YB&NB Manuscript Feature: Leo Casiple

IBEW-569 2022 TITLE SPONSOR

SAN DIEGO COUNTY BUILDING TRADES CAREER FAIR

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO IBEW - 569

Thank you so much for participating in this year’s Construction Expo! We were exceedingly happy to have been able to hold the event in person after two years online. The best part of the event is the strong partnerships we have with all of you. We are a team and this event showcases that for participant XBEs and I believe it’s what encourages them to learn more about district opportunities. Thank you for helping us meet our goals.

KAREN LINEHAN BUSINESS OUTREACH PROGRAM MANAGER SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT FACILITIES PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION EMAIL: KLINEHAN@SANDI.NET FOR NEW BID SOLICITATIONS, FOLLOW ME ON LINKEDIN @ HTTP://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/KARENLINEHAN

We hope that you and your members benefitted and were able to get leads, connect with potential partners, develop new business, and/or recruit new members. Your volunteered time is so appreciated.

Finally, thank you for continuing to support San Diego Unified’s construction program and for helping us meet our XBE participation goals—not just at the event, but throughout the year. We look forward to an even bigger and better event next year! For those of you who were unable to join us in the end, we hope you, your team, and your families are healthy.

2022 CONSTRUCTION EXPO

Despite Obstacles, “Chef Q” Takes San Diego Restaurant & Community to New Heights

Executive Chef Quinnton Austin is the owner of Louisiana Purchase, a restaurant in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego that aims to “bring New Orleans to North Park” with a soulful menu of savory bites.

Like many other small to midsize business owners during the pandemic, Austin (aka “Chef Q”) was forced to continually adapt to ever-changing regulations with real impacts on his business. Austin’s flexible attitude and ability to “rise to the occasion” unexpectedly created new opportunities for the restaurant, even amidst a global pandemic.

Using his Cox Business Internet account, Austin relied on software programs like Plate IQ to keep up with trends that required Louisiana Purchase to constantly change their menu items. “In current times, it’s more beneficial to have automation, especially when it comes to frequent menu changes where you need to price out each dish based on overhead and revenue goals,” he explained.

At the height of the pandemic, Louisiana Purchase was forced to come up with innovative ways to spread the word about their offerings. “The shutdowns changed the way we approached business,” said Austin. “We started to utilize all our social media platforms to tell our story, from behind-thescenes content and new dishes to giveaways and to show how we were supporting frontline hospital workers with meals and students in low-income neighborhoods with school lunches,” he continued.

Louisiana Purchase continues using their Cox Business Internet to power other restaurant technology tools like Toast 365 and Shamrock for order processing to ensure the unique dishes on the menu are always available to area foodies.

And Louisiana Purchase isn’t just drawing in the locals; the restaurant’s excellent food and welcoming vibe are luring foodies from all over Southern California. “The biggest silver lining of the pandemic was that people seem less scared to try new things, and they are willing to go out and have culinary adventures. On average we welcome 20 customers each week from Los Angeles who come to experience our menu and atmosphere,” said Austin. “We just had a family of about 40 who took the train down from L.A. the weekend before Mardi Gras!” he exclaimed.

Austin and his team have worked hard to curate the distinctive, hospitable New Orleans feel of Louisiana Purchase, and they have extended that convivial warmth into the community by helping to connect Black professionals and chefs within the industry. Austin recently launched “Bad Boys of Culinary,” a community of Black chefs who visit various cities and restaurants to showcase their talents. The group also hosts culinary expos for the public, with two events upcoming in San Diego.

There’s no doubt that Austin’s instinct for innovation will continue to take him (and his endeavors) to great heights. Soon, he and fellow Bad Boys of Culinary Chef Kelston Moore are opening a new spot in Oceanside called Q&A Restaurant and Oyster Bar, which vows to “bring NOLA vibes to Oceanside” with first-class service and food. Southern California dining enthusiasts, rejoice!

Did you know a Flex Alert is a call to conserve energy? An alert is triggered by the California ISO when the grid is stressed. The alert helps prevent rotating outages when everyone works together. Sign up for Flex Alert notifications so you know when to conserve energy. Find out more at FlexAlert.org. #sdge #SDGEAssist During hot summer days when we’re all using air conditioning to stay cool, the energy grid can become stressed by high demand. When this occurs, Flex Alerts are called for all of us to conserve energy to help prevent potential rotating outages. Volunteer to save energy and support the grid this summer. Sign up for Flex Alert notifications today at FlexAlert.org. #sdge #SDGEAssist When our energy grid is overwhelmed, the California ISO triggers a Flex Alert to notify us of preventable, rotating power outages. You can request to receive notifications in advance so you can prepare to reduce your electricity usage and relieve the grid. Want to participate? Sign up for Flex Alert notifications today at FlexAlert.org. #sdge #SDGEAssist

Do you know about Flex Alerts? They notify us of preventable power outages and encourage us to conserve energy during times of high energy grid stress.

Sign up for Flex Alert notifications so you’ll know when to voluntarily conserve electricity. Find out more at FlexAlert.org. #sdge #SDGEAssist When there is high energy demand, Flex Alerts notify us to conserve so we can avoid preventable power outages. They’re triggered by the California ISO, often in the summer, when everyone is using energy to stay cool.

These alerts give us the opportunity to voluntarily conserve electricity. If you would like to support the grid, sign up for Flex Alert notifications today at FlexAlert.org. #sdge #SDGEAssist Did you know you can help California prevent rotating power outages? By volunteering to reduce your energy use during a statewide Flex Alert, you can make a difference during times of high grid-stress and emergencies. Find out more at FlexAlert.org. #sdge #SDGEAssist

ABOUT LEO CASIPLE

New Member Recognition

I am an immigrant and first-generation American. I never finished high school and joined the US Army with a Green Card and a GED. I had very little confidence and no longer believed in myself.

During my service, after failing the Selection Course twice, I earned the Green Beret on my third attempt.

Later, I was selected to attend the 18-month Arabic Language Course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. I was grateful to maintain a near-native proficiency for many years. While in the Army, I completed a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts degree from Excelsior College. Immediately after the Army, I founded a Language Training company; however, I failed because I did not know how to ask for help.

Post-military, with one GI Bill, I earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, a Master of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) from California Lutheran University, and a scholarship and Master of Competitive Intelligence Certificate (CIP-1 and CIP-2) from the Academy of Competitive Intelligence. Additionally, I obtained a Multi-Cultural Leadership Certificate from the United Way of North Carolina, and a Competent Communicator Certificate (Public Speaking) from Toastmasters International.

I got to where I am today because of amazing leaders and mentors who kept me going in the right direction.

My family (wife Cecile and my boys) have been my motivation to keep going. I would not be here today without their love and support.

It took many years to find my passion because I initially looked for outside validation, and outward/observable/material measures of success. I did not realize it then, but my choices as an adult were based on fears, and the frantic action to compensate for unmet childhood needs.

Once I made enough wrong decisions to the point where it became too painful, I learned to focus on improving myself first (from the soul).

Young Black & N' Business Member, Leo Casiple

Message from the

Roosevelt Williams, III, founder, family man, and visionary formed Young Black & N' Business (YBNB) with the hopes of providing a ladder for upward mobility for his community. This ladder would do more than help people leave the "physical" hood, but release the mental shackles formed by systematic marginalization. Today, Young Black & N' Business is proud to bring early entrepreneurs out of the darkness and into the light by helping them grow their professional network, providing high value exposure opportunities, and entrepreneurial content from real entrepreneurs.

Early entrepreneurs across the nation can read our digital magazines, join our virtual release parties, and keep up with us through our bi-weekly newsletter and social media.

Connect, follow, and like @ybandnb on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

BizCon is our biggest small businss expo bringing together early and emerging entrepreneurs, community stakeholders, and high level resources in one weekend long event. Group economics is a standard principle within the organization, and BizCon is an opportunity to spread the impact of group economics through out the nation's must underserved regions.

We believe that harnessing our purchasing power will lead to political power, and political power will lead to environmental justice. We plan to invite other cities, states & individuals from different countries to see our YBNB success model. Our goal is to make an economic impact in our region by creating more thousand-aires, stakeholders & home owners.

YOUR HEALTH & WELL-BEING ARE STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS……. DEFINED BY THE” WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION” SOCIAL DETERMINANTS TO HEALTH •

Race & Ethnicity – communities of color

•

Lack of Transportation

•

Lack of Access to Health Care /

Unaffordable Health Insurance •

Discrimination: Implicit & Explicit Bias

(inequitable medical treatments) •

Food insecurity/few or no healthy food

options •

Housing insecurity / Access to

affordable housing •

Childcare is unaffordable

•

Education - Inferior schools / digital

divide •

Unemployment / Poverty / Low Income /

Wealth Gap •

Environment - poor air and water quality

•

Unsafe neighborhoods

•

Social factors / Stress

•

Over-Policing / Racial profiling /

Criminal Justice

As I got to know my patients, I learned about the numerous struggles they dealt with. Those issues were the priorities they focused on. Unfortunately, for many, their health took a back seat to their daily challenges.

Neglecting their health worsened their medical conditions. Not taking their medications caused their medical conditions to become uncontrolled, leading to preventable hospitalizations, disabilities, or death.

Throughout my 30 years as a Family Physician in San Diego, I have had the pleasure or caring for a truly diverse patient population. Unfortunately, it did not take me long to notice that the African American patients had the highest level of poorly controlled blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. They suffered more strokes, heart attacks, kidney disease (requiring dialysis), lung disease and amputations. Early in my career, I often wondered why such health disparities existed between the various ethnic groups, but it soon became apparent that the poor health outcomes were related to the various social factors that affected their daily lives, known as the “social determinants of health.” The inequities in health stem from the conditions of people’s lives.

YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH! WITHOUT YOUR HEALTH YOU CANNOT CREATE WEALTH.

SUZANNE AFFLALO, MD FAMILY PHYSICIAN MEDICAL DIRECTOR, ALLIANCE HEALTH CLINIC KAISER PERMANENTE, EMERITUS

Trust is a... significant issue for the African American community when it comes to health professionals.

It is important to establish a good relationship with a primary care physician and visit them regularly. Do the recommended preventative /screening measures to improve the overall health and prevent poor health outcomes.

Start today: make healthier food choices, avoid overeating, incorporate some exercise throughout the week, avoid sugary beverages, drink plenty of water, minimize your stress, get adequate sleep (6-8 hours), avoid social habits that decreases your overall health and immune system…i.e. tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs.

If you make your health a priority, then you give yourself the opportunity to stay healthy, achieve your goals, create your wealth, and spend quality time with family and friends.

Parting words: My lived experiences as a Black Woman and a Family Physician were developed through the intersectionality of my social identities: race, gender, class, religion, nationality, etc. The lens in which I view the world and the interactions with my patients are based on the richness of those special characteristics. Being a Black female in the medical profession has not been easy. The road I traveled had several detours, areas of rocky terrain and naysayers along the path, but the journey was well worth it. I am glad I never turned back, took a short cut, or quit.

To GOD be the glory!!

Your Number One Asset is Your Health and Not Your Wealth RODNEY G. HOOD, MD, FACP PRESIDENT, MULTICULTURAL HEALTH FOUNDATION (MHF) BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE - CAREVIEW HEALTH CENTER WITH SAN YSIDRO HEALTH

In business and in life... we consider our financial and physical assets such as houses, savings or cars as major financial assets. In order to achieve a level of financial security for ourselves and family we spend a lifetime accumulating these assets. Because the wealth gap for Blacks is historically disproportionately less compared to other ethnic groups, successful early financial planning and entrepreneurship are imperative to reverse this wealth disparity. However, financial assets alone will not produce a secure and enjoyable future without good health. I would like to propose that “your healthwellbeing” is your number one asset and not your financial portfolio.

African Americans have the highest disease burdens with excess diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer suffering the lowest life expectancy compared to all other ethnic groups in U.S. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in 2015 life expectancy for Black men at birth was 4.4 years less compared to White men (Blacks = 72.2 years vs Whites = 76.6 years) and for Black women was 2.8 years less compared to White women (Blacks = 78.5 years vs Whites = 81.3 years). Compounding this even more was the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2020, causing a historic decrease in life expectancy of 2.7 years for Blacks compared to only 0.8 years for Whites. What this means is when Blacks spend a life time accumulating a successful wealth portfolio but suffer with chronic medical disabilities or worst may die earlier than expected, they are unable to enjoy their families and the fruits of their labor. In fact, lower life expectancy for Blacks means they help supplement retirement benefits for other populations that live longer.

With financial success... we should all want to live long enough to enjoy the accomplishments of our children and grandchildren.

As we create plans for a successful financial future in business or a profession, we must also make plans that will enable a healthy life style of wellbeing. In America, our health system is a “sick-care system” that is very good at treating diseases but puts very few resources in preventing diseases. We should all collectively work to change this sick-care focus to a preventive and wellness focus. In the meantime, we have an individual responsibility to practice a life style that improves our mental and physical health. A wise man once said, “You are what you eat.” We must avoid and minimize unhealthy foods, toxic substances such as illicit drugs, cigarettes, excessive alcohol, and toxic environmental exposures. At an early age initiate regular exercise regimens and practice good mental health and stress reduction techniques such as yoga, meditation, adequate sleep, and prayer.

As part of a good health plan, we should develop a health maintenance strategy that includes making regular and timely visits with your healthcare provider.

In conjunction with your healthcare provider, we should monitor our “vital health signs’ that include blood pressure, lipid levels, screens for diabetes and cancer at appropriate intervals depending upon your age and family history.

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE NIGHT AT PETCO PARK SAN DIEGO PADRES YOUNG BLACK & N' BUSINESS

THE TONY GWYNN JR. FOUNDATION HIP HOP 5K

Suit & ACCESSORIES Provided By: D.L. BOOKER ENTERPRISE

You Made History With Us! Inaugural Juneteenth Flag Raising at the San Diego County Administration Building

4TH ANNUAL SAN DIEGO SMOOTH JAZZ FESTIVAL Presented by Rainbow Promotions

The San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival unites music lovers from around the world at the picturesque site of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

4TH ANNUAL SAN DIEGO SMOOTH JAZZ FESTIVAL

The 4th Annual Rainbow Promotions San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival was held June 11th & 12th at the world class Rady Shell Jacobs Park in San Diego, California.

Young Black & N' Business and Rainbow Promotions have a commitment to promote wellness & healing within the communities that they serve. It’s this reason that Young Black & N' Business recognizes & honors the three generations of black business music festival owners and their commitment to bettering the lives of the surrounding communities…

This article was created by Healing Through Music & Most Influential People Surrounded By Greatness With Michael Adam Cohen in partnership with the Young Black & Business Manuscript Written By: Michael Adam Cohen Photographs Taken By Michael Adam Cohen, Sheryl Aronson and Brian Tierney.

4TH ANNUAL SAN DIEGO SMOOTH JAZZ FESTIVAL

Since its inception The San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival is an annual event since 2019

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