Today we’d like to introduce you to Yohannan Terrell.
Hi Yohannan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story starts out like many other Black men. I was born in Akron, OH into poverty, and our home was broken up as a result of alcohol, drug abuse, and violence. I moved often as a child and had to readjust with every time with new friends, new neighborhoods, and new problems. But once we settled into the north side of Akron, I began to settle in and find my stride. School saved me, and a great mentor helped me get into college. I studied Psychology and marketing in school and that began my passion for building communities. For over 10 years I planned events, concerts and managed nightclubs, it was a great way to break out of my shell and express my creative thinking. Once I considered myself too old to be throwing events, I turned my attention to content and media. I started a media platform that grew quickly in the region and was one of the first urban media platforms to reach over 30,000 subscribers in only a few years. While running the media company, I was also hired at a popular radio station to take over their digital content across the state of Ohio. For about 4 years I helped grow the reach and engagement at the radio station but also realized I had greater purpose. I had realized I knew media, events, content, digital, radio, and more. So, I took the leap in 2011 to start a branding agency that brought all my skills together under one roof. For the next 10 years, we would grow the company, win may award, and most of all impact communities positively. During the most recent years, I have come into another chapter that is brining even more purpose into my life. In 2019 I started a non-profit that is convening the fashion industry here in Columbus, Ohio creating a new economy through the lens of fashion. It is our goal to help create new pathways for youth, new jobs in the industry, and new attraction to Columbus. It’s exciting times in Columbus, and I’m glad to be a part of it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth ride for me. Being an entrepreneur is never a smooth ride. The risks are high, but the rewards are worth it, and for me the rewards are making impact, leaving a positive ‘dent in the universe’ as Steve Jobs would say. I’ve been turned away from some of my favorite companies, I’ve had little to no mentorship, I’ve lost deals, and lost people I love along the way. But overall, I’m up for the challenge and no day is the same.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Warhol & WALL ST. is a consultancy that focuses on making cultural impact through engagement. Whether that’s strategy to help a partner build a real connection with their stakeholders or creating cultural moments that positively impacts lives. We are a small firm that partners with organizations that are not afraid to disrupt and want to build authentic relationships with people. Columbus Fashion Alliance is an organization leading the charge to build and facilitate a new economic development strategy around the fashion industry in Columbus, OH. The CFA is a public-private partnership that consist of creatives, retail industry professionals, educational partners, and civic leadership all working together to create opportunities related to the business and future of fashion. CFA offers programming, workshops, grants, working spaces, tools, equipment, and other resources in order to help move fashion forward. Columbus is the future hub of a new fashion economy in the U.S., and we are proud to be leading the charge.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve realized some truths, and I’d like to end by sharing some with the readers. One, you will never know the real reward of your full potential if you do not lean into the unknown and embrace the fear. We fear what we don’t know for the slim chance that something could go wrong, but often the reward for facing those fears is much greater. And secondly, nothing in life will feel better than realizing your value and potential to yourself, no one else, just yourself. As a Black man, I’ve grown up with society telling me that I’m not supposed to make it, that I’m not supposed be able to be free (mentally, emotionally, physically, and in society). But ultimate freedom is freedom to be your full self, free from your own mental barriers and realizing you were born to make your mark on the world, free to love yourself and be relentless in your purpose. Be fearless and be free, everyone.
Contact Info:
- Website: warholandwallst.com
- Instagram: @bigbizyogi
