Entrepreneurs

"Blistering. Honest…[O]ffering clear-eyed perspective on how African Americans got to where they are today and what they can do to support black business owners."

"I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 15 years ago"

"When I decided to pursue a graduate business degree, I knew I wanted to study at an institution with a global reach that would prepare me for the full scope of my professional journey."

"Targeting and understanding what they want is what counts. Every month I go shopping with our customers, we’ll go together to different stores. I’ll watch as they feel fabrics, appreciate design… This customer listening is crucial.”"

"After all crypto Guapcoin is essentially money, and as the days go by, it becomes closer and closer to becoming accepted as legal tender everywhere."

"I am originally from Alabama but started my professional journey at NASA in logistics management."

"Montserrat is the gift that keeps on giving. Whenever new team members joined and they would say ‘I didn’t finish my work.’ I would say you’re never going to finish your work"

"No matter how carefully patterns for leather goods are planned, high quality, unused, freshly tanned and dyed leather falls to the cutting room floor as seemingly unusable pieces."

"In our annual consultant survey that took place in Q4 2022, approximately 60 consultants serving TIAA clients rated the consultant support they receive from us as “best in class."

"This rating stems from TIAA specifically prioritizing the role of consultants."

"There’s a real partnership approach and a real respect for the work that gets done here with the team in finance – how they manage the funding and the projects and programmes, and there’s a recognition for how hard it is to get those things done."

"We then plan our cuts carefully, ensuring that we produce as little of our own off-cuts as possible. Each component of our system is then individually cut before it is hand woven, piece by piece, into whatever it is we need."

"It really is less red tape than moving money, therefore making it more affordable than services like Western Union or MoneyGram."

"We’ve done lots of work working closely with government on CIPREG projects. We are about to break ground on the hospital project and with other projects there’s been some challenges in delivering them. But the way that’s progressed and the additional funding that we’ve got which is non ODA is a really positive sign.”"

"It is just amazing that we are at the stage to have a successful evaluation. We’ve got a bit of work to do, but for a small territory with a small number of people, the amount of work that we galvanised together and pulling in the new legislation – it was a partnership with government to get all of that in place. In terms of lasting impact for Montserrat, I think things like the CFATF make a big difference.”"

"It could actually be cheaper in the long run for you to use crypto to move money to people across the world."

"Unfortunately, we live in wasteful times. This means the list of materials we would like to rescue is incredibly long and represents millions of tonnes of valuable material. We know that our particular style of alchemy is a powerful solution for all kinds of materials but we have to focus. Right now, we are committed to solving the leather issue."

"Vastly expanding access to lifetime income to more Americans and making sure we’re serving clients with excellence, efficiency and speed."

"I have met with 10 different consultant firms, made up of over $375 billion in assets and 880+ clients."

"I’ve been a real champion of mental health and safeguarding and I know it’s a difficult conversation to have and it’s very hard for people, but I’m really proud of the work that my team, all of the ministries and the police have done together."

"It was disheartening that my partner and I despite being two successful black women in tech could not raise the money we needed to scale our MVP."

"Be good at what you do and be kind. Almost every role I have had came through recommendation"

"Say yes to opportunities. Take the chance to get involved in additional projects that arise - don't see this as work you are not getting paid for but a new chance to learn and grow."

"We’ve done this in various ways."

"We changed our segment name to Retirement Solutions, which represents our focus on understanding our clients’ needs and serving as their advocates to influence the development of offers and solutions."

"I realized that most of my collection is targeted at a niche market, which makes it very difficult to pitch the brand to the right people and places, especially deciding which countries to distribute the products to.”"

"Find work you love. If it doesn't feel like work it will bring you pleasure and you will be able to give what you need to succeed. If you don't love it you may be in the wrong company or sector."

"This led me to launch Guapcoin, which I felt could eventually open up more capital and more options for people like me."

"We are open to their feedback and view them as partners in our fight to close the retirement gap for more Americans."

"I was initially inspired by the young, rebellious rock elite of our era, as I’d never seen fine controversial jewelry designed for a niche market of the young and fearless, involving weapons and illegal substances. I then realized that I did not want to provoke use of weapons through my designs, as the designs were merely for comical attraction, the same way children play with toy guns; so I decided it would be an idea to donate to specific War Funds such as War Child with each item sold.”"

"Once you send it, that's it, unless they send it back to you."

"Be ballsy but always be fair, consistent and kind. I have no idea why women feel they need to act tough to succeed."

"I am obsessive about customer research, personalisation and in-store consultations to get customers to try something new. Oh, and not wasting time on 150-slide presentations. It’s about distillation.”"

"That’s one of the things that differentiates it from paper money."

"We’ve also laid out a multi year strategy for our business segments."

"“The starting point in my design process has always been a rough sketch of my imagination, I’ll then spend a lot of time with the dimensions of the product and precisely draw each design in my portfolio with the exact measurements. I’ll then send my designs to my manufacturer and he’ll send me back a preventive and the CAD files on the computer to see if I would like to go ahead with it before it is produced.”"

"This was my second startup, it was during my first startup, a company called 'Safe2meet', a P2P verification platform, that I discovered that Black women get less than 1% of VC or capital funding for their companies."

"there’s one question I always ask the board: "If this board knocked it out of the park over the next three years, what would we have done?" It stimulates a healthy debate which helps us align around a shared vision of what great would look like over the coming years."

"Know what you don’t know… and then find someone who does."

"TIAA has an incredible opportunity to take the blueprint that it has used to more Americans."

"TIAA’s asset manager, Nuveen, is of the world’s largest investment managers that delivers award winning investment capabilities across asset classes."

"And I’m very clear: everyone around the board table needs to take personal accountability for the whole. That means leaning into conversations outside your area of expertise, never being afraid to ask the "dumb or awkward" questions, and thinking systemically. It’s up the chair to foster an environment that encourages that sort of approach."

"The cost of public transport. It’s so much more expensive here than other European cities and it’s a real challenge for my team when you think about the cost of coming into the office. Everyone has to get up and go to work and the cost of transport shouldn’t factor in, but unfortunately it does, which is one of the many reasons why we support hybrid working."

"If you are using your debit card or your credit card, it's really not instant settlement."

"Instead of producing a few things that are just supposed to work broadly, the demands and the needs of audiences that want to see people and characters and stories that are reflective of their lives becomes more of a priority."

"Working in streaming there is just more of a global perspective and more of a demand for content for audiences of color."

"They make it look like it, but it's not that's why people can file chargebacks or have pending transactions."

"I am the Co-Founder of Block4Hire.com, a platform that connects blockchain talent with budding entrepreneurs and companies."

"There’s so much more support nowadays and the environment is much more open to starting a business, especially straight out of university."

"I am the Founder and Creator of Guapcoin, a cryptocurrency focused on closing the wealth gap and providing access to crypto for African Americans, Latinx people, and the global African Diaspora."