Simone Berry is the co-founder of People of Crypto Lab. Simone's expertise in crypto fashion and culture brings brands and consumers into Web3.
Sharing her experience at Web Summit, Simone said that she really loves that she is attending a large-scale conference that actually has a lot of content and discussion dedicated to Web3 to signify its importance.
Simone is very vocal about her business’s main goal, which is to include the LGBTQIA community in the Web3 space. While attending Web3 conferences and tech meetings, she found her community not being inclusive in anything and that’s what motivated her to start her own business and do something for LBGTQIA and the Black community. Her company is focused on creating, storytelling, and gaming for communities that have been neglected by main companies and organizations. According to her, it was simple for her company to do it in the Web3 space because they have a supportive sandbox and the support of a lot of people. They did not need permission, they just needed creativity to include those who have been marginalized. Her mission for her business as a Black woman is to be able to create a target for her community that they can monetize. On the Blockchain, if she creates an idea, she will be able to sell it and people will be able to purchase it, which creates natural democracy. She also added that if people start investing in a diverse project or in women-founded projects in Web3, then we are going to see different growth.
Discussing the first NFT collection of her company, Simone stated that they developed a non-binary avatar collection that has 34 different skin shades that represent people of color. The main goal of their NFT collection was to create a safe space for everyone. People can play their game even with or without avatars to celebrate themselves and take pride in who they are. The brand NYX collaborated with Simone’s company and supported its mission. Simone goes on to mention that her company is focused on projects where people are seen and this is what makes them powerful. They ethically monetize their projects, and it’s not about the floor price, it’s about allowing people to have access, to learn wallets, to learn how to purchase NFT, to participate in the game, in the ecosystem.
According to Simone making Web3 more accessible and promoting its education will automatically attract people to it. Diverse women founders, diverse teams, and highlighting issues faced by the Black and LBGTQ community are the aspects that will attract communities to show interest in Web3. She further added that Web2 and Web3 are purely customer journeys and people need access and education throughout this journey. Moreover, the marketing of diverse businesses in Web3 is also very important but it is going to be different from the marketing people are used to. A consumer profile is hidden in Metaverse, there’s no need to actually connect with your audience, promoting new products is not straightforward so there’s definitely a need for education about it so the whole Web3 concept can come to life.
Simone thinks that scams are everywhere and Web3 is no exception, and people need to understand their security to avoid them. Just as people cannot leave their wallets everywhere in the physical world, checking in their digital wallets on a random website, or clicking random links should not be done in Web3 space to avoid scams and frauds. She added that using a wallet the way people like gives a sense of personal ownership and gets us all rid of institutions like banks that we need to communicate in the real world on regular basis. Personal ownership according to Simone is a very peaceful thing that people are not yet used to because they are so used to everyone else owning everything but we need to take the control of our information back.
Simone concluded by mentioning different programs that are in pipeline for her company to start bridging the gap between the Metaverse and the Black community. She said that her company has been in the business for six months only so they are building and developing at the moment and are really excited to see what the future brings. Moreover, Simone thinks tech is not as complicated as everyone makes it seem and if you have creativity and vision, you will figure this out.
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS (see clickable version on www.cmo-stories.com)
[00:31] Who is Simone Berry?
[02:21] What is the mission of your business and why did you start that and what inspired you to do?
[05:49] Do you have an NFT collection?
[08:48] How would you advise people to come into that space?
[12:00] Are there pillars that you are thinking of?
[25:31] For people who want to connect with you what would be the best place to send them?
NOTABLE QUOTES
“As a black woman, I want to be able to create IP that targets my community that my community can monetize.”
“Ownership and personal responsibility is the two things that you really have to understand because we're to use to them having control.”
“The tech is not as complicated as everyone is making it seem.”
CONNECT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sberrynyc