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SPONSOR & NOMINEE - PRINCE PORTER (BLUE PICKET REALTY
Veteran | served 26 years in the u.s. Air force
I served in the Air Force for 26 years, and I retired as a Master Sergeant.
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For the first 10 years I worked in Communications and worked behind the scenes working in the Comm Center with the mainframe computers. It is kind of funny because anybody that knows me knows I’m a little challenged when it comes to computers. This career field took me to the Philippines, Portugal and Colorado. For the last 16 years I did recruiting in different places. I was in Buffalo, New York, then I came back to Colorado, then to Hackensack, New Jersey then back here to Colorado.
What was the biggest reason that led you to join the military?
Coming out of high school, I was pretty anti-military because I went through 12 years of Catholic school. I really didn’t like people telling me what to do, so I decided to go to college for a couple of years. I came to a point where I wanted to get out of Philadelphia because I was there for 20 years. I was able to stay out of trouble, but there you can get into trouble without really even trying.
My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, had an uncle who was in the Air Force. He would always come home and he had nice clothes, and a nice car that I admired. Then my sister married a man who was in the Air Force and he was also living a nice lifestyle. I thought that if they could do it, then I could as well. Seeing their lifestyle was really the driving force that got me to join the military.
I initially talked to a Marine recruiter, but his tone and the way he wasn’t really listening to me, but rather telling me what he thought I should do, made me decide to not join the Marines. Then I went to talk to the Air Force recruiter, and her attitude was a lot different. She had me pass the initial test, then the physical and then she asked me what I wanted to do in the Air Force. My mother in-law had told me to go into Communications, so that’s what I told the recruiter that I wanted to do. After that I was put on the waiting list, and it took about seven months for me to get enlisted.
Prince Porter
Realtor
What was like the biggest lesson that you learned during your time in service?
The biggest lesson was finding that the Air Force is just like being in the outside world. Everybody thinks it’s just hollering, screaming, and taking orders, like what we see in the movies. To me, it was just like a regular job outside of the military. The base is even like a little little city because you have everything that you need. There is a grocery store, a club, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and more all self-contained right there on the base. Realistically, you don’t even have to leave the base if you didn’t want to.
I always tell people that I don’t play well with others, and everybody asked me how I got through the Air Force for 26 years with that mentality. I didn’t have people telling me what to do because I did my job and fulfilled all my duties, so there was really no reason for anyone to say anything to me. My biggest lesson was learning that it is just like any other job. If you do your job then people will leave you alone, and you can progress at your own speed.
Do you feel that the military has made you a better person?
I feel that my family is what really made me a better person. Going into the military, I had a pretty strong foundation. I’m the youngest of six, I have five older sisters, a very strong mother, and my father passed away when I was 13. Times were a bit different then, so I had my neighborhood, which was basically my village, to raise me. My village sculpted me and got me ready for the real world.
I wouldn’t say the Air Force made me a better person, but it exposed me to things that I wouldn’t be exposed to living as a civilian. It gave me a chance to travel, and to see and learn different cultures even within the United States. Basically, the military takes a bunch of different people from across the nation Colorado Springs, CO bluepicketrealty.com/prince (719) 963-4710
and places them in one job and expects them to work together. The Air Force definitely exposed me to a lot of things that I probably wouldn’t have seen if I had stayed in Philadelphia, but as far as making me a better person, I definitely would give all the credit to my village growing up.
As a black man who served in the military, what is your perspective on patriotism?
When I first went into the military, it wasn’t about serving my country to me. Although, I did become more patriotic while I was in the Air Force because I appreciated some of the opportunities that it gave me. A lot of the time, my attitude was that I wasn’t necessarily fighting for my country, as bad as that sounds. I enjoyed being there, but it was more for a career than to proudly wave the American flag.
My first base was in the Philippines, and me and my wife tried to teach ourselves the language there. Although we weren’t very good at it, we tried to learn it to be able to communicate with the locals there. On the base, we would have people come and complain and ask why the locals can’t speak English, when we are the ones in their country. I saw that privileged Americans wanted to go to somebody else’s country and expect to be catered to there, and not even put in the effort to learn their language. When my wife and I attempted to learn the language, even though we would stumble through our words, the locals were appreciative of us at least trying, and that opened up a lot of doors of opportunity for us.
I really didn’t have patriotism, if I had to go into a conflict, it was for my family, and not necessarily for my country, it was in order to keep my family free. I appreciate the opportunity that the Air Force gave me, but because of the way I was treated, and my people were treated, I really wasn’t serving because of patriotism, but more to protect my family.
- Prince Porter
Veteran Colorado Springs, CO weassistagency.com (800) 260-1607 | hello@weassist.agency
Sharai Johnson
Owner Of WeAssist
Sharai Johnson is the founder of WeAssist, a Colorado based company that strives to support businesses by matching them to administrative professionals and providing long-term opportunities for professional candidates in the United States, that wouldn’t traditionally have access to remote work or are underutilized due to non-flexibility.
Tell us about your business and what you do.
My company is called WeAssist, and was founded in 2018. At the moment, we provide virtual assistant services that include the matching and the staffing of virtual assistant roles, such as administrative data entry, and other clerical type roles. Right now, we are 100% remote. We provide job opportunities as well, and try to target disenfranchised communities; such as minority women, minority men, single parents, college students, and military-affiliated people.
What are some benefits of having your own business?
I would say one of the greatest benefits is freedom. I like being able to run my schedule, prioritize myself and my mental health, and to be able to raise my family alongside. This way of life is really fulfilling to me. The type of work I do not only does that for me, but it’s also allowed me to change the people’s lives that I’ve matched. My overall goal is economic development in the black community, so it’s really awesome that I get to spend my time doing that.
What are some challenges that you face?
One of the biggest challenges that I face is wearing a lot of hats. No one ever told me that when you run a business you are like 20 employees all-in-one. Also, being a first generation business owner is all about learning to navigate the entire entrepreneurial landscape. Being able to learn as you go, to continue moving forward, and trying not to expect everything to be perfect the first time. It’s important to learn from your mistakes, but the entire process can become extremely taxing. It is both physically and mentally exhausting because it is all so new to me. It’s not as easy as just going into a corporate job and doing what they tell me to do for the day, I have to plan my own work if I want to be successful.
What is some advice that you have for business owners who are just starting off?
I wish I knew the importance and the benefits of using a business advisor, business coach, or someone that can provide strategic guidance. I’m just starting to get business advice through Ellie Redcloud, who I found through My Black Colorado. It is important to have someone on your team who can help you utilize the free resources around you. You should be utilizing small business development centers, mentorship programs in your community, and even listening to YouTube podcasts. You should be willing to try anything that you can get your hands on at a low price barrier before you make those big investments.
The biggest thing that I’ve learned is prioritizing your mental health. For me, therapy has been a great way of doing that. Like I said before, it can really become mentally exhausting sometimes especially if you are working from home. It’s hard to find the right balance at times. I started to pinpoint the periods of my life where I would get burnt out. My therapist has been helping me learn balance, boundaries and not creating a traumatizing experience of owning a business. Having a therapist helps me to come up with ways to deal with it in a healthy manner so that I’m not overworking myself. Mental health and self care should be of utmost importance.
How do you hope to make a difference through what you do for the community?
Directly providing jobs remote and flexible job opportunities to the community, and making them entry level and accessible to people of color is one of my biggest goals. I would like to provide jobs that people in our community traditionally wouldn’t have access to. They need help, and they need a second hand. We serve as that middle person to help connect those two people and make the match so that both of them can experience some relief to the point that it becomes mutually beneficial to the person and the business.
The definitive trait of a healthy community is everybody playing their role, helping each other thrive in that role, and coming together as a whole. Sometimes, we pair two clients together who may seemingly be different, but that’s what makes them perfect for each other. Each person needs the other in order to do the best for the greater good. Bringing together two people from two totally different paths of life and connecting them over something they share is a beautiful thing to witness. I feel honored to be able to bring opportunities like that into the community.
Interview By Talisa Caldwell
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