Magalie Yacinthe, director, HUSTLE Winston-Salem
Age: 34
Work address: 500 W. Fifth St., Suite 800, Winston-Salem 27101
City you live in: Winston-Salem
Education: Master's, business administration, Florida A&M University
Why selected: Yacinthe is a founder and the current director of HUSTLE Winston-Salem, which works to make the entrepreneurship sphere in Winston-Salem more equitable and inclusive. She also owns two businesses — event consulting firm YES Strategies & Solutions and oil aggregation company SO-IN Forsyth. Yacinthe serves as the communications chair on the board of Delta Arts Center and as the vice chair of the board of Forsyth Futures. She also works as the lead organizer for Paint the Town Pink's Pink Crawl, which raises awareness and money for breast cancer.
How can the Triad better retain young and talented professionals? In order to attract young and talented professionals, we need a better inter-city commute system. A light rail system throughout the Triad (and maybe even to Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham) would make a huge difference to young professionals. I am also a firm believer that millennials and Gen Z value a healthy social life balance. With this in mind, in order to retain young and talented professionals in the Triad, we must show that we value "fun" in diverse and cultural ways to add to the quality of life for young professionals.
Most meaningful volunteer activity? Pink Crawl Winston-Salem: Paint the Town Pink. This is an initiative to bring awareness to young adults around breast cancer in both men and women as well as to raise funds to help local patients.
I am passionate about ...The arts. The arts help tell our stories in a beautiful way. It reminds us that beauty exists in everything. It keeps us human.
A fun fact people may not know about you? I speak Haitian-Creole.
Tell us about a talent you are most proud of. I'm a writer and while currently I mainly write articles in the business and entrepreneurial space, I prefer to write fiction. My family and friends support my writing 1000%.
Have you displayed your talent publicly? I have written publicly, yes. I am a writer with Mogul Millennial, I have written for Violas' Tea, and I maintain my own blog. I started a short fiction novel and plan to finish it someday (lol).
What television show or movie would be best suited to demonstrate your talent and why? "Love Jones" movie, because of the poetry, romance and Black culture.
If you could meet anyone in the world, who would you like to meet? Oprah Winfrey
