2024 Fellow Focus: Erin Washington + SoulCenter
Creative disruptor, empowering storyteller, belief-driven founder…2024 Fellow Erin Washington of SoulCenter shares more about their journey as a social impact entrepreneur.
What life experiences propelled you into the entrepreneurial space and made you decide to be your own boss?
I trained as an actress since I was five-years old and had big dreams of being on Broadway. Once I got there I became well aware that the space I was actually wanting to create was one with Blk and Brown folk that had a passion for art that went deeper than any capitalist leanings or hierarchical frames of the modern American Theater. I had grown weary of telling the story of Blk folk being the oppressed and as Toni Cade Bambara beautifully states, "a people entrenched in another people’s fiction is an endangered people!" I didn't want my story or the story of my ancestors and the future lineage to come to be covered up by these US systems. I created SoulCenter as a meditation of belief - belief in myself and my ability - and as a way to say “thank you” to my ancestors for their belief in me.
What do you enjoy most about being a founder?
I enjoy working with younger Blk and Brown creatives on my team. I am super inspired by 18-35 year olds! I feel like they hold the genius that most are trying to access. I also love the opportunity to shift the ways I think about leadership with the work I get to do as a founder and inspire other creatives to know that there is nothing they cannot do! Lastly, I love the ability to create new norms in our work culture - namely our four-day work weeks and quarterly paid wellness pauses!
What do you wish someone had told you before you started your entrepreneurial journey?
I wish someone had told me that I had everything I needed inside and that I should never be afraid to ask for help.
Tell us about an experience you had as an entrepreneur or in starting your company that exemplified one of Camelback's core values: "Belief in Mission + Vision"; "Unafraid of Failure"; "Constant Learner"; "Humble + Hungry"; and "Give First."
[Constant Learner] At SoulCenter, we started with many sessions where we read books, magazine articles, plays, watched films, etc. together as a way to talk about how we each view the world and the frameworks we wanted to make sure were included in the culture and the work of SoulCenter. We started with these sessions being led by a dynamic group of 18-22 year old HBCU college students and this has since grown to be the methodological framework of our work at SoulC. We are grateful for the opportunity to grow together and to question and inquire about one another's thoughts in brave space.
Let's talk about your legacy. What is your vision for the kind of world you hope to create through your venture?
I am creating a world where queer Blk and Brown creatives will not need to go into $100K+ in debt for graduate school spaces to "prove" they are worthy creatives and artists. I am creating a world where Blk and Brown creatives will know who and whose they are, and know that they can do more than sing, act, and dance. They will know that they can craft frameworks to hold the genius of their art production and that their value system and its implementation will be their number one measure for success. I am creating a space where Blk and Brown creatives have the funds to create the art they desire! HBCUs will replace large white studios and be the center of Blk and Brown cultural art production, as well as have the essential tools needed to do the dynamic work they are capable of! I am creating an ecosystem of creative Waymakers - a crew of genius, rogue, boss organizers and activists that are interested in telling a new story based on the joys, pains, hopes, and ambitions of all of us across the world. A new story based on the possibilities of a world we have devised in 10-15 hour improv sessions, art making, quilting, storytelling, music, and dance!
”Let's say the thing that's never been said. Let's dance the dance that's never been danced. Let’s live the life that's never been lived..." - Erin Washington
What's your favorite book or podcast that you draw entrepreneurial inspiration from?
The Journey Podcast with Morgan DeBaun
We know balancing the demands of entrepreneurship and life can be challenging. What are some of your favorite ways to prioritize your self-care?
Meditation, yoga, going to the river, listening to records (Nina Simone is my fav!), and JAZZ all day everyday! I’d also like to share a few quotes that keep me grounded:
“What we do is more important than what we say or what we say we believe.”
bell hooks"A people entrapped in another people's fiction is an endangered people."
Toni Cade Bambara“The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers.”
James Baldwin“I want to blow my mind with blkness.”
Barbara Ann Teer“There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
Toni Morrison
Anything else you want to share about yourself and/or your Camelback Fellowship journey?
I am so grateful for encountering the Camelback Fellowship. The community is divine. I feel at home and feel like this Fellowship speaks to my spiritual self. I am honored to be in this cohort. My cohort is so genius!
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