We recently connected with Orane Williams and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Orane , you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
I would say my Dad. He’s a loving and caring person who’s always willing to help others. As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed aspects about my life that derived from my dad.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I was born to two wonderful Jamaican parents who came to America to provide a new beginning not only for themselves but to start a family. I wasn’t much of the academic type in school but I was athletic. I grew up playing basketball and running track. During high school a teacher really pointed out to me that I’m a leader as shy as I was. Fast forward post college I read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad and it opened my eyes on how within the African American community we aren’t thought about money and real estate. Today you can find so many people discussing these topics. This book led me to purchasing my first house at the age of 23. This experience led me to wanting to make an impact in the younger generation around these important topics. Being involved on campus during my undergrad years helps shaped me as well to care about high school and college students.
In my professional career I’ve worked within the Insurance industry for a few years and within retail and tech. In my last role of several years I managed a retail tech team that spanned within the United States operating within over 1000 retail locations. Several years ago I started BrandU Motivations to help empower high and college students in the area’s of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and building relationships through networking. As the year progresses we are excited to work with various high schools, Colleges & Universities, along with student programs to bring our expertise and programs to their audience. Two new programs we are working on are, a leadership program based on my many years of team leading and a very powerful Athlete focused workshop that I’m most excited about.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First communication. It is such a valuable skill to be able to not only speak but listen as well. The ability to communicate with people of all types, races and religion is so valuable. Practice practice practice. You must be able and willing to step out of your comfort zone and speak to people who may not necessarily look like you or be from the social economic area as you.
Second would be willingness to learn. Knowledge is something no one can take away from you. Grasping new concepts will always be beneficial to your growth as a person.
Last but not least is add value. Be someone who can contribute and not just take. People will always want to work with contributors.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client is educational institutions or programs that service undeserved communities of BIPOC teenagers and young adults who may also be first generation college students.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oranewilliams.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oranespeaks
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oranewilliams/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@oranespeaks
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
