Meet Andra Brantley of BNB Strategy Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andra Brantley.

Hi Andra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Getting to the Issue started from several high conversations with friends while enjoying a premium cigar. We would discuss topics from education, politics, business, entrepreneurship, civic leadership including local, state and national. Over several weeks, we would meet on Mondays to share information from personal knowledge and experiences. After receiving several recommendations for us to make the information public and share via social media, we decided to launch Getting to the Issue as a weekly podcast that is now aired live bi-weekly on Mondays. We later expanded our efforts to providing assistance to the community via bookbag drives, feeding the hungry on Thanksgiving and providing assistance to other non-profits as needed.

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?
The road has not been smooth. We received some negative feedback after hosting an elected official because supporters and those opposed viewed his interview as partial and outside of his office responsibilities. In addition, we moved our podcast from a local business to our very own personal space that we refer to as the lab. The only other challenge/negative feedback received was that we should focus our energy outside of minorities (African Americans) to include other community topics. Our response was that we welcome all guests and cover topics outside of Black America; however, this is where the greatest need is evident.

As you know, we’re big fans of Getting to the Issue. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Our current platform for the podcast is a live recording. We conduct interviews and host guests that produce live with no formatting. Our recording studio is referred to as “The Lab” and we seek guests that are influential in the community driving economic mobility from a business, education, civic engagement, non-profit and other perspectives. Our conversations and interviews are impartial for the most part, but we allow our guests and ourselves to project what we feel about specific topics. In addition, Getting to the Issue partners to give back to the community through feeding the homeless, turkey drives during the holidays, clothing drives and school supply dropouts to communities in need throughout Metro Atlanta. We have traveled to be the host podcast for several cigar events/weeks including; Miami, FL, Charlotte, NC, Orlando, FL, Macon and Atlanta, GA. If there is an event that drives economic mobility in black and brown communities, Getting to the Issue wants to be there. One of our top goals for this year to expand the brand to include colleges and festivals, the Atlanta University Center is a primary target to allow students to be heard and share what they are doing to move the next generation. Please continue to follow us as we “Get to the Issue.”

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Favorite Books: How Money Works, by Tom Mathews and Steve Siebold, 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, How to Succeed in Business Without Being White by Earl G. Graves; Rich Day Poor Day, Robert Kiosaki, Think Like A Success Act Like A Success, Steve Harvey; Leadership and Self-Conception, “Getting Out of the Box” by the Arbinger Institute 48 Laws of Power

Favorite Podcast: NPR The Indicator, Consulting Success Podcast, and The Secret to Success Podcast by Eric Thomas; Consider this from NPR, The Limits with Jay Williams

Apps: Strava, BE, Canva, Inc., Teams, E*Trade, LAFitness, Finacademy, Zoom, PayPal, DocuSign, etc….

Contact Info:

• Email: gettingtotheissue@gmail.com
• Instagram: @gettingtotheissue
• Facebook: @gettingtotheissue

Image Credits
Getting to the Issue Greenwood Whiskey Stanley’s Cigar