The Secret, the Significant, the Successful: Profiles of Women-led Businesses, Vol 2

Welcome to the second edition for The secret, the Significant, the Successful.  Each newsletter will be broken down into three parts:

• The Secret - Secret & Behind the Scenes Founder Conversations
• The Significant - Entrepreneur Success Secrets
• The Successful - Profiles of Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs 

You can pick whatever matches your mood.

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1. The Secret

By: Roshawnna Novellus • Newsletter: The secret, the significant, the successful: profiles of women entrepreneurs

The capture of a Secret Founder Conversation:

Founder 1: I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t win that pitch competition. You were amazing!

Founder 2: Well, I found out later that the winners were selected before the competition began.

Founder 1: How do you know that?

Founder 2: Well, all the press promoting the competition focused on two of the finalists and excluded the rest. Those were the two that won.

Founder 1: Well, could it have been that it was just a coincidence?

Founder 2: Well, no.

Founder 1: Why not?

Founder 2: Well I later found out that none of the judges' feedback was included in the decision-making process.

Founder 1: Well, competitions are really about marketing and alignment with the brand of the organization. So, every competition is rigged. But, did you get something out of it?

Founder 2: Yes, I met a lot of like-minded people and I met an investor in the audience.

Founder 1: So was it ultimately worth it?

Founder 2: When you put it that way, of course.

Have you ever had a conversation like this?

How did yours resolve?

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2. The Significant

3 Challenges I Overcame As A Black Woman Starting My Own Business

I decided to define my own path ...

By: Roshawnna Novellus • Newsletter: The secret, the significant, the successful: profiles of women entrepreneurs | Originally Published in Blavity

Some of you may have heard the statistic that Black women only raise an average of $42K for their businesses and most don't know how to attract a team. I read these facts — and let them go. I decided to define my own path as a Black woman business owner, regardless of the obstacles so many of us face.

Here are three challenges I had to work to overcome to make my business become a reality and thrive: 

1. Getting Over People Underestimating Me

For a long time, I believed that if I obtained more degrees or appeared on more "top" lists people would give me the benefit of the doubt when trusting that I could achieve whatever I wanted. I mean, how much evidence does someone need? Eventually, I accepted the fact that if people don't want you to succeed, it's a waste of time and energy doing the work to be accepted into their circles. A better use of time is to focus on solving your customers’ needs so that your business’ success is your evidence.

2. Not Comparing My Journey To That Of A Privileged White Male

Almost every business book out there shares the story of how a successful white male was able to accomplish something amazing against all the odds. But what isn’t said is how this person didn't have to worry about cash flow, stability or lack of access to a network. I admit, a time or two I was upset when someone in that group did a fraction of the work I’ve done and received 100 times more accolades. But I realized that what's for me is what's for me.

Again, making my life miserable through comparison was a complete waste of time. All I can ever do is continue to grow along my path to success. We all have unique talents that we can leverage to achieve our life goals.

3. Understanding That Only Action Creates Change

It's really easy to call out an organization for not having diversity and not being culturally relevant, but often the people who are causing the pain lack true interest in making a change. Companies will do whatever it takes for us to buy their products, but nothing more. So, I decided that if I wanted to support an organization run by a Black woman in the financial services industry, I would have to create and build what our target users and I needed.

Adding angry faces to social media posts or witty tweet comebacks doesn't create the products that we seek.

All in all, to overcome most of these obstacles, I had to stop focusing on what was wrong in society and focus on what I could do to enact change. My greatest wish is that through my platform, EnrichHER, 100,000 women will be able to control their own economic destiny. By owning our destiny, we can stop placing our hopes of prosperity with people who have no incentive to help us succeed.

How can you apply these lessons to your journey and your business?

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3. The Successful

Civic Dinners: Be Brave Enough To Start A Conversation That Matters

By: Roshawnna Novellus • Newsletter: The secret, the significant, the successful: profiles of women entrepreneurs | Originally on EnrichHER.com

Fast-paced technology, the insatiable addiction to social media and a lack of in-person human connection have become a stark reality for most Americans. While looking to the future of Atlanta specifically, Jenn Graham created Civic Dinners, tapping into her passion for inclusivity and belonging. With her pilot program of 60 dinners in just 6 weeks, Jenn was able to bring diverse groups of millennials together around the common love of a shared meal and human connection. The purpose of “What do you love about Atlanta?” was to create a better understanding of what is important to the people of Atlanta as a whole and how to collectively create actionable items for a robust future all while creating a common bond over food.

Jenn gained powerful insight during the pilot project and was able to market the idea to one of her Aha! Strategy consulting clients, the Atlanta Regional Commission. Together they created the platform, “New Voices: Millennial Advisory Panel”, to gain a local millennial perspective focused on topics such as transportation and mobility, healthy-livable communities as well as innovation and workforce development.

 “Millennials don’t want to attend a town hall or fill out a survey only. They want a human connection. They want their ideas heard and to know “What’s Next?”, states Jenn.

With the partnership of the Atlanta Regional Commission and launch of “New Voices”, Jenn and her team were astounded with the results of hosting 35 dinners over a 3 week period of time. 5 out of 135 Civic Dinners’ attendees ran for office including the school board and city council. Standout participant Bee Nguyen ran for State Representative as the first Vietnamese woman in Georgia and won the election!

Nonprofit organizations emerged from Civic Dinners conversations such as “Advanced Atlanta” which is the only grassroots coalition around regional transit advocacy. Due to the hard work, networking and the newly formed resources, “Advanced Atlanta” was able to unlock funding, play a big role in getting 2.8 billion in referendums passed, and the Marta package passed on the ballot.

As Civic Dinners has taken on a life of its own, clients such as Teach for America and the Sierra Club have engaged the strategic dinner structure to create effective educational platforms and realistic renewable energy plans. Jenn looks forward to taking Civic Dinners around the country to build trust, connected communities on a human level and continue to follow her life’s purpose of creating inclusivity and action.

Can you share any entrepreneur stories like Jenn’s?

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If you enjoyed this newsletter, subscribe; after you do, here are a few other ways to stay in touch:

1. Nominate a Founder for up to $250,000 in small business financing. We deployed $3million to qualified women-led businesses in 2019, and our goal is to deploy $50 Million in 2020.
2. Attend the Women Who Lead Conference. EnrichHER's Women Who Lead Conference helps you grow and scale your business. Choose from over 30 workshops on your schedule. Network with over 1,000 like-minded women-led businesses. Learn how to access capital to grow your business.
3. Join EnrichHER Society - EnrichHER Society is a deeply engaged network of women-led business owners. Our rapidly growing community provides tactical support and guidance, while we provide unique access to business financing. With over 1k members, you'll connect with like-minded business owners, apply for up to $250k in business financing, access grant opportunities, and get the resources that you need to grow.  

Dr. Roshawnna Novellus is the founder and CEO of EnrichHER, a financial platform that connects female entrepreneurs with lenders who want to earn a return on their investment while fueling the growth of women-led businesses. Dr. Novellus is a gender equality advocate who believes in economic empowerment and inclusive economic growth. Dr. Novellus holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering, with a Minor in Finance, a Masters of Science in Information Technology emphasizing Information System Engineering, a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management Economics, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering – achieving Summa Cum Laude in each. Roshawnna served on the Commission on Women for the City of Atlanta and was honored as one of the Women Who Means Business by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, one of the 40 Under 40 by Georgia Trend, one of the Top 25 Disruptors and Innovators in Tech, one of the 27 Black Founders and Investors to watch by PItchBook, and LinkedIn Top Voice #5 in Technology.