Meet Amy Valdez Barker | Proprietor of Hope and Creativity

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Valdez Barker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Besides being crazy? I wanted to do something in my community that brought hope and encouraged people to come back together. We live a mile from Old Town, Lilburn, and having lived in two cities where the downtown area was walkable and inviting, I wanted that for our new home. So, the building we are currently in kept calling to me and that’s why I wanted to start something in that space that brought hope to the community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have served as a Chief Connectional Executive and an Executive Director for a religious organization over the past ten years. In those roles, I had the opportunity to travel the world and see what kind of creativity comes from different communities and cultures globally. After the company down-sized during the pandemic, I found myself pivoting my focus towards a more local context. That’s when I decided to start Citizen Exchange.

Throughout my life, I’ve always been a strategist, a creative, and an innovator. I’m always curious about what people can do to improve their communities and improve their own lives. As a trained researcher, I want to see how people go from idea to transformation to organization. That’s what I have done professionally throughout my career.

Now, as I move into a new role as Associate Professor at Emory, I get to do both. I have the opportunity to experiment, learn from those experiments, and provide support for those who want to experiment, learn, and grow while creating something for their communities. Overall, I want people to create, innovate, and offer products, companies, and organizations that contribute to the common good.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Of course, I would start with Old Town, Lilburn! We would go and do a “sip and paint” with one of our incredible artists at Citizen Exchange. We’d pick up margaritas at the Agavero Parkside Bus, then head over to 1910 for some Pimento Cheese Fritters. If it’s Saturday night, we’d hit Music on Main Street for an outdoor concert afterward.

The next day we would head to Midtown and visit Ponce City Market. I love the Rooftop bar to show them a great view of the city from above. We’d probably walk the beltline and then end up at Diwang’s gallery called “The Cabin” behind Ladybird Grove and Messhall. After diving into the creative space of the gallery, we would walk over to Krog Street Market and have ice cream at Jeni’s.

Of course, we would have to hit High Museum of Art, and the Botanical Garden so we could appreciate some various forms of art in ATL. Then we would go to Park Tavern in Piedmont Park just about sunset. If you stick around that time and the weather is just right, you’ll see beautiful cascades of color dance on the buildings as the sun retreats. It is breath-taking.

There are so many things to see and place to visit in Atlanta, it’s hard to get everywhere in just a short week.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All of our artists at Citizen Exchange deserve the credit! They are incredibly creative, innovative, and fill me with hope. They take lemons and make lemonade. They find beauty in the most unlikely places and discover ways to let their minds wander and wonder into something that is inspiring. Each of our artists has a story of how they got involved with the different mediums of art that they use. Some of them are new at this and others have been doing it for a long time. We wouldn’t exist without their collaboration and their creativity.

In addition to our artists, my family, especially my brother and daughter are also incredibly creative. My brother runs his own production company called Motion Family and photography business under Diwang Valdez Photography. He’s been mentoring my daughter who is also a very creative artist who paints, does photography, and creates jewelry. Through their original visions, my husband, and son have also joined in on finding ways to be creative as well. So, it has become a family endeavor to bring hope to our community!

Website: www.citizenexchange.biz

Instagram: @citizenxchng

Facebook: @citizenxchng

Other: www.citizen-exchange.com