0:00

Hello and again , welcome to Tap2

0:02

. We're here highlighting women

0:05

that work with Tap2 . They

0:07

have been amazing and some

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of the things that we've done have just

0:11

been exceptional because of the experts

0:14

and the women that we have as a part

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of our team . I am Sonia Tumor-Bates

0:19

and I'm the Executive Project Director

0:21

for Tap2 . And we've been doing

0:23

it for about five years and I really

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feel that each year we get better and better

0:28

. We've got an amazing team . I'm

0:30

telling you . It's second to none . And

0:32

here I have with me today Sonia

0:34

Booker , and I'd like her to just

0:36

share a little bit about herself . She's our

0:39

focal and our expert on

0:41

all things real estate , and

0:43

commercial real estate is one of those areas that she does

0:45

assist us with . Sonia , thanks for being

0:47

here .

0:48

Thanks for having me and listen , thanks

0:50

for the work that you're doing . I mean

0:53

, just the vision that you've had

0:55

around the technical assistance work is

0:57

just like no other , and

1:00

when I hear five years , it's

1:02

like , wow , right , five

1:04

years . That's like

1:06

because I've only been

1:08

in this particular role

1:11

of technical assistance . You're

1:13

like two , yeah , but

1:15

started working with you on just women's entrepreneurship

1:18

, yes , yeah , and so I'm

1:21

just always proud of the work and

1:23

it just gives me really great honor

1:25

to be around . Oh

1:27

, impact , you know

1:29

, like if it's not impactful , I

1:32

don't want to do it . That's right , that's right

1:34

.

1:34

So I love that mission .

1:35

I love the mission you have . So I'm Sonia Booker

1:38

and I am

1:40

a real estate developer

1:42

, real estate investor , and

1:44

I can't

1:46

remember if I turned entrepreneur or

1:49

if I'm a real estate entrepreneur Because

1:51

it started , we just started to kind

1:54

of go hand in hand . So you

1:57

know , I grew up in Jackson Mississippi around

1:59

construction , around my grandfather

2:02

, and they were always in real estate . We're

2:04

always in real estate and I just

2:06

remember , even as a young

2:09

girl , just

2:11

kind of wanting

2:13

to be in control of my own

2:15

destiny , right Like that . You know

2:17

, nobody was saying it's entrepreneur , nobody

2:19

was calling it entrepreneur , it

2:22

didn't have a . But it was like all of the things that

2:24

were listed for me , like

2:27

nurse oh I don't like blood , you

2:29

know , teacher , oh I

2:32

don't have the patience . You know , like all of

2:34

my list of the 304

2:36

things that I could be , especially

2:39

as a little black girl you

2:42

know , in Mississippi . It

2:44

was kind of a short . It was kind of a short

2:46

list and so I

2:48

just remember always doing all this

2:50

different activity with my grandfather , you

2:52

know , going on his burial policy routes , going

2:55

into the city selling produce

2:57

we call that Petland and we would go in

3:00

and you know . So you know

3:02

we take this , you know Chevy truck in town

3:05

and it's filled with , you know

3:07

, collard greens , oak Grove , black-eyed peas

3:09

.

3:09

Oh yes .

3:10

Right , you know what I mean , Like fill .

3:11

Come on now .

3:12

Okay , and I remember coming back

3:15

. You know it would be gone . You know , in

3:17

town three , four hours , like half

3:19

the day , like half the morning , we would leave like six

3:21

, seven in the morning and we would come back

3:24

and he would have this big

3:26

coffee . You know can he would

3:28

keep money in the coffee can . So he has a lot

3:30

of money put in coffee can and

3:32

you know , before he's putting in the coffee can he's

3:34

breaking me off . You know my part . Oh

3:36

, school , that's old school right there and

3:39

I'm like , let me get this right we left with

3:41

some greens and we came back with a different

3:43

kind of green Entrepreneur

3:46

was born . How about that ?

3:47

Like we just created some money you

3:50

know what I mean .

3:51

Like we went . You know there

3:53

was labor involved in you know

3:55

planting the seeds , you know picking the

3:58

vegetables , making sure everything was watered

4:00

and the crops grew properly . So

4:03

you had all of that that you had to

4:05

oversee . And then

4:07

you load that up and you take

4:10

it and sell it and then you get money

4:12

for that . Right

4:15

, yeah , that was like the first time

4:17

that I really was like a click

4:19

, like , hmm

4:21

, you created money , we

4:24

took our hands and we took something

4:26

and then made something out

4:28

of it . Right , yeah , and

4:31

so from there , you know , I was

4:33

just like always . Like you know

4:35

, we had this Brown Chevy truck . Every time the

4:37

Brown Chevy truck crunk up , I'm like riding

4:40

shotgun . We ready , we're ready , you know

4:42

, I'm ready , I'm in the passenger's seat

4:44

and , just like you know , he's like so

4:46

when you get the ledger out , you know I'm in the glove compartment

4:49

write this down , write this down , make

4:51

a note . That's what we sold , that's what we did . And

4:53

you know I'm just keeping books Wow

4:56

, a bookkeeper . And I remember

4:58

we would go in the sea and

5:01

people started saying like

5:03

Mr Martin , do you

5:05

have any peas that are

5:07

already shelled ? You know , and

5:10

I was like it's a lazy city

5:12

people , you know , and

5:14

. But it gave me an idea and I was like

5:16

, well , what if I shell the peas ? And

5:19

so he was like , well , if you shell them

5:21

, you could . If you shell them in baggum

5:23

, then you could sell them and

5:26

I'll give you that difference cost . It's like , well

5:28

, what could I sell that for ? It's like $2 more bag . I

5:30

was like , oh , I get to keep the $2 , you know . And

5:32

so that $2 , and it was just like

5:35

looking for , like , how could I take this

5:37

You're but a mastermind .

5:38

A long time .

5:40

I take this turn at a level , so it

5:42

was just kind of instilled and luckily

5:45

I got to be around it and

5:47

it got , you know , fostered . And

5:49

so when I , when I graduated from

5:51

college and did all the stuff that you thought you

5:53

do , graduated from the

5:55

university of Southern Mississippi , and it

5:57

was like got recruited

6:00

right out of out of college and

6:02

I went and worked for JCPenney and

6:05

I remember my grandfather saying don't

6:07

you have enough experience ? Yet ? You

6:09

know what I was like , what are you talking about

6:11

Right right ? And he was like no

6:13

, you're , you're untruth , like

6:15

you're somebody who you're not designed

6:18

that way .

6:19

Right .

6:19

Yeah , cause he saw that and he like that's why

6:21

he was warming you from the bow . And then , yeah , I was like get the

6:23

, get the ledger , write this down , do this , do

6:26

that . You know what you think about that . And it

6:28

was like really showing me and it

6:30

just kind of like stuck , like all

6:32

those things stuck . And so when I did have my first

6:34

corporate job , you know , I remember

6:37

thinking like I'm not cut out for this , like

6:39

I'm not controlling my own destiny

6:41

. This does not feel like I'm controlling

6:44

my destiny . And I and

6:46

so , after I was working on my masters at

6:49

the university of Dallas at the time I was living in in

6:51

Plano , texas and I remember

6:53

, you know , just kind of putting

6:56

my , my mind to like

6:58

this is not what

7:00

I had in mind , this doesn't feel . This

7:02

feels like a , a ceiling , and it feels

7:05

very low . Right , yeah

7:07

, it feels very low and it didn't

7:09

allow me to be the free thinker

7:12

that I was being raised to be and

7:14

that I was raised to be . And so I

7:16

was like , okay , it's time for me to , you

7:18

know , move on

7:20

. And I remember at that time

7:22

part of my job and tell me , coming

7:25

to Atlanta I was living in Dallas

7:27

, I would come to Atlanta to go to

7:29

the market , the America's Marri . I was a

7:31

buyer for JC Penney and

7:33

I remember coming to Atlanta and I was like , oh

7:35

, that city , like the energy . I

7:37

always just felt alive when I

7:39

would come to Atlanta from the

7:42

opportunity . The opportunity just felt

7:44

like whoa . And so

7:46

I told everybody , you know

7:48

, I was finishing my masters and I was like as soon

7:50

as I graduate , as soon as I finished , I'm

7:53

moving to Atlanta . You know , everybody's

7:55

like what you know anybody in Atlanta . I'm like no

7:57

, I'm moving there , you know , and

8:00

I remember like I , the

8:02

night of my graduation , I didn't even go to

8:04

my graduation , I had my

8:06

little Honda packed up and

8:08

I was like rolling

8:10

, I moved to Atlanta and everybody's

8:13

like you don't know anybody .

8:15

And it's like that's the part that's

8:17

so amazing . Your grandfather saw that

8:19

in you . Yeah , he instilled that

8:21

from small , so you couldn't get away

8:23

from it . I couldn't get away from it .

8:25

It was part of your DNA actually at that point

8:27

.

8:27

Yeah . And so when you were able

8:29

, and even with his tip of saying

8:31

you're not ready yet , you ready

8:33

yet , you know , because there's a work that

8:35

you have to do , that's way beyond that's

8:37

way beyond you know we always talk

8:39

you and I often say you know , whatever

8:42

project we're working on , whatever we're doing for the

8:44

community , whatever we're doing with the women serving

8:47

in such a capacity , it's bigger than us

8:49

, Right , it's just bigger than us

8:51

and you can't box that in and you

8:53

can't box it , it doesn't , it

8:55

doesn't flourish , it doesn't , it doesn't feel

8:57

good .

8:58

And I remember when I

9:01

packed out my car and I moved , I

9:04

you know it was like looking , I

9:07

figured I've had these points

9:09

like probably three points in my life and I don't

9:11

know . I was just really blessed to to

9:13

figure it , to know , to be intuitive

9:15

enough to to understand where

9:18

I was . So when

9:20

I moved to Atlanta , everybody

9:22

was like , what are you going to do ? And I said it's time

9:24

for me to be an entrepreneur . But I didn't know what

9:26

entrepreneurial you know like

9:29

I was , just like I'm not going back

9:31

for a job . Like you know , I was just like it's

9:33

time for me to do something . And

9:35

I almost think the idea

9:37

of not really knowing , like I never

9:39

just knew what kind of entrepreneur

9:41

I was , just like I want to start a business

9:43

, I want to have my business , and

9:45

so . But I knew also that

9:47

I was in a place where I

9:50

took off for like three

9:52

, four months , that I

9:54

just wanted to just explore

9:56

and get to know myself

9:58

in a different phase and

10:01

kind of sit with myself like what does this

10:03

next look like for you ? And

10:06

just to think like I just was , like I'm

10:08

not gonna work anywhere , I'm just gonna drive

10:11

around 285 , figure

10:13

out , you know , alana and

10:16

I would go over to Peabock Park and

10:18

take my blanket and camp out and just

10:20

sit . And it was just

10:23

like you know . And I remember about

10:25

three months into that sitting , like , girl , you

10:27

gotta do something . Like you got your savings

10:30

, like you know , like you gotta

10:32

get empty . You gotta get empty like

10:34

and I remember having the classified

10:37

ad out and you know

10:39

, laying in the park and I had the newspapers

10:42

when you before indeed , and

10:44

you know , linked in . So I got

10:46

the newspaper and I'm looking at the classified

10:48

and I see this position

10:50

for a real estate life insurance coordinator

10:53

and you

10:55

know my sometimes I could be

10:57

like extremely like , naive

11:00

about stuff which is

11:02

sometimes good , and sometimes like Because you'll

11:04

take that leap , because I'll take the leap .

11:06

You'll take the leap .

11:07

Well , I used to go on my grandfather's

11:09

burial policy route Like

11:11

, surely I could do this , I could do

11:13

this , what ? That's

11:16

how I ended up in the insurance field

11:19

of like , yeah

11:21

, I could figure this out life

11:23

insurance . And so my first

11:25

venture was , you

11:28

know , starting as a life insurance coordinator

11:30

for all state and then quickly

11:33

like having a goal to the different agent offices

11:35

and help them to get

11:37

more life insurance . And then I would

11:39

have to travel to Illinois

11:42

where the corporate office was to like go

11:44

in there and just like get stuff from being unstuck

11:47

. You know , it could take somebody like you

11:49

know 10 weeks to issue a life insurance

11:51

policy because you had all these like processes

11:53

and stuff was just getting stuck . So it was

11:55

like Sonya , go to , you

11:57

know , illinois and you

11:59

know and I was like this

12:02

coordinator liaison and

12:04

that was horrible . I

12:08

realized then I knew processes but

12:11

I didn't like the snow in

12:14

Bloomsville and Illinois , like you

12:16

know . It's like this is too cold .

12:18

This is too crazy . New York wasn't being your friend either

12:20

.

12:20

I mean , I am not cut out for it . I remember

12:23

parking , having a rental car parking

12:25

and then going back looking for the car and it was

12:27

snowed in and I was like you

12:29

know , like people like digging

12:31

out car , I was like , ah , is there a cab

12:34

? Like I don't know about this

12:36

life , and so , yeah , so I

12:38

ended up doing that and then , but once

12:40

I got the gist of it , I was like

12:42

the agents that's

12:44

where everything happens , because there's

12:47

no life insurance , there's no claims , there's

12:49

no claims , there's nothing else needed , underwriting

12:51

nothing until somebody writes a policy

12:53

. So everything starts at you

12:55

know the agent level , and so

12:57

it's always kind of like looking at that and

13:00

like , okay , so I need to be an

13:02

agent . Again

13:04

sounded so simple

13:06

at 23 years

13:08

old that I need to be an agent

13:10

because that's where you know

13:12

everything was happening and I kind

13:15

of set the course and all the

13:17

powers would be . Everybody

13:20

just thought I was crazy , like who is this

13:22

little girl talking about ? She wants to be an agent

13:24

. And so they

13:26

gave me the criteria needed and I

13:28

became an agent . It wasn't

13:30

like overnight , that's the whole story , but

13:34

by 24 , I was the youngest agent

13:36

in the Allstate community and

13:38

after suffering

13:40

and , you know , having a

13:43

rough 18 months getting started

13:45

eating peanut butter and jelly , I

13:48

became top agent in the state of Georgia for

13:51

three years in a row . That's exceptional

13:53

.

13:54

You were like , let me say , you were designed for this

13:56

.

13:58

I just figured stuff out or danged

14:00

for this .

14:01

That's why there was no fear

14:03

.

14:04

Well , it seems so simple that I could

14:06

probably do that . I

14:09

always tell people because even now , when I

14:11

teach and work with a lot of entrepreneurs , I'm

14:13

like hey look , I'm always

14:15

scared . I

14:17

know I look confident sometime

14:19

. I'm usually shaking in my boots

14:21

, but doing it anyway because I know the consequence

14:24

. My grandmother used to say don't have the regret

14:27

of not doing it . And it's kind of like what's

14:29

the worst thing that could happen . I

14:33

fell , I fell

14:35

fast , I fell forward . It

14:37

was just kind of like what would happen

14:40

if I didn't try that , though that

14:42

I didn't want to live with . That was kind of like

14:45

yeah , no , I don't want to do that .

14:47

But I think that's so important that you speak about , because

14:49

they see , sign your book or now , and

14:52

they don't realize what you've been through

14:54

and really what you bring to the table

14:57

. That's why I think it's so powerful

14:59

for someone to work with you , for

15:01

the ones in the community to even have an opportunity

15:03

for you to map

15:06

out plans and ideas

15:08

around an area that they are exploring

15:11

, ready to move forward with . But

15:13

you , like , almost have every angle outlined

15:15

. You already seen it , done it , been

15:17

it you know , but that's what's so

15:19

key to what you do .

15:22

Well , listen , this is how and so

15:24

this is where my first real estate started

15:26

. Like you know , obviously

15:28

, I was born , you know , in it we were my

15:30

grandfather Moving to Atlanta . I

15:32

went to one of the

15:34

agents' offices and I'll never

15:37

forget it . I'm like in there

15:39

talking to him and he's

15:41

in Forest Park , which is so interesting because

15:43

I do stuff in Forest Park now and it was

15:45

just kind of like this full circle . But

15:48

I'm going in this office and

15:51

we're just talking about his life insurance . But then I'm

15:53

just asking questions and he's

15:55

like yeah , I own the whole plaza

15:58

. I was like come

16:00

again . He's like

16:02

, yeah , I own the plaza . So he had

16:04

like H&R Block as a tenant . He had

16:06

Papa John's on the

16:09

end . You know like , oh , that was like

16:11

so , hmm , you're

16:13

making more money in the real estate

16:15

oh , how about that Than being

16:17

an agent ? Right , and

16:20

it was like yeah , basically Another step and I am

16:22

kind of here like rent free , you know

16:24

, like this building was being paid for , my office

16:26

is out of it . And then I'm like doing my business

16:29

and I was like , oh , I like

16:31

that Right , you know , like that model

16:33

, that like that really clicked . And it was like my first

16:35

kind of introduction to like how

16:37

do you use real estate and do business

16:40

Like where it became bold . And

16:42

so now you know , and of course

16:44

you know we can't skip

16:48

over the fact that I had the

16:50

just the blessing

16:52

to be able to meet and

16:55

be mentored by the late Herman J Russell

16:57

senior , and you know

16:59

, whenever I come into this building you

17:01

know this rice center that I always call

17:03

Russell Center because it's like that's the

17:05

namesake and that's like who

17:07

I met . And I remember reading

17:10

about him in black enterprise as a real

17:12

estate pioneer and

17:15

it was again that just kind of starry

17:17

out . I was like I gotta meet him , like

17:19

I gotta meet him , like is he in Atlanta ? Like

17:23

I'm in Atlanta , he's in Atlanta . It seemed

17:25

quite simple , but it took me

17:27

two years to meet him and

17:30

just to my meeting

17:32

was just to be able to say , hey , I'm

17:34

here , can I have your cell phone

17:36

number ? Can I call you from time to time

17:39

Because I'm doing deals and

17:41

you know if I need some advice . And

17:43

that was my goal

17:46

because , as I was coming from Mississippi

17:48

, like I've seen things

17:50

I mean , I grew up most of my life here

17:52

and about Emmett Till and where you don't go

17:55

and you know you don't go down

17:57

these certain streets and you don't do this , you don't do

17:59

that . And

18:01

so my perspective about racism

18:04

and civil rights and all of that was

18:06

like ground zero , right , yeah

18:08

, oh yeah , I was not , you

18:11

know , not aware of the

18:13

world and the just kind of

18:15

the hatred and was just kind of racism

18:17

that existed and so I remember

18:20

just thinking like , wow , how did he

18:22

build ? When I met him

18:24

, like in in 20

18:26

, 2003 , I

18:29

remember thinking like , how does

18:31

someone build ? His company was

18:33

about to celebrate a 50th year

18:35

anniversary when I met him and

18:37

I was like , could you ? I mean , you had to start

18:39

building this in the 50s

18:42

.

18:43

What you knew about ground zero . Right

18:45

like how does that happen ?

18:47

you know , and that was my

18:49

, my , my premises of like

18:51

I just I want to . I got to know

18:53

, I got like how do you , how do you come

18:56

out with a company like this and

18:58

at a time like that , you

19:00

know , and I remember just

19:03

my first meeting with them , it , you know

19:05

, obviously , you know it was amazing . And then

19:07

when he asked to see

19:09

some of my properties , at that time I had a couple

19:11

duplexes and you know , I was just kind of like you

19:13

want to see my stuff . Like you know

19:15

, like you're you and you want to go

19:17

, yeah , but do you think ?

19:19

do you think , as we get ready to close this out , do

19:22

you think all that you have with the

19:24

mentors you've had in your life and I consider

19:27

your grandfather a mentor as well Absolutely

19:29

.

19:29

My first .

19:32

You know , as we close this out , for

19:35

the work that you do with Tap2 , for the customers

19:37

that you work with , for being

19:40

a woman entrepreneur for this year and

19:43

being up under Russell

19:46

like you , I mean just that's

19:49

a test moment , that's a whole other podcast . What do

19:51

you think this year , from everything

19:54

you want to do as a woman

19:56

, what is would be your goal

19:58

and that we can really

20:00

kind of tailor for those who see ?

20:01

I think that's good , and so I feel

20:03

like when you look at my Tap2

20:06

work and the real estate work that

20:08

I do with the entrepreneurs , it

20:11

comes from this space of like I'm not

20:13

telling you what I heard about

20:15

, you know , it's like what I know and

20:18

like why you have to plan this out

20:20

, why you have to understand what you need for what you're doing . And

20:23

so for this year , when I look at it , I

20:25

look at the one thing about my

20:27

mentor , the late Homer Russell , is I

20:30

always tell people he gave me 15

20:32

minutes of his time that turned into

20:34

a 12 year mentorship and

20:37

I cannot even imagine my life without that

20:39

15 minutes , had he not taken that time out , right ? So

20:43

it's always like who am I not

20:45

to give my time , not to take out that ? Wow , right . And

20:49

so that's what I . You know , I

20:51

always want women in particular

20:53

, because I know we , we just , we're just different

20:55

and I recognize

20:58

that . And I always want women

21:00

to feel that I am here

21:03

for them . I mean , my guys are my guys , just like you know . But

21:06

the women I always I want

21:08

women to know like I got you . Yes , I am here

21:11

for you , yes .

21:12

And .

21:12

I I failed . My work in 2024

21:15

is really around that

21:17

. That premises that

21:20

women have that safe space . They

21:22

have that place where they could go to , where they

21:24

could reach someone . Reach out like this

21:27

is what's going on in my business . This is what

21:29

I'm thinking , what I need , and I could be

21:32

that for other people , exceptional .

21:33

Yeah , sonya Booker , thank

21:36

you for your time , thank you for your expertise and

21:40

everything you bring , not only to tap

21:42

to , but you are a

21:44

force to be reckoned with . Oh

21:46

, absolutely Absolutely , and we're just glad

21:48

to have you on our team and

21:51

we appreciate you guys tuning in . We have

21:53

more reach out to us on tap

21:55

to connecting . We're looking

21:57

forward to it . Thanks again , sonya , thank you

21:59

.

22:04

Yay , you are

22:07

fine Thanks .