Being a good entrepreneur requires an understanding of how to build a lasting community. Will Lucas understands this.
Becoming A Community Builder
His formal introduction to community building began when he founded TEDxToledo, an event he has organized since 2012, according to information from his alma mater, the University of Toledo, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in organization technology. The decision grew out of frustration with the constant conversations about what his midsize hometown lacked. Instead of accepting a “little brother syndrome” mindset, he wanted to shift the narrative by gathering people who were genuinely optimistic about the city’s future.
“A friend of mine was a TED speaker. I just happened to be talking to him on the phone. He was talking about TED, and I’m like, ‘That’s the kind of energy I need in my hometown,’” Lucas told AFROTECH. “And then I foundthat you could apply for a license to host one of the TEDx conferences. That’s a great way to get people who are inspired about the future interested in building it single-mindedly in that they were optimistic and pushing for a better future. I got the idea that I could organize those people into the same place and have us all looking in the same direction from different perspectives.”
Lucas held this same sentiment when carrying out his venture TolHouse, a private social club for creatives and professionals. Its inception can be traced back to his time in New York nearly a decade ago when he was working on a television episode for Revolt. He was later invited to Soho House by some entrepreneurs he had interviewed…