When I decided to be an entrepreneur, it was sheerly out of the passion of knowing my market, because I am my market, but also wanting to create a product that would be out-of-this-world that people would love and use. And although this was a great place to begin, that doesn’t get anyone too far in their business. Why? Because when you’re as evergreen as I was when I first launched, I quickly realized that there was a lot I needed to learn, and fast!
The first step I needed to take was educating myself on funding because every statistic said, “good luck Black woman, but many don’t want to see you succeed.” This sentiment unfortunately doesn’t just show up in entrepreneurial spaces but a theme of odds that meets Black women in every aspect of life. The idea of “boostrapping” for non-marginalized groups tends to look a lot differently than for someone like me who had no straps, much less any boots–but I pushed forward. Then low and behold I found myself on Black Girl Ventures (BGV’s) Instagram page and then the website trying to navigate what it looks like to receive much-needed funding.
Most recently, I tuned into BGV’s latest pitch competition for New York business owners. And yes, although I have watched every pitch competition BGV has hosted, this one was indeed different. It was different because I’m at a newer stage in my business and just a little more knowledgeable in navigating the conversation around what I created and why. I absolutely love watching Black women who are passionate about changing the world, sharing with the world their creations. But I am always more enamored by the panel who pose questions that make me take a deeper look at myself and my business and the finer points of how to get to the bag!
Through watching this pitch competition, one of the bigger points that was constantly reiterated was “know your numbers”. Prior to watching BGV pitch competitions, I’d always walk around saying “I’m not a numbers girl”. Yet, here I was having that sentiment thrown in my face, forcing me to learn and affirming that if I didn’t, I could kiss goodbye any semblance of the success I know my business could have.
What is your revenue?
What are your overhead costs?
Why are you asking for this amount versus more?
When you’re evergreen, a lot of times you’re just winging it and hoping it just comes together. But, I now have a blueprint for the things I need to be very cognizant about and potentially hire someone to get me further in the know with the numbers.
The next thing I recognized was that no matter how passionate the women were about their businesses, when looking for funding, the “why” had to make sense. As a journalist, I would always tell mentees, “if you wrote it, have someone else read it”. The reason is because if you’re doing anything for an audience or consumer and it is only clear to you, but not them, no one will get it and therefore no one will buy it or invest in it. The BGV panelist made this point extremely clear based on questions they’d ask, alluding to the fact that if they, as investors, couldn’t identify the problem being solved, the market, etc. then those points needed to have been fine tuned.
Lastly, one of the most innocent takeaways from the latest BGV pitch competition was to relax! Yes, pitching your business can be extremely anxiety-driven, however when you’re in a room with people you know want to see you win because they created the lane for you to do so, take a breath and leave the nerves. Nerves while pitching can make you ramble and stumble to the point of appearing as though you don’t know your business at all. Finding the balance and taking breaths in between the pitch slides seems to breed effortlessness and the poise of a boss.
Ultimately, I am grateful for what this pitch competition brought forth for me and the ultimate message is: Success is possible when you believe in yourself while extending that belief in being open to learn what you don’t know.
More professional interactions are happening via Zoom and other video-calling apps, and I don’t think that will be changing anytime soon. Just like an in-person meeting or job interview, it’s important that you look your best on video calls. Here are a few ways to do just that.
Fix Your Lighting
It’s usually not cameras that make people look good – it’s the lighting. If the lighting is bad, you won’t look your best. Avoid overhead lighting and backlighting. Ring lights are reasonably priced and widely available. Just play around with the intensity and placement once you set it up. You don’t want have “hotspots” – bright spots on your forehead and nose. If you see those, turn the lighting down. On a budget? The best place for you to set up is usually in front of a window.
Adjust Your Camera
This usually involves raising your camera by propping up your laptop on books or getting a stand for your iPad. To look your best, you want your webcam to be at (or just above) eye-level. That’s how people normally see you in person, and it’s what they subconsciously expect. Make sure you’re looking at the camera. An easy way to make sure you do, is to put a post-it or red sticker by the camera. It will remind you to always look there and you’ll get into the habit quickly.
Check Your Staging
Remember that everything in view on your Zoom reflects on you – good or bad.
If you are at home or in an office, then make sure that the area is neat and tidy. Be careful about every element in the frame. Each will communicate and either add to or detract from your message. Consider adding some personal elements in the background to underscore your personality. Some recommendations include:
Family photos
Plants
Art
Objects that show your hobbies (cycling, music, literature, etc.)
Just mentioning taxes to new and aspiring business owners can cause a lot of stress. I get it! No one wants to be on the wrong side of the IRS. But you can’t let taxes intimidate you from making your dream a reality because it’s part of the process.
Here are 5 tips about taxes that can help you take the stress out of Tax Day:
The right accountant is worth the money!
Don’t believe the hype that accountants are only for well-established big businesses! Having the right accountant is what will help establish your business. Your accountant should be able to prepare financial statements, and work with you to track income and spending, monitor cash flow as well as your gross and net profits. In the beginning, you may only be able to afford an accountant at tax time, but set a goal to keep them on all year round. That way, your payroll taxes, expenses, deductions and more can be in line so that tax day is just another day for you because you’re PREPARED.
Keep business and personal accounts and expenses separate.
You may not think it makes a big difference in the beginning because the expenses are small, but have that big business mindset! If the IRS audits your business and sees personal expenses mixed with business expenses the IRS could start looking at your personal accounts as commingled funds. Separate bank accounts and credit cards for your business are worth the trouble and will make running your business much easier in the long run.
Make a smart plan to pay your taxes
At tax time, it seems like everyone around you is at 1 of 2 extremes…they’re expecting their refund or stressed about taxes they owe. The bad thing about taxes is they have to be paid. However, the good thing about taxes is that they’re absolutely predictable. Make a plan (err on the conservative side) for what you expect to owe for your business and personal taxes and set aside that money every month. If you plan it right, the payment won’t be such a stress and could possibly net a few dollars. But however you manage it, make a smart plan (with your accountant if possible)! Check with your accountant to see if you come out better paying estimated taxes quarterly instead of a big lump sum tax payment in April.
How you classify your business makes a difference.
Your business is your passion and OF COURSE you’re the expert on the kind of business that it is. But remember, that great branding is wholly different from how you classify your business with the IRS. Classification mistakes can make you overpay taxes or lose out on incentives and programs that could help you build bigger. Do your research and discuss with your accountant or attorney the differences between a C Corporation, S Corporation, Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Liability Company, Single Member LLC or Sole Proprietor — because they all have different advantages and disadvantages.
Deductions! Deductions! Deductions!
Small businesses can write off a number of expenses as tax deductions to help lower the amount they owe on their income tax.
Business meals
Work-related travel
Work-related car use
Business insurance
Home office expenses
Telephone and internet expenses
Professional service fees (i.e. accountants, lawyers, business consultants, etc.)
Child and dependent care
Advertising and promotion
Startup expenses
REMEMBER: everyone’s situation is different and before you claim a deduction, run it by your accountant to be sure it fits IRS guidelines.
I think the narrative you create of my life is dangerous. My most consistent thought was between the ages of 7 and 30 was, “I wish that people would stop trying to tell me what to do.” After 30, I transitioned into thinking, “I wish people would stop thinking that I am taking uncalculated risks. I know what I am doing, and I got this!” At age 36, it was “I wish people would stop tryna put me in their box when everything I am doing is working successfully.” At 40, it is “the heaven you built for me in your head is the one I have been rebelling against. The rebelling feels like hell to you and feels like running from fire for me.” Now, sitting here in Athens, Greece, in a subpar hotel feeling like I want to go back to sleep (it’s 2:30 pm here) and not be bothered with touring Acropolis, my revelation is that the heaven (on earth) that I enjoy does not make sense to most people. Things that don’t make sense to most people are deemed abnormal, and so it is true that I am not normal. By the way, in Greece, they pronounce the “l” in “salmon,” and this makes me happy because having a silent “l” is one of those US-based norms that’s really silly to me. Back to the story….
Now I am asking myself different questions. Instead of “why do people keep pressing their truths and the truths they want for me on me?” I am transitioning to “how can I live my life daily with more of the truths that bring me joy so loud and clear that the truths other people want for me sound like cars passing by.” The sound of cars passing by is ordinary, forgettable, and a sign of movement around me but not the kind of movement I need to attach to. I am in my own car, driving, chilling with my own music, making my own phone calls, navigating the rest of the vehicles. What those cars over there are doing ain’t none of my business. Even though they are honking because they want me to speed up or slow down, I know my limits on my own safety and I am confident that we won’t have an accident. Sometimes accidents are unavoidable. Children are wanting you to be a different parent. Parents want you to be a different child. Ugh that reminds me, I forgot to send money to my Dad, getting to the Zelle now, Dad (if you’re reading). Some accidents will result in an easy repair.
Some accidents mean the car is totaled, and you will have to walk away and drive something or somewhere else. However, you don’t forget that you know how to drive no matter what car you’re getting in. Wait…I took that car metaphor a little far. LOL! Ultimately, just know that you get to be you everywhere that you go. The sooner you realize that you aren’t like anyone else, you will be building the heaven you want vs. running with your pants on fire from someone else’s! So now, I think I will go tour the temple of Zeus. I went and got it (freedom, money, etc.) like that so I can have it like that so I can be like that! You should do the same!
I have lived many lives. I have been a computer scientist, a teacher, a patent examiner, a community organizer, an author, and a poet. Six years ago, I decided to build a teepee in my living room and rent it out on AirBnb. People told me I was crazy, but I put an ad up and the response was overwhelming. Ultimately, I decided I didn’t want to open my home up to strangers, but I had had my first taste of entrepreneurship and I never looked back.
Today, I am the founder and CEO of Black Girl Ventures, an organization that provides Black and Brown woman-identifying founders with access to community, capital, and capacity building in order to meet milestones that lead to economic advancement through entrepreneurship. Within a year – during a pandemic no less – our small nonprofit has grown into the largest entrepreneurial ecosystem on the East coast.
Throughout my life, the simple philosophy that has guided me is: Resist Being Average. It is a discipline; a muscle that you build over time. It’s what allowed me to defy the odds as a single mother of three to build an ecosystem that represents $10 million in revenue and 3,000 jobs.
Know Your Why
We make an estimated 35,000 choices per day. Who we become is the direct result of the everyday choices we make. So what are you going to commit to? Pursuing your passion is not enough. Research by Harvard Business School professor Jon Jachimowicz suggests most of us don’t know how to pursue our passion, which is not fixed, but can change over time. Instead, knowing your purpose – that is, your reason for existing and the unique value you provide – will allow you to overcome challenges and stay grounded in your vision and values.
Living with purpose will help you defeat your biggest enemy: the inner critic. Imposter syndrome will tell you that you don’t know enough, that you don’t belong where you are, that you don’t deserve the accolades or the opportunities that come your way. Don’t listen to your inner critic. Believe in yourself and trust the work you’ve put in. If you don’t, someone else will always be ready to tell you who they think you are or should be.
Several years ago, when I started my print shop, I printed 2,000 “Made By a Black Woman” t-shirts by hand in a lab because a good friend of mine had hyped me up and told me I would sell them all at an upcoming event. We did not sell out at the event; we just broke even. In fact, I still have some of those shirts from that batch. I used to keep a table and some shirts in my trunk and I would pop up anywhere and say “I’m selling these shirts.”
Later, when I was launching BGV, my ex-fiance discouraged me constantly, telling me I would never make it. This was a man who had never been a business owner. He did not want me to get into business. He wanted me to choose between being an entrepreneur and being a wife, as if I couldn’t exist in both worlds at the same time. Thankfully, I did not listen. I stayed true to myself and it changed the trajectory of my life. The lesson I learned from these experiences was to never take advice from someone who does not know anything about business.
People often ask me “how are you so fearless?” and I tell them “I am not fearless, I am fear-facing.” I believe fear is like walking into a dark room. It’s scary, it’s unknown, but you run for the light switch. You know there is a light switch there somewhere, you just have to find it. It’s about maintaining that belief in yourself, no matter what the outer circumstances are. For entrepreneurs, fear is a natural state of being. 75% of ventures fail within 10 years. If you focus on fear, you will steer your life toward what you fear. So it’s all about focus, because what you focus on is what you will feel.
Keep your purpose in mind and use fear to motivate you, to learn and come up with better, more innovative ideas. I always knew I wanted to support Black and Brown women. When I started my first venture, my mom invested in me. She gave me $5,000 and I hit the ground running. I took my tax money, and I flipped that into more money. I bought the machines to open my custom apparel and merchandise print shop, MsPrintUSA, which eventually gained clients like Amazon and Google. With the funds I made from that, I launched Made By a Black Woman, a marketplace offering clothing, accessories, and home decor created and curated by women of color. After that, I launched BGV.
In today’s rapidly evolving world, grounding yourself in your vision and values is the best way to navigate uncertainty. Knowing your purpose will help you focus on the impact you want to have. While you will have to adapt to face the inevitable challenges that arise when you’re an entrepreneur, when you trust yourself and your vision, you will take action toward goals that are aligned with what matters deeply to you.
Four years ago, I gathered 30 women in a basement in Southeast DC. I modeled the event on the traditional African-American rent parties from the early 1900s in Harlem, where Black folks would have festive gatherings to raise money to pay rent. I wanted to draw on the creative energy and rich oral tradition of our community, so we included call and response, poetry, music and storytelling. I asked the audience to vote with their dollars after listening to a series of pitches. We collected money in jars. We just had a good time. That was how Black Girl Ventures and our signature crowdfunded pitch competition were born. For that first event, we didn’t even have a mechanism of transferring money to the winners. But it was a success, and we grew from there.
Shortly after, the news came out about Black women receiving less than 1% of venture capital funding, despite the number of Black women founders growing at a rate that was six times higher than the national average. That’s when I knew I was onto something.
Your purpose is what you do in service of your vision. LEGO is the world’s largest toy company, but it doesn’t just sell toys. The company is committed to “the development of children’s creativity through play and learning.” We don’t just host crowdfunded pitch competitions; BGV is reimagining the way small businesses access social and financial capital. We are the friends and family round they need before even approaching a VC. BGV’s purpose is to direct flows of capital to Black and Brown women founders to lay the foundation for generational wealth.
When you are clear about your purpose, you are prepared to pivot and innovate to meet the needs of the community you serve. When the pandemic hit last March, BGV was ready to adapt. We immediately brought our crowdfunded pitch competitions online. SheRaise, the tech platform I had built, allowed for increased viewership and donations. We also launched our online community, BGV Connect, because we know our audience. Facing exclusionary policies and institutionalized racism in areas ranging from employment to home ownership, access to credit and loans to health insurance, many Black women founders struggle just to keep their heads above the water. 41% of Black businesses were forced to close their doors due to the pandemic. We began hosting weekly virtual coworking sessions because we knew our community needed a safe space to gather, have inspiring conversations, dig deep, and deal with challenges together.
Sticking to your values provides a compass during times of uncertainty. When George Floyd was murdered by the police, there was a lot of racial tension. Our funding was winding down and I was worried about my ability to raise more in such a tense climate. A white woman, an ecosystem builder who has a tech platform for women entrepreneurs, told me I should officially change the name of Black Girl Ventures to just BGV. She thought Black Girl Ventures was too loud and that the B should be ambiguous, for Black or Brown. I considered what she said and then I thought “Why would I do that? Who am I erasing?”. I stuck with the name Black Girl Ventures, and since then, we’ve received millions of dollars in donations and partnered with some of the world’s leading businesses.
We’ve also had instances of having to turn down partnerships due to a lack of alignment. Last year, a large social media network approached us and wanted to launch a partnership which would have brought significant resources to BGV and our community. But at the end of 2020, there was a slew of allegations about discriminatory practices against women and POC at the company. I made the decision to turn them down due to their poor business practices, because their reality did not align with our values of diversity, equity and inclusion. Another Fortune 500 company wanted to give us funding, but wanted the money to be used to activate their employees. I decided that would not be the most efficient allocation of resources. We need funding to go toward programs for our community.
Be a cultural translator
The second topic I want to explore is having a fundamental understanding of cultural nuance. Culture shapes economic outcomes through social capital. Whether you’re building a team, expanding into different geographical regions or speaking with a prospective client, understanding how your worldview may differ from others’ is critical. Being a cultural translator – or finding someone who is – is one of the most important business lessons to learn when interacting with different communities.
What is your definition of diversity? When building my team at BGV, I initially recruited all Black and Brown women, because I wanted my team to reflect the people we were serving. A big part of what we do at Black Girl Ventures is validating Black and Brown women founders’ identity as entrepreneurs, telling them “you can do this and we’re going to do everything we can to help you.” So having a team that speaks their language and understands their lived experiences was key. Later I brought on team members from different backgrounds so as not to be exclusionary. In venture capital, it is largely white men investing 98% of VC funding into businesses led by other white men. We didn’t want to replicate silos that are counterproductive to inclusive economic development.
Diversity can take many forms. Rather than focusing on cultural diversity internally, we prioritized cognitive diversity and sought out creatives with high emotional intelligence who didn’t necessarily have traditional professional backgrounds. Having different perspectives and ways of processing information forces us to regularly disrupt our own way of doing things. Research has shown that cognitive diversity helps teams resolve problems faster.
Building across different ecosystems means working with different communities. Once I had a successful business model, I started to travel across the country, finding passionate Black and Brown women champions on the ground to lead the pitch competitions in their cities. The way they do things in Birmingham is not the same way they do things in Houston, and the way they do things in Philly is not the way they do things in Miami. So first I had to find local entrepreneurs and business leaders who could help me build momentum and who had access to a community we could count on for participation, turnout, funding and support. Only after taking those steps would I start to put down roots and build the business.
One year, I met a woman who said “Come to Baltimore!”. We connected and put together an awesome event. The next year, she wasn’t available and without her, the turnout in Baltimore was low – it didn’t have the same energy. I learned that establishing credibility locally through on the ground champions was my best route to sustainable impact. Especially if you are not from the area, you need to have the trust of the community you are working to serve. Otherwise, it can feel like you’re just parachuting in without the intention to create lasting change and strengthen the local ecosystem.
Finding champions on the ground who were already plugged into the local startup scene was a critical move. These Change Agents would then learn how to hold the ladder for others and/or how to find the person they need to hold the ladder toward moving to the next level of success. Our Change Agent program evolved into the BGV Fellowship, a nine month paid leadership development program to nurture business leaders and ecosystem builders in entrepreneurial hubs across the US. With the support of our partners, we are building a movement of Black and Brown women who are shaping the future of business through their local ecosystems.
Our emphasis on community-building is rooted in a longstanding African-American management philosophy of businesses leaving a positive impact on the social and economic landscape. In the early 1900s, at a time where racial discrimination was rampant, beauty industry pioneer Annie Turnbo-Malone built a multinational cosmetic empire, creating almost 75,000 jobs primarily for Black and Brown women and supporting employees, customers and local communities.
We often hear about the nuances of doing business internationally, but people are not generally aware that their language and behaviors are interpreted differently by communities within their own country or region. In the U.S., saying yes usually signifies agreement, while in some Eastern cultures, it means that you have understood the message, not necessarily that you agree with it. I encountered a similar disparity in cultural cues while learning to navigate the world of philanthropy. White donors would often come up to me and ask “how can I be helpful?”. That was their way of politely saying “ask me for money.” I wasn’t used to this coded way of speaking. In Black culture, people say what they mean. If someone wanted to support your work, they would say it plain and offer it to you. Understanding different cultural norms and forms of communication is crucial to navigate different communities.
We also hear countless stories of founders getting turned down by investors who did not understand the problem they were trying to solve because they had an entirely different frame of reference. They did not see the market opportunity because they were used to making deals with people who look like them. Gaining insight into your counterpart’s culture should be part of your due diligence. Understanding cultural nuance opens the door to better communication and an increase in opportunities.
Play to win
Working in business is a team sport and being an entrepreneur is like being an elite athlete: you have to play to win. It extends beyond the court. It’s about putting it all on the line to accomplish your goals. Giving the best of yourself always pays off. You become a magnet for people who share and can amplify your vision to drive social change. And when you understand the rules of the game, you can start changing the game.
At each stage of my journey as an entrepreneur, I was able to level up because of relationships I had invested in. Social capital is as important as getting the funding. Your connections can open doors for you that you never would have thought possible. This is especially important for Black and Brown founders, who are often starting from scratch in terms of the professional networks that you need to access funding as well as for recruiting and mentorship. Even if you succeed in raising funds, if you don’t have the team or network around you to help you manage it or give you feedback on how to grow and scale, you can only get to a certain point.
Here’s an example of social capital in action: I was able to connect with Google through someone I met at a women’s group. That contact became a good friend and ally, and helped connect me with other people and opportunities. At Google, other people became strong supporters and champions of my work with BGV. Google Cloud for Startups ended up sponsoring us and we were able to scale across the country and hire videographers and photographers in eight cities to help tell our story. With this increased visibility, Black Girl Ventures received a $450,000 grant to launch chapters in five cities.
Today, Black Girl Ventures has partnerships with some of the biggest corporations in the world, including Nike, Visa, Paypal and more. Many of these relationships started organically. We were able to connect on a human level because we created a system that allows people to work with each other on a challenge that they can see. One of our upcoming initiatives with Nike is to create murals across three cities celebrating the contributions of Black and Brown women business leaders. Art is a powerful tool to shift narratives and drive social change. All of our partners share our commitment to level the playing field for Black and Brown women founders, and we are finding creative ways to tackle inequality together.
It’s time to rewrite the rules. Conducting business as usual is no longer an option. We don’t need to prove that inequities exist; the time has come to change the whole system. That means stepping away from the traditional old boys’ club model and bringing visibility to the creative, innovative work being done in our community. It means elevating the untold stories of Black and Brown women in business who have been quietly paving the way to a more inclusive economy and a more equitable society for all of us. It means working smarter, not harder.
In Black culture, it is often said that you have to work twice as hard, and in entrepreneurship, grind culture is celebrated even as it takes a toll on our mental health and psychological well-being. But it doesn’t have to be that way. According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity. Prioritizing our health on all levels makes for a happier and more productive workforce. At BGV, we start every meeting with a check in to see how everybody is feeling. We have a therapist-in-residence who hosts monthly wellness circles for our community. We offer flexible PTO and encourage the team to take mental health days when needed. When we fill our cups first, we are better equipped to provide capital, capacity and connections to our community.
We often speak of the “BGV Universe” because we are bringing to life a new vision of the world, one that is founded on equity, diversity and inclusion. Black and Brown ecosystems like Black Girl Ventures are not only poised to be a source of dealflow, but also a resource for products and services, corporate gifts, content creation and marketing. Companies can draw on our networks to find interns, fill board seats and ensure supply chain diversity. Black and Brown women founders span generations and skill sets.
I often think about my legacy. What do I want to be remembered for? What do I want to leave behind? I’m a mother of three so I think about the example I am setting for my children. My youngest is 6 years old and all she will have ever known is entrepreneurship, me running multiple businesses, leading teams and driving social change through what I am building. I think about how I am a role model for her and how everything I do is expanding her field of possibility.
Know your purpose, understand cultural nuance and play to win. These are the key lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur and ecosystem builder. At the core is optimizing the relationship you have with yourself and others. When you’re clear about your mission and know how to navigate between different cultures, you can change the rules of the game. Each and everyone of you has the potential to be exceptional. I invite you to join me in the fight to resist being average and to build a more equitable and inclusive world. Thank you.
