Episode 79: Adrienne Nicole
Join Lori and her guest, Adrienne Nicole, as they talk about mastering the balance between philanthropy and professional path. Adrienne Nicole is the CEO & Executive Producer of Adrienne Nicole Productions. Her company specializes in making videos and taking pictures, focusing on healthcare and multicultural subjects. It's all about making meaningful content that helps people in different ways!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
Advocacy is not limited to just one area; it can span diverse concerns.
People's time and efforts are invaluable to an organization's success.
Ensuring diverse clinical trials improves healthcare outcomes for everyone.
How blending philanthropy with professional life adds purpose to a career.
And much more!
Adrienne Nicole Productions: https://producedbyanp.com/
Lupus Research Alliance: https://www.lupusresearch.org/
The Lupie Fam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelupiefam/
Connect with Lori Kranczer!
Website: https://www.linkphilanthropic.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorikranczer/
Episode Transcript
You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey through the stories we will share here. Hope that it sparks something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host Lori Kranczer attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy giving strategist. Today we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. But before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode posted every Wednesday and then today we have Adrian the CO CEO of Adrian Nicole productions. Welcome Adrian. Thanks, Lori. I'm excited to be here.
I'm excited for you to be here and share your story a
little secret. We know each other for about a year now. We were both in a program called the Goldman Sachs 10,000k program. It was fantastic. We were in a growth group together. And that is where I got to learn more about Adrienne and her story and I really want her to share with all our listeners her story today and provide her philanthropic journey so everyone can get inspired by what Adrienne has gone through. So if you want to tell us a little bit more about you or is Thanks Laurie. So
I am again Adrienne cola and CEO of Adrian and CO productions. We are a video production and photography firm produces content and health care and multicultural spaces. You know, the big big deal for us is that the patient led organization so we find ourselves in spaces that that really create authentic and genuine content for patients, for caregivers and even for physicians. I'm also a patient advocate and advisor. I started the company really because I am a patient. Alright, so in 2009 I was diagnosed with lupus and I was in the midst of what I consider a bustling career and entertainment production. And it really just pulled me out of that and I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I didn't know what I was going to do with my career. And so I started this company so I can manage my time I can manage my health and go to my doctor's appointment so I can still be creative and do all these things and work and it so far has been working out for 13 years. I would consider it a good move. But at the at the core of the company my passion for patients for people like me, or for caregivers, you know, really remains the thread that pulls this whole thing together. Yeah, it was so interesting because many
people when we work with them about their philanthropic journey, it's it's first identifying the issue areas that they care about. And most times it's something that's something that happened in their life or loved ones or their community something you know, an experience that's very real to them and you obviously had that experience it was revealed to you and you apply it to your professional life as well. You really have blended both philanthropy and and your professional life together with that issue area. You can talk a little bit more about that. Yeah, for sure. So,
in my patient advocacy world, I often I'll go and speak on behalf of patients share what I'm hearing in the community, you know, just kind of being a voice being an ambassador of sorts for those lupus for those chronic disease and even sometimes for caregivers from a patient perspective. So that can look like having a chat and alive on social media and just creating community and, and giving everyone space and time to just share their experiences and like validating them and having other patients like oh my gosh, I go through the same things too. Or oh my goodness your friends were upset with you too when you cancelled at the last minute because you're retired and no one else understood that but I understand that you know, so that you know that advocacy can look like that that advocacy can also look like me going down to the hill you know, and lobbying and speaking to our congress people to help get legislation passed for research, the NIH and other organizations and even actually the Department of Defense and I don't think people realize that that's a huge funder of health research, scientific research. In terms of health conditions, because they have an entire group of people in the military, where they need to take care of and that research really helps them out and applies to them. And then it can also just look like people calling right like so I'm very open about my story about my experiences about physical challenges that I've had early on, and and how I sort of overcome a lot of that. And so people want to just have a talk and so I am incredibly open to just giving someone my cell phone number and talking it through. And I've even done that with other people with chronic disease. They're just like, how do you manage that, particularly as a professional? How do you make sure that people don't think you can't do your job? How do you manage the team? Who do you put around you to build you know, a community to be able to support you when things aren't going awesome. And then when things aren't going awesome? How do we have to have those same groups of people? So advocacy, looks like a lot of different things. It also looks like fundraising. Alright, so I do work a lot with the lupus Research Alliance, and I help them fundraise, we do walks, there's their gala, there are just talks to other patients and webinars and all of those things I participate in so it feels like a very full and busy time when I do these things, but it's really fulfilling. Well, I was just thinking you sound so busy, it sounds
like a whole complete career separate from what you're doing. It's so I wonder how do you manage all the activities and and you mentioned one nonprofit that you work with, are there others that you also work with and how do you manage all this advocacy that you're doing for them? Yeah, so um,
I do work with some other nonprofits if they you know, they'll ask I mean, NRA lubes research who is is definitely sort of the name, organization that I do work with. But I manage it in you know, just, it's time management. It's having an incredible team on my business side. So like the ANP team is handling production and the work all of that while I am sometimes on the road doing work in this advocacy space, but those worlds combined and they collide, right. So if I'm out speaking on our panel somewhere to a group of healthcare providers EHRs and pharmaceutical companies, they're often going to come up to me and ask me about the production work that I do and want to participate in that process. Right. And so that's uh, you know, that's sort of a beautiful way for us to collide. In terms of business. You know, there's a great for us and grow for me professionally, but even more so in the advocacy space because now they're bringing in a company that can actually identify with the patients that they're trying to communicate to and communicate with, and bring it in, you know, bringing us in creates a space for them to actually have real conversations and not really talking to patients. But speaking with and having conversations with them and allowing patients to share their real stories as opposed to crafting something that they think you know, that the marketing department thinks would work. Right, right. Definitely. So um,
so it still seems like there's a lot that you're doing. But just just taking the advocacy sort of that concept out I'm sort of curious because how did you get started advocacy, and not even just with lupus, but even before that, because it's likely that you started, you had this capacity to do this type of work and other areas as well. I'm sort of curious if you see that anywhere else. Yeah, I mean, so I think
philanthropy started for me pretty. I think my first memory might think well, oh, no, I'm really high school. So you know, I was always into voluntourism, and it wasn't as organized as sorted as it is now. But I would you know, help with a one off project here or there. That in college, it was the same thing and it was mostly around I would say, like food insecurity just because I think that's just a subject matter that we're all very familiar with. It's very much on television as was like the first thing right then my father was diagnosed actually with Ms. And so I became an open me up to a whole new world there. And so then I was like volunteering in high school at the MS Society. I was doing the walks I was, you know, pushing papers for the organization and really actually meeting other patients. And it just really made a strong connection with me and in people who are going through something right and then I ended up going through my own thing. So it just kind of brought that you know, even closer. I've always enjoyed helping, you know, and and being a voice in any way that I can or you are helping to craft something or to write something to communicate something I've been doing that definitely since high school yearbook editor and everything inside high school. So I did start sort of on the earlier side, and now it's just a part of why. Yeah, well, I can see that and
this definitely. I'm just curious. So I think you had it seemed like a seamless connection between what you're interested in supporting your experience and working with, you know, in advocacy in that in that area and lupus and I wonder for those that are listening that also are connected to a certain issue area or something that they really, they want to support further and not really sure how to do that. How would you suggest that they can go about maybe doing something similar to what you're doing?
I mean, I started just honestly with looking up the foundation just as straight up Google right, just me my initial volunteer work was before Google was a thing and everyone had the you know, everyone had a computer at home. But so so I initially started by going to an office and you know, at school and finding out what organizations existed that I could help with. But if it's, it's lupus, when I was diagnosed, I literally just went and found looked at lupus support, lupus nonprofit. And in the United States, there really were about three significant organizations and two of them have condensed into one so which is now the lupus Research Alliance. So the good old internet, right, is I think one of the best ways to find a way to to volunteer to contribute whatever you'd like to do. And then also just checking out the community. You know, what? community based organizations you know, really exist in that space. Right? And I think that you're gonna have to go to the internet find the issue anyway. But if you're finding something regional, something nice and local studios are often the best way to go. Yeah, you know, we always talk about
people in this space are interested in game this space, are happy to talk with others about getting involved and so it's organizations don't only need funding, they need people and it is that's it's such an important part of it. The advocacy, you know, we don't really talk that much about advocacy. We've been talking a lot about volunteering, like in the programs, but the advocacy is so much more even we mentioned going to the hill and think about that, and I think that's a great way for people to get involved that, you know, maybe have those types of skills or that mindset to do that type of work.
Well, I think even going to speak on a hill and talk to a legislator can seem really overwhelming and really daunting. So I don't want people to think they have to be like super skilled to do that. Because every organization does that and they keep you training. Alright, so they're, you know, they'll take you to D they'll bring you to DC and for you know, one particular organization. They gave us two days of training. They give you a script you know, they tell you sort of like what is what points to hit. And obviously once you walk into the doors, you make that thing your own, but there are very specific asks because there is usually specific legislation on the table right that they need to say, need to see that there is significant support for and in those instances, like even if I'm affiliated predominantly with one lupus organization, all of them are going to come together on this one day, do the training, and then release us into you know, our local legislators office and you're going to be connecting with someone who is your legislator. I'm living in Brooklyn in New York. They're not sending me to speak to a legislator who represents a city is represented like LA. I'm going to mine and you know, speaking with that, person, you know, and really getting to know that person is really helpful in future conversations and going to something locally and seeing them and saying, Hey, remember we met in DC at this time and it and I think it's it's a wonderful thing to realize in the United States. how accessible the people who make decisions for us are and it's like, it's mind blowing that we can make an appointment and walk into the Capitol and talk to my legislator and tell him what I think. You know, it's incredible and people don't realize that and
when I say that they work for you. They want to hear from you that's part of their job. So go you know, schedule an appointment, because it's really important. So and you may not be meeting the top person but you meeting someone on that staff that will bring that content to that top person because that's part of their job. So yeah, alright, so I'm talking about other things, philanthropy, what else? Like can you do or do you see yourself doing in this space with regard to your advocacy work? Is there anything we haven't done yet? Yes, so I mean, I'll say I just started
really advocating for diversity and clinical trials. It's a huge area of disparity in healthcare in science, and it's there's so many moving parts in it are so many things that are attributed to that. And I would, I want to make as much of a difference as I can in that area. Because for people, essentially predominately people of color are very are not represented well at all in clinical trials. We need to be in order to find therapeutics, treatments, etc. that are going to be effective. If we aren't participating. We don't know how they work. Right? So that's, that's honestly my new thing I would say like the past year that has been my main focus. And I spoke on a panel around that in our clinical trials day in May, before Walgreens and it was an amazing experience to hear from other patients to hear from those who have participated in clinical trials and what that's done for their lives. But also sharing with people who are running these trials and pharmaceutical companies about why people of color are maybe not participating and what they can do to improve those numbers to really show a genuine interest in communities of color. And not just for science purposes. There. There has to be a broader, broader messaging around that. Yeah. Oh, that's interesting. So
who, who sort of takes ownership of this space? I mean, who is leading this to make your smile? Because there is this is such an important topic and we've especially since the pandemic we're seeing a lot of this as it's coming out more and but are there any particular either groups or organizations or is a government or is it the pharmaceuticals who's doing this who's taking control?
That's the challenge, right? It's was there one entity that can kind of just control this thing and it's it's challenging, right, because pharmaceutical companies or private companies, right, and the government has released requirements, recent requirements on inclusion and representation in clinical trials for them to pass for FDA approval. So that is one incredible achievement that has been placed in that does actually come down in the process, but then someone has to track and monitor that. And it's, the government may not have the capacity or I don't I don't want to speak out of turn. I don't know exactly what the what the guidelines are and how they're going to track that information. But there is a lot of talk about companies coming together to you know, to do that, but at this point, it's a conversation. And it can be tricky. Right? Because now you're working with your competitors on solving a problem, but I think that they're kind of getting around that because no one wins if you don't work together. Right, right. So I think that the doors have opened a bit but we're still a bit we're still pretty. I think we still have a little ways to go before that. But there isn't one sort of prevailing agency that's making sure that clinical trials are hitting Well, hopefully soon as this all comes together. Yeah, we're getting there. We're definitely getting we're in the right direction. Great. Well, you know,
this is a perfect time to ask you, Adrian, what do you consider your legacy to be
Wow, that's a huge question. Well, what I what I think I would hope my legacy is is that I, my lifestyle, the information that I share, the example that I present encourage other people who have chronic disease or either physical challenges or whatever that looks like in your house. That like diagnosis isn't your destiny, you know, that things are can improve, that you can change your life that you can still live in incredibly fulfilling life and manage any sort of health condition. And so I just want to be an encourager, you know, that my legacy is just encouraging, and motivates people to take ownership of their own health and lives. That's great. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing so for those that are listening, they're interested in learning more about you and the causes that you're interested in and you are advocating for where can they find you? All right, so I have a few places.
So, you for for advocacy at the loopy BAM which is th e l u p i e f a m, which is on Instagram. For the Lupus Research Alliance. They are lupus research.org And then also for the company for ag Nico Productions is produced by a n p.com. And the same on all socials. So, hope to see you there.
Yes. So anyone interested in Adrienne's we're at check it out for business wins Emmys, by the way, nominated, nominate nominate
someone behind you. So what are those? They are Tellys and Telly awards for a communications, So Adrienne is
an award-winning producer. So definitely get in touch with her about any reductions that you may need. Um, and thank you again for joining us, Adrienne, this is what I am so I know your story, but I'm so happy that you came on to share your insights. What inspired you to start doing your advocacy work hopefully we are inspiring others to also do similar work and whatever they
want to support. So thank you again for joining us. And thank you to all listeners for joining us. We hope we provided some insights and inspiration that you could use for your own philanthropic journey. Until