- So, I have to go finish that up.

Entrepreneurship, I'm doing that right now.

- [Jason] Five years ago, the nonprofit, Do Greater Charlotte, was born.

- With the idea of training and building the next generation of entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators, particularly in under-resourced communities.

- [Jason] In just a few short years, it's created multiple programs to help kids and young adults in the creative world.

- So, we train them as digital creators, we provide the tools and technology and community and spaces.

- [Jason] Launching any sort of business, let alone a nonprofit, takes resources.

Someone has to be willing to invest.

For Do Greater Charlotte founder, William McNeely, one of those early investors, came in the form of another nonprofit, Charlotte is Creative.

- And I reached out to Charlotte is Creative, and received a micro grant.

They call it a hug grant.

And that hug grant was $250.

And what I did was I bought the first iPad that went into our mobile creative lab.

And what that did was, it started this snowball effect.

It was $250, but it turned into what you stand in today.

- That's the thing, what's what's most exciting for us is, we try to be in relationship with the creatives that we work with.

And that's just one example.

- I'm Matt Olin, the co-founder of Charlotte is Creative.

- I'm Tim Minor... - [Jason] The founders of Charlotte is Creative, Tim Minor and Matt Olin, have been carrying the torch of the region's creative community for nearly a decade.

Their goal is to unite anyone and everyone in the creative space.

Artists, photographers, writers, videographers, DJs, podcasters, and so on.

For them, it's all about creativity, community, and perhaps most importantly, connection.

- There were little glimpses of how deep Charlotte's artistic and cultural community was, but they weren't finding avenues.

And so, we saw it as a way to bridge cultures.

- [Jason] Matt and Tim's relationship goes all the way back to their days at Charlotte Catholic High School, and later UNC Chapel Hill.

- It draws on our backgrounds as theater rats.

I mean, Tim and I met in line for an audition for a play in high school.

We did theater productions all through college.

- We would actually talk about what we thought the role of creativity was in life.

- [Jason] After each went off into the corporate working world, Tim and Matt reconnected with the idea of recasting the story of Charlotte.

- So often, adults fall into that pattern, right?

I go to work, I come home, I take care of my kids if I've got 'em, I do what I can to spend a few moments with my spouse and rinse and repeat.

And what's not in that mix is filling yourself up.

- It felt like a calling of sorts.

You know, it's always been talked about as a banking town, as a great place to raise a family and a great place to live.

But the idea of Charlotte being a creative city was never a headline, it was never a big part of the narrative.

By a show of hands, who is here for the first time ever at a CreativeMornings event?

Okay- - [Person] Yeah!

- [Jason] CreativeMornings, the wildly popular monthly breakfast lecture series celebrates the creative spirit of the city.

It's definitely not your typical meeting.

It's more like a giant pet rally filled with musicians, (gentle orchestral music) guest speakers.

- Such an amazing impact.

- [Jason] And just plain fun.

(people cheering) - Meetings can be stuffy, right?

Charlotte was a very adult town, but for CreativeMornings, we wanted to create an atmosphere, develop an atmosphere where people that came could not be so adult for a few minutes.

- So, we come to think of CreativeMornings almost as a civic variety show.

You know, it moves at a really nice clip, lots of different segments, and by the end of the 75, 80 minutes, you've seen a parade of creatives, and you're left feeling like you truly could not have imagined that the Charlotte creative well runs this deeply.

If you've ever made a friend of CreativeMornings over the last 100 months, just stand up and show us if you've ever made a friend here.

I see Frank... - [Jason] In May, Tim and Matt held their 100th CreativeMornings monthly meeting, and regulars attending can't get enough.

- It was just different from anything I'd ever been to in Charlotte.

The energy was just palpable, it moved, it was fun, it was different.

It evoked a lot of different, just inspiring emotions and excitement.

- The way I would put it in is a safe space for creatives to talk about anything related to arts and culture.

It's free conversations, it's entertainment, it's laughter, it's tears, it's a little bit of everything.

- It felt like church for creatives, you know?

So, we would always walk away feeling inspired, feeling motivated, feeling not so alone in the way we look at the world or the way we approach it.

- We want you to leave feeling invigorated, like we've stirred up your creative energy and reminded you that you're a creative person.

Whether you're a practicing artist or you work in corporate America or anything in between, that you have this stirred up creativity, this creative energy that you can bring back to your community, your job, your family, your church, your neighborhood, whatever it is.

- And I use that CreativeMornings kind of as a refuelment time for me at the beginning of every month, and got to know those guys and just love the creative community that they have had built.

- [Jason] It's about creativity, connections, networking and inspiration, and building a narrative that Charlotte is more than just banks.

- We need to take care of our creative community.

We need to make sure that we're feeding them, that they are not just contributing to the quality of life and the overall reputation of Charlotte, but to our economic promise.