Bringing delicious honey and unity to a community near you!
Hey hey Zeph Jones here, with Think All Be All, and I am excited to bring you this wonderful piece of history in the making! TABA is releasing it's new series of featured articles in preparation for the magazine we're producing!!! With all this happiness and joy I'd like to introduce out guest.
This article is about an amazing man and pillar in the community, using the love of his daughter and the knowledge of beekeeping to build a community centered on family, agriculture, and positive impact. Located here in Montgomery, Alabama let's welcome our guest Sam Yu and Zizi's Bee Company!
We're glad to feature you and more excited to hear your story so with out any other hesitation, here's your first question: How did you discover your talents/skills?
I had always been fascinated by bees and their amazing hive structures. When a local beekeeper struggled to keep up with the demand for honey, I saw an opportunity to help while exploring my interests. I decided to take beginner beekeeping classes and purchased my first hive. To my surprise, I had a natural talent for caring for the bees; before long, people sought my honey.
Helping out and taking classes is one thing, but to discover you have a natural talent for caring for the bees is remarkable! I know that was an entry way to you eventually selling your honey but can you share a significant moment that inspired your decision to pursue beekeeping as a creative career?
Losing my brother was the most difficult experience of my life but in my grief, I took comfort in my long-time hobby of beekeeping which reminded me of our close bond. This inspired me to pursue beekeeping more seriously and create a non-profit called "Help a Brother Out" in his memory to support others in need as he always supported me. I have found healing in channeling my sorrow into creative work through honey production and helping people in his name, helping me commit fully to using my talents to honor his legacy. Honoring his memory through creative means has been incredibly rewarding.
Very well said and thank you for sharing the story about your non-profit "Help a Brother Out" I know we have a short amount of time for this feature, but I definitely want to follow up on the work you're doing there as well. Speaking of your brother inspiring you, what artists or creators have had the most influence on your work?
Erin & Erica Washington, Kevin King, Jonathan Avant, Charles Lee, Caylor Roling, and other local community leaders and artists.
Excited to see that you listed local names! It's a big deal as a part of each Think All Be All feature that we acknowledge our local creators in Montgomery, AL. and the work they do, so thank you for that! Now this a quick one for you, how would you describe your creative style in three words?
Inspiring, Nurturing, and Impactful.
Powerful words that hold so much meaning for the creative process and very so much from creative to creative. I was hoping you could walk me through your typical creative process from idea to completion.
My creative process often begins with inspiration drawn from everyday experiences in my community work as a beekeeper or conversations, with ideas then percolating as I journal. I'll conduct research to enrich programs, testing concepts and revisions to refine them. Once planned out with outlines, characters, and workflow mapped, I enter the development phase of hands-on experimentation, drafting manuscripts, and testing. Final production involves editing, layout, and arrangements to transition ideas into published books, community events, educational materials, or honey products. The creative cycle concludes with marketing and launch events to share my work and gather community feedback to continually evaluate impact and inspire future efforts, with regular practice keeping my creativity flowing from initial ideas all the way through to meaningful impact.
Wow! Okay so yeah I like how you processes things. I think a lot of the times we get stuck in a rut when it comes to executing ideas so having a process that works can make all the difference. Even with your process I gather you still come across creative blocks. How do you overcome creative blocks or challenges?
When facing a creative block, I have found it best to simply step away from the stalled project. Taking a break allows my mind to reset without remaining fixated on the problem area. Returning with a fresh perspective frequently provides the solution or insight that was previously obscured, making stepping away an effective strategy for overcoming hurdles in my creative process.
When you step away what allows you to get that fresh perspective? Do you have any routines that enhance your creativity?
Meditation
Lol I appreciate that simple and too the point! So here's my last question for you Sam, which project are you most proud of, and why?
The projects I am most proud of are our monthly food giveaway that feeds over 800 people each third Friday, addressing food insecurity issues and bringing people together with a profound impact, as well as our community garden where everything harvested is donated back to neighbors, bringing me joy through sharing fresh, healthy produce, and additionally, writing "Zizi's Bee Adventure" from my daughter's perspective was deeply meaningful as highlighting her experience in the beehive with me helps teach children an important message while also preserving that special time with my daughter, as both giving back on a large scale through the food initiative and garden, as well as sharing more personal stories like in the book, are accomplishments I am honored to be a part of.
Well there you have it! Thank you so much for the opportunity to feature you. There is a lot of things to appreciate from what you shared and I hope that our audience takes this introduction to who you are and seeks to learn more about you! Of course we're going to do a follow up interview and take the opportunity tell a more in-depth story about "Help a Brother Out" your non-profit organization as well. We don't want to miss any of the gems and opportunities you have, so how can people stay in touch with you?
You can always follow and support Zizi's Bee Company through any of the following ways:
My full name Sam Yu, My email is samyu@zizisbeecompany.com and if you'd like to get some honey we have a variety of products on our website www.zizisbeecompany.com. Also be sure to follow us on Instagram, we do our best to stay updated here and would love to have you all share our page Zizisbeecompany (@zizisbeecompany) • Instagram photos and videos!
With that being said this is Zeph Jones, with Think All Be All, and here's you glance at our new featured articles! If you know someone, or even you for that matter, that would be honored to be apart of our journey feel free to recommend them on our website! We have an entire section dedicated to telling your stories and building community around creatives!
OHHH WAIT BEFORE YOU GO!!! We released a book called The Challenge in our store! It talks about overcoming challenges and taking the steps to start your journey! And of course don't forget to share, comment, like, subscribe to Think All Be All on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and here on our website to get our newsletter keeping you updated on all the cools stuff we want to do in the community with you!
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