Today we’d like to introduce you to Chary Sathea and Emily McMonagle.
Chary, one of the co-founders, is originally from California. Chary published a story about the difficulties of making friends as an adult in a transient city like New York. This resonated with Emily, also new to the city, and she responded. The two sat down over drinks and talked about building a better community for like-minded individuals and taking that digital interaction offline to foster authentic relationships. Here we are now, two years in the making.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With community being the forefront of many organizations (and even brands), in addition to the politically-driven climate we are in, it is hard to have this concrete identity that is different than the other organizations and communities. Oh, you support women? Cool. So, are we. So, what we’re saying is – there’s a lot of noise.
But, the good thing is, thecnnekt has been authentic in our approach in many things we do since day one. And we have stayed true to our DNA in pushing forth diversity and inclusion, and not just from a race perspective.
Another struggle we face, like most small brands, is reach. We are doing this because we care about folks, and really want those underrepresented voices heard! We did not have a large audience to leverage from, so how do two small-town gals get the word out? We’re still working on it.
It’s avenues like Voyage LA that gives us that opportunity – so thanks, guys!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the thecnnekt story. Tell us more about the business.
thecnnekt is Her. Him. Them. We feature all voices through digital and IRL interviews to build and nurture a cultured community.
We started as a platform to “cnnekt” people through various events, while that is still true in our offline series. Our online content is to showcase various voices who make an impact in the world. We have been very good at identifying these individuals with purpose and sharing their stories with our community. We have been fortunate, too, that people are opened to us and are willing to share their experiences with us.
For a small team of three (co-founders, and our kickass team member Renée), we have really formed a true community, and everyone is so real and non-judgemental, so that makes it all so worthwhile and amazing. Friendships and business partnerships do come out of our events, all the time!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Oh, this is tricky. We would say maybe 50/50 – it has been a gamble. But our mindset too is: it doesn’t hurt. So, we always reach out.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thecnnekt.com
- Email: hello@thecnnekt.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecnnekt
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecnnekt
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/thecnnekt
Image Credit:
Alyssa Kirsten https://www.alyssakirsten.com
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
