Toyia Montgomery, BSJ ‘02, is not afraid to take chances. The lifelong entrepreneur has started multiple businesses after graduating from OHIO, including Cliqq & Sip Coffee Shop in 2011 and Charm Consulting PR firm in 2015.
“I’ve always been an entrepreneur,” she said. “My dad was an entrepreneur, and my mom was an entrepreneur, so it’s kind of in my blood.”
Last September, Montgomery embarked on yet another business endeavor by creating her own entertainment company: Good Vibes Entertainment.
“I am a catalyst for multi-cultural parties. Parties where diverse groups of people come together for resources, opportunities and a shared vision,” she said. “Good Vibes Entertainment is the secret sauce to realizing that vision. We help companies and individuals manage the how, the what, the where and the why of entertainment.”
Fueled by her love of music and entertainment, Montgomery started the Cincinnati-based business to assist with all aspects of entertainment, including event and project management, advertising, community listening, media production and consulting.
Good Vibes Entertainment also produces a monthly podcast called “The Plug with Toyia T.” to connect listeners with essential resources and opportunities. Along with the help of producer Timikal Bobo, Montgomery covers a vast array of topics on the podcast, including health, social justice, leadership and education.
“The way that the podcast makes me feel is that I can connect with anybody,” she said. “I know that my superpower is connecting people to resources and opportunities. From social justice to passion and purpose, we bring connections to people through the podcast.”
Even after graduation, Montgomery has experienced OHIO’s commitment to community-building firsthand. Good Vibes Entertainment is part of the Bobcat Neighborhood, the Ohio University Alumni Association’s online directory of more than 130 businesses and non-profits that are either alumni-owned or serve one of OHIO's campus communities.
Launched in May 2020, the database includes information like each organization’s location, website and social media accounts so that the OHIO community can easily access and support these businesses and non-profits.
Montgomery believes that her experience as a student in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism is what prepared her to make the podcast and Good Vibes Entertainment successful, and she says that she thoroughly enjoyed her OHIO experience. One of her favorite parts about OHIO? The community.
“When I went to OU, I made friends relatively easily, and I think it was because of OU’s focus on building community,” she said. “OU creates opportunities that allow students of color to be able to survive and thrive.”
The Bobcat Neighborhood also makes it easier to support minority-owned businesses, like Good Vibes Entertainment, as businesses can tag themselves as a “minority-owned business” in the directory.
“I think that it’s so important to support minority-owned businesses,” Montgomery said. “For a minority-owned business, they are going to have to work 10 times as hard to get the same opportunities that a majority-owned business gets.”
Alumni entrepreneurs like Montgomery who join the Bobcat Neighborhood find a welcoming way to continue their relationship to Ohio University. Montgomery felt the support of the Bobcat family as a student, and she still feels that same sense of community years after leaving the bricks of Athens.
“I think it’s important that Bobcats all support one another because we all have had a very similar experience and we are connected through OU,” Montgomery said. “Once you experience OU, you love OU forever.”