Hello Friends,
I’m Joy Valerie, some of you know me, others might be new either way welcome to the first post of the Build with Joy weekly newsletter!
Yes, it might feel weird to think of building in the midst of a crisis, and if you would rather relax and take this time to decompress- that’s completely okay. (PS: send me your best tv recommendations)
However, I’m assuming you and I are probably similar. I need to be active, creating, and solving problems. If you are, I invite you to build with me in this weekly series where I will share my knowledge and learn together.
Should you always expect business tips, software, and creative hacks always? No.
I think creativity is not limited to artists and that we need to take a multidisciplinary approach - that means learning from the world around us through science, mathematics, psychology, and anthropology.
Therefore, I will share with you resources that have helped me on my journey in chemical engineering, international studies, and tech - as well as new things I learn as a young digital entrepreneur.
This format may change but for now, follow this setup.
Hopefully, it will inspire you to create new solutions to the problems we help - and build with joy, see what I did there. :)
This week’s problem?
We’re seeing that our current system rooted in capitalism is not working for all of us, that the most vulnerable people are at risk and are markets are going nuts. So how can we build a new system that works for all of us that solves humanity’s most pressing needs?
Media Recommendation:
Maybe this will help inspire how you build with people in mind first. This week I am recommending a book, yes a book - I know you got time. Muhammad Yunis’ - Building Social Business: Yunus the founder of Grameen Bank discusses how business can be built to solve social issues instead of creating more of them. You can check out my review here.
Tools I’m loving:
I love data and this tool lets you see what the current census response rate is: The 2020 Census Response Map. My county in NY right now is 39%, this means 61% of people are not counted yet :(. Why does this matter? Because representation in congress and funding is distributed based on how many people are in an area. Now more than ever we need to count. So make sure you’ve filled it out it takes less than 10 minutes online.
What I’m Building:
I will be hosting a workshop series “Leveraging Tech” to teach folks how to create community-centered content going from idea to executions. I will help you break down the steps in each workshop to create a blog, podcast, workflow, monetize and build a community consciously. This week I will be going through start to finish and then diving into teaching you how to set up a Wordpress site.
Sign up for this week’s workshop here or get access to the full series here.
I also just launched season three of Basic Brown Nerds you can listen on any podcasting app to comedian Erik Rivera as we discuss growing up being “coconuts” in suburban NY. Find your fav app here.
What are you building or learning this week?
I’m curious and would love to know what you are working on, what’s on your mind, and how we can team up together to create a better world long after this quarantine is up. Feel free to respond or tweet at me @JoyValeriee and let me know!
Thank you for inviting me into your corner of the internet,
<3 Joy Valerie Carrera