America Has A Problem

Persevering Through Adversity with Cam Newton and Ayana Parsons

Accountability: “I think a lot of people don't understand the value of allowing people to do them. Certain people think the flex is being a boss. The flex is allowing people that you hire to do their job. I believe in accountability. So, if I'm assigning you to do a job, then I'm just holding you accountable. I'm entrusting you to do that task and making sure you see this task through.”

Rest and Recovery: “You have to listen to yourself. I can take a day off because I know that the following day I'm gonna be up on my game. A lot of people don't understand themselves first. Do you know your non-negotiables? You have to implement knowing when enough is enough or when you need to take a break. It’s essential.”

You are Enough with Elaine Welteroth and Shevon Jones

The myth of success: “I think there is this myth that once you arrive at a sort of one level of success and even write a book that is hopefully inspiring other people to know that they are more than enough. I think the myth is that there's a destination."

Like I did it, I'm done. I get that I'm more than enough. I've checked that off the list and that's it. That's not the case, right? You continue to level up and with each new level, my mom would say, comes new enemies. And you need new tools to navigate and you often have to revisit some of those old lessons learned, and you hopefully reach them from a different vantage point.

I like to think about it like a spiral staircase. And the lessons that we’re meant to learn are vertical. And as you ascend, you want to revisit some of the same themes, but hopefully from a higher vantage point with a new perspective. That's the goal. It's not to transcend every moment of self-doubt. It's to be able to revisit those moments from a higher vantage point.”

Imposter Syndrome: “I think women in business get asked about that a lot. And I think it's important to address it's not always the right way to frame what we, as Black women, experience. There's imposter syndrome, and then there's showing up as all of who you are and them not being ready for that. That's different than imposter syndrome. Instead of self-doubt calcifying within you, you recognize that there is a system in place that was not built for you.”

Resetting expectations in the workplace: “Your expectation should never be to walk into a job and be filled up. You need to make sure that your cup is full and running over before you walk in and expect that you will be pouring out. You will be drained. You will be drained by the encounters, the experiences, the challenges. You will have some days where you'll feel like you're winning, and you'll feel refilled, but you should not walk in expecting to get filled up by anyone or anything, especially as it relates to work.”

The Truth about Acquisition with Ayana Parsons, Ebbie Parsons and Janee Bolden

Preparing for an Acquisition: “When I talk about understanding your multiples, you gotta understand the value of your business before you even create it. We were the first company ever to do DEI management consulting. We built it into our management consulting practice and we had the most successful Black consulting exit in history. We started looking at the multiples, we looked at the industry, you got to look at market trends, you got to watch the news, and then you got to be ready to exit.”

Your Company is not Your Baby: “A lot of entrepreneurs forget and act like their company is their baby. I had to remind several people I have two babies. They live and they breathe, not my business. The business is for my babies. But a lot of entrepreneurs get so attached to their business. That the negotiations break down over the most minuscule thing.”

Diversifying Your Customer Base: “Being dependent on a single customer or a single industry [is risky]. We learned it early on. One of our biggest clients was Netflix but one of the things we knew is that we couldn't be solely reliant. If Netflix makes up 50% of your revenue, nobody cares about your business because if something happens with that one customer, you're done. So diversifying customers and industries helps protect you.”

Self-Limiting Mindsets: “What so many entrepreneurs of color often do is we limit ourselves at the gate. We stop at, well, I only need… But why? That white dude didn't only ‘need.’ And that's a really important thing when we think about creating our businesses. Because we, we really have to get out of the mindset that I can only grow to so much.”

Know what you need to not need to work after an acquisition: “Say you profit $400,000 a year, and somebody wants to pay you 2 million for your business. You're going to have to sign a non-compete. And if you're not employable outside of your company, then did you make enough money to not work? You did not. And that's also why you see so many entrepreneurs start a business completely different from what they did before because they have to due to non-competes when they sell. And this is not an employment non-compete. This is a transaction non-compete. Every court in America gonna come for you.”

Getting to $1B exit with a $1B business: “The average $1B exit the founders get around $40M-$60M dollars. If you want $40M to $60M, you don't have to have a company worth $1B. You can have a company worth $40M to $60M, which means that your revenue can be significantly less if you understand the multiples.

So, just put in perspective, you could have a business that's only doing $7M in revenue and take home the same amount of money as somebody who sold a company for $1B and the reason is that if you have 100% equity ownership, That's how that math works.”

Leadership & Balance: The economy of self with Touré Roberts

Another way to look at what it means to retire: “Understand the principle of retiring. There are two words I see in retire: Re and Tire. Rethink what you allow to Tire you. Rethink what you are investing your resources into.”

Know Thyself: “Clearly define what it takes for you to become your best self and have strong reserves. This necessitates you learning who you are. To thine own self be true, but you can’t be true to a you you don’t know.”

Affirmations to protect the economy of yourself:

• I will never mismanage myself again.

• I will never neglect myself again.

• I will never ignore the signs and signals that are sent my way to get me to change.

• I will no longer sacrifice myself to achieve my goals