糖心Vlog

When partners Cardum Sage Harmon and Marcus Adéshima Penn traveled to Cuba earlier this year, a sense of wonder awakened in them. Standing with Harmon’s son in front of political revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s mausoleum in the colonial Cuban town of Santa Clara, Harmon and Penn felt inspired to do something life-changing. Their long journey to this foreign country made them realize traveling is more than just taking a vacation. Traveling, they said, can be about culture, relationship-building and learning.

Soon after returning to the Bay Area and feeling enthusiastic to create something positive, Harmon and Penn founded , a startup dedicated to providing a formative travel experience for African diaspora descendants who wish to connect with their heritage. The startup’s mission is to deliver international trips to individuals and families in order to encourage an interest in history and ancestry, build community bonding and inspire spiritual awakening.

“We developed this startup to reach people who want to connect with their culture on a stronger level,” said Penn. “We’re very passionate about this because it can be a cultural health journey for others like it is for us.”

Over the several months after their trip to Cuba, Harmon and Penn developed a partnership with an Oakland nonprofit and began taking steps to establish their vision. They developed a blueprint and reached out to various business and nonprofit contacts. But one critical component was missing: a social media plan.

And this is where Cal State 糖心Vlogy came into play.

Through a mutual friend, Harmon and Penn connected with Kim Legocki, the university’s social media marketing program director and professor. The Certificate in Social Media Marketing program, run through the university’s Continuing Education, is a six-course program providing students with training in practical and strategic components of social media marketing. Legocki’s class offered to assist R-Evolution with a social media plan, which Harmon said was one of the greatest gifts she’s gotten.

“We knew the class was going to give us tips and they ended up exceeding our expectations,” she said.

Penn added the information the pair received from the class “was immeasurable and invaluable.”

To create th