Entrepreneur Spotlight: Chrissy Watts of Philly Experiences
The founder of Philly Experiences wants you to connect with the real stories and experiences of Philadelphia.
Women of color entrepreneurs are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in our region and across our country. Yet, they are underrepresented in business ownership and face additional systemic barriers to accessing capital. As a result, on December 15, 2021, WOMEN’S WAY held the Raise Round-Up Pitch Competition in partnership with Zenith Wealth Partners and Mom Your Business, where the 10 finalists of the competition came together to pitch their business. A total of $150,000 was awarded to the top 5 finalists to help grow their business. In this blog series, we are sharing profiles of each finalist from the Raise Round-Up Pitch Competition. Our goal is to share their story, connect you with their business, and amplify what they want you to know about investing in women of color and equalizing entrepreneurship.
Chrissy Watts is a natural storyteller. As the founder of Philly Experiences, she seamlessly weaves her own personal stories into fun, unique ways to get to know Philadelphia: “This is my experience in Philly…you take away from it how it connects to your life.”
The tours and events Chrissy offers through Philly Experiences are grounded in her heritage’s rich tradition of storytelling and commitment to community. Leading with these values, she strives to be at the forefront of ethical, sustainable, and community centered experiences that immerse, entertain, and educate locals and visitors on local culture while promoting foot traffic to Black businesses. Philly Experiences are entirely authentic to Chrissy’s own experience living in Philadelphia and range from Black Mural Tours to Trap Bar Crawls to Wellness Themed Experiences.
As an entrepreneur and self-described hood advocate, Chrissy sees Philly Experiences as an opportunity to promote the businesses and history within the Philadelphia communities she calls home. After observing other tourist businesses in Philadelphia, Chrissy realized something was missing — these tours weren’t authentic to her own image of the city. What she wanted to do instead was create a tour experience that would simulate what it is like to hop on the 23 bus and learn about the real Philly experience from community members’ conversations and stories:
“Life was pushing me towards this purpose. People would come up to me downtown — strangers — asking me what to do, where to go. And I always thought, if they would just get on the 23 bus…it paints a whole story for you. You don’t have to say anything. It’s a guided tour all on its own. This started, the idea of ‘I wish they would just get on the bus’. Fast forward to: ‘Oh! I can [be the one to] take them.’”
Simultaneously a single parent, nanny, and part time photographer, Chrissy ran with this idea and began Philly Experiences on Airbnb where she could dive into her passion for storytelling and giving tours on an already established platform. The first idea she curated for Philly Experiences was a bar crawl in Germantown: “I was the only one doing something outside of the touristy areas. Either I was doing something completely right, or totally wrong by going against the grain.”
She quickly received confirmation that what she was doing was “something completely right.” Her tours became some of the most popular Philadelphia tour experiences listed on Airbnb. As a result, people started noticing and urging Chrissy to turn Philly Experiences into a full-time business. It was at this moment that Chrissy realized “this wasn’t just a passion project anymore.” However, right around the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic hit which forced Chrissy to start thinking about how she could strategize long term to sustain and grow Philly Experiences:
“I’ve always expressed out of the box ideas all my life. I never understood the ‘business’ side of executing them until now through cohorts like Mom Your Business. I struggled knowing my worth, how to ask for what I wanted, and pricing my services correctly. I was winging it like most first generation entrepreneurs. “
Not too long afterwards, Chrissy learned about the Raise Round Up Pitch Competition hosted by WOMEN’S WAY, Zenith Wealth Partners, and Mom Your Business. With the support of her mentor, Tanya Morris, she decided to take the leap and pitch Philly Experiences. While she remembers it as a nerve-wracking experience, Chrissy finished the competition as one of the Raise Round Up Pitch finalists. This marked a turning point for Chrissy because it put capital in her hands and made her realize that her vision for Philly Experiences was fundable:
“Researching, applying, and getting mentored in conquering my fear of pitching in front of a live audience has been life changing. Undiluted funding allows me to build the solid foundation of a brand I curated to have such an amazing positive impact on Philly tourism and direct support of our businesses. I fought not to give up so many times in this pandemic alone due to financial stress. I barely made it on the other side, and I often think about the thousands of dreams unfulfilled due to the lack of money and mentorship desperately needed in my community.”
Since participating in the Raise Round Up Pitch Competition, Chrissy has used the capital she received to hire a graphic designer to create a Black Business Guide to promote increased foot traffic to locally owned businesses. She has directly poured into Black businesses through donations, tickets to a business masterclass, and mentored other businesses. She has also hired an accountant and now has a salary for the first time since starting her business. In addition, she was recently featured in TravelNoire.
“We just need to be poured into and that looks different for each business and founder. Our dreams are ours, but it really helps when those who have experience in entrepreneurship assist new entrepreneurs in building long-term branding. Your full story matters to your brand, so make sure people know it.”
Equalizing Entrepreneurship
Data has shown that one of the fastest ways to accelerate change and address the gender and racial wealth gap is to listen to and invest in women of color.
Complex, entrenched economic systems that are rooted in white supremacy have created the broad disparities that women of color entrepreneurs face today: Black and Brown women face a 90% wealth gap, receive 0.0006% of all venture capital financing (Project Diane, 2020), battle a widening wage gap, are less likely to own or inherit high-return assets, and face a substantial housing gap (Goldman Sachs, 2021). These multilayered factors have contributed to the low rates of women of color owned businesses. According to a Goldman Sachs report from 2021, only 0.5% of single Black women own their own business (a rate that is 24 times lower than for white single men).
Much remains to be done to address these gaps. Yet, the way forward is there. To overcome the entrepreneurship gap, we must center the voices and solutions that women of color entrepreneurs, like Chrissy, share:
“Investment is critical so that we can take care of our own people the way we know how. It’s important that money is intentionally redirected to businesses in Black communities so we can hire us, grow to own several locations, and impact our communities from the inside out.”
Chrissy’s solution is clear: It is critical that transformative and substantial investments are prioritized and directed to women of color entrepreneurs. Across the country, one of the largest barriers to success that women of color entrepreneurs face is limited access to funds. In fact, more than 3/4 of Black and Brown women business founders cite limited access to funds or investment as a barrier to success (Goldman Sach, 2021).
Chrissy noted that to increase investments in women of color entreprenuers she would like to see the large companies that made commitments to advance racial equity during Black Lives Matter in the Summer of 2020 actually make substantial, meaningful investments in Black entrepreneurs.
In addition to investing in women of color entrepreneurs, Chrissy also stated the following as other areas the public and private sectors should prioritize to equalize entrepreneurship:
· Spread awareness and develop more resources like pitch competitions, coaching, mentors, and networks of business professionals.
· Invest in and support business cohorts and business development workshops like those offered through Mom Your Business.
· Amplify the voices of businesses owned by women of color.
What’s next for Chrissy and Philly Experiences?
Chrissy aims to increase the independence of Philly Experiences, maximize brand awareness, and add previous popular experiences post-pandemic. She also plans to add transportation options to her tours and collaborate with local and global brands through sponsors and partnerships. Once accomplished, she intends to hire and train locals, especially the youth and second chance citizens, for seasonal and long-term employment at realistic, livable wages. And finally, she aims to get an office and event space that will house the Philly Experiences headquarters.
To connect with Chrissy and learn more about Philly Experiences you can find her at www.phillyexperiences.com and on Instagram @phillyexperiences.
