Trappin Through ATL: BSOE 2018
I’m not a trapper but I do be in the trap (museum)
For the second year in a row I headed down to Atlanta to take part in the Black Burdell’s School of Entrepreneurship weekend. Creatives, side hustlers and those working on their crafts take a day to not also learn valuable tools in various areas through panels and keynote speakers. This year’s conference moved from a one day set up to a full intimate weekend retreat to allow people to pour into one another, pour at happy hour, pour at brunch, and so forth.
The weekend kicked off with happy hour for my favorite non profit Too Fly. I traveled to Atlanta a day before the conference to host an extremely lit travel panel (and to play Tipsy Travel Trivia of course) with some movers and shakers in the Black travel world. Matrice Girls Gone Global), Kent (Black & Abroad), and Jasmine (Destination Teach) gave guests their best travel tips, advice, and all things service while going abroad. It didn’t hurt that it was open bar and the swag surfin’ had the floor moving.
Before I get into all the other fun things that we did, lessons, learned, etc I have to take a break to talk about this one thing….Milk and Honey restaurant. I am not a food blogger but what I am is an extreme lover of food. The meal I had was maybe one of the best things I’ve eaten all year. This is sort of a post within a post but if you’re in ATL, here are six reasons you need to go:
The Peach Cognac French Toast. I love pancakes but this changed the game. It deserves its own line by itself.
The service. You may wait 30-45 minutes for a table but it is worth it. It feels like you are in your family’s home waiting on a meal. The staff is extremely welcoming. They will also sing you the real Black version of Happy Birthday.
The food. It is nothing short of amazing. I sampled four different things on the menu and had no complaints about any of it. The fried salmon hash was magical. I ended up bringing some back to Dallas. No shame about it.
They have a top ten brunch menu Monday-Friday from 11am-3pm that is discounted and features some great deals.
The owner is Sammy Davis who was a winner on Food Network’s Chopped. How can you not love him?
Go because I said so. Do I ever steer you wrong when it comes to food????
Peach Cognac French Toast
Honey Butter Chicken
Fried Salmon Hash
Post ethnic fatigue ie the itis we all met for an introductory happy hour before taking our talents to the trap, literally. The opening of TI’s Trap Museum was the day before and it was prime to go see his curation of all things music and black culture. The $10 entry is worth based on all of the artwork and instillations alone. You are greeted by actors at the entrance and throughout the building as you go to grandma’s house, Jeezy’s kitchen, gun filled closets, and more. If you are interested they also have an escape room where you are tasked to make it out of the trap.
In 24 hours I had covered a lot of things in Atlanta but the best was yet to come. My favorite part of BSOE is meeting up with friends that I have seen and made in previous years and adding new ones to the realm. The team has done an amazing job of bringing people together to form actual bonds by supporting one another’s dreams. From social media guidance to building foundations for business you have the opportunity to take in so much from your peers. One major addition they put in this year was talking about our fears and our reasons behind them. We shared with one another our issues with procrastination, anxiety, depression, and other things that were hindering us from success. It was therapy with one another that we knew we needed but not how much was necessity.
The weekend ended with one last fellowship at Publico for one last pour into one another and our cups. As we slowly exited the building to head back to airports, homes, and rest, as tired as we were it was refreshing to see one another for our yearly gathering. My biggest lesson of the weekend is that I can get so caught up in being a human-doing by all the events, side projects, lists of task, that I forgot to be a human-being. Just being still, being relaxed, being in the moment. It was a reminder that it shouldn’t be an option but a mandatory part of my life. I’m forever grateful for BSOE and the people that come for challenging me to always level up, and just be.
-Brittany B.
