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00:00Please give a warm welcome to Takira Winfield-Dixon and a fantastic panel.
00:12I said happy Friday, y'all. All right, okay, so listen, it's such an honor to be here. For so
00:23many of us, we have been reading and supporting Essence throughout the years. So being on this
00:29stage feels like our little black girl sells again as a dream come true. And I'm just so
00:36thankful to be given the space to lead this important and very timely conversation. So
00:42listen, earlier this year before Beyonce was talking about our new salvations, I wrote about
00:49what many folks have called the Great Resonation. I shared a bit about my personal story and
00:54for folks who know me, you know that I always tell people that I didn't just take a leap
00:59of faith. I took a leap and black women caught me. So since launching my business over a year
01:06ago, you know, I've come to the realization that I'm fine and I will be fine. And I also
01:12wrote about the fact that many black women have simply just been pushed out of their jobs or
01:18others, while others, like me, and some of these other ladies, just peaced out. So the latter I refer
01:25to as the Great Emancipation. So as black women, we're often seen as radical. And let me tell y'all,
01:35we're remarkable. America has rarely reckoned with anything. I don't know what they're reckoning with
01:41right now, honestly. But we're expected to show up all the time and save this country that never saves us.
01:47So for me, I'm really ready for us to save ourselves. So we have got to begin to move beyond just
01:55surviving here. We have got to thrive. So I'm excited to sit with these five incredible visionaries
02:02today. Though our paths are very different, we are all different black women. What we have in common is
02:09that we're founders. And we're leaders who've each made the choice. Let me say the choice, America.
02:17To walk away and walk toward our freedom. So let me bring out our first lady. She's an MSNBC contributor.
02:27She's a soon-to-be, I'm calling it best-selling author and the founder of Advancing Health Equity,
02:34Dr. Uche Blackstock. Yeah. All right. Let's do this. Okay. Now y'all know this lady. Please welcome. She is a force,
02:54a force to be reckoned with. The co-founder of Black Voters Matter and the founder of Southern Black
03:02Girls and Women's Consortium, Ms. Latasha Brown. Y'all give it up for Latasha on the front lines.
03:11Yeah. All right. All right. Okay. Best-selling author, founder of the memo. Our next panelist knows that toxic work
03:27environments are not the place to be for black women. Please welcome Minda Hartz. Yes.
03:33Whoo! Whoo!
03:36Yes. Yes, the memo. Yes.
03:40Joining us next, she's the founder of Buy From a Black Woman, a nonprofit organization that empowers,
03:51educates, and inspires black female entrepreneurs. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Nikki Porche.
03:58Yes, Buy From a Black Woman. And finally, I'm so proud of her. We have a founder, attorney, and business and
04:15legal affairs advisor who believes that entrepreneurship is the path to freedom. Please welcome Jeanne Williams.
04:30All right. Ladies, y'all ready? Yes. Absolutely. All right. Let's do this. So look, for so many of us, we decided to take the leap long before we actually took the leap.
04:42Can you all each tell me a bit about sort of when you actually decided to take the leap?
04:49Uche?
04:51Sure. I'd love to go first. So first of all, thank you so much for having me here and thank you for being here in community with us.
04:57So for me, my decision to take the leap was the culmination of a lot of little moments, moments of disrespect, humiliation,
05:07feeling undervalued, but also moments of success and feeling like I should be treated better.
05:14And then I had conversations with people close to me, girlfriends, my late mother's spirit, who I could hear her
05:22talking to me, pulling me close to her, saying, you don't need to accept this. You deserve better.
05:29And so really, it was those conversations with the people close to me and the culmination of all those moments,
05:35some painful and some successful, that pushed me to take that next leap.
05:41You know, mine was a little bit different. Actually, I was working for an organization that I was doing the work that I love to do.
05:48And I couldn't justify in my mind. I was like, well, I got a steady salary. I'm doing pretty good.
05:55I get to do in many ways what I want to do. But I was working at this organization.
06:00Quite frankly, one day was really interesting. I realized that I was fundraising for the organization, but I was raising my own salary.
06:07I was like, wait, wait, wait. So why am I raising my own salary to work for somebody else?
06:13If I can do that, I can raise my own salary for myself and my own vision. And so in this process, I'll be honest.
06:20I was at an event. I knew a year earlier that spirit just told me my time was up, right?
06:26Not that anything, because sometimes we wait until something goes wrong.
06:30And so spirit had told me earlier my time was up and I was at sleep one night and something said, you got to write the resignation.
06:36I was actually on a business trip. You got to write your resignation letter right now.
06:40And I was like, okay, okay, I'll do it. And I started writing it. I finished it. I went to bed.
06:45Spirit was like, get up, send it now. And I sent it and I cannot tell you. I felt like, you all ever seen the whiz?
06:52Then the whiz, a brand new day, brand new day. When they're coming out of their skin, that's exactly how I felt.
06:58I felt like I was going into another space. So it was a moment that I had to literally be accountable to the vision that God gave me.
07:05Amen. All right. Happy to be here with you all. Thank you for joining us.
07:11You could be anywhere in this convention center and you're here with us. So thank you so much.
07:15My situation was I had been in corporate America at the time for about 12, 13 years, and I was struggling.
07:22I was at my worst and I'll never forget it because I was in my car and I was, I was crying because I had just felt like I had done everything that dominant culture had expected me to do.
07:35I code switched to death. I wore my hair the straightest. You know, I just modified my name so that they would feel comfortable.
07:41And I just felt like I never had that humanity, that dignity, the respect that my other colleagues were getting in the workplace.
07:47Yes, I was making good salary. Right. But at that point, it wasn't enough. But I wasn't in a position to be able to quit at that time.
07:54And that pained me. And I sat in my car that day, lashes on the ground, you know, just in a deep, deep cry.
08:01And I turned on the radio and Whitney Houston's where do broken hearts go comes on the radio.
08:07And I thought, God, you have a funny sense of humor. And I thought, where did the broken hearts of women of color go when we can't take the workplace anymore?
08:16And it was in that moment that I made the leap in my mind that I would recenter what work meant and find the courage to leave.
08:24And that's what it takes. Courage, the ability to do something that frightens one.
08:28It took a few years before I left and actually took the leap.
08:31But in my mind, I said, as Audre Lorde said, beware of feeling you're not good enough to deserve it.
08:36And I knew I deserved something better. Yes. Yes.
08:39For me, I set off on faith. Thank you. Right.
08:42I was like, I'm going to do it, but I'm going to save my money before I do it.
08:45I was a school teacher and it was when I started taking days off and I didn't hear I didn't get paid.
08:49And I was like, oh, you have no more days left. You're not going to get paid for the day.
08:53But I'm making more not being here. So and then when the kids were like, Miss Porche, you're always off on Thursdays.
08:57I'm like, oh, it's time for me to go for real. So I worked the last school year.
09:02I stacked, I stacked, I stacked and I just didn't go back.
09:06I just didn't go back. That's true.
09:11Period. Oh, my goodness.
09:14Thank you all for being here. I am so grateful that you're all here listening to us.
09:19So thank you so much. My situation happened on Valentine's Day.
09:25Those who know me, I'm very much a big proponent of Valentine's Day.
09:29It's one of my favorite holidays. And I was I was actually an entertainment litigation attorney and I was working at a firm.
09:37And I the partner was requiring that I had to stay late.
09:44And it was like it was like eight or nine o'clock and we were still working on a deposition.
09:49And I just looked over at him and I'm like, this is my Valentine's Day.
09:53I don't even like him. And and we were sitting there and it just it just occurred to me.
10:01I'm like, you know what? I want to have control over my time.
10:03I want to have control over the kind of clients that I take.
10:06I want to have the ability to move forward in the ways that I want to and in the direction that I feel is right for me.
10:13And I didn't feel like I could actually do that working in someone else's firm.
10:17And so when I decided to leave, I received other offers from other firms.
10:22And it just kind of struck me that, wow, I'm receiving all of these offers to go to these other people's firms to build their business.
10:29They must see something in me. Why don't I see that in myself?
10:32And so from that moment on, I decided to start my own firm. So, yeah.
10:38Can I just add there was something that Minda said that really resonated with me that, you know, a lot of it is being courageous.
10:46And sometimes taking that leap, sometimes it's scary.
10:50And I think it's human instinct to run from something that is scary.
10:54But just because something is scary doesn't mean it's where you should be or where you should go.
10:59So we need to reframe, reframe what scary means and reframe what courageous means.
11:05Because sometimes, you know, taking that leap is really the best thing that we can do for ourselves.
11:10But we don't realize it.
11:12So we really have to dig deep inside of ourselves and take that leap.
11:16And really, I call it a leap of faith in yourself.
11:19No one else but yourself.
11:22I want to add really fast to that about courage because it takes courage, y'all, to do this thing.
11:27It takes a lot of courage.
11:28And when I sat in the car that day and I thought about courage, I thought about all the black women that came before me
11:34that I was a beneficiary of their courage.
11:37That's right.
11:38I'm able to do the things.
11:39We're able to do the things because people came before us that were courageous.
11:42And I sat in my car and I asked myself, Minda, who's going to be a beneficiary of your courage?
11:47That's right.
11:48And I ask each of you to consider that for yourself.
11:50Rather you stay in the marketplace or you leave it, who's going to be a beneficiary of your courage?
11:54And I didn't have an answer for that that day.
11:56But it manifested in a best-selling book about women of color.
11:59That's right.
12:00Yes.
12:01I love it.
12:02I love it.
12:03Buy from a black woman, y'all.
12:05You know, there's one thing that I heard from, I think, from all of us.
12:09There's an issue around timing as well.
12:11And sometimes we actually beat ourselves up saying, oh, I stayed too long.
12:17Or not recognizing that sometimes you got things, you got to marinate a little bit.
12:22Right?
12:23You got to get your mind right.
12:24If you're going to jump out here, listen.
12:26Jumping ain't for you if you ain't for the weak of heart.
12:29Let me say that.
12:30Right?
12:31And so, if there's a sister out there or brother that's listening and you are considering this,
12:37that there is something around timing, but timing is not what you think it is.
12:40Timing isn't that everything is lined up and you know and you got the answers.
12:44I didn't know what I was going to do.
12:46But timing is when there's something in you that says, it's enough.
12:50It is complete.
12:51What I have been doing, it is complete.
12:53It is time for me to move to the next level.
12:55I'm going to trust you, God's spirit, the trust account, whatever it is.
13:00Right?
13:01But it's something around being able to tap into that natural timing.
13:05And your spirit knows when it is if you're able to listen to it.
13:08It's really about the divine timing, really.
13:10I mean, we all have our idea of like when we should take leaps or when we should move forward.
13:14But in all actuality, you should be looking at like when is the divine timing happening.
13:18It's like for you, it happened in that moment where you were waking up in the middle of the night going,
13:23I need to send my resignation letter.
13:25Like we don't necessarily have control over exactly when that moment happens.
13:29But when you get that inkling, then it's time to go.
13:33And sometimes we do stay longer than we should because we're not necessarily trusting ourselves or thinking like,
13:38oh, you know, but I have to have this lined up or I have to have this amount of money.
13:42I have to have X, Y, Z.
13:43But sometimes you'll miss an opportunity because of that fear.
13:48And at the end of the day, like a good, our good patron Saint Beyonce said, she said,
13:52listen, sometimes when I'm scared, that means I want it bad.
13:56I want it bad enough.
13:57And in that, I think that it's the moment that you should take.
14:01For sure.
14:02And look, folks will do all kinds of things to get you to stay your salary.
14:07They raise your set.
14:08Girl, let me give you a raise.
14:09Let me give you a promotion.
14:11Let me.
14:12And here's the thing.
14:13This is why it's so important.
14:14We're on the wealth and power stage because wealth and power to black women is beyond money in our pockets.
14:20Wealth is about the ability to divine, to find that divine time, design our own success and our lives.
14:28And so, Uche, I think you know this very clearly.
14:31Yeah, and to make our own choices.
14:33And I also wanted to say, you know, on that issue of time, no time is wasted.
14:37So, you know, like you often say, you know, you have regrets that you stayed so long.
14:42But what did you learn during that time?
14:44What are the valuable lessons that you learned that you're never going to repeat?
14:48Right?
14:49So no time is ever wasted.
14:50So never beat yourself up about that.
14:52Yeah.
14:53I just want to add, make sure you're listening also.
14:55Like we're talking about time, but you have to listen.
14:57You have to listen to your voice, listen to the powers from the universe.
15:00And when you stay too long, to your point, things are going to start falling apart.
15:05I know for me, I knew it was time for me to go, right?
15:08And I didn't listen.
15:09And when I didn't, everything else was just like, okay, now I'm getting written up.
15:12Or now I'm being insubordinate at work.
15:14Or this happened, that happened because I stayed past my time.
15:18I was not listening to what I was supposed to be doing.
15:20So you get those type of things.
15:21And when you say things are going wrong, wondering, am I listening?
15:25Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing?
15:27Yes.
15:28Yes.
15:29So true.
15:30So I want to talk about the who for a minute.
15:32So I think we mentioned, Minda, you mentioned the ancestors and all the folks who came before us.
15:37I want to talk about the folks that believed in you long before you knew it.
15:42Mine was my husband who's in the audience somewhere.
15:45Okay.
15:46Hey, Calvin.
15:47So small story.
15:50So he purchased me an iPad for my birthday right before I walked away.
15:56And it was the smallest gesture, but it was the biggest thing that mattered to me because it was an investment in my firm.
16:02And he made the first investment in my firm.
16:04So I want to talk about the who.
16:06Who were the folks that believed in each of you before you made that leap or even once you made that leap?
16:12You know, one of the people is actually in the audience.
16:15Chancey Lundy.
16:16Where are you, Chancey?
16:18You know, she's a business owner and we would talk about other things, but she's my girlfriend and my sister.
16:25And she would get on the phone and was like, look, Tasha, she was like, just bring it like, you know, you're supposed to be gone.
16:30Like it is time and it's time for you to do something else.
16:33And sometimes you need that person that's in your corner to actually push you.
16:38I will say my issue wasn't and I think we have to think about this when you're going to make that kind of leap.
16:43I don't think it's about running what you're running from.
16:46I think it has to be driven about what you're running to what you're running towards.
16:50So you can't just like leave out of I'm just tired of those folks.
16:53I think it really has to be a combination of what's really driving you is I'm moving towards my vision.
16:59Whatever this vision God has given me, I might not even know what it looks like.
17:03Right. I might not even know what the business really is supposed to do, but I know that I'm supposed to do this body of work.
17:08And I know I have these gifts and what I know for sure is that my gifts will make room for me.
17:13And so if you stand in that, that your gifts will make room for you, how can you fail?
17:18Because the people you've been working for, been working with, have been exploiting and using your gift.
17:24How can you utilize that gift that it opens up a space for you and many, many others around you?
17:29So is my girlfriends.
17:31Yes.
17:32Oh, I love that. Amen.
17:34Can we get an amen out there?
17:35That was hidden.
17:36Amen.
17:37I agree with that.
17:39I'm going to say my mom, who my mom and my grandmother are here, but my mom, she prayed for me during the time period.
17:48So when I thought about leaving and it took a little bit of time, having somebody you could go to who believes in you.
17:54Right.
17:55That makes a difference because let's be honest, we might share our dreams or our aspirations to leave.
17:59And then we tell some of the people who love us the most and they try to discourage us, not because they don't want you to make it, but because they just don't see the vision.
18:07Right.
18:08And so protect your vision.
18:09Our success is not a solo sport.
18:11We don't sit up here alone.
18:13There are people who are invested from my mother to my grandmother to if Melanie Parker's here, the diversity officer at Google, people who see you before you even see yourself.
18:22And I needed those people for me.
18:24And, you know, I'll just say that on expiration dates, Latasha, that that hit my soul.
18:28I have it written in my notes that I wrote years ago.
18:31There's no expiration on God's plan for you, Minda.
18:34You just have to activate it.
18:36And so I want to let you know whether you're sitting in the workplace, you want to leave whatever, whatever the time is, there's no expiration on what God has for you.
18:45Period.
18:46Say that.
18:47Say that.
18:48For me, it's always been black women.
18:51Whether black women I don't know, black women I do know, black women who came before me, black women who are looking towards me.
18:57It's always been black women who have built me up, encouraged me, and allowed me to make room for my gifts and talents and to be a valuable resource to other black women.
19:05So black women are, they gas me up.
19:08They're my gas station.
19:09That's right.
19:10I know that.
19:11That's right.
19:12Jeanne.
19:13I would say that there were three strong forces that were supporting me.
19:20One of them was my ancestors.
19:22I felt very, very supported by my ancestors.
19:25I felt very encouraged by them.
19:28And I also was thinking of our sister and ancestors who actually were entrepreneurs before us.
19:35We have so many, we have a long history of entrepreneurship all the way back through the transatlantic slave trade.
19:41And so all of these entrepreneurs who I was thinking of that when I had the moment to take my leap were people who actually were utilizing their businesses to buy their freedom and the freedom for their families.
19:56And so for me, that kept me grounded in what it is that I wanted to do.
20:00And also my coworkers, because all of my coworkers, they all knew that I was going to be leaving my job.
20:07And when I told them what my last day was, they all bought me a cake and they all put their money together and put it in a hundred dollar bill and put it in a frame and said, this is your first investment in your business.
20:18And I was just like, you know what I mean?
20:21Like people you wouldn't even expect are watching you, you know, and they're watching your moves.
20:26And so for me, that was super encouraging to know that I was going in the right direction.
20:30And I'm super grateful for that moment and all the moments that came after that were supportive.
20:36So, so I mentioned my mother a little bit earlier, but I'm gonna try not to cry, but I lost my mother when I was 19 years old.
20:43She, she was born in Brooklyn, New York in poverty, single mom.
20:48She had five siblings who's, you know, struggled with her and my mom had to jump over so many barriers.
20:54First person in her family to go to college.
20:57She got into medical school with the encouragement of a, of a chemistry professor.
21:01And she did things that she never thought she could do.
21:04And we know when I lost her at 19, I thought my world was over.
21:09My cheerleader, she was no longer there, but she is always with me.
21:14And so when I was going through the most difficult time in my job, people looked at me and they thought I was so successful.
21:21They thought I was happy.
21:23I had all these titles.
21:24I made a good salary.
21:25I was at an academic medical center, which is in medicine.
21:28It's like the pinnacle of success, quote unquote, but it wasn't.
21:32I was so unhappy.
21:33I was losing weight.
21:34I couldn't sleep.
21:35And, you know, I always heard my mother's voice.
21:38And I thought about how much she, how hard she worked for us, my twin sister and me to give us opportunities that she never had.
21:45And so, you know, I heard her voice saying, you don't have to put up with this.
21:50You can do anything.
21:51Sky's the limit.
21:52And she's always, always with me.
21:54So whenever I doubt myself, you know, I have conversations with her because I know she's with me.
21:59Our people never leave us.
22:01That's right.
22:02Our people never leave us.
22:03Like they might change form, but they're always with us.
22:05So your mother's been with you this entire time.
22:07She's here right now.
22:08She's here on the stage.
22:09She's real proud.
22:10Let me tell you, the ancestors are doing this.
22:16So what you feeling behind us right now?
22:18Like they're here.
22:19They're here.
22:20They're always here.
22:21Listen, I can relate.
22:22I lost my father.
22:23My father, I was a dad's girl.
22:24I lost my father when I was 23, right?
22:26My father was a force too, right?
22:28Growing up in Baltimore city, like a lot of firsts, right?
22:32So, you know, we have big shoes to fill, but they're always with us.
22:36Your mother is here, girl.
22:38All of us.
22:40There's one piece around.
22:42Let's be honest.
22:43When you're making a big move, there are people around you, sometimes in the effort to protect
22:47you, will tell you not to do it.
22:49I have family members who love me, who are saying, girl, you better keep that job.
22:54Right?
22:55You know, they're there.
22:56And so we have to be honest that there are folks around us.
22:58And then there's some folks who, some haters, they don't want, they don't want, they
23:02stuck.
23:03So they want you to be stuck.
23:04Right?
23:05We have to recognize there is always one person.
23:08Even when I am doubting myself, there's somebody out there that is rooted for me.
23:13Like, even if I had to make them an imaginary character up in space, like there's somebody
23:18that is, and the way that I see it, God and I are majority.
23:22So about my life, it's me and God.
23:24Everybody else, like, that ain't got nothing to handle your business.
23:28Right?
23:29But I think we also have to recognize that there's always somebody rooting for us.
23:33And the thing about that, like, my mother was a hater when I said, I'm not doing this
23:36thing.
23:37Like, biggest hater.
23:38Like, how the hell you a hater?
23:39But she's out there on the booth now.
23:40Right?
23:41And she was hate.
23:42She was hate.
23:43I mean, I don't know if she's on the stage like listening, but she was.
23:45But the thing was, she was hating because she was in a place of unknown.
23:50She wasn't sure it was going to work.
23:52And she wasn't sure if it was going to be a real thing.
23:54So she thought she was protecting me by being a hater, but it was because she was scared
23:58for me.
23:59You get what I'm saying?
24:00So, like, sometimes people hate or they're not, they are protecting you or telling you
24:04not to do it because they've never seen it done before.
24:06Right.
24:07They don't know that it's possible.
24:08They never even dreamt something like that.
24:09Like, how dare you think that you can do this when I was taught, go to college, work until
24:14I retire, get my pension.
24:15Why do you think you can do something different?
24:17That's not possible.
24:18And then when you do it, they're like, oh, I had no idea I can dream those dreams.
24:22I didn't know that was possible for black women, let alone, you know, women at all
24:26in this generation.
24:27So, you know, but now my mom's not a hater.
24:29She's on the booth.
24:30So she's listening.
24:31She's one of my biggest cheerleaders now.
24:33You know, I just wanted to, I totally agree with that.
24:36And I think as we're talking about when you share that you're going to leave and those
24:39sorts of things, that the main thing is understanding that when we tell other people about it,
24:43they're often operating in survival mode.
24:46So when we've been conditioned to only survive, that's the only tools we have to use.
24:51So we're redefining success by thriving.
24:54And that's why we deserve that.
24:56But we're role modeling what that could potentially look like.
24:59But again, even if you don't resign, what does courage look like for you in the situation
25:04that you're in?
25:05So maybe you're not able to leave tonight.
25:07You're not able to leave tomorrow.
25:08But give yourself permission to have the conversation with the manager.
25:12Have permission to have it with the colleague that's driving you crazy.
25:15Like, we get to have these small acts of courage to get us to this place.
25:19And so, you know, just be careful to protect your dreams.
25:23And don't, you know, we love our families.
25:26Sometimes you don't get it.
25:27I was an entrepreneur for about four years before I told some of my family members that I had been doing something else.
25:32Because I knew that some people just didn't understand.
25:36But I know it's not because they didn't want me to be successful.
25:39It's because they understood more thriving.
25:42But we're shifting the narrative to our survival to thrive.
25:46And that's what we're here to do.
25:47And that's what freedom is.
25:49We all want to be free.
25:50Say it again.
25:51I love that.
25:52I love that because I also think about the whole protecting your dream thing.
25:55Because sometimes when we're doubtful and we're nervous about our dream,
25:59we actually will tell other people that we know internally that they're not going to support us
26:04to substantiate that belief that we can't do it, that little piece of us that's afraid.
26:08And what you really should do is protect it.
26:12Because there are people that you know are going to be doubtful.
26:15There are people that you know that are maybe, that might insert a little bit more of that into the situation
26:21when you might be feeling a little wobbly yourself about the leap or the move.
26:26So in my opinion, I feel like, you know, you should just hold on to it.
26:30Hold it close.
26:31Share it with the people that you know are going to be that supportive guide.
26:35And if you encounter people who are not supportive to you, then you also go and talk to the people that are
26:41so that you have a balance between those energies and between that, like, those voices.
26:46Because it will start to make you feel like you can't do it, you know.
26:51And it'll start to reinforce that belief and that fear as opposed to moving forward with the direction of, like,
26:57feeling good and positive about the move that you're going to make.
27:00Yeah, I agree.
27:01Although when I told my father that I was leaving my job to start my own company, he said,
27:06wait, what are you going to do?
27:08And this is a man who had said for years, over 40 years, had told me, oh, you got to work for yourself.
27:13You got to work for yourself.
27:14You got to work for yourself.
27:15But when it was time for me to say, OK, I'm not going to work for myself.
27:17He's like, what?
27:18What?
27:19And I was so disappointed.
27:21I was hurt.
27:22I was sad.
27:23But I realized he was also very scared for me.
27:26And now, three years later, he told me, I'm very, very proud of you.
27:31I don't think it was that he doubted me.
27:33I just think that he was scared.
27:34And I think also he had never done that for himself.
27:36That's right.
27:37So, you know, I think also he had some scarcity mindset.
27:41And I had shifted from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset where I realized that there were so many opportunities open to me that I never thought there were.
27:52And so I needed him to make that shift, too.
27:55He hasn't yet.
27:56He's proud.
27:57So I'm happy with that.
27:58I just want to say, with that, protecting the dream, like, I'm the total opposite of that.
28:02I'm telling everybody my dream because it's my dream.
28:04You can't do my dream.
28:05I can tell you.
28:06You can't do it.
28:07And if you are a hater or you feel like I can't do it.
28:09Now, for me, it's all about accountability.
28:11It's about, okay, I'm going to work hard because you don't believe in this.
28:14And I'm going to show you that it's possible.
28:16Because I know once you see I'm doing this, whatever you're dreaming that you're scared of, you're going to, like, well, you know what?
28:21Nikki did that.
28:22And I think that she can do it.
28:23And I can do what I want to do, too.
28:24So for me, that's how I do it.
28:26Yeah, y'all, we're building a movement, right?
28:29Each of us has a role in building that movement and pushing everybody.
28:33And so, you know, I also want to talk about our brilliance for a second.
28:37So can we talk about how, like, you know, we are the culture.
28:40We move the culture.
28:41Folks steal from us, want to be us, but don't really want to be us.
28:45You know?
28:46So, like, what about our black brilliance?
28:48Like, why is it important, you know, to own our ideas, our visions, our legacies?
28:54What does that mean to you all?
28:57You know, I'll just start saying we also have to get out of this Western individualism mindset.
29:04Who I am and how I show up in the world is not just about me.
29:08It's literally I'm trying to operate on how can I make the greatest impact, not just for myself, but for my community.
29:16Black folks are hurting right now.
29:18So I want to be a vessel to relieve the pain.
29:21I want to get resources to my people on the ground.
29:24I want to build institutions that love black people, that actually we don't have to try to fight to get at the table.
29:30We're building our own beautiful table, right?
29:33And so part of this is really wasn't about how I can get another check.
29:37For me, it is, I think that's part of the trap that we've gotten into, right?
29:40I think part of it is how can I literally help facilitate black liberation by creating organizations, by doing things that are actually going to empower not even just myself, but others around me.
29:52And so part of the work for me wasn't just about a check.
29:55As I said, my check was okay, right?
29:58But it really was around how can I move in a space that literally at the end of the day, I'm helping my community get closer to looking at what freedom is and black liberation.
30:08I just want to say, I'm trying not to fangirl.
30:10Dr. Brown, like I, when I saw that, I was like, I've seen you.
30:14I know your work.
30:15So I'm trying not to fangirl up here, but you all see why, right?
30:19But I say black women are living examples, right?
30:22So people want to be black women.
30:24They want to steal from black women.
30:25They want to copy black women because black women really are the blueprint.
30:28We're doing it all.
30:30So we must protect ourselves.
30:31We must have these type of spaces where we're working with each other and not against each other to make sure that we're still building communities.
30:37We're still empowering each other and just keep doing the work that we're doing and showing up as ourselves.
30:43We had a brief conversation backstage and I'm not going to share it, but I was like, you get to make your own rules.
30:48Like you're living your life the way that you want to live it.
30:51So don't feel like you have to look a certain way, be a certain way, talk a certain way, act a certain way.
30:56You are the blueprint.
30:57So if you're saying this is how I'm going to be, this is how I'm going to show up, that's all you got to do.
31:02And just say that.
31:03There's no question mark.
31:04There's no comma.
31:05This is how I'm going to be.
31:06This is how I'm going to show up because I am the blueprint and I know that you want to look at me and be me.
31:10So this is who I am.
31:12Yeah, I think so much of the work that we do, as has been shared, is purpose driven work.
31:17I know when I started my organization, it really was to save black lives.
31:22It was to work with health care organizations to reduce racism in health care.
31:27And so every client I have, every conversation I have, I'm thinking about our community because no one else is.
31:35They're basically letting us die.
31:37They're letting black mothers die, black babies die.
31:41And we can't have that.
31:42But what I've realized is that with my organization, I'm growing a family, growing a community, and we can't do it without each other.
31:50Absolutely.
31:51And the work that all of us are doing is for the culture, for the ecosystem.
31:56We didn't leave because we wanted to be on TV or do these things.
32:00We left because we wanted freedom, not just for ourselves, but for the family, for the family.
32:05I didn't like being a black woman in the workplace how we were treated.
32:08So I said, you know what?
32:09I want to make the workplace better than I found it.
32:11That's why I write the memo.
32:12That's why I write Right Within.
32:13That's why I write You Are More Than Magic because we need to be reminded that we are the table.
32:18You asked about brilliance.
32:20We are the table.
32:21You asked about brilliance.
32:22We are the table.
32:23And once you understand that you are the table, then you move so differently and you can bring people with you.
32:27And so I think our brilliance is we are the table.
32:30That's right.
32:31I think honestly, like we're the most, black women are the biggest creative force on this planet.
32:38So it's so important for us to look at what it is that we're doing and understand that we have value and our work and our ideas have value.
32:46And because of that, we need to actually move forward with protecting those things that we create and allowing people to be able to enjoy them and things like that.
32:55But we do need to have a sense of ownership.
32:57I think that what has happened in our community oftentimes is that we've been told for so long that nothing belongs to us that we start thinking it.
33:06Like nothing belongs to you, not even your own body.
33:08So essentially when you're looking at it from that perspective, then you don't start to, you don't realize that you have such beautiful ideas that are meant to be shared, but also are meant to be owned by you.
33:20And so as an attorney, I'm always looking at this because I work specifically with intellectual property.
33:26And so for so many years, I would say for the first like eight or nine years until Instagram came along, I was like screaming into a black hole all the time saying, protect your ideas, you know, register.
33:37And people were just like, girl, I just want to create.
33:41I just want to create.
33:42And I'm like, yes, you want to create, but you also want to own what it is that you create.
33:45You also want to have a stamp on this world based on the legacy that you build through your own creations.
33:51And by doing that, you are actually leaving us all better than we were when we got here.
33:57That's right.
33:58That's right.
33:59All right, y'all.
34:00So I know we could be here all day and all night.
34:04So I'm going to do a two-parter last question.
34:07And if you all could tell folks where they can find you, how you can link up.
34:12So I'm unapologetic comms.com.
34:14We have a special landing page that's up right now.
34:17Three of these ladies are part of the firm.
34:19We're very proud of them.
34:21And also at Takira WD on Twitter.
34:25And my last question is what advice, what gems would you drop to your younger self?
34:32The little black girl growing up, what advice would you give to her?
34:37And then how do you reclaim your joy?
34:40That's a lot.
34:42Okay.
34:43So quickly, I would say I would tell my younger self that not only will you be okay,
34:48you're going to be more than okay.
34:51And to never put limits on what you think you can do, even though the world puts limits on us.
34:57So I would have never thought that I would be a medical contributor on the news.
35:01I would have never thought that I would have a book deal and be a soon-to-be author.
35:05I would never think that I'd be able to do all the things for my community that I'm able to do.
35:08So never put limits on yourself.
35:11And then what do I do for joy?
35:13I try to take small moments during the day, especially with my children, and just, you know, enjoy nature, enjoy life.
35:19Just slow down a little bit.
35:21And you can find me on Instagram and Twitter at ucheblackstockmd.
35:28This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
35:37I think if I were to tell myself, just be the light, just be you.
35:41Stop trying to be everything everybody else wants you to be, the world wants you to be.
35:45God made you uniquely you.
35:47You are the only you that will ever be that has ever been.
35:50And so if that was a word, I would say it was to just be me.
35:53What brings me joy, I'm glad you asked.
35:55Black girl joy, right here, the work.
35:58Southern black girls, it is the work.
36:01It's the work of really being able to see my vision manifest,
36:05really be able to see black girls get supported and organizations get resources,
36:09and our people take their power and stand in that.
36:12Listen, it ain't nothing like witnessing some black liberation.
36:15So that is what makes me happy.
36:17To stay in contact with me, I have two organizations, BlackVotersMatterFund.org
36:22or SouthernBlackGirls.org.
36:25You can follow me on Twitter, MissLatashaBrown, on all the social media.
36:29So that's how you can find me.
36:30Yes.
36:31First of all, I just want to thank Takira and the Unapologetic team,
36:34because y'all are, in essence, thank you so much.
36:37What brings me joy, I'll start with that, is my family.
36:41Being able to bring my mother and my grandmother.
36:43My grandmother grew up in New Orleans during Jim Crow.
36:45To bring her back to New Orleans, to experience it differently.
36:48That is ultimate joy.
36:49And so for me, to be able to do that.
36:51Three generations, we're here together, and that's joy for me.
36:54Telling my little Minda self, I would say that you belong in every room you enter,
36:59but not every room deserves to have you.
37:01Yes.
37:02Yes.
37:03Yes.
37:04And you can find me on all social platforms at Minda Hearts.
37:07What brings me joy is knowing that I'm using my gifts and talents and resources to change the world.
37:13Like I'm making a difference.
37:14I would tell my little self that you're going through all these things so that when you're able to be a resource for people who are going through all these things,
37:21you know what it looks like on the other side.
37:23So it's going to be okay.
37:25You're going to make it.
37:26You can find me at Buy From A Black Woman.
37:28We have a booth inside the convention center as well.
37:30The community is showing up.
37:32Buy From A Black Woman on all platforms.
37:34And then a black woman's website and a black woman on Instagram as well.
37:40I would say what I would tell my younger self is you are whole.
37:45You are complete.
37:46There's nothing to fix.
37:47There's nothing to change.
37:49And to keep on going with your dreams ultimately.
37:53And how I reclaim my joy is literally spending time with other black women.
37:58Like black women are my love.
38:00Black women are my joy.
38:01I enjoy being around them.
38:03Being lifted by them.
38:04Supporting them.
38:05Loving them.
38:06Hugging them.
38:07Dancing with them.
38:08Kiki-ing.
38:09That's just, that's my joy.
38:10That's my main joy.
38:11And you can find me at all platforms, all social platforms at JWilliamsESQ.
38:16Or you can visit my website at jawilliamslaw.com.
38:20Thank you ladies.
38:21And I just want to leave y'all with this and just say next time somebody tells you about the great resignation,
38:27remember there's a great emancipation too for black women.
38:30Thank you so much founders.
38:33I'm so proud to call you founders.
38:36Give it up everybody.
38:39You.
38:42Exactly yeah.
38:46All my answers.
38:48Let's do this chef I want you to jump in here.
38:50Take care.
38:52Come off, on.
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