Building Trust Through Authentic Storytelling: Shaquille Alexander’s Journey

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Shaq, thanks for joining us today, my man.

Good to see you. Thanks for having me.

Hey, man, it's my pleasure. So how would you get us started? By telling us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

Got you. Well, my name is Shaquille Alexander. For those wondering, yes, I was named after Shaquille o', Neal, but most people do call me Shaq. I really don't have a preference, but. Born and raised on the east side of Columbus of Ohio, a small city called Whitehall. Grew up here, went to high school here, graduated 2014. I went on to graduate from Audubon University in 2018, where I studied finance, became a licensed CPA, three years at a big firm. And now I'm doing a lot of different things. Some consultancies working at the public Housing authority here in Columbus, and also I serve as city treasurer in Whitehall. I'm currently in the middle of a campaign. I think we'll talk a little bit about that today.

Yeah, man, absolutely. And like I was saying at the beginning when we were getting started, we've. We're almost at a thousand episodes right now, but we've never had somebody, I'm not going to say a politician. I'm not going to say that we are a public servant in the middle of a campaign, and there are some persuasive tools and techniques that you're using that are. Are very powerful. And let me. Listeners, let me tell you this. I, Shaq and I have been buddies for a long time. So I'm not going to bring on somebody who is like, just trying to sell stuff. Right. And.

Right.

There's going to be a lot of value in this because one, one thing I appreciate you is that about you is that throughout your entire life, you've always been really values driven and always focused on public service, throughout your educational career, and you've been really focused on that. So I'm really excited to dig into your perspective on storytelling as you are going through this campaign. And so let's just start off with the storytelling aspect, too. So when you think about the narrative that you are telling the public and the community about yourself, what are some of those messages that you're trying to get across?

Well, I think the narrative, I think that when I tell people, you know, I'm running for this, this is why I'm doing it, I really try to dive deep into the why. And I mentioned that I grew up in Whitehall, and I'm going to dive a little deeper here. Not only grew up here, but I think I was became a man here. I think that I have family who is outside of my real family here, and I believe I'm actually part of the community. Even the three years I did not live here during college. It's part of the reason why I tell the story that when I got a job offer at a big four accounting firm, that I could have moved to any major city in the United States, that I decided to come back home to Whitehall. Long story short, I left home at the age of 16, my junior year of high school, and I bounced around for six years. Grandma's house, my friend's house, back to my uncle's, back to another friend. Lived with my track coach for three of those years. And I just told a story about what the community did for me and how Whitehall embraced me. And I think telling that story helps people understand why I'm so passionate about Whitehall, why I have a fire in me for the people here. And you've been in Columbus a long time, Kwame, so you know, you may have heard some negative things about this side of town. Not in recent years, because I think that narrative never has been true and I fought against it a lot. But in recent years, I think we went from people being able to talk about us like that to now that we're a rising star in the central Ohio area. So it's nice to have seen that progress. It's nice to have been part of that for the past year and a half. But I really do try to drive home the story like I'm homegrown. I just want to serve the community that has poured into me. And then diving even deeper into that why. Treasurer well, I truly am a numbers guy and I talk about my journey of becoming A cpa, and my journey of how I ended up at a big firm and how my professors coached me and mentored me to help me get there. So I think just telling whether it be a long story from my time growing up here to where I am now, or a small story about a college experience that helped me kind of amplify and understand my values a little bit better, but I believe in telling the story and sharing experiences are really powerful, especially in a space like this where I'm running for something that's not really exciting, like a councilman or an attorney or an executive, like a mayor or county commissioner. Right. So I have to give people something that is going to get them to tune in and listen, because I can talk about the numbers all day, but unless you're a person like me, you don't get excited about the numbers. So I think storytelling really does help give people insight into my character, insight into my passion, insight into my values, and that helps them ultimately understand why I am who I am and why I value what I value.

I love this, Shaq, because here's the thing. As we go through this. This episode, this conversation, um, and it's funny because we talk.

We.

We.

We talk a lot. And this is just going to feel like a regular conversation, but for the audience, I'm going to be pulling out some of the persuasive points that we can all take. So, first of all, with your story, it is just dripping with authenticity. Like, this is who you are, right? So first of all, you start off with the fact that you grew up in Whitehall. You became a man here, and you did not leave. And listeners, one of the things that Shaq said was he went. He. He left for a little bit to. To go to college. You went to college like, half an hour away. So you were still close.

That's like 90% true. Exactly. I started off the University of Finley, which is two hours away, but I came back after a semester.

So there you go. There you go. So you still. So you've been local this whole time. And I think that gives a lot of credence to your narrative, because one of the things that you want to do when you're telling a story is that you use these stories to connect you to the audience. And. And for your audience in Whitehall, you're saying, listen, I am one of you. So I am like you. I'm part of this community. And I think it becomes even stronger when you convey the fact that you had options, because being at one of the big four accounting firms like that's a massive opportunity you could have left, but you chose to stay. That is really, really powerful. And then you also talk about the narrative where, all right, Whitehall might not have had the best reputation, but you've seen that growth and you've been part of that growth and you want to that growth. And so it's a narrative of, of, of connection to the community, but also progress, which is really powerful. And I like the fact that you recognize most people are, don't have that love affair with numbers that you do. And so if, if you come up and you start talking about that high level, the high level numbers that are associated with being treasurer, it. You would talk over people and you would be objectively correct with the way that you're talking, but it wouldn't have that same connection. And so now when you're speaking specifically about the role of treasurer, how do you convey the connection between success of the city with you in particular, and that role without getting too deep into the numbers?

If I give it to them high level and face value, I think that's the best. Don't want to dive into the weeds and they start to tune out again because they don't have that same passion for the numbers. Right. So I think if I just say I'm your city treasurer, I invest the city's money making sure that everything's properly accounted for and making sure that we're financially solvent. If you live in a city that's on the brink of bankruptcy, a lot of problems, not only for the city, but a lot of problems for the people that live there in terms of services, adequate governance, all the above. So as long as I help them understand that, like I am the money guy, I count the money, I invest the money, I make sure it's all there, there's no fraud. I make sure that the people that are counting it day to day in the auditor's office aren't making any errors and make sure things are properly categorized, things are coming out the right funds, things are following the legislation that has passed from council. I think that helps them understand not only am I, I like to call it a glorified accountant that I'm actually do have some checks and some balances and some actual steps within the governance of how the city manages our money. And I make sure, I say it's our money because it's not my money, it's not council's money, it's not the mayor's money, it's our money because we put our taxes into it every day. So.

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100.

And again, that word choice is very important. It's our money. And you're, you're conveying this story and creating this narrative that helps people to understand that even if they themselves don't have a full understanding of the numbers or what it really means, they trust that you do and they trust that you're going to be a responsible and good steward of their money. So I think that's really powerful. And one of the aspects of being in this public service role that is really challenging in the US is the reality of fundraising, the inescapable need of fundraising. And so we have a lot of international folks listening to this podcast. So can you just give a high overview of why fundraising is so important here and then talk about your strategy to make that happen?

Yeah. So that's the first part, why it's so important here. I'm not sure which countries in particular, but I believe that elections and candidates are supported from a public pool of money. I'm not sure which country that is, but I'm sure, you know, I like to read a lot of some random stuff here and there, but I've read that somewhere. I can't remember which country it was. But here in America, you're all on your own. And I think as sad as this may sound, your success in the public sphere, if you're going to run for office, is tied to how much money you can raise. I think it's a very strong correlation there. So campaign, a lot of people are asking, what are you raising this money for? Where does it go? And I'm very clear when I tell them campaigns cost money, whether it's a campaign T shirt, a poster lit piece that I'm passing out to the community, when I'm knocking on doors at events, my person that does my emails and my graphics and my branding, I have to pay him for his skills and his time. I have a campaign Treasurer who makes sure that we're reporting all of our campaign finances. I have to pay him for his time. Whenever we do an event, I have to pay for the food to feed the people. Anytime I have volunteers come out, I make sure they're fed afterwards. That stuff costs money. And then from that money I do receive from donations, I can also support other candidates or other causes as well. So I can help support, say, Shannon Hartnett, for instance. He's up on the ballot this year and I passed along some money to him from my campaign account. Right. So it's a wide array of things you can do. But I make sure people understand this isn't just money that goes into my pocket, is a separate bank account. There's eyes on it. Everything I receive is public, everything I expend is public. And it has to get reported to the Ohio Secretary of State, the Board of Elections. So I try to help them understand that there is that level of control and oversight there. And my strategy behind it is I am running unopposed. So if you don't have a challenger, it becomes a challenge for me to run raise money because people don't necessarily see a need to support me financially or otherwise. But I think that's when I go into my storytelling mode and I tell them why I'm garnering financial support and otherwise. And part of the reason is, is that yes, I'm running unopposed now, but as a first time candidate and as a black candidate, if we're being honest, it's very challenging to raise money. It's very challenging to get into this space and succeed and thrive. And as I mentioned earlier, a lot of your success is tied to how well you can fundraise. And so not only do I have these costs as a first time candidate that eventually I'm going to run again, eventually I'm going to run outside of Whitehall. Eventually I will have an opponent. So it's better for me not only to raise money now so that way I can have something in the coffers when it's time to do it all over again. But it's better for me to truly run a race like I have an opponent now to as a first time candidate because it gives me the experience, it helps me build my brand, helps me build the relationships. And you know, if I make a mistake now, I can learn from it without truly falling behind compared to my opponent. So I told him the story of just how, why I need to raise money overall, but then why I'm doing it now. And I think we've been Fairly successful. We've raised about $30,000 as a first time candidate in the municipality of about 21,000 people. And I'm a down ticket office. Again, not exciting like Mayor, I'm not exciting for the council. I'm not legislating again. I am managing the money of the city. So I think all those things considered that we've seen a very decent degree of success so far and it's been working. So looking to close out the last month strong.

Absolutely. Well, first of all, congratulations on your win.

Thank you. We're not done yet. We're not done yet. Not done yet.

And second of all, I think this paints a really interesting picture for the audience too because they're seeing the challenge because we're all from time to time confronted with situations where we have to persuade. And they're going to be some times where it seems like the odds are stacked against us, like you said. But you have a really particularly fascinating challenge because people will look at this and say, why do you need the money? You're, you're going to win. And so this goes back to the storytelling aspect because they're not just investing for you right now, they're also investing for you in the future. And so again, your story has to be crisp and clear for them to feel comfortable again trusting you with their hard earned cash for sure.

That's not lost on me that these are a lot of people I'm asking for. These funds are people I grew up with, people I met in school, a lot of my fraternity brothers shout out to the office and people that may not necessarily have, you know, 50, $150 to give at that time. So it's been a challenge trying to stay measured and understand when to ask, who to ask and how to craft that craft to ask. But then also try to help these people understand. Yes, I'm asking for money. Yes, I'm in a public office, but I'm still Shaq. My number hasn't changed. I don't have a secretary or an assistant. So it's going to be me putting you on the calendar. It's going to be me that when you call my line, whether it's the campaign line or my personal line, is going to be me on the other side of that. So I try to make sure I maintain that level of interaction with me, not go talk to my team or talk to my guy that manages this. You still get that interaction. I'm still going to come out and kick it with you on the weekends. We're still doing all the same things. So I try to make sure I'm not that guy that's always asking for money to where they're saying, oh, Shaq's changing. He's coming, becoming part of the machine, or he's a politician now. And a lot of people, not a lot, a few people have called me politician, and I always correct them, say, no, I'm a public servant. I can politic, but I'm a public servant. So let's just try to drive that fact home. And again, I think that we've seen success through that, and I think having that level of authenticity that I do and being in a space that's home for me has helped tremendously.

Yeah, man, I love it. And I would be really interesting to see your perspective of really inspiring people to volunteer for you as well, because as a public servant, you have that challenge of raising money. You have that challenge of getting people to vote for you. But we have volunteers for these campaigns, so they're people who don't get paid and just come out to support you because they believe in you. How do you craft a message that's so powerful for them to feel comfortable to donate the most valuable thing they have, which is their time to you for the campaign?

Yeah. So I'm very blessed and fortunate to have a lot of friends that I'm still very close with to this day that grew up with me here in Whitehall. So, you know Desan Jefferson? That is my guy. I've known him since fourth grade. He's actually my campaign treasurer. And every time I make an ask, hey, brother, we have this event. Can you work the table? Hey, brother, we're actually knocking on doors this Saturday, October 7th, so if you want to come out, let me know. Kwame bet I've always had people like that. My guy Byron from college, my guy Da met him in middle school here in White Hart Rosemore Middle School. Nicole and Natalie, a set of twins that I met in eighth grade. Their parents are still here. There've been nothing but supportive. So when I make the ask for volunteers, most of the time, there are people who've seen the journey and been along the journey with me, and they answered the call every time, asking fraternity brothers who have seen me grow up from a young college brother in 2017 to. To an alumni brother now 20, 23, six years later. So they've seen the growth. They've seen the passion. They understand why I'm doing this. So when I ask them to donate their time, it's not really a big ask for Them because they get it. They've seen it. They've been a part of this. One thing I like to practice in my life is collective success. Anytime I have a win in life, no matter how big or how small, I always bring my people together and we celebrate. And it is a celebration of my accomplishment. Yes. But I always bring them together. I want them in the room because I want them to understand the role they played in that. Back in 2015, maybe I had a dream. Just one day, I was daydreaming. I was thinking, I've had a lot of people support me financially, putting clothes on my back, roof over my head, give me their time, give me their advice, whatever it may be. And a lot of people I just mentioned, Nicole and Natalie or their parents, Kimberly and David, or Dasan and his mom, Wendy Da, and his parents, Katrina and Jerry, they've all poured into me. And so whenever I can, I like to give that back. And they don't expect it. They don't ask for it. It's just something I believe I should do. And long story short, for my birthday this year, I turned 27 in April. I brought my friends out. We had dinner at Lindy's, one of my favorite spots in German Village. And they didn't know I was going to do this. But at the end of the meal, I let them know I was going to pay for everybody. Just the food, not the beverages, because that's a little much. They like to drink, but I pay for everybody. And I'm grateful enough, I'm in a position to be able to do that now. But they've seen the moments where I wasn't able to. They've seen the moments to where I'm like, hey, brother, I'm hungry. Can I come by and get something to eat? Hey, brother, I need somewhere to stay tonight. They've been on the receiving side of a lot of those asks. So now that they poured into me, I want to make sure, again, they're not asking, but they get that nice roi. And I want them to understand that when I win or when I celebrate me, I'm celebrating me and you equally the same. Because without you pointing to me, without you supporting me, without you investing in me, I don't have none of this. And I want to make sure that they understand that I don't move forward without their support. And I think that's a big, big, big thing that they all appreciate. So outside of that group, everybody else, I think it's the same approach. I invest in the relationship first. Let them know who I am, why I'm doing this, and then I kindly ask them for their time. If they come out, I make sure they're taken care of. Again, I mentioned that after each event I have and volunteers come out, I make sure they're fed. A lot of them decline, but I make sure they know the offers on the table and they will be taken care of. I think that is something they appreciate a lot. So I think at the end it boils down to relationship and maintaining those. If somebody does come out and support you, make sure you know how appreciated they are, take care of them and, and for those who can't or those who don't, just keep on pouring into them, keep on making ads and keep doing what you're doing, stay 10 toes down and eventually they will support you, whether it's with their time, their talent or their treasure.

Man, that is powerful. And the thing that I love the most about everything that you talked about today, Shaq, is that it was rooted with authenticity and focused on relationships. It's not a tactical type of thing where you're trying to use some mind bending techniques to get somebody to do something that they genuinely don't want to do. It's just you being a genuinely good person, telling that story authentically and opening the door for allowing people to support if they want to. I think that's really powerful and I think that's something that we can all learn from in our own personal lives and professional lives that authenticity still works. So I appreciate you, man. And before you go, because we're coming up on time here, I want to give you an opportunity again to let the folks know about you, how they can get in touch and how they can support too.

Definitely, definitely. I appreciate you taking the time today. Kwame, Quick piece. I just want to say thank you. I really do. It really means a lot. I was thinking about as I was getting ready to be on this, as I remember when I first met you, I think it was like a week before Thanksgiving in 2017. I think Luke Fetlo made the introduction and we sat at, I think it was brioso downtown, had some coffee. I don't think I was drinking coffee at that point in time, but I think you're delighted to hear that I'm a dirty Chai addict now. I get at least every other day I have to have it, if not every day. But I remember you told me I think the podcast was still in its development stage. I think it was going, but it was still very young. So to be Able to sit here six years later and be a guest on it and to see just how much the podcast has grown to. Now, you've been number one for the past four or five years now, I think, and just the work you do, it's kind of surreal to me a little bit. But I do want to say thank you because I remember when you first made the ask of do you want to come on the pod. I. I was so hype and I texted the sign like this brother right here, man, number one negotiation podcast in the world. He's asking me do I want to come on. Just that's what relationships are. You meant you, you, you cultivate them. You continue to pour into them. You. And as they grow and develop, these opportunities happen. So I think that ties in to something I said before we started recording, is that things don't just happen. People make things happen. So thank you for having me. I do appreciate it. Better to answer your question again, I am Shaq Alexander, Columbus, Ohio native. Grew up on the east side of Whitehall. My uncle still lives right around the corner from me, and I'm city treasurer. I've been in the office for about a year and a half, running for the next term. I'm doing it just because I want to be present, active and engaged. I moved back to Whitehall about two and a half years ago. I didn't know what my advocacy and my activism in the city would look like. That opportunity came up with the office becoming vacant, and given my natural set of skills as a CPA and an accountant and specializing in tax, it made sense. I went for the appointment, ultimately got it, and a lot of growing pains. But year and a half later, here we are and we're running for the next term. Just looking forward to continue to manage the city's finances appropriately and transparently and continue to help the city grow. We're seeing a lot of development and wide open, increasing and diversifying the tax base. A big development on the northeast corner of Hamilton and Broadway that's looking at, I think, $4.7 billion economic impact to Franklin county over the next 10 years. I think that it's already broken ground on, but I think it'll be complete with phase one in 2025. And I'm living at one of our newer developments, the loss at Northern Crossing. I think that was finished in 2020, one of our first multifamily developments in a couple decades. So Whitehall is kind of forgotten, but I think we're making a lot of progress, a lot of investment, and now we're the talk of the town. So I look forward to serving the next four years of city treasurer. You can connect with me on Facebook at Shaquille Alexander and you connect with me on Instagram or Twitter @Shaq D's 27. I'm not changing my name. It is Shaq d E E Z27 on Twitter and Instagram has been my my nickname. Most of my friends, they do call me D's or Shaq D's and it's been sticking ever since about seventh, eighth grade. So won't change and just happy to be here man. Thank you for everything.

Yeah man, proud of you. Appreciate you coming on today.

Yes sir. Happy to be here. We'll talk soon.

Wait, wait, wait wait, wait.

Now, before you sign off, I have something to tell you that I've never told you before.

Just kidding.

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I'll catch you later.