Today we’d like to introduce you to Will Lucas.
Hi Will, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur at a very early age; I just thought it was going to be in the music business. In chasing that goal, I found that a lot of the experiences I had shaped me for the opportunities I’m engaged in today, as well as the businesses I operate. There’s an old Steve Jobs quote that says, ‘You can’t connect the dots looking forward – you can only connect the dots looking backward.’ What I get from that quote is that you’ll sometimes find yourself doing things that you’re not quite sure why you’re doing them, whether it be a certain job or some other experience. But, one day, the things you’re learning will be useful.
Creadio was my first real company, which I started in 2007 as a live-streaming custom radio solution for restaurants and retail environments. Doing that work allowed me to stretch into doing video work for our clients. Today, Creadio does more video production than anything, and we lean-in to our unique value proposition, which is we’re the only full-service marketing technology and production agency in our region. So, we help companies and organizations reach and engage multicultural and diverse audiences with authentic storytelling.
TolHouse is a private, Members-only social club designed for the city-dwelling creative and entrepreneurial class. We have several unique spaces inside the club as its designed to be a place where you can spend your entire day having different experiences throughout the day. The club also features a coffeehouse, coworking space (Earth Coffeehouse & Cafe), conference and boardrooms, a jazz lounge (Lucille’s Jazz Lounge), and more.
I’m also the Brand Manager for AfroTech, which is the largest Black tech digital platform and conference in the world. I host and produce our official podcast, too: Black Tech Green Money, which can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
Aside from those things, I sit on a few boards in Ohio. I’m the Chair of the Board at the University of Toledo, I’m Vice-Chair at the Ohio Casino Control Commission, immediate past Chair at the Ohio MLK Commission, and I’m on the executive committee for InnovateOhio, which is designed to make Ohio more innovative and entrepreneur-friendly.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are no roads worth taking that are smooth. Every day presents new challenges. Especially as an entrepreneur, I work from the position of taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and distributing the credit when it goes right. Some people operate differently, but that’s how I work.
For instance, if a Member has an experience at one of my businesses that doesn’t represent our best, then I either didn’t ensure they were trained well enough, provide them the tools to do the job at a level that I expect, they’re placed in the wrong seat on the bus, or they were the wrong fit altogether. These are all things I can control.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
TolHouse is a private, Members-only social club that caters to the city-dwelling creative and entrepreneurial class. Our club features several food and beverage offerings, a variety of lounge spaces, a coffeehouse (Earth Coffeehouse & Cafe), jazz and blues lounge (Lucille’s Jazz Lounge), coworking spaces, as well as conference and board rooms for meetings.
We recently celebrated 2 years of operation, and we’re growing.
With this club, I’m doing my best to organize our regions doers into a community. So, to get in, it doesn’t just mean you have the means and desire to be part of the club; it means you’re additive to our community. That’s a requirement. We’re serious about accepting Members who bring energy and want to be part of helping our region reach its fullest potential.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
COVID-19 was obviously tragic, but I work to see things from more than one perspective. There were opportunities COVID-19 provided that weren’t available before, and some that still exist today. The world is different than it was in 2019, and playing fields have been reshaped. If you choose to only see one side of an issue, you’re limiting your outlook, in my view. Even with terrible things – if you choose to refocus your lens, you’ll notice that there are other ways to see them. They present opportunities that previously didn’t exist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://willlucas.co
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/willlucas
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/tolhouseclub
Image Credits
Jedah McGee
