Um, so where like, yeah, I think like I worked one space that was like that. And I was like, I can never do that again. Like if I go back to nine to five job, which I have definitely gone to back and forth in the last, yeah, 12 years of my career, um, and mostly I’ve worked for nine to five places is like, I just try to pick companies that, um, that they do have value, autonomy and expression. And of course diversity and.

you know, they want you to be there as much as you want to be there. So yeah, that’s kind of like the way I kind of I’ve made sure to stay in and also just, you know, when I do go back to 95, which I’m sure I will at some point. Um, yeah, that’s totally fine. And I think you can still have your career and also your autonomy and be able to be yourself all at the same time and still be able to work on your passion projects as well. So, yeah.

Eliza Fillo
Balance. Um, great. Well, I think we’re gonna wrap it up now, but I’d like to make a space to the end if One where people can find you if you want to you know, click your website social media Um, and if there’s anything else that you really want to call out that we didn’t touch on if you have anything coming up on the horizon Let us know

Lesly Washington
Yeah, balance, yes, yes. Definitely.

Lesly Washington
Yeah, so yeah, everyone can find me at my website at www.lesleywashington.com. Leslie is L-E-S-L-Y Washington, and my social media accounts are linked there. Yeah, and if you want to chat, feel free to message me through my website, and we could definitely have a little call and figure out what you need. Or if you just want to say hello, that’s totally fine as well.

Eliza Fillo
Awesome. Great. Well, it was wonderful having you on the podcast, Leslie. Thank you so much.

Lesly Washington
Thank you. It’s been great seeing you here. Thank you.

Irene Muchai
Yeah. Awesome. Jordan, I’m guessing.