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Minding Her Business: Exploring Alternative Funding Sources For Black Women Entrepreneurs presented by McDonald's
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00:00Coding the future is the language I look about, building a better world, and I'm passing it on to kids like me.
00:06Look out world, we got it from here.
00:09Check out McDonald's Black and Positively Golden Mentors on Instagram at WeAreGolden.
00:20Welcome to Minding Her Business, exploring alternative funding sources for Black women entrepreneurs brought to you by McDonald's.
00:28On this panel today, we will be talking with three bold Black women entrepreneurs to get their cheat codes on how we can help our businesses thrive through exploring alternative sources of funding.
00:41In the words of Solange, these are Black-owned things.
00:44All right, let's go ahead and meet our panelists for today.
00:48First up, we have Emmy Award-winning journalist, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, and one of Essence's 50 founders to watch, Miss Ranisha Bing.
00:57Hey, girl, are you there?
00:59Hey, how are you?
01:01I'm good, I'm good.
01:02Excited for this conversation, it's so important.
01:05Oh my goodness, listen, let me finish out this intro, okay, because you are doing amazing, amazing things.
01:11True to her personal mission statement, no one ever slows her agenda.
01:16Ranisha is a rising star and it's rising fast.
01:19She is the founder of Her Agenda, a digital media platform for career-minded millennial women and the co-founder of Hurston House, a member's community where Black women can be their best and most authentic selves.
01:33Next, Miss Renee Blewett, a Brooklyn New Yorker, which I'm super proud of because Brooklyn, filmmaker, digital content creator, PR consultant.
01:44I mean, the list goes on.
01:45You're serving as an advocate for Black women's accurate representation in the media, which is necessary.
01:52Renee is a master storyteller committed to giving Black women entrepreneurs the shine they deserve.
01:57With over a decade of experience, Renee has gained valuable insight into Black women entrepreneurs' narratives, all right?
02:06That's a passion that she recently channeled into her first film as creator and executive producer of the documentary, She Did That, which is currently streaming globally on Netflix, which is huge, and other international platforms.
02:20Welcome, Renee.
02:21Thank you for having me.
02:23Thank you for the wonderful intro.
02:25No doubt, no doubt.
02:26All right, and finally, rounding out our panelists today, we have actress and content creator, Jasmine Love.
02:34Hey, Jasmine.
02:35Hey.
02:35Hey.
02:37Jasmine is best known for curating hilarious and thought-provoking material on her social media channels, which collectively boasts an engagement subscriber of about 3 million.
02:48Is that true?
02:49That's a whole lot of people.
02:50Yeah.
02:51So she uses her humor to bring people together in hopes for inspiring healthy relationships and friendships with her content.
02:59She's also starring in the upcoming BET Her Film, Like, Comment, and Subscribe, directed by Cheryl Lee Rao.
03:07Hey, Jasmine.
03:08Hey.
03:09How's everybody doing?
03:11Awesome.
03:11I mean, what an amazing space to be in with the three of you ladies.
03:17So thank you for allowing me to sit down with you today to kind of pick your brains and get some, you know, information and some gems that we can share with future female Black entrepreneurs.
03:27So I feel like we should just dive right in.
03:29What do you think?
03:30Yes.
03:30Yeah.
03:31So as we all know, building a business from the ground up is a lot of hard work.
03:37To start a business, you have to have a good idea, but you also need the money, right?
03:43All right.
03:44A loan from a bank, they may not be the best option for everyone, but luckily there are other avenues that entrepreneurs can take to explore, like grants and crowdsourcing.
03:54Can each of you take your turns and just kind of let us know, what is your funding secret weapon?
04:01Okay.
04:02I'll start off.
04:03And I'm so happy that you asked this question because it's actually one of the things we unpacked and she did that.
04:09So I want to frame this.
04:10So when you look at VC funding, women across the board are only getting 2% of that money, 2%.
04:17And when you look at Black women, we're actually just getting a fraction of that 2%.
04:22It's like 0.0000006, like the crumbs.
04:28Okay.
04:28But what's awesome about Black women is that we're turning water into wine, basically.
04:34And we're making things happen and we're building these brands and legacies, even without all of the resources that our counterparts may have.
04:40And so one of the things that I have done with In Her Shoes and also with She Did That is align with brands, you know, pitch brands for brand partnerships.
04:50I think that right now, especially a lot of brands are understanding the value and the impact of Black women.
04:59We influence everything globally.
05:02Nothing happens without us.
05:04And if these brands are smart, which I know they are, they will definitely take a serious look at these partnerships that, you know, we're pitching to them because we, you know, we support each other, you know.
05:16And so if those brands align with us, they're tapping into a community of loyal Black women who will elevate their brand and elevate their mission.
05:26Okay.
05:26So I would definitely suggest researching, you know, think about what your mission is and, you know, what you're trying to get done and research all of the brands out there who are authentically trying to connect with Black women.
05:41Not in a performative way, but authentically and pitch your ideas to them and, you know, see what's out there.
05:48So, Renee, what you said was so very, very key and paramount.
05:52I mean, working with brands, we know that we're already going to be creating amazing content for them.
05:57So in working with that partnership, we're now taking that funding or that money or that payment, whatever it is for you, and then funneling it back into our businesses and into our communities where we can then get our tribe to rally around what our passion is, which I think is so, so, so amazing, especially at this point in time in society or in media where social media particularly is so, so key.
06:20So, Jasmine, tell me how you, as a content creator, what's your secret weapon when it comes to funding?
06:26I totally agree with Renee is saying it's all about finding brands that align with what you represent.
06:31So I represent healthy relationships, financial literacy, and it's all about finding brands that represents that as well.
06:39You're helping the brand.
06:40The brand is helping you, and it's also helping other Black women entrepreneurs.
06:43No, that's amazing.
06:45I think having that mutual beneficial factor for the brand and for you is so important because your audience can definitely feel when it's not authentic, when it doesn't align with what you stand for or what your content normally provides.
06:59So being able to kind of sift through that is very, very important to remain authentic in whatever it is that you're creating.
07:07So last but not least, go ahead, Ms. Renesha.
07:11Tell me what you have as your secret weapon when it comes to funding your business.
07:15I'm going to add on and say I love, love what Renee said to frame this conversation.
07:21I'm one of those entrepreneurs that had to get creative.
07:23I started my company in 2008, and my goal was to raise funding from investors, but at the time, this was 2008 again, people didn't think media startups could scale, and investors are looking for companies that can give them a 10x return, and so you have to be able to scale.
07:43They didn't believe that a company like mine could scale, one, because it was a media company, and two, because of the fact that I'm a Black woman and they underestimate us every time.
07:51So I turned to my community.
07:54I put on a lot of events, built up my audience, and then monetized my community.
08:00They bought into me because I was delivering a service to them.
08:04They understood the value of Her Agenda, and they were my first revenue stream.
08:08We started a private digital community called Her Agenda Insiders, offering our audience access to a hidden job market, mentorship, programming, all happening within an app.
08:19So that is my secret weapon, the community around me, and letting them tap into us.
08:25Nothing like rallying around each other, I mean, to help support each other's dreams and goals.
08:31I think that is so key.
08:32But it's funny because we have the communities, which is our own community of Black women, who tend to support each other.
08:39But we also have a stigma around the Black women where we don't want to ask for help sometimes, and we try to do everything ourself, and we try to not have to delegate responsibilities because we feel like, you know what?
08:50I can do this.
08:51I know I can.
08:52And in most cases, we probably can, but it would be easier as an entrepreneur to then outsource on things that may not be your particular strength.
09:00So, Renisha, I'm going to come back to you.
09:03Since we're, you know, trying to do it on our own, but we can sometimes use a little bit of help, how do we shake the stigma for those Black women entrepreneurs, forgetting what it is that we need and having to sometimes ask for help?
09:14I'm so glad you asked this because if you're, like, me and you're a perfectionist, it's so hard to just let it go and delegate and ask for what you need.
09:24And one of those reasons is because we think we have to have everything together before we bring it to someone else.
09:30We think it needs to be perfect.
09:32But you need to do the opposite.
09:34If you wait until something is, quote, unquote, ready before you bring it to a teammate, a potential teammate, or you tell your friend about it, you can potentially miss out on the market.
09:46You risk missing an opportunity.
09:49So we need to think about asking for help not as a weakness but as a strength because it does take a lot of courage.
09:55So if you have the courage to put your baby out there before you have the logo perfect, before the website is up, that is what you need to do because when you get that early help, it allows you to get accountability partners straight out the gate because your friend, your mom, your cousin are going to be like, okay, you said you were launching this thing.
10:15What are you doing with it?
10:17I didn't see any updates.
10:18And so if you want to keep your integrity and be someone who keeps their word, you're going to push through and push forward.
10:25And those early days are the hardest when you are looking for web designers, when you are trying to get the paperwork done to get your LLC up and running.
10:34It helps to get out your way when you think about it being bigger than you.
10:39We are standing on the shoulders of our ancestors who came before us, and we're paving the way for other women coming behind us because we're Black women entrepreneurs and founders, and we are needed and necessary.
10:53So get out your own way, ask for what you need, and get it done.
10:57Yes, that was a sermon.
10:59We took us all the way to church, right?
11:02Say what I know I would have needed to hear as a young person right now.
11:06Welcome to takeaways.
11:07And I hear all the time that we are our ancestors' wildest dreams.
11:10So you, in saying that, it's like remembering the why, remembering why we're doing this, remember your passion for it.
11:16And it's funny because something with passion, I was actually speaking recently with my husband and a colleague about passion and finding what the passion and the purpose is.
11:25And the individual, it could be something career-related.
11:28It could be personal.
11:29Sometimes you feel like you want to take one route, and it may not be the route for you.
11:33So, Jasmine, I mean, you've taken a pastime of making hilarious videos, turning it to a whole on-screen career, including a movie this year.
11:42But that's a world away from your master's degree in accounting.
11:46So when did you figure out that, you know what I mean, this was going to be your passion or maybe something you wanted to pursue, which is far away from accounting?
11:55And how did you financially plan to take the leap from being an accountant to a content creator?
12:00Yeah, so I started to create content in 2015, like late 2015.
12:06And before I started doing content, I was an accountant at an accountant firm.
12:11And the time that I started realizing that I wasn't having a passion for an accountant was when I was at work.
12:16And instead of doing my job, I was writing out scripts.
12:19And that's when Vine was out.
12:21And I was like, you know what?
12:22All these men are on Vine.
12:23You know what?
12:24We need some female voices out here.
12:26And I would be at work supposed to be doing my accounting stuff.
12:29And I'm over here just writing out scripts to make when I get home.
12:32So that was when I finally realized I had a passion for writing and for creating.
12:37And I started to put my content out there.
12:39And I would visit L.A. here and there between going back and forth to South Carolina.
12:43And one day I just said, you know what?
12:46I want to move to Los Angeles.
12:47To this day, I still have no idea what even started that.
12:51But it was just something in me where I was like, I'm going to do it.
12:55I only have one life to live.
12:56And I'm just going to wing it.
12:58I remember coming home to my parents and telling them that.
13:01And they looked at me like, what's going on?
13:03How are you going to get the money to move all the way to Los Angeles?
13:07And that's when I decided I have to make sure I have a safety net.
13:10So I'm big on financial literacy, clearly, because I have an accountant.
13:14I made a master's in accounting.
13:16So before I moved out here, I made sure I had a safety net.
13:19I made sure I had three months rent before I moved out here.
13:22And I always tell women that who ask me, how should I move out there?
13:26How should I start?
13:27Make sure you have a safety net because coming out to L.A., it's a huge step.
13:32You want to be prepared financially because I hear a lot of people all the time that say,
13:37you know, they came out here with a couple of dollars in their pocket and I don't see how I did it.
13:42And that's wonderful.
13:43And I respect every and everybody who does that.
13:46And I just think it is so important to come out here financially ready, you know, have three months rent.
13:53At least that's what I always say, because I came out here with three months rent and was like broken a month.
13:59And back in 2015, when you started the content created, did you anticipate being able to for it to be as loopy as it is now?
14:05Oh, never. I never would have thought. I actually didn't even think about the money when I started.
14:10I just started seeing, you know, fine. And I said, hey, I want to do it.
14:13And it made me made me happy. It made me feel good to create and make people laugh.
14:17You know, I love hearing messages from people that say you helped me on my journey to happiness by watching your video.
14:24That does more to me than money could ever do.
14:26Right. And it was mainly about that. I had no idea.
14:30Right. So by making that leap, you were able to then build out some financial freedom for yourself at this point.
14:36But also knowing to be the process. It's not something that just happened overnight.
14:41Exactly. And I tell that to women all the time that you have to be patient because I know when I was in 2016, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm going to move to L.A.
14:47I'm going to be a millionaire in like a year, you know, making videos.
14:50So that is not the case. OK, it's like four years and yeah, we're not a millionaire.
14:54So it's all about patience. It's all about being dedicated and never giving up.
15:00Those are the main things. Right. Thank you for that.
15:03Renee, you've been sitting right over there in Brooklyn. How are you doing?
15:06I am great. So you have built a very successful empire and inspired quite a few black women to do the same.
15:13So how have you seen alternative funding create freedom for your business or freedom for other black women entrepreneurs?
15:21So I'll speak for my business. The freedom that I've experienced with the funding that I've been able to secure is there are a few things.
15:31First of all, creative freedom. You know, there's nothing like trying to produce something.
15:36And again, I'll go back to the film experience. There's nothing like trying to produce something on a shoestring budget.
15:42And, you know, we had a very small independent film budget, but I will say that the funding that we got from our brand partners allowed us to have a little, you know, breathing room.
15:53You know, prior to that, we did crowdsourcing and we did a GoFundMe, but, you know, that wasn't enough to bring the entire vision to life.
16:03So I can definitely say that the funding we've been able to receive through brand partnerships has given me that freedom that I needed to, like, create and not feel stifled by the budget.
16:14And so that's always a beautiful thing. When you're creating, you don't want to be thinking about numbers at every single corner. Right.
16:22So that's been my experience. Oh, my goodness. Amazing. Renee, I mean, you know, it's crazy.
16:28I feel like I was supposed to come to the premiere of She Did That and I might have had a scheduling conflict.
16:35But now that I know it's on Netflix, I have to tune in. Please do.
16:40Tune in as well. So that way we can chat about this the next time we rally around.
16:44I wish I could talk to you ladies all day. But unfortunately, that's all we have time for.
16:48But before we close out, I do want to give you guys each an opportunity to let people know where they can keep up with you and what you have coming up next that we can look forward to.
16:59I'll start. I can be found on Instagram and Twitter.
17:03I am Renee Blewett. The film's page is She Did That Film.
17:08And I have some things up my sleeve that I'm not quite ready to announce yet.
17:13Yeah. 2020 is not over yet.
17:16But we are still accepting blessings.
17:19And so I'm looking forward to sharing the news when it's time.
17:22Jasmine, tell us where we can find you and what you got going on.
17:25Yeah, you guys can find me on Instagram, L-U-V underscore J-J-P, as well as Facebook and YouTube with Jasmine A-Love, L-U-V.
17:33And right now I'm super excited because I have the new BET Her movie coming, like, comment, and subscribe, directed by Shirley Rupp.
17:40I'm so excited for that, for people to see me in a different type of character other than comedic.
17:45So, yeah, I'm excited.
17:46October 17th.
17:48Oh, that's soon, soon, girl.
17:49Yeah.
17:50All right now.
17:52And, Rae Misha, close this out.
17:54I'm on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn.
17:58But you can find me on heragenda.com.
18:00Of course, check our website every day.
18:03And on Instagram, I'm at Nisha's Agenda, N-E-S-H-A-S Agenda.
18:09My company is at Her Agenda.
18:11And we're also the same handles on Twitter.
18:14Sounds good.
18:15All right.
18:15Thank you so much to our esteemed panelists for all of these tips.
18:19I know me, myself, will be taking a couple from you and a couple from you and a couple from you.
18:24And I will be implementing that into my work life as well.
18:27So thank you for sharing.
18:28Thank you for loving on each other because creating a space like this for us Black women is so, so, so important.
18:34Alternative funding is an invaluable tool for Black women entrepreneurs.
18:38And we need to know all about the resources available to keep these Black-owned businesses thriving.
18:45So thank you, ladies, again.
18:47Thank you for chatting with me and all of us for future endeavors.
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