By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Isiah Harrison’s vision for his future earned him an “A” at Penta County Career Center.
His concept for a social marketing media company may have started as school project in 2018. It didn’t end there. The plan never had time to gather dust, before he turned it into a reality.
Now, the Bowling Green resident and junior at Kent State University, is taking Hike Media Marketing a step further.
Redesigning his web site, attracting new clients, and launching a related enterprise Midwest Greek Lifestyle, to promote African American Greek life.
“I can’t be comfortable,” he said in a recent interview. “When I become comfortable, I become average. … I need to push to the next level.”
He’s not waiting until graduation, still a year away, before charging ahead. When you dream big as in YouTube channel and real estate investing, it’s best to get a head start.
Not that Harrison is just dreaming; he’s all about action.
That mix of vision, optimism and energy is evident when talking with him. “I’m doing this to live my dreams, what I want to do,” Harrison said. “I wasn’t put on this earth to live another person’s dream.”
Harrison graduated from Bowling Green High and Penta in 2018. He had entered Penta’s exploratory program as a sophomore, anxious to find his own way in life. Marketing was high on his list of things to pursue at the vocational school.
He went on to earn honors in DECA. He served as the club’s president, and received outstanding student honors.
And he started his first business, a shoe cleaning kiosk at Toledo Franklin Park Mall. He had employees. He also worked for a time for a software solutions company in Toledo doing business-to-business sales.
He decided to attend Kent State for the same reasons he went to Penta, to blaze his own trail.
He was attracted to the school because his marketing instructor Jason Biniker went there and was a star pitcher, and because it was just far enough from home.
It felt like home even though he only knew one person there. But it didn’t take long for him to expand his social circle, and to launch another business.
This one involved selling cell phone cases. Harrison explained he needed the money for school. All he did was deal with the customers, and an online firm did the rest.
He didn’t have a passion for the enterprise, so he launched Hike Media. “I’m new age,” he said. “I’m always on my phone. I know all these different aps, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram. How can I take what I already know, what I’m already doing – we’re stuck to our phones all day – and turn this into a business?”
Harrison markets his clients through social media, keeping their names out front in a steady stream of posts, so all they have to do is tend to their businesses.
His goal is to get 10 clients by the end of the year.
Harrison was born in Toledo. He grew up with his mother Rashaana Torrez in Bowling Green. He is the middle of three boys.
He learned important life lessons, about working hard and integrity, from both his parents.
His father, Brian Harrison, has his commercial driver’s license and drives semis, and his mother is a hotel operations manager.
Harrison said life was tough sometimes. Just recently his uncle died. He’s watching over me now, Harrison believes.
A friend once asked him why he was always involved in a business. “It’s about how I grew up,” he said. “I am so focused. I come from hard beginnings, but I know my future is just limitless. You can either live with what you’ve got or you can make something out of what you’ve got.”
He added: “I’m just blessed. I’m just thankful to have this mindset.”
Harrison said he also benefits from surrounding himself with other strong people. That includes Damare Johnson, who he grew up with and is like a cousin to him. Johnson recently started Beyond Blends, the first Black-owned barbershop, in Bowling Green.
Harrison also finds support in his fraternity.
Midwest Greek Lifestyle, which is powered by Hike Media, grew out of his devotion to his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha.
The site has an Instagram page devoted to the activities of the Divine Nine, the nine historically Black fraternities and sororities that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
It also sells Greek and Black Lives Matters merchandise.
Harrison already has his sights set on the horizon. After graduation, he’d like to move to California to further develop his business interests, including real estate.
He’d also like to try acting. “I just want to do things I enjoy.”
Philanthropy will also be part of that. He recently saw a viral video about a kid in the inner city who had to sit outside a Taco Bell in order to have Wi-Fi so he could do his school work.
“These things just sadden me. It’s tough to see,” Harrison said. “I would like to take time to give back to these communities, especially my black people.”
His role model in this regard is Lebron James.
Harrison remembers during a DECA competition, someone asking him if he was nervous. He laughed it off. “This isn’t pressure. Pressure is that kid on the street looking for his next meal. Pressure is wondering: Will the paycheck pay the bills?”
Harrison said he dreams of doing a television show on how to make over a neighborhood. “These are things I’ve seen all my life,” he said.
He never got involved in gangs or violence, or illegal activities. “These are things I’ve seen all my life,” he said.
“Instead of avoiding that I want to engage in the community, change the path, do something others are scared of doing.”
And, he said, “with God by my side, and my family by my side, that’s how I push through.”
