Diverse entrepreneurs make a critical contribution to the economy, but they desperately need more reach to be able to compete with bigger brands. Candi Carter makes them easily accessible through her e-commerce platform, shopredbag. She joins Dr. Sylvia Morris and Dr. Angela Walker to share how taking action with intention allowed her to bring underrepresented founders to a much bigger world of online shopping. Candi also talks about her leap from media to e-commerce, her advocacy for teens with special needs, and her interesting role as a diversity ambassador for Nevis. If you want to learn what it takes to move forward with intention and purpose, this episode is for you.
Music courtesy of Dealer’s Choice Sound Recordings, Inc.
Music artist: djezi
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Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Bringing Together And Empowering Diverse Entrepreneurs With Candi Carter
What Is Your Intention?
Welcome back to Boss Leap. I’m Dr. Angela Walker. I’m here with my amazing co-host, Dr. Sylvia Morris. Our guest is a true powerhouse, an entrepreneur, advocate, and proud mother whose journey blends purpose, creativity, and impact. She’s a two-time Emmy award-winning producer who worked alongside Oprah at Harpo Studios, on The View, and Tamron Hall, along the way learning invaluable lessons about leadership and storytelling.
She launched shopredbag at Juneteenth, celebrating culture and community in a bold new way. She is a visionary who knows how to turn ideas into movements. We cannot wait for you to hear her story. One of the themes that she brought up throughout her career is intention. We wanted to take a moment to talk about what intention means to us. Sylvia, I’ll let you tell us what you think.
Angela, thank you for bringing top of mind, intentionality. Candi Carter talked about what your intention is. That is probably a guiding principle for me. Why am I doing what I’m doing? What’s the intention? What’s the goal? Sometimes, it’s like, “I’m not sure why I’m doing this. This is what I’m supposed to do.” If we pull back all the layers, and we get to, “Why am I doing this? Why is it important?” One of my core values is service. If I am being intentional about everything that I’m doing, am I being in service to myself, my family, my community, my girls, and my patients? My intention is always to be in service and also to be authentic to myself. What does intentionality mean to you?
That was beautiful. For me, intention is about choosing how I show up as a physician, as a coach, and as a woman walking through life with purpose. It’s not just about what I do, but the why behind it, and always reminding myself of the why. Intention reminds me to align my energy, my time, and my words with what truly matters and to help women step into their healthiest, most fulfilled lives.
When I live and lead with intention, every action is hopefully becoming a bigger part of my story of impact and meaning. I love the word intention. Just by saying it makes you stop, ponder, and think, “What is the reason that I’m doing what I’m doing right now? Was there thought behind it? Is it just what I was supposed to be doing, or what somebody defined as what I’m supposed to be doing?”
You made me think of something. I love the phrase intention of thought, word, and deed. Are all those things in alignment? We’re intentional. You talk about your words. Are our thoughts intentional? Are we doing the things that we say we want to do, or doing the things that we believe in our heart of hearts that we want to do? It is the intention of thought, word, and deed.
I guess we can thank Oprah for that as well, because it sounds like the whole theme and the thought. There are so many things that we could go on and say, but we attribute people being intentional in our lives around us. It spreads to others. Without further ado, we’d like to welcome Candi Carter.
Welcome back to Boss Leap. My name is Dr. Sylvia Morris. I’m here with my co-host, Dr. Angela Walker. We have an exciting conversation with Candi Carter. Candi, welcome to Boss Leap.
Thank you. I’m so happy to be here with both of you.
Media Executive And E-Commerce Expert Candi Carter
I am so excited. I will try not to be a complete fan girl here. We met many moons ago, before either of our careers began, but I had mad respect for you then. I have followed your trajectory since then. I would love for our audience to hear a little bit about where you grew up and how your background influenced your path into media. We’ll talk about all the other good things in your life.
It’s so interesting because I’m a Black girl from New Hampshire.
I didn’t know there were black people in New Hampshire.
There’s a lot now. You can imagine when we went there in 1978, got off the expressway, went to the McDonald’s, and walked in the door. Everybody put their food down, stared at us, and watched us walk in. I distinctly remember crying and running to the car. I was like, “Mom, I can’t eat in here. I’m not eating here.” It ended up being a wonderful experience. It was a great upbringing. We grew up in nature. We’d walk the paths and pick the mica off the rocks. I rode horses growing up.
Pick what off from where? I’m from LA.
It is mica, the little shiny stuff on the rocks in New Hampshire. We’d walk trails for hours, picking berries. It’s beautiful growing up in nature. That was very cool. I was also a big track person. I was number one in the state. I was recruited. I went to Boston College and had an NCAA scholarship. I ran at Boston College. I chose Boston College because there was a young African-American female coach by the name of Karen Dobbs. She brought warmth and comfort.
I said, “If I’m going to be away from home and doing this exciting thing, I’m going to do it with her.” I never looked back. BC was amazing. I was a Communication major. I got out of college. I moved to Atlanta with a cousin because I was trying to find a job. I ended up working at CNN. That was my first job out of college. Eleven months after I got out of college, I got an internship, then a job. I was there for two years total. I moved to Milwaukee because my parents left New Hampshire and went to Milwaukee.
When I went to visit, because I’m a hustler, I was knocking on doors and met a bunch of people at this one TV station. Three months later, they called and said, “Do you want to have a producing job? Our programming producer quit.” I was like, “Sure.” I say yes to everything. I got in my car, put the dog in the car, drove up to Milwaukee, moved in with my parents, and took the job. I had never produced a show a day in my life.
First of all, the internal fortitude to go to the station, it’s a different time to present yourself then. Three months later, they’re like, “Do you want to do this?” You were like, “Yes.” Talk about that internal self-talk that you have that says, “Yes, I can do this.”
Sadly, there’s no discussion. It just happens. I always say I’m that chick who jumps off the building, knowing a parachute is coming. I instinctively see opportunity and go after it. There’s not a lot of discussion. For a lot of people, I have a new company called Cistus Media. My co-founder and I laugh and say I’m the gas and she’s the brakes because I go, go, go. That’s how I am in life. I go, go, go. I say yes to everything. I talk to everybody. I take advantage of any opportunity. I don’t know where that came from or why I went up there and went knocking on doors, but it worked. It wasn’t the intention. I wasn’t looking for a job. They called and asked. I got up there. I was like, “I don’t know how to produce.” I knew television generally.
That’s what I was wondering about your background.
From CNN, I taught myself how to edit. I was working in the studio. I did all the things, but I wasn’t an actual producer. I taught myself how to produce. I was there for two and a half years. I won an Emmy, my first Emmy. I have a big one from The View.
Your first producing job, you won an Emmy within the first two years.
Yes.
That tells you you’re doing the right thing.
I was there. It was at Hearst station. Oprah was on the Hearst station. They wanted to do a big special. We were the closest market. I produced it. We went down to Chicago. The two executives at the company were like, “We’ll take that. We’ll do the meeting with Oprah. You wait out here.” What did I do? I went and talked to everybody. I was like, “What do you do? Who are you?”
This is at Harpo.
Before the show was going to start, they were in there. I had produced the whole show.
You’re talking to everybody else.
Yes. While they’ve been there, I was like, “What do you all do? What’s happened? Tell me about this place.” They were like, “Listen, you should apply. Oprah is hiring.” This was in 1995 when they were starting to go down that conflict TV. She decided, “Nope, we’re going to make a left.” She was bringing in a bunch of new talent. I applied and was hired in two weeks. I was there from 1995 to 2011. I did the big finale show with Tyler Perry and all of the Morehouse men whom she put through college. We found there were 400 at the time. We were able to get all but maybe twenty. It was such a moving moment because she had no idea. She was ugly crying. I handed her a flower and said, “They walk by.” That was beautiful.
Two Leadership Lessons From Harpo Productions
What did you learn about leadership during your time at Harpo Productions?
It’s interesting. First of all, Harpo, for a TV producer, was like the PhD of television. I didn’t need to go back to school to do anything. Working at Harpo literally gave me a PhD in television. Oprah used to say to us, “What is your intention, no matter what the show was?” I remember we did the show, Does My Butt Look Big in These Jeans? She was like, “What is the intention of the show?” We were like, “The intention is that it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. It is about how you feel on the inside. We can do this exercise and have fun around, ‘Does my butt look big in these jeans?’”
It does not matter what you are wearing. What really matters is what you feel on the inside. Share on XThe real intention and the message that came through at the end of the show was, at the end of the day, how do you feel on the inside and how do you feel as a person? I’ve taken that with me on other shows. I’ve used that to focus, even when I was there, to get everybody on the same page. “Here’s our intention.” I’ve used that when I left Oprah and had a company, and when I was the executive producer of The View. One of the other things I did at Oprah that I started there is that I used to love reading Fast Company. I’m an entrepreneur now, so. It’s ironic that I would read about that at the time.
You said Fast Company?
Fast Company, the magazine. There was a feature in there about a company that did standing meetings. They would come in in the morning and make everybody stand up. I started doing standing meetings at Harpo. I was the only producer who did it. At first, they were so annoyed. They were like, “My God.”
“Why do I have to stand?”
They would come in and be tired. My thing is, I want the best out of you. I want energy. We had to come up with ideas. Every morning, I would do a standing meeting. I’d be like, “Hello, hello, hello. Wake up, wake up, wake up.”
That’s Oprah-esque if I may say so.
I would ask a question so people would get to know each other and open up. I’d be like, “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? What’s the one thing you can’t live without?” Every day, I’d ask a different question. When something big in the world happened, like 9/11, we were there together. There were big things that happened in the world. That standing meeting would be how we are all feeling. How are you?
It is the check-in.
That became my thing at Harpo. You could ask anybody who used to work there. “Did Candi Carter do standing meetings?” They’d be like, “Yes. They were so annoying.” Other teams would come over. If I had a fill-in person on my team, they’d be like, “We could do a standing meeting.” It became a thing. I ended up taking that to The View. I held standing meetings at The View with my whole staff. It was 60 or 70 people.
It’s a great note for leaders because there was a lot of pushback, people didn’t want to do it, that hem and haw, and then the collective sigh. It’s easy to do that when other people are doing it, but I ignored them. Part of leadership is knowing what is going to be impactful for your team and doing it anyway. A lot of folks would cave to that and be like, “I’m going to do it. I guess that’s dumb.” No, that’s your idea. No idea is a bad idea. I would say those were my two leadership things that started at Harpo that carried with me.
Part of leadership is knowing what will be impactful for your team and doing it anyway. Share on XYou took that. You said to The View and then also to Tamron Hall.
I don’t do standing meetings with my company because we’re all virtual.
Transitioning From Media To Online Shopping
Your standing meetings remind me and probably Sylvia of morning rounds. We did morning rounds after a shift. It could be an all-night shift or a 24-hour shift. It didn’t matter. You’re standing and presenting the patients that you’ve seen overnight. I can see you’re very intentional when you’re standing versus being able to sit down and hide. When you’re standing, you’re in front of everyone and more engaged. It sounds like bringing that engagement to all the people that you’re leading. You’ve taken all of that leadership. We’d love to hear. We know that at Juneteenth, you launched shopredbag. How did you take the leap from media to online shopping with such a purpose? Tell our audience about it.
I was the executive producer of The View for many years. It’s still on. It’s called View Your Deal. If you ever watch morning shows and see them selling products in the morning, you can go online and shop. We did Oprah’s Favorite Things at Oprah. I did View Your Deal when I was the executive producer of The View. I did Tam Fam Deals when I was the executive producer of Tamron Hall. The company that I brought in, I decided to basically leave daytime TV and get on the e-commerce side full-time.
After being at that company for a couple of years, I rolled off with another woman. We launched our company, Cistus Media. What Cistus Media does is we turn viewers into shoppers. We do that in movies and TV shows. We’re working on a movie that Mary J. Blige is producing. We have The Sherri Shepherd Show. We’re doing merch for The Sherri Shepherd Show.
Is that a product placement? How is that different?
The way that works is I go to the big media partner and I say, “I’m going to build a store for you. I’m going to white label it so it looks like your store. You’re going to promote it in your TV show or in your movie. We’re going to do all the work in the background. We’re going to get the brands that match your audience because we want your audience to be excited.” We’re working on a soap opera right now. I go to big media partners and I say, “I’m going to turn your viewers into shoppers. I’ll do all the work in the background. Your only job is to promote the store.”
We have stores with BET, Roland Martin Unfiltered, Warner Bros., and Sherri Shepherd. We’re launching a store with TEGNA TV stations across the country. We have lots of other things coming down the pike. That’s what we’re doing. We’re expanding this idea throughout the country. Shopredbag is my business. While we were doing the shop with BET, the DEI rollbacks happened, and the Target boycott happened. I was on social media. The brands were like, “How are people going to find us? What are we going to do with all this inventory?” People were panicking. They were upset. People in general were outraged and like, “How are we going to find them?”
Because we were already doing online stores and we already have hundreds of brands that we work with, I said, “Why don’t we put together a platform so people can find these brands? We will make a Target alternative called shopredbag.” It is a random title that means nothing. We’ve got all the essentials plus other things. We’re adding brands every single day. Shopredbag is a movement. It’s not just a store. It’s a movement. We’re in a time where our money matters more than anybody can imagine. We are about to lose control over a lot of things, but we have not lost control over our wallets. Our wallet spoke to Target. You see what happens.
The CEO is being replaced or something.
That’s right. That was a Jedi mind trick. They just moved him to Chairman of the Board, and then moved over somebody else within the company.
The mission remains the same.
That’s why they’re still being boycotted. The bottom line with the way shopredbag works is that you come into the store, you buy something, and we send it directly to the brand. The brand is essentially getting lift from the store. All the sales go directly to the brands. It’s something that people need to share. Spread it. We have women-owned, Black-owned, veteran-owned, and LGBTQIA+. You can shop by category. If you’re like, “I want to be intentional. I only want to shop women-owned brands,” browse categories for women-owned brands. You can shop Black-owned brands.
That’s ingenious. I love that.
It’s like being able to navigate was easy. You felt like you were in one of your usual places where you go and buy stuff online. It was eye-catching. It was easy to use. I’d like the idea of being able to say, “I want to shop solely with Black women,” or whatever your particular demographic is. Kudos to you.
My entire Christmas list will be coming from shopredbag.
Please, beautiful candles and all the things.
There are all the luxury items.
Yes. The thing about these brands is that the quality is better than the mass-produced items because these are diverse people. There’s one brand in there called Butter’d that I love. I use it every single day.
Is that the shea butter?
No. That’s good, too. We have shea butter. We have the first natural alternative to Vaseline. It is a Black-owned brand. Butter’d, too, is an oil. Every day, I put it on my skin. I’m a dark-skinned girl. I put it on my legs and feet. No ash at the end of the day. I kid you not, no ash. That has become one of my favorite products. I think it’s a vanilla mango flavor. The shea butter is amazing. I’m buying my bamboo toilet paper. I don’t expect anybody to spend all their money on shopredbag, but if everybody spent a quarter of their monthly spend there, we would literally uplift diverse brands.
Why not spend? If you can find everything that you need on this platform and you want to support small businesses, women-owned brands, Black-owned, and LGBTQ, why not use this type? You’re shopping with intention as well, and for reasonable prices. Kudos.
Prices are reasonable. We’re offering free shipping. It is ShopRedBag.com. We’ve got to get a song. I need a jingle. You have 1-800-Empire and all the little local TV commercials. You remember the jingle.
Somebody could come up with a jingle.
I’m going to put something online and do a jingle. I will come up with a jingle for shopredbag for the holidays. That would be amazing.
You launched Juneteenth of 2025. How has it been going?
It’s been going great. As a matter of fact, it’s funny. We got a post from an influencer by the name of The Woke Ginger.
I follow him on Instagram. He’s fantastic.
He is the business. That post has almost 800,000 views. That goes to show you how thirsty people are for it and how much they want it. We’re literally growing a brand from the ground up with no resources. That’s why I said it’s a movement. The only way it can be successful is if we all share and support together.
I would love that.
You all have to share it with your doctor communities.
It is already done, as well as my cousins and everyone.
Creating Opportunities For Teens With Special Needs
Outside of media and outside of your business, we know you’re also a dedicated advocate for teens with special needs. I would love for you to tell us about We’ve Got Friends. I loved the idea of what I’ve read thus far in terms of creating opportunities for inclusion and what transformations you’ve seen in teens who have actually participated in the organization.
I have a son with special needs. He’s like a five-year-old, but he walks and talks. He had brain damage at birth. He is not autistic. He is sweet and cute as he wants to be, but he didn’t have any friends. If you have children, when they’re in middle school, they can be dropped off at a movie. They can walk around town with their group of friends. That’s when our kids are at home and left out. When I took over as the executive producer of The View, we moved here.
We knew people, but a lot of these kids are also districted out, meaning they don’t go to schools in their neighborhoods. They go to a school specifically for kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but these kids are from all over the state. He comes home, and the people he sees all day don’t live near him. I went to my church. I said, “Can I use the rectory? It looks like a nice little house. Can I use this every week? I’m going to put flyers up at my son’s school and see if some of the parents will bring some of the kids.” That’s how it started.
I was picking up the pizza. I was cutting up the apples. I was getting games from Five Below and the dollar store. By Christmas, we had twenty kids. Parents were like, “This is amazing. We never had anywhere to go. We were never invited to anything.” They were isolated because they were at home. I let them do their birthday parties there because now they can actually have a birthday party with their friends. That’s how it started. Seven years later, we’ve served thousands of people.
I remember once, we took 50 people to a Giants game. They had never been to a professional football game. It was amazing. The core is that we do 5 to 6 meetups a week, virtual. We get kids from out of state. We do in-person groups throughout New Jersey so that they have a touch point every single week with their friends. We do a big back-to-school party. We do it at an out-of-school party. It’s fun. It’s great. The kids love it.
It’s born out of your own need, but the intention behind it and the benefits to so many people in your community, this sounds like such a novel program. Have you seen it perhaps adopted in any other communities? Would you be open to it?
You’d be surprised. I’m getting a call from California. “Would you help us start one? We want We’ve Got Friends.” At this point, I want to make it a strong New Jersey organization. I feel like there’s a lot of the state we haven’t reached yet. It’s transformative for the whole family. I had a kid who used to come. First of all, I had a kid who stood across the lawn. Two weeks later, he was in the middle of the lawn.
Another week, he was at the front door, but not inside. The next week, he’s inside. He would still come. He’s inside. He’s a meeter and a greeter. He used to sit with his headphones on, looking down. They were where he’ll pick up. Now, the kid is the first one in, last one out, chatty, talking, and all the things. I say it’s a very simple idea with a very big impact. We’ve Got Friends depends on fundraising 100%.
Serving As Diversity Ambassador For Nevis
We’re going to shift gears a little bit. Angela and I are always about travel. In particular, we like beaches.
Let me know when you’re ready to go.
How does one become the tourism ambassador for Nevis, please? Where’s the application for that? What’s one fun fact about Nevis that everyone should know?
First of all, I’m the diversity ambassador. I met the premier through a friend a couple of years ago. We were actually talking about increasing the film and television presence there because that’s my background. When I went to visit, there were no African-Americans anywhere. I was like, “Where are the Black folks from the US?” They were like, “They go to Antigua. They go to Jamaica. They don’t know about Nevis.” I said, “I have a massive network that would love to vacation here.” Very organically, I started including them in big events and doing some giveaways. It rolled into this ambassadorship.
It’s been an incredible experience. The people of Nevis are the kindest, sweetest, and most welcoming. I love it. It’s a warm place. You go there, and they’re like, “Welcome home.” It’s sweet. What’s one thing about Nevis? Most of the homes in Nevis have ocean views. I’m giving you several facts. It’s a tiny island. I don’t know how many people are on the island, but you can drive the whole thing in twenty minutes.
There’s a volcano in the middle of the Island. At any given point on the island, you can see the volcano with beautiful white clouds around it and lush green all the way down. When you’re in the water, you float, so you can land your back and float. When you’re in the water, you see Saint Kitts. You see another island. You look back at Nevis, and you see the beautiful volcano. I was in Mexico. I got in the ocean, and it was flat. There was nothing. I was like, “This is so rich, beautiful, lush, and green.” The beaches are beautiful. I highly recommend it.
We have a close family friend, the most beautiful spirit you would come across. He came over for Thanksgiving several Thanksgivings ago. He loved the food. He was eating, but he was talking about his homeland, Saint Kitts, and Nevis. I was sold from that moment.
Here is the biggest thing that you don’t know about Nevis. Restaurants in Nevis rival five-star restaurants in the US. The food is phenomenal in every restaurant. They’re in beautiful little homes and cute little places on the beach, but the food, the restaurants, and the chefs there are phenomenal.
Any room for summit conferences there?
Absolutely. Let’s chat about that after.
That’s fantastic. I told you I was fangirling before preparing for this interview. I don’t understand how you have all the time.
I don’t.
The people closest to you are the most fearful. Share on XEverything you’re doing sounds so amazing.
A startup company, raising capital, and all the things are a lot. I’m at Links. I’m an AKA. I’m at Jack and Jill.
I’m sure you’re all in on all those endeavors. That’s incredible.
That’s a lot for sure.
Advice To Your Younger Self
What advice would you go back to give your 22-year-old self? What would you tell her?
That’s a very interesting question because people like me are a unique unicorn in that we go, go, go. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable, is what I’ve come to understand. It’s an interesting dynamic. They want you to go, but then they see where they haven’t gone when they look at you. A lot of times, it’s the people closest to you. The advice I would give my younger self is, with respect, know that the people closest to you are the people most fearful. Those are the people who slow you down a lot of times.
If people are snarky towards you, it has everything to do with the day they are having. It has nothing to do with you. Share on XThey’re afraid for you. When I think about my mom, she wanted to make sure that I was safe, that I could take care of myself, and all of those things. That made her fearful. Sometimes, that was communicated.
You’re not going.
There are those, on the other hand, who cannot see your dream or your vision, and perhaps are more envious because they can’t see that.
It’s all the above. I’ve experienced it on many levels. You get your feelings hurt when you realize that’s what’s happening. At the end of the day, it has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with them. I actually did learn this at a younger age because I did Gary Zukav as an author that I produced on The Oprah Show. That was the first big life lesson I learned from his book, The Seat of the Soul. If you see somebody and they’re snarky towards you, it has nothing to do with you.
It has everything to do with the day they’re having. You’ve got to understand human nature and understand that anything outside of a normal reaction typically has very little to do with you. It is the same with people being fearful, snapping, or telling you no. That’s their fear. That’s their anxiety. That’s through their lens. That shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your dreams and the things that you want to do.
Candi’s Self-Care Routine And Tips
I use that if somebody has said or done something hurtful. It’s always a reminder. It’s them, not me. You wear so many hats, as we talked, executive, wife, mom, advocate, and founder. The list goes on and on. Can you tell us how you practice self-care and make sure that you’re always filling your own cup along the way?
I do yoga. I try to do a couple of days a week. I’m in the gym, trying to keep it tight and right.
You look great.
I play a lot of golf.
How long have you played golf?
Not well since my twenties. When I moved to New Jersey, I started to play seriously. I haven’t played much because of my new company, raising capital, and being busy. I’m a big golfer. I love to golf. I actually do an outing with all women, usually mostly all Black women. Every February, we go to Turnberry. It is a fun outing. It’s easy breezy. Sometimes, we have fifteen or so women. We have a ball. If you’re a golfer, you must come.
I am a golfer in the making, in my mind. I actually went to a conference. There was a woman that has created a program. She’s down in Miami. It is called PWRHAUS. They had a golf simulator out there. It was a community built to encourage women who are our age or probably younger as well, but haven’t played golf, to make it a community environment accepting to all. It’s promoting the fun aspect of it as a community.
I can’t tell you how many single Black women I’ve told to play golf. Where better to meet a man with some benefits? I am not kidding. Every time I’m on the golf course, “How are you hitting them? How are you doing?” Come on now. That’s where you sign it. All these fraternity golf outings in the US, I’m like, “These women in the US are messing up. They’re trying to be in the club. You need to be hitting a club.” I need to be in the club. You need to be hitting the club.
Support Diverse Entrepreneurs At shopredbag
Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience about shopredbag?
Go to ShopRedBag.com and shop. It is a movement. If you are in a sorority, Jack and Jill, Links, or any of the social clubs, girlfriends, send a link to shopredbag out and share it because this is a time in this country. We, as people of color, think we’re getting hit now with some of the stuff that’s happening. Just wait. We have the ability to keep our businesses strong, keep our businesses alive, and keep our money in places where people care about us. That’s the most important thing. Nobody should be up in Target.
In addition to that, redirect those dollars to support us women. I check a lot of boxes, like women, Black-owned, my husband, my brother-in-law, my dad, veterans, and all the things. My son has a disability. We have disability brands. It is important that we support and recommend brands to us. We will get them in the store. ShopRedBag.com, share it.
Speaking of which, in terms of recommending a brand to you, how would that happen? How would you like to see that?
Go to shopredbag and scroll to the bottom. Do you have a brand we should know about? We check it daily. If we can do the deal with the brand, we get them in the store.
Thank you so much. We cannot tell you how excited we were to have you on the show. We know you are a very busy lady, but it sounds like everything that you do is with intention and a good intention at that. We’re grateful that you took the time to share with us. Until we meet again, may you be well.
Thank you. Nice to meet both of you. See you again. Nice to do your show. I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Good luck and congratulations to you, too.
Thank you very much.
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Episode Takeaways From Dr. Angela And Dr. Sylvia
Angela, that was a fantastic episode with Candi Carter. There were so many things that she left me with when I think about how she says yes to everything. For me, it was about finding the opportunity and everything, and sometimes, going to seek out that opportunity, creating it yourself. We were talking about being the diversity ambassador for Nevis.
Who does that? Who gets that? That’s amazing.
That also tells me and our audience that that is something that is possible. I’m going to add that to my vision board. I don’t know where I will be the diversity ambassador for, but we can certainly come up with a list of places that are warm, inviting, and good for wellness.
You know we can.
I want to make sure that we leave our audience with shopredbag. It is a movement. You and I both have gone through the website. There are so many products and things that we use in our everyday lives, whether we’re talking about toilet paper, skin creams, or all sorts of things. Please, everyone, check out shopredbag. Angela, what are you left with from our conversation with Candi Carter?
I’ll pick up where you left off. I was very moved by her. Again, going back to what we talked about at the beginning of the episode, intention. She talked about how she was introduced to that thought process. It clearly appears that everything that she does is guided by that intention. The shopredbag came from a need. Everyone may not be able to resonate with what she felt that need, but I certainly can. I did not agree with the way Target went back on the DEI initiatives that were so important.
We went from the black square being on everything into 2020, and then a short five years later, “No, we don’t need that.”
I felt the transition of going from not being able to find my products to “My products for my babies, my kids, and my hair are right there.” It’s easy. What do I do? Where do I go? There’s actually an avenue, a source, shopredbag. I love the idea and the brands that are represented there. That was one. I was moved by her intention to create an environment. We’ve Got Friends was born out of a need for her son. We have some close friends who have two adult autistic boys. I know from them what it’s like to be somewhat isolated in terms of what they can do and what their life looks like. To have an avenue where these kids may be able to find some commonality and engage is so needed. I was very moved by that.
We’re going to Nevis.
That’s it. It has been on my bucket list since I talked to our friend Leon. He could not stop. I was about ready to book my trip when we finished Thanksgiving dinner. I love that. Last, we were talking before the episode. I don’t know that it came up directly in our conversation, but in terms of how our weeks have gone. I learned the value of knowing your worth. It may be to that one person who is tuning in. It does not hurt to ask for what you’re worth.
In our environments, whether as women or as women of color, we tend to devalue ourselves sometimes or are afraid to ask for what we’re truly worth. Sometimes, you’ll be surprised when you have the courage. You do your investigations to know exactly what you are worth and ask for that. It oftentimes will come to fruition. Sometimes, you have to decline what is offered to you because it doesn’t meet what you’re worth.
Add 20% to whatever that number is. That gives you some room in which to negotiate it. I learned that.
What reminded me of our conversation with Candi Carter is that she was knocking on those doors early on. Clearly, she knew that she had something to offer. Always know that you’re valued somewhere, but you might have to knock on several doors or interview with many different companies. If you know your worth, don’t settle. I am full again. This has been a wonderful episode. I’m so grateful to be here with you as always. We’re very thankful to our audience who are out there. Hopefully, if something resonated with you, you’ll share this episode with someone in your life.
I would love for you to share ShopRedBag.com, as it is a great platform as we roll into the holidays and are looking for our needs for ourselves and our families. For Boss Leap, if you would like to reach us, you can go to BossLeapPodcast.com. You can leave us a message there or words of encouragement. We love those, but definitely, if you have any ideas. If you’ll listen, like, and subscribe on YouTube, that’s @BossLeapPodcast on YouTube. I’ve covered it all, Sylvia. Until we meet again, may you be well.
May you be well.
Important Links
- shopredbag
- Candi Carter’s Website
- Cistus Media
- We’ve Got Friends
- The Seat of the Soul
- Boss Leap Podcast
- Boss Leap Podcast on YouTube
About Candi Carter
Candi Carter is a visionary media executive and Emmy Award-winning producer with over three decades of experience in content creation, business development, and strategic partnerships. As the CEO and Founder of Cistus Media, she is pioneering innovative e-commerce solutions for the entertainment industry. With over 30 years of experience in television production, Carter has left an indelible mark on the industry through her innovative approach and leadership.
Her tenure as an executive producer and showrunner at Disney ABC led to significant achievements, including multiple Emmy and NAACP Image Award nominations for the Tamron Hall Show. Additionally, her five-season stint as one of the executive producers of “The View” saw the show inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and Emmy win in 2020. Carter’s impressive career also includes 15 years producing memorable content for The Oprah Winfrey Show, further solidifying her reputation in daytime television. Throughout her career, she has developed and executive produced content for a wide array of networks and studios, including HGTV, Lifetime, BET, FOX, Tyler Perry Studios, and PBS.
Recently appointed as the Nevis Diversity Ambassador for the Nevis Tourism Authority, Carter will leverage her extensive experience and passion for storytelling to promote the beauty and culture of Nevis. She expressed her excitement about this role, stating, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to share the beauty of this island and the warmth of its people with the world.” This new position aligns with her commitment to diversity and inclusion.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Carter serves as the Board Chair for We’ve Got Friends, a nonprofit organization she founded that creates social opportunities for teens with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Inspired by her 21-year-old son, she established this initiative to foster friendships among teenagers who often face social isolation. Under her leadership, We’ve Got Friends has grown significantly, serving hundreds of families in New Jersey.
Carter is also an active member of several industry organizations, including The Producers Guild, NY Women in Film and Television, The National Association of Black Journalists, Women We Admire, The Links Incorporated, Jack and Jill of America Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Her multifaceted career and commitment to both professional excellence and social impact make Candi Carter a standout leader in the media industry.