Daily Inspiration: Meet Rakaiya Colley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rakaiya Colley.

Rakaiya, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am 21 years old, and I was born and raised in Decatur, GA. Last summer I was looking for another source of income, so I would have more money to invest into my apparel and tarot business Arae’ Of Sunshine. I was looking through indeed when I found Bricks4Kidz, and at the time they were hiring teachers for their summer camp programs. I have always had a passion for working with kids, and I previously worked at a school for five years as an assistant/lead teacher. I was extremely excited to join Bricks4Kidz as a teacher, and it been a wonderful experience. Around 4/5 months of me working there Ben our owner/operator called me and informed me they were hiring for a manager position and if I was interested, but I told him I’m not interested in managing staff but what are you doing for your social media? That is how we got to where we are today Ben let present all of my ideas for birthday parties and social media and we polished them up. The pandemic hit the company hard and we are just now fully recovering, and we have a solid team with Richard who is our Executive Manager, Kieth our hiring manager, Ben, and myself. We are working hard to build a community around Bricks4Kidz ATL right now our community base stems from our after school programs in over 50 schools, but with our Monthly Raffle and B4K Challenge Build we will connect with Lego families all over the metro and hopefully have our first B4K event. I am so grateful to be able to pursue so many of my passions simultaneously and excited for Bricks4Kidz Atlanta to grow!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall it has been a pretty smooth road, but there has definitely been a couple of bumps. The biggest one being a lot of our shipments from our supplier overseas have been taking months to get here due to things related to the pandemic. We also have a hard time finding dedicated staff, and I think that is mostly because a lot of people who have a passion for kids don’t know we are out here. There has also been times where we’ve had to redefine my role due to the fact that I was starting to feel extremely overwhelmed with responsibilities. Ben really helped me find the bet ways to manage and utilize my time, and Richard has been a great help when it comes to helping me inform staff about our marketing initiatives. For me personally, the hardest part is managing my own business running those social media accounts and still finding the time for Bricks4Kidz. I love helping B4K grow but I love to see my business grow as well. Finding that balance between wearing those different hats was a challenge for me, but I have been able to find it simply taking the time to plan it all out. When running my own business, I do not have to ask for permission and log everything in a way for other people to comprehend, so doing all of that for B4K was new but also exciting.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I run the Marketing and Events for Bricks4Kidz in addition to having my own apparel and tarot business. I created the marketing and events department for B4K after working there for about six months because I felt like they were missing out on so much by not having that. I have created the Bricks4Kidz Atl Monthly Raffle and Challenge build to form a B4K community outside of our traditional after school and summer camp programs. I have also revamped their birthday parties to be more of a Lego Experience featuring a Life Size lego gift box containing a present from us; a photo area with life-sized Legos; 3 interactive stations. I am most proud of my balance and ability to all of this for B4K and still run my small business as well. I think what sets me apart from my colleagues is that I am a young black female and it is rare to see women especially women of color involved in STEAM work. I wish to inspire all the little girls I teach that they can do the same things as the boys out there even if it seems hard.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Ben Leblois ([email protected]) Owner/Operator of B4K for seeing my visions and giving me the opportunity to execute them. Richard Smith B4K Executive Manager for helping me communicate my initiatives with staff and keeping me track with my deadlines.

Keith Duggan ([email protected]) B4K General Manger for helping me execute all of the programs I’ve initiated.

My mother, Menika Fowler for always supporting me.

Pricing:

• Birthday Party $475
• Parents Night Out per child $50

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.bricks4kidz.com/georgia-atlanta-decatur/
• Other Website:  araeofsunshineaos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bricks4kidzatl/
• Instagram: araeofsunshine.lc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bricks4KidzATL

Image Credits
Bricks4Kidz