Meet Kelysha McCoy | Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelysha McCoy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelysha, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
Choosing to trust myself and my path and process as an entrepreneur. Some days will feel amazing and others you will want to give up, and the days that you want to give up you will question if it’s really what you want to do and I experienced that many times. I learned to just always check in with myself and give myself the same grace and patience I gave the world when it came to my professional aspirations as an entrepreneur. Rome wasn’t built in a day and thats exactly what entrepreneurship is like.

What should our readers know about your business?
I am the Founder and Executive Director of Atlanta Black Owned Relief. Atlanta Black Owned Relief is a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit organization whose mission is to provided economic empowerment, digital financial education and business resources and support to at-risk youth and minority owned millennials. Our overall goals include enriching the black community in the city of Atlanta with support and resources to become better entrepreneurs. I am most proud of my journey as a non-profit executive as this came about to service a need that became apparent in the summer of 2020 with protests happening around the city. It took courage to take the initiative to do something and in that doing myself and the rest of the Atlanta Black Owned Relief team have been able to help quite a few businesses. None of it was easy and it required me to stretch my skills and understanding of running a business with employees and volunteers, something I had never done before. I have learned a lot during this journey so far and it wasn’t easy but knowing that I was helping people in need was important to me. Many people enjoy the idea of non-profit work but fail to understand that it can be a thank-less job that doesn’t pay at all or pays very little, so while you are prioritizing others needs, yours may be lacking. This taught me to practice better work-life balance so that I could continue to meet my needs while being able to recognize the needs of others without overshadowing my own. The work I do is exciting and fulfilling and has endless possibilities but it is indeed still work! What I want anyone to know is that our and my priority at Atlanta Black Owned Relief is to support black owned businesses and that can continue to be our mission through community support and upliftment. The organization crowdfunded over $100,000 for the community and more than half of that has gone back to the community. We cannot continue our mission unless we have donors and supporters that continue to show us the love that we’ve been shown thus far! A big thank-you to everyone that has been with us on this journey from the beginning, there is still work to be done but what has been accomplished has been monumental.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I will most definitely say my favorite place to visit is the Atlanta Botanical Gardens during the Alice In Wonderland exhibit. My image was actually featured in Apartments.com city guide for Atlanta and you can view it here: https://www.instagram.com/apartmentscom/guide/atlanta-city-guide/17902824232836961/?utm_medium=copy_link

There are plenty of local lounges and bars you can visit in the Piedmont Park area. Ponce City Market is a great area too if you are looking for a variety of food and local shopping. One of my favorite resturuants at Ponce is called Minero, they have great wings and margaritas, worth every cent!

I am a nature and foodie individual so many of the places I would recommend would be outdoor related and food related. You can never go wrong with a quiet park trail and good food and drink.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Atlanta Black Owned Relief and the team behind the organization deserves a huge shoutout for all the work and commitment we’ve provided in helping various black owned businesses within the city of Atlanta receive the financial support they needed to continue on their journey’s as entrepreneurs.

Website: www.aborelief.org

Instagram: aborelief

Linkedin: Atlanta Black Owned Relief

Twitter: aborelief

Facebook: Atlanta Black Owned Relief

Image Credits
Muhammad Rasheed – Main Image