Actualizing 20 year old Visions for Creative Collaboration - with Val Bee - S2 E2

Ever dreamt of participating in a collaborative community of creatives?

Enter Val Bee, the visionary Founder of BID Worldwide, who has embarked on a mission to build a Network where creatives come come together to connect, learn, collaborate, and feel at home. Join us as we delve into her ambitious journey and her unwavering resolve to build today's brands and tomorrow's leaders.

We celebrate Val Bee's recent career highlight of producing GLD FSTVL with local band, STL GLD and the City of Boston on Boston's City Hall Plaza.  The event rekindled the spirit of 1990s live shows, showcasing local vendors and resurrecting the locale as a hub for live, inclusive, accessible performances.

We dig into the layered significance of Val Bee's newly conceived multi-use space in Boston's Seaport District and her promise to support creatives in Boston and worldwide.

Tune in and get inspired as Val Bee shares her thoughts on being unapologetic, exploring our unique gifts, and utilizing them to make a difference.

Let Val Bee's story inspire you to take the reins, and shape your dreams into reality.
@HeyValBee
@BIDWorldwide
@NetworkOfCreatives

For Reference:
WBUR Interview with Moe Pope
GLD FSTVL

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• Get featured on TVJ by emailing us your >> Voice Memo <<
• Journal about your values and habits
  with the >> Got Alignment? Journaling Exercise <<
• Follow our >> Community Vision Board << on Pinterest

Podcasting transformed Emily's career.

In Season 1, Episode 9, Emily processes her own Visionary's Journey.

It led to her Holistic Space Organizing business, Room to Transform.

We reorganize your space as a Walk-In Vision Board where you feel supported on your next phase of life, so you can manifesting your dreams.

Thanks for listening and good luck on your Visionary's Journey!

Transcript

Val Bee

Guest

00:00

For me. I stepped into the workplace and I said, okay, this is where I really get to learn, this is where I really get to be a sponge right, Learn from the ones who are doing it. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

00:12

Welcome back to The Visionary Journey. I am your guide, Emily Falcigno (she her pronouns) and this is season two. Curious manifesting?  Learn how to re-center on your unique path and manifest your true desires. This season we're manifesting using your spaces! Your personal, your work and community spaces. In season one, episode nine, I shared my own wiggly path. My intuitive journey inspired me to start my holistic organizing business called Room to Transform. 

00:49

Room to Transform is for situationally disorganized professionals who are going through a life or a career transition. You feel burdened by what everyone else thinks you should be doing. You want that embarrassingly messy storage space to magically transform into an inspiring space because you are just way too overwhelmed by the very thought of reorganizing. Remember, on The Visionary Journey, we're all about imperfections. So have self-compassion. Life transitions are hard and one day we all have to turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes. So with our collaborative walk-in vision board process, you resuscitate your neglected life goals so you can manifest your dreams. I help you clarify your life vision and reorganize a supportive physical space to jump into new things, jive with new habits and thrive in your next phase of life or career or exciting new hobby. 

01:58

In season two of The Visionary's Journey, we'll gain insight from fellow journeyers who are identifying their values, just like you. We'll also hear from visionaries who cross our paths. They'll show us how they embody their values, how they translate those values into physical spaces around them and how they take intentional action in their lives. Room to Transform's core value is to lead with compassion so that we can build stronger communities, more inclusive communities, especially now that people's actual lives are at stake. People who are LGBTQ+, Black, People of Color, people who are Indigenous, Asian; different religions; different levels of ability and neurodiverse. We need to identify community values and stand up for them. 

02:50

This season, we are doing a special community vision board segment. I am asking each guest to contribute to our community vision board on Pinterest. You can follow along at Pinterest.com/RoomToTransform. Life is a big experiment, and so is this show. We embrace imperfections and learn as we go. Come on, our future selves are cheering us on. Okay, loading, we are loading, we are loading, we are loading. I tend to sing a lot, okay. 

Val Bee

Guest

03:31

Like me. I’m always doing like little random sounds throughout the house. I feel like everything should just be singing sometimes. Right?

Emily Falcigno

Host

03:38

All right, let's get started. Welcome to The Visionary's Journey. Today, our guest is Val Bee. She's the founder of BID Worldwide building, improving and developing businesses and brands worldwide, and she is widely known around Greater Boston for her success in event production. Val Bee strongly values connecting communities, causes and creatives, so the way we met won't come to a surprise to you. We first met at a networking event way back in the early days of co-working, maybe like 2015? 

Val Bee

Guest

Sounds about right. I was all over the place back then. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

People, I just have a note you never know where you're gonna meet a visionary, so get out there. We also met again at the W Hotel at a women's empowerment event called What She Said. I remember photographing it. I think I was covering for my friend. Did you plan it? 

Val Bee

Guest

04:34

No, and ironically I had found out about that event at the very last minute. Happened to be working late up the street and decided at the very last minute to like go to the gym after work, and ran over there like still sweaty the treadmill and got there just in time. But it was such an amazing panel of women I felt like I couldn't miss the event. So I ended up meeting several people at that event who I still talk to today, which is wild, I mean. Again, you say you never know where you're going to meet someone, and it's true.

Emily Falcigno

Host

05:13

Wow, oh, my gosh, that is so funny. I remember meeting you in the corner and somebody was like you need to meet this lady and I was like, oh, I was like I've never heard before. We've been emailing or something. 

Val Bee

Guest

05:29

Yeah, exactly. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

05:33

Yeah, and since then I've been following you on Instagram, where you share thoughts on self-care, manifesting astrology. You have so much wisdom to share and I've been wanting to interview for a long time. The biggest reason I wanted to chat today is that you're opening a studio in the Seaport and starting a network of creatives that embraces the idea of abundance and collaboration over competition. 

Val Bee

Guest

06:01

Yes, yes, yes, yes, Very much. So I'm very excited about being able to move into this next phase of my work and service, and I think that it's a long time coming for our creative community in Boston, so I'm really excited to build that. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

06:23

Oh, thank you! Having a community where you feel like a part of it. You don’t feel excluded from it. To make it feel accessible, I feel like that’s where you really shine.

Val Bee

Guest

06:35

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I think that that was absolutely been my mission, you know, is to uplift that, so it really means a lot to hear that that has felt. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

06:50

Yeah, and I feel like you fit the visionary role really well because you did have a vision. You did have a very thoughtful vision yeah, for what you're doing. So if anybody needs a role model, Val Bee is a good one. 

Val Bee

Guest

07:09

Thank you. Thank you very much, I appreciate that. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

07:12

OK, so here's some like lightning round questions, because I do want to focus mostly on your space, but to set the stage, where are you on the spiritual spectrum, like, do you have an inner guide? What kind of tools do you use for that? 

Val Bee

Guest

07:28

Yeah, definitely I. You know it's interesting. I think that for me, I've always been, you know, really sort of intrigued by spirituality. I certainly grew up religious. You know, I have experienced a few different organized religions in my lifetime, intentionally. And you know, I think that for me, really understanding the way that spirituality plays in my life, the role that it plays in my life, what being faith based means, has been a journey, right, I think that there are a lot of people who are extremely skilled and talented in different spiritual mediums. Right, I am definitely not one of those people, but I do think that I'm very spiritually intuned and I think that the women in my family are. 

08:25

It's something that my mom and I talk a lot about Our ability to really sort of tap in and hone in on that intuition piece. You know, you talk about sort of that piece of what I'm led by, that sort of vision, and I was thinking, sort of before we got on, you know how I've really been very led by that intuition. You know, I think that a lot of the decisions that I make and things that I base a lot of my choices around are very much rooted in pure gut instinct or just absolute heart faith. I very much have been led by a very much grounding in that. You know, I think that I'm extremely intuitive and absolutely have always been fascinated by astrology. Educationally. my background is in psychology, very much rooted in psycho- spiritual space you know that we all exist in and I think that it's played a huge role in how I approach my life and my work. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

09:46

I love the term like heart faith. Just going following your heart. Do you want to share your astrology sign? 

Val Bee

Guest

09:53

Yeah, absolutely. I am an Aires sun Cancer moon Virgo rising. I'm an INFJ… All of the things. I know my Enneagram. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

10:09

Do you know human design? 

Val Bee

Guest

10:12

My human design is Manifestation Generator. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

Mine too. 

Val Bee

Guest

Yeah, we're good ones.

Emily Falcigno

Host

Yeah. 

Val Bee

Guest

Enneagram is very cool too. If you've not looked those up for yourself, I definitely recommend looking them up. They're really a fascinating layer. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

10:30

Cool All right. Thanks for sharing. So another signature visionary journey question is what is your ideal lifestyle and are you living it? 

Val Bee

Guest

10:38

Ideal lifestyle, I think for me. I've very much been rooted in this idea that I want to design a life that I love. My partner and I were actually just talking about this the other day. She often raises the question:  “How do they support themselves, how do they make their life happen?” This is when we're talking about different careers, different industries, different types of work, and I was saying to her and sort of pondering on that question I was raised by my grandparents so I was in the home with them. 

11:18

They both worked full time and we definitely were, I felt, very like, secure, supported. I never felt like there were things that I longed for, that I could get. My parents worked very hard, but especially my mom. She always had a very grand vision for her life and, in contrast my pops, he was very much a realist. He was very down to earth. I don't need much. I don't have this desire to acquire many things, but also happy to be partnered with a woman for almost 50, 60 years who carried that and that drove the family to have this very hardworking mentality. 

12:11

So I think I sort of came into adulthood feeling very clear that if I wanted the life that I wanted, whatever that meant for me at the time that I knew that I had to work very hard for it, and I've never shied away from hard work. I actually loved working hard. I love putting myself into something, like really throwing myself into something, and sort of feeling the you know, I don't want to say like exhaustion, but just feeling like man, like you really just sort of poured yourself into something. I love that sort of catharsis afterwards, you know. So I think that for me, when I thought about, like, what does my ideal lifestyle look like? I knew that I wanted a life where I got to do what I wanted to do, work as hard as I wanted to work, live abundantly, give back, because that's extremely important to me, and feel very like rooted in my power and my choices, like the power of my choices, you know, and I think so. 

13:17

The question of, are you living it? I do feel like in many ways I am, you know. I think that I have worked really hard to get where I am in my life and my career. I feel like I am attracting the things that I want to be the studio, these events that I've been able to produce recently. It's bringing more opportunities to my plate. I feel like I am really in a space of being able to receive the abundance that I've worked for, so I do feel like I'm living my ideal lifestyle. I feel very lucky. I feel extremely fortunate, really blessed. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

14:02

Awesome. Yeah.  Working hard is a theme that comes up a lot in this podcast and in like manifesting.  I'm going to pause a minute and congratulate you for the producing the GLD FSTVL.  

Val Bee

Guest

14:24

Thank you! Wooo! That was such a fun event. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

14:26

Yes, oh my gosh, for everyone. It was a free event in Boston City Hall and Val Bee worked with the Arts and Culture team at Boston on the 50th Birthday of Hip Hop. So I have a question for you: What made that event so special and historic for you personally and for the city? 

Val Bee

Guest

14:48

Yeah, producing GLD FST. Absolute highlight of my career. I think that it was even, you know, a great thing in understatement. I've been friends with the guys from STL GLD for about two decades now and I'm a huge fan personally of them as individuals and a huge, huge fan of them as a band, and I've been really, really lucky to sort of watch them all grow and develop over the years. And so when they reached out about this potential festival, you know I got really excited. Obviously, I'm also, you know, aware that things to produce something in the city can be cumbersome, because Boston has a lot of antiquated rules that we're still learning to work through. And what's really great and I think what made this event so historic was really two things, and one I think Moe Pope, who's sort of one of the front runners of STL GLD, really spoke to this well in a lot of our interviews. 

16:01

But City Hall Plaza used to be a space that folks could gather and there used to be live shows. We used to see, you know, big names come through and perform there. You really felt like you were sitting in Boston's backyard and it was really a great gathering space, you know. And for whatever reasons, those events were discontinued. So the ability to bring something of that nature back to the Plaza was historic. You know, to be able to host this live music festival with local artists, with national headliners, and to do it, you know, right there on City Hall Plaza in the center of Boston and as a free event accessible to everybody, was really something that has not been done ever in Boston. And to be able to bring that back and to do it with these guys that I love so much was absolutely a historic moment. 

17:08

Additionally right, I think the thing that also made it historic for me on a personal level, or just so special, was this vision of being able to do this festival at all has been a dream of Moe Pope’s since he was a kid, you know, when he was one of those kids sitting in the audience of these shows happening on City Hall Plaza. You know, and thinking, man, like I would love to do that one day myself. Never really thinking that that was ever going to be a possibility. But that was his vision, that was his dream, and to be able to bring that to fruition, for him to be able to bring his dream to life, there are no words, there are absolutely no words. 

17:59

I mean I'm getting chills just talking about it. I it makes me deeply emotional. I feel extremely honored to have been asked to do that, to have been given the opportunity, to have been trusted with being able to do that, and to know that it felt like a success, you know, not just to everybody but to them, but to you know, to the guys at STL GLD. To Mo, who had this vision as a child, sitting in an audience on City Hall Plaza, you know, and to bring that to life for him. Proudest moment, absolute proudest moment. I've been a lot of things that I'm proud of in my career, but that one takes the cake for me.

Emily Falcigno

Host

18:42

Wow. Yeah, congratulations, thank you. I always have a loss for words, so I'm also getting chills hearing you talk about it.

Val Bee

Guest

18:51

Right? It's very, very special to me for sure, and it was a success. It seems like people loved it. It was a great opportunity for a lot of the artists to come to the table, so we're hoping that this will be the first of many and now we'll be able to continue this next year and really continue to build this platform for Boston artists. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

19:14

I'm curious about the time frame of when those concerts used to be. Were they in the 90s? 

Val Bee

Guest

19:20

They were. They were in the early 90s, I think, even Because I moved to Boston in 2002. And I think I caught the tail end of them happening. I remember a lot of shows that used to take place on the Plaza and then it stopped. So I think that they used to have a lot more, like you said, in the 90s and bring a lot bigger names. It's definitely worth thumbing through some of the interviews that Mo Pope did, because he really spoke to some of those historical references of when we saw those things happen in Boston, when we saw some of those shifts take place, and what that impact was, not just on Boston, but on our creative and artistic community. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

20:13

It's interesting that you bring that up, because I remember going to the Yeah Yeah, Yeahs. I also moved to Boston in 2002. Oh, wild, funny. Yeah the. Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs  and oh, I'm getting wait a second and oh, that's something on the radio. Wolf Like Me was one of the songs. Do you remember yeah, yeah. TV on the radio? Those were good concerts. 

Val Bee

Guest

20:38

Yeah, they used to have a lot of really good shows out there. It was so I remember being out there was so fun, and especially the way that the Plaza used to be set up it really seemed to facilitate it well, yeah because the stage was over the left. Exactly. 

20:55

Yeah right To the left, yeah, and it sort of sunk down a little bit. It definitely made for a great outdoor venue and, yeah, I think a lot of people were able to see names that they never thought they would up close and personal for free. So to be able to bring that back to Boston is definitely a win. We hope that this will be a new breath of air into what we see around Boston and take place on that Plaza. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

21:26

Yes, and you had vendors there. Delicious food. 

Val Bee

Guest

21:30

Yeah, Zaz restaurant, yeah, the food trucks were incredible. I mean, a lot of our vendors really held it down. It was a long day it was. The event was from 12 pm noon to 10 pm at night, so to have all of our folks just jump in give of their time that way, it was really, really great to see and I think the vendors had a really successful day a lot of foot traffic, which was great. A lot of exposure to people who probably wouldn't have experienced their brands to begin with. So that's the piece of what I do that I think I love the most being able to really connect these communities and causes and creatives and shine light on just all of this amazing stuff that people are doing. Because I'm constantly in all our creative community, like, I do this work because I'm a fan I'm genuinely a fan of what people are out here doing and I just want everybody to know about it. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

22:34

Me too, definitely. So you kind of answered this question already. So in manifesting, we build our dreams based on feelings. What feelings drive your business, and where do you think the magic of manifesting meets the hard work? 

Val Bee

Guest

22:48

Right. As I said before, I think for me it's very much that sort of gut, heart-faith feeling that drives me. I think that I've always been very, very clear on what my vision is. I think it's the how that I've had to rely on that, but the gut heart-faith feeling around, and that, for me, is where the manifesting not the hard work, the having the vision, creating a plan, a loose plan it was a loose plan. Once I figured out what the how looks like for me. But creating that vision and being disciplined around that vision not just disciplined right, disciplined intentional as well as flexible, right, because we have to be if we're letting these gut heart faith feelings guide us. Right that's really where that manifests meets that hard work. I think that I was always clear on what I wanted to do. I just knew that I needed to figure out how I wanted to do it, and that really was where I sort of leaned into that faith, that sort of gut heart-faith for me. 

24:10

So did I think that I was going to be opening a studio in the Seaport? Like, definitely not. Has it always been part of my vision to open a space? Absolutely. I used to ride the 39 bus when I was at Simmons College and we would go through Mission Hill and there was always this building that we would pass and I used to daydream about opening this sort of artist cafe space in there where during the day it functions like a cafe, but it also was a space where creatives could come in and learn and teach one another and hold space for one another, and that was always part of my vision. 

24:50

I mean, that was my vision 20 years ago, sitting on that bus, and here I am, 20 years later now opening this studio artist space in the Seaport. And I think that it's a reminder you never know where it will come. You don't know when it will happen, where it will come, how it will come, but I think, being very grounded and clear on what that vision is, being very intentional about that work, and how you want to show up in it and creating whatever that feeling is for you, that sort of gut-based feeling is for you, and just trusting it. I've literally woken up every day and just put one foot in front of the other and just trusted my gut. I won't say that it's not steered me wrong at times, because I think that at times it steered me where I needed to be, which hasn't always been the most pleasant experience, but it was also an experience that I needed to go through to get where I am today. So I think that being able to be open to where manifestation takes you is 

really important. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

26:13

Yes, very good point about being flexible, yeah, and having to go through something to understand why you're doing it or how not to do what you want to do.

Val Bee

Guest

26:25

Exactly. Yeah, I think that that's really important. I think that the thing that I've held to throughout my career the most is that I'm learning. I think that different experiences that I've taken on up until this point. 

26:41

I was always extremely intentional when I started out in my career about what I wanted to learn, where I wanted to learn it. I think so many people step into the workplace feeling like they're ready to be the expert or they're ready to be the professional. I've gone through all of this schooling and I've prepared myself. I've now got this degree and I'm ready to step into the workplace and bring my skills to the table. For me. I stepped into the workplace and I said, ok, this is where I really get to learn, this is where I really get to be a sponge right, learn from the ones who are doing it. 

27:20

I often say that I set out in my career not to be the best in one company or one organization, but to be the best in my field, and I often had to speak to hiring managers who looked at my resume and CV and was like, wow, you've worked at a lot of places. And I said, yeah, because I'm trying to learn, trying to learn from everyone. I want to learn from the best and then I want to move on so that I can take that with me and that's what I did so that I can come to the table and build something to give to somebody else, to help the next group of people flourish. That was always my vision and my goal. So to be able to live that now and to be doing it, it feels absolutely incredible. And there's still more work to do right, and I continue to manifest it, recreate my vision and have faith that I'm going to continue to get closer to what that ultimate ideal goal is. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

28:27

Flourishing is such a good word. It sounds like what it is. Has so many vowels in it. 

Val Bee

Guest

28:37

Rolls off the tongue. Yeah. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

28:38

Hello, I wanted to bop in here quickly and say, yes, there will be some curveballs in life, even when you're manifesting. It's not all flick of the wand magic we'd like to believe it is. I can assure you, however, that you do have the power to make magical changes by identifying your values and setting clear intentions for your energy, your lifestyle, and your spaces. Aligning your values is the first step to manifesting more easily. That is why I made a free journaling exercise for you. It's called Got Alignment? The link is in the show notes. So before making a vision board, before making a reorganizing plan, before decluttering anything, before getting new containers, the very first thing you need to know is why you're doing it. You need to identify your values, around your energy, around your lifestyle and around your spaces, first. 
 
 By reflecting on your values, using our journal prompts, you'll start to see how your values are in and out of alignment with your energy, your lifestyle, and in your spaces. Then it's way easier to narrow down your vision and make a plan to reorganize. So, for example, say, you're frustrated with the tedium of your grinding job and you identified through journaling that you are craving creative collaboration. Great, now you have information. Now you can make room in your space for more than one person to ideate and create with you. Maybe you bring in pops of color to enliven your space. See how identifying what you value helps you create a more supportive environment to help you manifest what you value? This is how you set up your space as a walk-in vision board. You're shifting the energy, you're taking the action, you're sending the message to the universe that you really wanna manifest this idea that you have. For those of you wondering what the heck you wanna do next, I included a list of values for inspiration and we've got a season full of inspiration coming your way. 

30:55

At the end of this episode, go to the Got Alignment? link in the show notes, download or print the PDF. Set a timer for 40 minutes to sit down. Get grounded, give yourself undivided attention. Let your intuition guide your answers. Be honest with yourselves. That will get you way farther, way faster, like magic. 

Okay, now let's hear more from our guests. 

Yeah, I love that story about you taking the bus and like seeing that area, and that area… When I first moved to Boston, I felt like I knew. I think I knew one artist that I had met in college, who had a space there who he printed artwork, but it was like very beautiful, large artwork and I always felt like an outsider around, like gallery artists, you know? Right right. So Fort Point was the area right next to the seaport where a lot of artists were working and now it's been mostly gentrified. It's like they left the facade of the brick face and renovated behind the building. 

Val Bee

Guest

32:12

Exactly, and the luxury condo. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

32:14

I don't know, they're probably all luxury condos. Yes, they are. Yeah. And then behind that, like so, the seaport. For people who might not be familiar with Boston, the seaport was like a big parking lot and then next to the water was fishing wharfs. There was one restaurant out there that people would go to the pier or something that Tony's something like that. 

Val Bee

Guest

32:41

Yeah, yeah, exactly Right, like at the end. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

32:44

Yeah, but like walking out there it was kind of scary or like Very seedy. Looking over your shoulder, and then they put the pavilion out there and so it felt like this long walk, long ass walk, to get out there for concerts. And then they started like more recently, maybe I don't know 10, eight years ago. 

33:07

They started building skyscrapers and like blew up. It's like a whole new section of Boston and it's mostly for upper [class] white demographic. Yes, district Hall is there now and they're all about entrepreneurs. And there was a big issue Like okay, so where are all the Black entrepreneurs, where are all the People of Color entrepreneurs, that, like, makes Boston? Also for people who aren't around here. Boston is very segregated. So there's been a little more buzz about well, let's get people of color who are artists and entrepreneurs to the seaport and that is where your studio is. So tell us about the significance, the purpose of your studio, all about that. 

Val Bee

Guest

33:55

Yeah, having a space certainly has always been the vision. I wanted a space where creatives felt like they could come, they could create, they could learn, they could collaborate, they could hold space. I, as you mentioned, aside from new sort of service focused work that I do, which is really working with nonprofits and small businesses around different marketing events, I also, throughout my career, produced a lot of things in-house and hosted different types of events and conversations, and for me, I really, I think, like so many people, and especially post pandemic, really just honestly got tired of running out of spaces to host things, to do events, to meet clients, to do work, to do all of the things that we as creatives are doing these days to have a space where I could create content. And I'm like, if I'm feeling this, I know everybody else is feeling this as well. And that, I think, really is what led me to start looking for a space. 

35:18

As I said, the vision has always been to hold a space or to have a space. I had no idea when that was going to come into fruition, come into play, what it would look like, what it did, but one day I guess I was just sitting at home and literally just started Googling studio spaces available studio spaces in Boston and this space happened to pop up in the seaport and there was this old artist's loft. I mean, completely ideal, right, all of the things that you want this old artist's industrial building, beautiful windows and I was like floored. How is it that I have stumbled upon this space? And, as you mentioned, all of the work that they've done in the seaport over the last few years. It's really a highly desirable space to be in and it is absolutely a space that has not been that accessible to individuals of color. That, I think, is where the determination started to kick in for me is when I really sat with that reality. 

36:30

To be a young Black, queer woman, opening a space in the seaport feels extremely empowering. It feels like a complete arrival in personally, professionally, to enter into. Like you said this, it's really like not even the right words really break into it's what it should be saying to break into this community that we've often been held out of right. When I found the space, the space that I actually have now is actually the third space that I saw in the building. It was a long process. I, even after seeing that first space and being told that I was able to move in, they actually ended up renting it out to somebody under my nose, like I went through a lot in order to actually secure a space. It actually happened a second time when I saw a second space. I was guaranteed the space, told to move in, and then they allowed another tenant to move into the space instead. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

37:44

What. I have to interject. What is up with that? 

Val Bee

Guest

37:49

I mean, unfortunately, this is the experience of a lot of People of Color in Boston, unfortunately.  When we try to achieve any sort of equity, I think these are the things that we are faced with and it was exhausting, it was draining to show up with my hard earned money and vision and all of these great feelings and things that I wanted to do for the community, and two times to get the run around and ultimately turned down, you know so to finally have secured a space, be in the space, and to now be able to make that available for creatives. There are no words like. I have no words for like how amazing that feels like to have done that. It was very hard to get into the seaport, unfortunately, and I think that that is true for not just a lot of People of Color, but a lot of creatives who try to find a home in Boston. They are. 

39:08

I think that one of the things that drove me the most about wanting to create this agency is wanting to create something where creatives felt like ‘I have a home, I have a space. I'm not an afterthought here.’ I've often felt like for how much the creative community and professional network are the driving force of almost free business and organization in this state and still we're fighting for scraps. That is confusing to me. It is confusing to me. I just felt like why have we not created something where we feel like we are the ones that are sought after? I want BID and this Network and this studio space to be where creatives feel like I can show up here and I'm valued. ‘I can show up here and I'm sought after. I can show up here and I am uplifted.’

40:19

There has to be that space and I'm hoping that I can be instrumental in building that in Boston and spreading that worldwide, because it is absolutely necessary that creatives are given everything, everything that they deserve. We work too hard to be an afterthought, so I'm hoping that the studio will facilitate a space for creatives to come to learn, to support one another and to create. I have a photo studio space in there. I am setting up a podcast studio space for people to be able to use. There's going to be a workshop office space for people to be able to use, as well as being able to rent it out for private events and things of that nature. So I'm really looking forward to being able to start making that live. Obviously, there's going to be a kick-ass, kick-off party, so people should definitely stay tuned for that, and so wouldn't be me without a party. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

41:36

Right, right, oh, trials that is something we have to go through and I am, I don't know like as a White person, I feel like I need to apologize for that behavior. Yeah, White people, please don't do that to people. Like, if you're going to tell them, you're going to give them a space, follow through. 

Val Bee

Guest

42:00

Follow through. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

42:03

People are people. They were all trying to do our thing. Like and the idea of abundance. It's like it's not a pie where we're taking pieces away from you. It's like we're contributing to… Exactly, exactly. The same pie. 

Val Bee

Guest

42:21

Yep, yep, that's exactly it. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

42:25

I'm an empath. So I'm feeling those vibes and it's like I'm like the girl in Mean Girls that was like well, I can't we all just get along like in kindergarten? 

Val Bee

Guest

42:34

Yeah, exactly right, it's true. I mean, I think that that piece around like how do we focus on ways that we can uplift all of us as opposed to create barriers? It's unnecessary. Like you said, we're all just trying to get somewhere, whether it be our vision, our goal, our dream, our manifestation. Like we are all just trying to progress and to do so in ways that feel good for us and everybody around us, and the obstacles that are sometimes created around doing that are just absolutely absurd for no reason most of the time. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

43:19

So yeah, so unnecessary, so yeah Like it creates the worst energy In-. 

Val Bee

Guest

43:26

Exactly. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

43:27

For the people who are doing it too. 

Val Bee

Guest

43:29

Exactly. Yeah definitely more on that offline.. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

43:34

Okay, so I love to talk about so, like in this season, we're talking about how we bring our values, our like abstract values, right. How do you bring this word into physical space? So you're talking about collaboration, creativity. You're talking about doing a photo studio for creatives, podcast studio workshop. Do you have like different rooms in the space to do this? Are you using one big room? 

Val Bee

Guest

44:07

So yeah, so there have been some recent and new developments and I don't want to speak too much about it yet. 

44:19

But currently the way that the space is set up there's like a large room, but there's also this, what I have had my office area set up in to the side of it. 

44:32

So if you walk into the space and go to the left, it sort of opens up into the photo studio space, and I really designed that to be sort of a multi use space. 

44:43

It's an event space for people who are doing small events of like 30 to 40 people. 

44:51

It's also a studio, a photo studio space, where people can… we've got different backdrops as well as like the space is set up just as is to create different content and if you're doing any sort of content or lifestyle shoots. If you go in and step to the right, that's where there's this like office area where I've set up like BID headquarters but there's this little nook in between that and that's where I am planning to set up the podcast studio space, so just being able to get a couple of microphones where people have the simple background that people can interchange, but, you know, just being able to have a quiet space, I think for people to come in and work for content, there are definitely a lot of really great spaces throughout Boston. You know, even down at Boston Public Library, all of the work that they've done to renovate that studio space is just absolutely incredible. But for folks who you know, want to be able to have access to just another space that really facilitates as a multi space, that will be what we set up over at the Seaport. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

46:09

That sounds amazing. And to call it home, that sounds amazing too. 

Val Bee

Guest

46:15

Right. I mean, like, how lovely is it to just think of, you know, being able to hop over there. You want to rent the space for like an hour or two, you know whether you're creating content or not. Like, maybe you just need a quiet space to go and get some work done. You want to meet a client? You know, I think that it's going to really facilitate. You know, we talked about, like the co-working spaces that you know we met at and used to exist back in the day, and being able to rent out a space where you can sort of have this multi functionality. I think it's going to be really nice for people to have access to, and I'm excited to offer that to people because it's again, it's so necessary. For people need a home. You need places that we can create and learn and come together. You know, take our armor off, you know. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

47:07

Yeah, take our armor off. Love that Right. So who are some guides or role models that you've had that have been essential to your life path? 

Val Bee

Guest

47:17

You know, I've got to be honest, I don't know that there have been, like, specific individuals that I have held on to as role models. I think that there are pieces of people and, of course, like, as I said that, Chelsea Handler popped into my mind. Which makes me laugh so much, but I do love that woman so much. Outside of Chelsea Handler, I’ve never been a role model person.  I think that there are aspects of people that I really admire and those are the things that I hold on to. I think that guides, you know, or people that I've really looked up to like category as a whole, strong women, strong women. That's it for me. You know, I am absolutely empowered by, motivated by, fascinated by enamored by, just strong, powerful women. And for me, I think what that means is… I think we've heard so many buzz phrases.  I think we've heard so many buzz phrases. You know buzz words over the years, especially over the last two years you know, authentic and unapologetic, and you know all of those things are well and good. I think, at the end of the day, for me, it's women who have been intentional about understanding who they are, what they bring to the table and how they want to contribute that to our world, and people who are honest about how they're living or how they're doing that, people who are unapologetic in how they're doing that, how they're showing up in that, and when I say unapologetic for me, I think that you know this is actually something that I've been sitting with a lot this week and I've been thinking about sort of what medium I want to talk about this more on. I appreciate being able to have this bit of the conversation, but something that I've been sitting with a lot is, you know, I think that there is this idea that you know there's a lot of times people say right, like social media isn't real, right, like don't get too caught up in it. I always laugh because I'm like none of this is real right, like we are quite literally living in a social construct. So once you dismantle that, what are you then starting with? Right, and I think that's what I appreciate. 

49:43

I think that I am very drawn to women who have dismantled that for themselves and have regenerated their life and life force around this understanding that I have been given a unique gift. It is my responsibility to figure out what that is and figure out how I'm leaving this world better with that. That has been my entire life mission and goal. I feel like we are all put on this earth for a reason. I feel like we have all been given these inherent talents and skills and things that we are tasked with almost to spend our life understanding, uncovering and figuring out how we improve all of this, that we live in with that gift. 

50:35

Those are the women that I look up to, you know, women who have either figured that out for themselves, women who are fearless, you know, and unapologetic and understanding that and living that, you know, not just talking the talk but walking the wall, you know, and really sort of embodying who they intend to be. And I guess that's quite my mind went to Chelsea handler, you know she's hilarious, she's unapologetic, she lives life on her terms and I think that society, especially for women, has set up this dynamic where we are expected to be compromising and understanding and passive in in our life, in our own lives, and I do not want that for people. So when you know you, you would mention before, like there's a lot of things that I talk about on my platforms that are personal in nature. 

51:36

It's because I want as much as I'm invested in in my professional work and the things that I do to connect to community, causes, causes and creatives. Personally, I want women to feel empowered. I want them to always feel like the main character of their lives, and I am drawn to individuals who live that. I believe myself to be somebody who lives that, and that's what I want for others. So those are the women that I'm drawn to. Those are the. Those are the type of role models and I'm drawn to you. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

52:10

To be the main character in your own life. 

Val Bee

Guest

52:13

Right, there are no excuses. We make too many excuses around being the main character of our own lives. I want, I want more for women. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

52:21

Yeah, it's helpful to be in a supportive environment for that, because there's so many things like drilled into our heads that we're not that. That we’re in a supporting cast role. 

Yep, okay, let's talk about a community vision board. It seems like we're kind of naturally going that direction anyway. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Time for community vision board. 

The last episode we did, I spoke to a trans woman and a fellow from high school and we're talking about, like representation, how it's important to have representation at like, a young, young age. Now we're here talking about being in a supportive space so that you can be yourself and like, yeah, create. There's so many like little energy packets in our bodies that are like, yeah, idea, idea, idea. Like, yeah, how do we make this come to life? Yeah, so what would you put in a community vision board? Like how do you want others to step up to help you achieve your goals or to help themselves achieve their own goals? What do you want to see on this vision board? 

Val Bee

Guest

53:35

I mean I would probably include, you know, a couple of like your standard cheesy phrases, because I think those are always good. Like you're, ‘you're the main character’. You know I used to actually like right on my mirrors in bathroom. I'm a visual person, so being able to wake up in the morning, brush my teeth, I'm like looking at this empowering word or phrase. So you know, as cheesy as they are. Like, I am really a big fan of like keeping quotes and like phrases of affirmation around me. So I think, like you know, phrases like ‘you're the main character’ I would absolutely want to have on that vision board. 

54:17

I would probably include unapologetic just as a word to continue to inspire. I think unapologetic is such a great word because even if you're totally uncomfortable with stepping into an unapologetic space, I think that there's something about the word that riles people up enough to really want to sit with what it means for them. So I really enjoy the word unapologetic right now. What else would I want to see? I think I mean I feel very inclined to want to have somebody holding up a mirror. reflection.

Emily Falcigno

Host

54:54

I can make it. Yeah, I used to be a photographer. So well, I still am. Obviously it's like in me, so I'm like, oh, I can make these images that we want to have

Val Bee

Guest

54:56

Exactly, and I think that that things that reminds people that it's with fitness that so much of what we're looking for is within us, and I think that that's so cheesy and cliche to say, but it's true. You know, we talk about, like I said before, these, these, these aspects of what we're dismantling and unlearning. I think that that's more of the game than anything, so that we sort of uncover our true selves. So I would want my vision board to reflect that for people. I would want it to feel like see yourself, see you so a mirror. Words of affirmation, phrases that feel empowering or rile you up enough to energize you to wanna make a difference, to wanna step fully into your life. 

Emily Falcigno + Val Bee

Host

55:51

I agree with you. The word unapologetic is so.. the consonants in there are like kind of active consonants, so it's like a wall and a like no. ‘I’m doing this.’ Yes. 

An action. Exactly, It's like a wall and an action yeah. Yeah, it absolutely is. It absolutely is right. It's such a great word. Yeah, I'm all for it this season, Unapologetic. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

56:15

An energy. It's got energy like the ja, Exactly, Exactly. It’s the g.

Val Bee

Guest

56:19

It's an energizing word. Yeah, it absolutely is, I love it. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

56:24

Cool. I hope that we can have more conversations like this. Like I'll have to do a podcast in your space. 

Val Bee

Guest

56:32

Yes, actually that has been part of the vision board is to do this podcast, cocktails, umm “Conversations with Creatives”. So once I launch it I will definitely let you know. Maybe you'll have to be my first guest. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

56:45

I would be honored. Cool, okay, so we know what you're promoting. Tell us more. Do you need to give us a handle?

Val Bee

Guest

56:53

I am admittedly not good at promoting my own stuff, so..

Emily Falcigno

Host

What?

Val Bee

Guest

57:03

You know, as somebody you know, I'm, so I'm very service based. So you know I for me, it's always I'd rather promote the brand than the people that I'm working with, but my goal personally is to be better talking about my own stuff. So again, thank you. 

Things that are coming up you know, as we said, the studio will be launching soon. I'm gonna do a launch party, probably in the coming weeks over at the Seaport, so look out for that. We are going to be starting to work on some plans for season two of GLD FST so definitely make sure to keep your ears open for that. 

57:50

And with the network, you know I've got the Network of Creatives. We have a online Facebook group. The goal with that is to start doing these live in person Meetups. I wanna do a monthly networking Meetup for creatives to come together, connect, collaborate. There are going to be a series of workshops that we're going to do. 

58:14

I really want creatives to feel empowered in being able to run their business as well. I think that there are a lot of creatives who are good at what they do, really great in their craft, and then when it's time to translate that into an actual business, I think it gets a little cumbersome for a lot of our creatives. That's one of the first workshops that we're going to be rolling out is one around how to convert your craft into a business, so definitely look out for that. But yeah, there'll be a lot of things that'll be happening over at the studio. You can follow us @BIDWorldwide on all of our platforms, and then you can see a lot of the other brands. We've got @NewEnglandFoodAndTravel that we also own and really highlight our sort of foodie businesses in that feed. If you follow @BIDWorldwide, you can see all of our other accounts and brands that you should follow, and me I guess, @HeyValBee. You should follow me check myself out as well. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

59:18

Thank you so much for being here. It was so great to have a conversation, with you and learn more about what you're doing and like. So this is why I introduced people with how we met, because you're a person you know. We put visionaries like way up on a shelf, but people have ideas and like. Just laying out the stepping stones of how you do it really helps people like see or learn how to do it for themselves, so.. 

(to the audience) You can be a visionary too. 

Val Bee

Guest

59:53

Yeah yeah, and if you have questions around that for yourself, there's a link on my bio, you know, for people who just want to like chat through and pick my brain because I think that that, yeah, exactly as you said, I think that that sort of piece of like how do I go from vision to execution, is tricky. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

01:00:11

Thank you again! 

Val Bee

Guest

01:00:14

Thank you, Emily. I appreciate it. I gotta do these things more often. They're so enjoyable. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

01:00:18

Yes, See, and like even me, like I remember Jimmy Fallon saying when he was starting to do like the news at SNL, he was like I didn't know how to do it, I just you just have to start interviewing. Yeah, exactly, yeah, you'll learn. Just jump in.. as you do it. Yeah, yeah. So I'm like Jimmy Fallon, I'm getting better at this. 

Val Bee

Guest

01:00:42

Yeah, exactly Right, and that's what I say. It's like you know, you have to be willing to be a lifelong learner, you know. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

01:00:48

Yes, I particularly love that you said that you went into work with the mindset of learning. 

Val Bee

Guest

01:00:56

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I think people have to be open to that more. You know, I know that you know we get into the workplace and we want to feel like. You know. 

01:01:07

Here's an opportunity for us to shine and assert ourselves and, like, show what we've spent all these years educating ourselves around, but like, yeah, I think being able to step in those spaces and be a learner as well is, like, so important. You should always be thinking about how, what do I need to add to my own toolkit? So, be a learner, be a lifelong learner. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

01:01:31

Yeah, and that's why, like, having an intention is good, so you know what you want to put in your toolkit and what you don’t. 

Val Bee

Guest

Exactly and actually you know, and I think that that's the piece of like, experience of like, of being willing to figure it out, because I think that there are things that you know. We don't know what we don't know, right, piece, but, like, sometimes, if we are willing to put ourselves in the ‘oh, I don't know this, let me be open to what I could learn here.’ There's so much more we can take away. We often end up being able to add things to that, to that toolkit that we actually didn't even realize was necessary. 

Being able to bring so much to the table at this point in my career because of how much time I spent allowing myself to learn in these different environments, has been really helpful. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

01:02:27

Great lessons for everyone. Great lessons. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for the work that you do. Just being you, thank you for being unapologetic. It shines at really. You're really a light in Boston Harbor. 

Val Bee

Guest

01:02:44

Oh, I appreciate you. Thank you for saying that. And now I'm going to say you're gonna have to check in on my Instagram later because the fact that you just used that particular phrase is really personal and meaningful, so I'm gonna write about why. So, thank you for saying that. 

Emily Falcigno

Host

01:03:05

You're welcome. 

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you gleaned some helpful ideas to apply to your own Visionary's Journey. One action step you can take right now is to download our Got Alignment? PDF. The link is in the show notes. By reflecting on your values using our journal prompts, you'll start to see how your values are in and out of alignment. Remember, aligning your values is the first step to manifesting more easily. When you need help taking action to reorganize your spaces around your values, reach out to me at RoomToTransform.com/About. There's a contact page there and I would love to hear your ideas. Ciao for now, my visionaries. See you next time on The Visionaries Journey.