Today’s guest is Christina Long President & CEO of Create Campaign, Inc., where she’s dedicated to helping diverse entrepreneurs start, scale, and sustain their businesses. She’s also the owner of CML Collective, a branding and communications firm, and a fierce advocate for building economic power in underrepresented communities.

Born and raised on the north side of Wichita, Christina’s journey hasn’t been without challenges including a near-death experience in her early years that changed her perspective on life and purpose. From those pivotal moments to leading programs that have helped countless entrepreneurs secure funding and grow their businesses, Christina’s story is one of resilience, vision, and unwavering commitment to empowering others.

0:00 – Coming Up!
2:07 – Episode Starts!

Chapter 1: Entrepreneurship & Building Real Businesses

8:29 – Helping Entrepreneurs Get Loans
9:33 – “You Have to Have a Business That’s Not a Hobby”
11:55 – What Is ‘Create Campaign’ & How They Help Entrepreneurs (Success Stories)

Chapter 2: Inspiration & Early Life

15:32 – Who Inspired Her
18:11 – How She Started Create Campaign
20:57 – Growing Up on 19th & Childhood Memories

Chapter 3: Life Lessons & Personal Values

25:02 – “I Almost Lost My Life”
30:10 – “I Don’t Skip Over People Because People Didn’t Skip Over Me”
31:30 – The ‘People Meter’: How to Work With Others
33:25 – Lack of Trust in the Black Community
35:10 – “We’re Not Just Going to Build With All Black Folks”
37:58 – Where Ego Can Be Harmful

Chapter 4: Failure, Success & Programs That Work

39:22 – How to Deal With Failure: “There Is Learning in Failure”
44:00 – Success Stories From Her Spark Business Academy Program
48:00 – What Is the Spark Business Academy Program?

Chapter 5: Personal Life & Balance

50:00 – Motherhood
51:00 – What Keeps a Marriage Strong
54:00 – How She Finds Balance: Boundaries & Delegation

Chapter 6: Economic Power & Future Goals

1:07:03 – Providing a Space for Black Folks to Get Together (The Gathering)
1:10:09 – Black Folks Need to Have Economic Power!
1:15:10 – How Our Economic Power Gets Disbursed
1:16:32 – Her 5–10 Year Goal

Chapter 7: Closing

1:19:16 – Outro: How to Get Started With the Create Campaign