Planning 2 Perfection: The American Dream
There are likely hundreds of millions (or billions) of stock images that regularly make their way through the internet through say, Facebook or Tumblr, with various cursive fonts atop ageneric background depicting grand snow-capped mountains, or lights out-of-focus. All of which are re-inundating the American Dream — life is short, do what you love; follow your dreams. Cliché, right? It’s certainly annoying. After all, we’re repeatedly told as children that the world is our oyster, only to grow in doubt from the intensity that life comes at us with as we come of age. There are bills to pay, families to raise, expectations to meet. But what if the most maddening thing about clichés is that they’re inarguably valid? And that the sheer quantity of these stock images is largely symptomatic of how scarcely we are encouraged to follow our dreams and supported in doing so as young adults and adults? For this reason, Bridges to Wealth is proud to offer intergenerational business literacy classes to high-school students and adults throughout Philadelphia to encourage young adults and adults to follow their dreams and guide them into how to feasibly and financially do so.
From our Entrepreneurship Series—a session of two classes that guide students through creating a strong business plan as well as business skills such as pricing, marketing, or budgeting—we were introduced to Egypt Graham, founder of event planning company Planning 2 Perfection.
Egypt is a prime example of successfully making a living while pursuing your passions. In fact, to Egypt, events are everything: “Planning is incorporated into every aspect of my life. I can’t imagine doing anything more rewarding than bringing my clients’ vision to life.” Egypt started her career in event planning in 2000, her freshman year of college, and then took the leap to launch her own company in 2007. In the eleven months Egypt began working with Bridges to Wealth, she has since completed the Financial Literacy classes, which teach personal finance management, and Entrepreneurship Series classes. Now, she has joined United Way’s Individual Account Program (IDA) through which Bridges to Wealth proudly mentors and funds small businesses in the Philadelphia community and which offers her a strong network of local entrepreneurs.
Just as Egypt works with mentors to improve her business and herself as a business owner, she seeks to support and inspire the lives around her as well. Egypt understands the strong community of social media and is utilizing her platform to share business and financial advice. In addition, Egypt is a Philadelphia native and still resides in the city! Beyond running her business, she sits on the board of governance for Valley Youth House, serves as the event chair for Clarifi’s Young Professional Advisory Committee, and is a member of Philadelphia’s Black Giving Circle.
Since joining Bridges to Wealth's network of mentors and other local business owners, Egypt is focused on diversifying Planning 2 Perfection's clientele—expanding from mostly non-profit to corporate. Bridges to Wealth is proud to witness her continuing success and how she seeks to empower others.
For more on Egypt and her company, Planning 2 Perfection, follow her on Instagram @p2pperfection as well as on Facebook.
For more information on B2W’s Entrepreneurship Series or other classes, visit: https://www.bridges2wealth.org
Written by Trang Trinh
