 Welcome to the Kinex Web Chat at the U.S. State Department's Bureau for International Information Programs in Washington, D.C. My name is Allison Shapira, and I'll be our moderator today. I'm the President of Global Public Speaking, a company that teaches public speaking and presentation skills as a way to help people find their voice and their courage to speak. In today's Web Chat, we bring together two very important subjects, entrepreneurship and Black History Month in the United States, where we remember the history of African Americans and celebrate accomplishments in the Black community. In today's discussion, we'll learn about Black entrepreneurship in the U.S. and talk about how we can start our own businesses wherever we live. Our guest is Dr. Avis Jones Deweaver, the President of Insight Unlimited, a D.C.-based consulting firm that helps organizations more effectively and efficiently realize their mission and impact the world. Avis is an accomplished scholar, writer and public speaker, and she's an authority on race, gender, leadership development and women's empowerment, that last topic being one close to my own heart. She's written extensively about issues of importance to women and the African American community. Before launching Insight, Avis held a number of important positions at the Governor's Office of Virginia, the Maryland State House of Representatives, and most recently she was the Executive Director of the National Council of Negro Women. Avis, it is such a pleasure to have you here with us today. Great to be here. Could you tell us a little about your own work and then broaden it to discuss African American entrepreneurship in the United States, both its history and where we are today? Sure. As both the daughter of a lifelong entrepreneur and now the owner of my own consulting firm, I certainly get from a very real and practical perspective the power and potential that is inherent in entrepreneurship. My firm, for example, works very closely with organizations focused on addressing the policy needs of women and people of color. So in support of that work, I provide everything from the projection of rigorous research to developing targeted communications and engagement strategies to assisting with advocacy support and more. And so I know at the end of the day, my business not only helps specific organizations that I serve, but in so doing, it also supports the efforts of those organizations in making a better world for us all. My story though is really just one small blip on the entire continuum of the black entrepreneurial experience. In fact, I would say that there were black entrepreneurs in the Americas even before there was an America. Africans were among the world's earliest explorers to travel the Atlantic Ocean, seeking to trade their goods and materials with the world's markets. And even if one were to specifically examine the history of this nation, black entrepreneurs have been here from the very beginning, some excelling in spite of the institution of slavery. Take for example the case of Claire Brown, born a slave. She had her husband and all of her children sold away from her, but ultimately gained her freedom at the age of 50. She then moved west, started a successful laundry business, bought real estate, and eventually became a part of the Gold Rush. Ultimately, she was able to use her wealth to search for one for her family, one of which she was finally able to locate after decades of separation. There are also numerous examples of those who use their skills and abilities to in today's terminology, freelance, in order to earn enough money to buy their own freedom and that of their loved ones. Beyond the slave experience, though, there are several other examples of notable black entrepreneurs in our history. One of the most famous ones that come to mind is Madam C.J. Walker, the first woman of any race to become a millionaire in the United States. There's also Frederick Douglass, who most of us know as a famous abolitionist and advisor to President Lincoln, but he also was a businessman who owned his own newspaper and invested widely in real estate. The invention there is Elijah McCoy, whose inventions were so well respected that he became the namesake of the popular saying, the real McCoy, a phrase that we often use here in America when we speak of something that's original and of top quality. Even today, entrepreneurship remains a very vibrant aspect of the black community. Black-owned businesses are now growing faster in both number and sales than all other businesses in America. It's also that we now have an estimated 2.3 million black-owned businesses throughout the nation generating $158 billion in revenue annually. Especially inspiring to me is the fact that fully half of those businesses are owned by black women. So we have quite an exciting story to tell, and I look forward to talking with you more about it today. That's fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing that. We have some questions coming in from our online audience. We have a question from Tala Yassin Tettbilt from Algiers. Do you think that black Americans have the same opportunities as other Americans? That's a very good question. I would say that African-Americans, we have definitely made significant progress over the years. There are not as many law-based inhibitors to our progress as there were in years past. But there are still actions that make it very difficult to have, I would say, complete equal opportunity. When you look at our experiences, for example, in gaining capital for our businesses, there's been a lot of research that's looked at that. And basically that research has found that black Americans have a more difficult time gaining capital either from private investors or even from banks even when their backgrounds are very similar to whites in very similar positions. And so that lack of access to capital really makes it very difficult for us to start our businesses on the same level and to grow our businesses as fast as they probably should be growing. For someone wanting to start their own business but without sufficient capital, what suggestions do you have? That's a good question. There are a couple of different things that you can do. One, for example, I would not suggest, but a lot of people, for example, rely on credit cards. I would not suggest that because you pay very, very high interest rates. Another way that you can do it is to rely on your own personal savings. So maybe over time put a little bit aside and grow your business individually. You can also rely on loans from family and friends, people that you know personally who believe in you and believe in your vision. Take the time to develop a business plan. Talk with them about what you expect your business to do and how long it will take for it to become profitable. If they are people who believe in you, believe in your vision, you might be able to convince them to invest in you and investing in you, they will be investing in your business. So there are other ways that you can get around sort of a hindrance in terms of access to formal areas of capital to sort of tap into your own networks to make sure that you can still make your dream a reality. And how about online tools like Kickstarter or other ways to raise money? That is excellent. I mean, what's happening right now in the virtual world is awesome. So GoFundMe, Kickstarter, accounts, all of those are really very creative ways that you can make that initial sort of praise about what your idea is, what your thought is in terms of making your business very useful. That's something that you can now network not just to the friends that you might have physically in your life that you can see and touch every day, but you can make that same appeal over the Internet and literally have people around the world investing your dream. People you've never even met, but people believe in your vision. Exactly. That's amazing. Great. We have another question from Hago Luadi in Algiers. Do you have any general advice for those of us looking to start as entrepreneurs? Yes. You know, to me, I believe that what makes the most special and successful entrepreneurs are those people who have a passion about something in particular and then you follow that passion to where your dream lands you in terms of making your passion into an actual business. So, for example, for me, I've always been very passionate about social justice issues. I've spent most of my career working in the women's rights and civil rights communities and that's really where I've positioned most of my background. But that experience allowed me to create relationships with various organizations, create relationships with governmental institutions and over time I saw where there are areas where I thought they were maybe some areas that I could provide a specific service that would be helpful that I could sort of broaden my skill set not just for the particular organization that I was employed with at the time but could help other organizations improve their outcomes as well. So I saw that opportunity and I turned my passion into a business and that's what I would suggest for anyone. If you're passionate about something, figure out where there's a need, where there's a niche that you can fill and then fill it. Right. Especially since there are so many rocky starts to businesses and to entrepreneurship that if you don't have that passion it makes it hard to stick with it throughout all the turmoil and the change that it goes through. Exactly. It's never a straight assist. So you have to be personally invested in your dream enough so that you will stick with it even in the difficult times. Absolutely. Great. Amon Cabango from Malawi would like to ask, what government policies in the U.S. enhance the culture of entrepreneurship and what are the sources of micro-business financing? You know, there are a lot of resources available to individuals in the U.S. if you're really interested in starting your own businesses. The Small Business Administration, for example, provides a lot of free information to people to help them get the training that they need, help them hash out their thoughts, connect them with other people, help them develop a business plan, connect them with areas where they might want to consider in terms of possibly raising funding for their business. So just that access to information, I think, is invaluable. In terms of micro-business funding, you know, there is not as much of that, there may be some, but not as much of that in a formal way in the U.S. I know that it's very big internationally and I think that it's very important. Particularly in emerging economies, there's been a lot of research that talks about how much that pays back to those countries, particularly when you're investing in a woman-led business. 90% of that money that women receive, ultimately, their profits actually go back to their families or their communities. So they are very, very good stewards of that money and they use it to grow their businesses, not only to better their own lives, but to better the lives of their families and their entire community. So to me, there's really very few investments that's better than the investment in a dream, especially when that dream is held by a woman. Fantastic. What tools should a young person develop to position themselves towards becoming an entrepreneur? That's a very good question. I think that one of the things that I would suggest that young people do is do as much reading as you can and learning about what exactly it would take to develop a business. You know, there are certain skills that you can develop around a particular area that you're interested in, but then there are also basic skills just around running your own business that you need to make sure that you are aware of. So you need to understand how to manage money, how to manage your inventory, if what your business requires inventory, how to write a business plan. You know, all those sorts of things I would suggest. So the biggest thing I would say is get a hold to as much training or as many books as you can on business and then not only develop your expertise in your area that you want to focus on, but also invest the time to understand specifically how to run a business because it's not just as simple as just doing what you like. You need to do what you like and be profitable at the same time. Right. And you have to do your homework, do your research and prepare. Exactly. And great advice. Can you talk more about the role the organizations you work with play in helping black entrepreneurs? Sure. A lot of the organizations that I work with do provide information to individuals and that may seem very basic, but that's very much needed. Oftentimes people do have a dream. They have a passion. They have a desire to do something. And that's very important, as I mentioned before, to have that be your foundation for whatever you choose to start your business endeavor in. But that's not enough on its own. You really need to understand what opportunities are out there for you to sort of learn how to grow your business in a sound and smart manner so that you become as profitable as soon as possible. Another asset that organizations provide are networking opportunities. One of the things I think that's probably most challenging for individuals once they become entrepreneurs is finding that next potential client, finding that next potential customer. And you're always looking for that client. You're always looking for that. I mean, you can never let that run out. Right. Right. That's your fish. You'll still be able to fish tomorrow. Right. And so in order to do that, you need to broaden your network. So providing networking opportunities where you can meet people and find out where you might be able to make those connections that could lead you to your next customer and lead you to your next contracts and lead you to your next income source. The need for that never runs out. How specifically did you get started as a consultant? You know, it started basically eventually. I mentioned earlier that my father was an entrepreneur. And so I grew up seeing someone who understood the importance of business and I was always very proud of him. He, through his business, he was able to employ all of his brothers. He took care of his mother for the rest of her life. So, and I always thought of it that he not only, you know, was the rock for my family financially. He basically supported all of these families. So I always understood the importance of entrepreneurship. And even though I had a passion for social justice in the back of my mind, it was always a dream of mine to own my own business one day. And as I developed in my career and brought in my skill set and brought in my network, I began to understand where there were some needs that I felt were not being tapped into or that maybe I could add some assistance with given my skill sets and my networks and my abilities. And so basically it started out by connecting with individuals and saying, you know, there is a need there. I can help you with that. And that basically snowballed. So you start one at a time and build it. And, you know, it's almost like if you build it, they will come but you have to go and get them. Absolutely. And that's interesting. You mentioned your father had a business where he employed his siblings. Yes. And I've heard pros and cons about working with family. And so I'm wondering if you could touch upon how that was, how he was able to be effective. Yeah, you know, I'm so proud of him. My father's story is such an amazing one because he grew up in Jim Crow South system here in America when things were even much more difficult for African Americans than they are now in this country. And so his opportunities were very limited. In fact, as a child, his family were sharecroppers. And what that means in this system, in that system was that his family were farmers. They did not own the land at that time that they farmed and they only got a very, very small portion of the earnings that they, frankly, should have gotten through that system. And his father, unfortunately, passed away when my dad was 14. He was the oldest of eight children. And so from that day, he worked. And his first business was as a mechanic. Ultimately, by the time I came along, he had started a lumber company. And that was the business where he employed all of his brothers. And it seemed to work really well. They got along really well. He provided a job for them for the rest of their lives until they all retired. And as I mentioned, always, every day, every week when he paid his brothers, he went by and paid his mother and supported her for the rest of her life. I'm very proud of him. Wow, you must be. Yeah. Did you ever fail in a project? Oh, God, yeah. How do you continue to go on? How do you keep going after that? Well, I will say, failures, to me, are never, though, truly failures. They're not the end of the story. There is always a lesson to be learned and something that maybe I would rather characterize it as something that probably did not turn out in the way that you had originally envisioned. That's how you put it. Of course, you spin it however you want. Exactly. That's how you spin it. Because, you know, no one is perfect. No one has a life where you absolutely get to the top on the very first time you try on everything. The difference between people who are successful and people who are less successful than they could be is the ability to get back up and do it again and keep trying. So, to me, there is always a lesson to be learned from something that does not turn out in the way that you had originally believed that it was going to. The trick is to learn that lesson and then apply those lessons the next time around. And you'll be better the next time you try. Right. Absolutely. This question is a little specific, but if you would like to know what advice do you have for someone who wants to develop a consumer market for export of Brazilian handcraft made by dwellers of a favela community in Rio de Janeiro? Oh, wow. I love that question. And I wish I could go to Brazil to see myself. Maybe you need to be hired as a consultant in order to help this project. That is on my bucket list to make it to Brazil one day. That's actually an excellent question. And I'm just going to sort of mirror that to some experience that I've had with working with women in Tanzania who have handcrafts that they have sold internationally. And what I've found is that they have partnered with outside organizations that act as their distributors. So I would suggest, or if you have access to opportunity to take pictures of your materials that you want to sell and get some help in developing a website so that you can then market your goods to the world on an individual basis. So there are a couple of different ways that you can go. So basically I'm seeing that. See if you can determine if there are any partnership opportunities with organizations out there that distribute goods made from handcrafted goods from various areas of the world. There are lots of businesses that do that. I would suggest maybe even going to your local U.S. embassy because oftentimes they collect information that's very helpful to entrepreneurs and they might be able to help you connect with a private company that might have some sort of or even individual entrepreneurs that might have some sort of partnership needs in order to have goods that they want to sell to their customers. And once again a second suggestion is maybe to see if you can develop some sort of website where you can sell directly as well and maybe you can even do them both. The two do not necessarily need to be mutually exclusive. It's great to see how many lessons from one country can be applied to another country. And especially as you're starting your business to realize that you're not coming up with all of these answers yourself. That there are people out there who have done this and failed who have succeeded and you can learn from them. Definitely. So this question is from Calvin Joseph in Haiti. How could you help Haitian young people in this domain in order that they can create more wealth in Haiti? That's a very good question. You know Haiti has, Haiti is frankly is one of my very favorite places on earth. I just have a very profound respect and love for the people of Haiti. And I would suggest that in terms of helping the young people there create more wealth. This is another chance where I would think that there needs to be some partnership. Some international partnerships that perhaps can be created to forge opportunities for people to develop entrepreneurial sort of opportunities that will allow them to sell their goods to the world. That's what I would suggest. So if there are any sort of organizations that you can connect with, I would suggest you go online and take a look at various organizations and see where they might be able to connect you with individuals that want to specifically focus on helping Haitians. I know in America for example, there's a very, very, very strong Haitian-American community here that oftentimes reinvest in their home country. If there's any way to connect even with Haitian-American groups that can provide some support, some information, some financial backing to a specific idea that you have, I am just very confident that you can find some help with that specific community. Great, great. We touched on this a little earlier, but where can viewers find more resources online on how to find more networking opportunities? That's a good question. I would say that finding resources online, there are a lot of different companies. So for example, I would say that there is a 1,000 women program, I believe that Goldman Sachs has for example, 10,000 women. They've grown. So they invest. I know that for example, White of Worses does a lot of work, so I would really encourage you to check out their website and look at their opportunities. Look at the State Department's website. There's a wealth of information that's available for you here just in terms of even just linking you with other partners and other organizations that have expressed interest in partnering with emerging countries and countries around the world and helping to develop entrepreneurs. We live in a sort of a shrinking planet in a way, and I think it's wonderful that we are becoming more interdependent. This is a global economy, and so we are all really becoming awakened to the idea that unless all of us do well, none of us do well, and their partnership may take a little bit of research, it may take a little bit of digging, but take some time to check out a few websites, Google some basic areas of interest that you have, and then reach out to people. I think you'd be surprised with how open people are to listening and providing you resources once you reach out and connect. Absolutely, whether they're abroad or even in your own country reaching out and asking people for advice and to share their expertise, they're always on. You're always selling, representing your product, your vision, your services, and so you never know, random conversations with people on an airplane or on some other form of transportation, you could be sitting next to your next investor or client. That's right, and being prepared with those opportunities. So for example, I always have business cards available. If you are able to have some sort of visual platform on the internet, that's great but even if you don't have a website, make sure you have Twitter, make sure you have Facebook, some way that people can find you and connect with you and maintain relationships with you over time is very helpful. Those resources are critical because today people are really, that's how people are staying connected. So the importance of social media cannot be over emphasized. Absolutely. Our next question is from Nova Scotia. Thank you for sharing your expertise and experience. As an African woman, I think it's very important to contribute to my community. Do you have any tips on the right mix of giving to community and profiting from work done with and on behalf of community? Wow. Great question. That is a great question and it's wonderful to see that you have such a just such a very special heart to be thinking about giving at the same time that you're thinking about growing your business and being profitable. I wish I could replicate that a billion times. Great, great. My best suggestion is there are a couple of different ways that you can give back. Not all of it entails giving back monetarily. That's important, sure. You might want to do that. Maybe you might want to set aside a little bit of your profits that you might want to donate. But in addition, you can give back by giving information, by going out and meeting with young people, by making sure that people understand that you're accessible and if they have questions that you're willing to spend so when we think of giving back although giving back monetarily that's normally the first thing that comes to mind and I'm not going to say that isn't important if you can afford it, that's fine to do. But don't think that that's the only way that you can give back. Sometimes it's even more valuable for people to have a little bit of your time, a little bit of your wisdom, a little bit of your knowledge that goes a lot further than even if you're giving them some monetary donations. Giving back as a mentor to people in the community can be even more valuable. And our young people are really wanting that. They really want someone who's been there and who's done that to take a little time with them so that they can learn from it. We'd be surprised how much young people are really crying out for that. So to the extent that that's an opportunity for you, I definitely would suggest that you take advantage of it. One of our viewers in Africa says there's a lot of corruption with everyone demanding kickbacks from the CEO. How can one be successful in such an environment? Oh, that's so difficult. Because when you are operating in a reality like that it is very difficult. You know, I would hope that you don't let that completely discourage you. Your options are going to be limited obviously in a situation like that. You would either be an employee and live that life perfectly fine. But if it's your dream to own a business you would have to figure out, unfortunately I can't tell you. I wish I had a great answer to that question. It's not an easy answer to that question. That is a structural institutional problem like many around the world that need to be addressed. That is that particular institutional challenge that you face. And if you can't make your dream profitable enough to survive under those circumstances it's very unfortunate not only for you, but for your country it's losing what you could potentially provide. So hopefully there will be a time when your broader environment will become less sort of repressive and allow you the opportunity to utilize your skills and talents for the betterment of your country unencumbered. But until you get to that day I would encourage you to at least see if it's possible to make it work in some way, shape or form. And a shrinking global environment what language is the best for success? This is a great question. Is English necessary? That's a good question. And I have to be perfectly honest. As an American I feel almost kind of unqualified to answer that question. And I'll tell you why. Because as Americans as I travel the world I find it very interesting that we seem to be the least we show the least diversity in terms of mastery of languages than any other nationality I'm aware of. So we do tend to look at things from a very sort of English centered approach. However it's my belief as you mentioned that this is an ever shrinking world. We are operating on a global economy. And while I do think there is distinct that broadening your mind is great no matter the circumstances. So learning English I think would not be a deficit I think it's definitely a good thing. But I don't think that that is the only language that's necessary for success. So to the degree that you could expand your language vocabulary period to be inclusive of English but not exclusive to English I think is always a good thing. And I think it also depends on who your target audience and who your target customer is if it's a global audience or an American audience then definitely English is necessary but if it's all within your own country and English is not spoken then maybe it's not quite as necessary. Exactly. Is it necessary to receive a college degree in order to become a successful entrepreneur? Really great question. That is a very good question. You know using my father for an example no. I mean he grew up at a time where educational opportunities were extremely constricted in this country for African Americans he has a third grade education would be perfectly honest but built an extremely successful business that I mentioned employed and raised a number of families it gave me a great head start on life so but I will say that the world has changed a lot from the time period in which my father grew up so much so that I believe education has become much more critical to success now than probably was the case during my father's generation but there are always exceptions to that rule. I mean you look at a Bill Gates he's a college dropout. I mean you look at there are a number of college dropouts who end up being extraordinary successes but they also had a high level of they had an intellect that was greatly developed in a particular area and so I think that going to college particularly now with all that it can expose you to you're also creating networks when you go to college that's very important to remember so you might be learning specific skills particularly that you can apply elsewhere so for example in a world in which there is a great number of opportunities out there in the tech field it may be more difficult for you to learn that to the level that you need to learn it without having a college level of education right so depending upon what you want to focus on in terms of your business depending upon where you see yourself with your business it may or may not be as necessary but I will say just generally speaking as a general rule in today's environment college is becoming in my mind much more of a precursor to long term success. absolutely but if you don't have access to that education it does not kill your dream it's still possible to do it how can we identify opportunities and develop new ideas where do you get your inspiration from ah that's a very good question I think inspiration once again it comes from passion it comes from being very quiet and understanding what is important to you what are your basic values outside of yourself where then can your skill sets and ability bring value to that space that you then care about so inspiration really comes from seeing where there is a whole where there is a need that is unfulfilled or one that is that may be fulfilled but perhaps not to the degree that you think that it should be so that's where it comes from if you have a now it's not to say that you're going to be hit with a million dollar idea every day but the idea is to at least advance a little bit think about where you need to go next and start moving in that direction and it's really what's amazing to me is that as I have found that when you make a decision to start moving in the direction of your dream in one way then you act upon it that opens doors and other things begin to happen and then you see other opportunities that you would have never found if you were to just set in your room and just kind of thought about it you have to start doing as you do then other opportunities and inspirations arise there are some people who don't take action because they think this isn't a new idea and I'm sure someone else has thought about this but there's this great quote and I won't get it exactly right but it's something to the effect that those who do are more powerful than those who can if someone's had that idea before it doesn't mean anyone's taken action on it and it doesn't mean that you can't develop it exactly I mean how many let's be honest there are very few ideas that are left that have not ever been thought of by anybody right so you know the thing that you would why even consider that as the goal the idea though is that you bring to any situation a unique perspective based on your background your history based on your perspective on life based on your experiences so the way that you see a problem and the way that you might interpret a solution might be totally different from another person or you might add some sort of nuance there that would connect with other people that would connect with an entirely different potential client pool than the other person who's addressing the very same problem so yeah don't be turned off by the fact that other people may have already thought of this idea you might come at it totally different in a way that will really inspire and resonate with a completely different niche of potential customers and even if you're a very young in age it doesn't mean you have to get to a certain level in life before you have the right to start a business not at all especially now with so much going on online with all the app developments and all these other things to me in many ways it's young people are really to me some of the biggest innovators and I think a lot of those because they're not yet inhibited by this idea that I can't I've tried it already it didn't work exactly I just do and now your quote made me think of one by Socrates to be is to do so just do what advice could you give a business that's already in operation but wants to grow the business to a new level so that's a really great question well I would say that first of all if you're in operation and you're doing great then good you're doing the right thing now if you believe that it's time for you to grow I think you really need to take a look at what your income flow is looking like what's your revenue level then really you need to really do some very deep and realistic analysis in terms of what terms of investments are going to cost for you to grow like for example if you have one restaurant and you're thinking of opening another one you really need to think about how much is that going to cost what's the best location will I get the same level of foot traffic that I do in my current location you really need to take all those factors and more into account before you make that investment I would suggest you also get some other advice about people that you respect in your industry that have grown mentoring is something that I think is good not just for young people it's good for all of us and that means connecting with people who are in your industry that are maybe at a level that you would like to be at and taking some time to maybe invite them out to dinner and invite them out for coffee and talk with them once again I think people are so much more willing to connect and share information that we really give them credit for a lot of times people are flatter so take the time to meet with someone who's in your industry who's been there who's done that and talk with them to get some specifics about when did they make their decision what are some things that they took into consideration if they had to do it again were there some things that they wouldn't do that they did so that you don't replicate mistakes that other people have already made you know be very careful about it but then if you've decided it's the right thing to do move and do it Giovanni Roca and Rio de Janeiro would like to know how would you go about turning an educational leadership program developed for young people into a self-sustainable or even profitable initiative that's such a good question great questions today I especially love that because I'm writing a book now on leadership and so what you should all buy when it's out so I'm really excited about that and I'm so glad that you're doing that because it's so necessary so you said how to make it profitable so I'm wondering what you're doing now it could be that you are donating your time and providing the service pro bono to young people you're not charging them you're just providing this training you might want to think about what organizations you could partner with and offer your services to them as a subcontractor maybe they can expand the pool of people that you have access to and that organization can then pay you for that work you might also want to consider to see what grants might be out there if there are any sort of foundations or any broader organizations or even corporations that have grants around this type of work you'd be surprised to see how many people are out there that really want to support and understand the importance of making sure that the next generation receive the type of information that they need in order to be tomorrow's leaders I would think that particularly with corporations might be a good way to look a lot of them have foundations that are connected to them and they provide grants to individuals who are doing good work in the communities those are some sort of initial thoughts that I would think you could look into great very valuable advice another viewer asks in a situation where there's no reliable access to internet do you have suggestions for how an entrepreneur can connect with prospective clients that is difficult now I will say that there are a number I'm wondering if you have access to cell phones is my experience in traveling around the world that in different countries internet access might be a little spotty but most people at least have a way to connect on the phone and one of the ways that they connect via phone they can still have access to via phone Twitter at least Twitter maybe Facebook as well so I think that there's got to be a way you need to think creatively about how you can get your information out there using social media even if it's via phone to get people to connect and get interested in what you're doing it's going to take a little bit more creativity but I think it's possible I would say another way that you can go in some countries that I've seen even though people don't have access to internet they do rely on newspapers read a lot of newspapers on a daily basis it's not a lost art at all so the degree to which you can get even some free coverage or you can make news for yourself even if you can submit an article to a newspaper to see if they would print it I'm not talking about buying ad space you don't want to have to if you can afford to not have that expense try not to have that expense but oftentimes newspapers are looking for news so to the degree that you can maybe submit a article that's already prepared and sort of couch what you do as some sort of news event that's a way that you can sort of generate free publicity to yourself and distribute it to a number of people without having to rely on either the internet or access via mobile phone What are some of your memorable business experiences in Africa? Well I would say that I have had I've visited Tanzania a couple of times I've been to South Africa previously and I've had the wonderful experience of meeting with a number of women who are entrepreneurs particularly in Tanzania and I would just say that these are some of the most inspiring amazing powerful women that in my mind are on the face of the earth I'm just completely blown away by these women and I would say so what did I learn from them I think I'll kind of I'll kind of contextualize it in that way what I learned from these women is that where there is a will there is a way so these women did everything from raising wheatgrass and making all sorts of different materials with them and selling to having their own businesses with crafts to even one who owns her own travel sort of agency where she creates tour packages for individuals who want to come to Tanzania as a tourist to one who even owns her own hotel to one who owns sort of a limousine type company like a driver's so the diversity of opportunities that are out there are amazing the thing is for you to think about what it is that you want to do the impact that you want to make figure out get some resources there often times as I mentioned you go to the US Embassy or if you have access to the internet do some googling if you don't have access to the internet often times if you go to a US Embassy there may be a library there where you would have access to the internet and do some research to find out you know what are some different resources that I can connect to that can help me figure out how to lay out my dream what sort of business plan do I need to come up with how can I get any particular funding help if I need to and then how do I go about making it happen what I've learned most of these women is that in spite of all the challenges that they face they found a way to do it and they look in hindsight they would never go back they're just amazing very inspiring another question from Rio de Janeiro there are 11 million afro descendant Brazilian entrepreneurs and a third are women how can we connect Brazilian entrepreneurs to US counterparts who have who work in similar areas or have similar businesses thus expanding their vision and their contact network I love that idea let's connect after this tweet me sister scholar I love that idea and you know I think that there are lots of opportunities in the US with individuals and organizations that would love to connect women of African descent who are entrepreneurs around the world I would just say some organizations that I'm familiar with for example National Organization 100 Black Women National Council of Negro Women a number of major sororities here Delta Sigma Theta Alpha Kappa Alpha others all of them are interested in women's economic empowerment and more so to the degree that you can maybe connect with any of those that would be great but definitely connect with me to be perfectly honest with you that is an idea that I have about a future venture is to figure out ways in which that I can formalize connections with other women of African descent around the world to connect entrepreneurial networks so that we can help each other so that's definitely stay connected great great keep working on that do you think some sectors are more aligned with entrepreneurship than others for example health or education versus health possibly that could be the case but I think that a creative mind can think of ways in which you can create entrepreneurial opportunities in almost any situation I mean even with what I do for example it's not really the type of thing where if you live outside of maybe the DC scope that most people would think of as sort of an entrepreneurial opportunity given my background for example my father for years when I was in graduate school I thought I was in law school he was completely wrong it was complete like when you finish in law school I'm like I'm not in law school so I will not be finishing anytime soon but you know there is a way to but then when you think about creatively like where is there a need that's really the big question that's the difference between an entrepreneur and an employee an employee does what they need to do to contribute to that organization and that's necessary that's necessary not to diminish that in any way shape or form but an entrepreneur can look at a situation and say there is a hole there there is a need there that I can fill and I don't care if your specialty is in education I don't care if your specialty is in politics for example like me if you figure out where the need is and how you can bring value and add value to the situation then you have the potential to make a good venture that doesn't mean that you need to say tomorrow quit your job and jump head first in it can mean what we call say in the states having a side hustle that really basically means that while you are working full time you look into these other opportunities and take on sort of freelance opportunities on the side until you grow your customer base economically unstable you know there's always an element of risk that's involved with entrepreneurship that really comes with the territory but to mitigate that I think it's best that you start off sort of put your pinky toe in and then as you develop as you broaden your scope you're able to jump in and with a lot more substance in terms of mitigating the chance that you'll fail I think that's a really key concept of doing something else that pays the bills that lets you function normally and then as the business develops on the side when you decide the time is right and you see that you can do it then you can switch but it's hard to leave everything jump into a new business and then figure out how am I going to make money at this exactly that's not fun another question from Rio de Janeiro how do you make an afro fashion from one country to get into the world fashion market or the global market usually only well established fashion brands attract international attention that's a good question however I would say that often times and I'm not a fashion expert I'm probably as far away as from that as humanly possible thank you but what I have found over the years is that oftentimes what catches on is that there are certain innovators there are certain people that may not be as famous but they are the ones who basically to me are sort of the forerunners in fashion so to the degree that you can get your clothes out there and get them seen another thing I would suggest is that and a specific way that I would suggest you do that is once again going back to social media is Instagram I read this article recently I'm not a fashion expert really I'm not I just have a couple of decent suits what I found when I read this article it suggested that Instagram is becoming the new sort of fashion spot where people are literally taking a picture of themselves every morning in their outfit and posting it on Instagram so it's almost become like a place where people go and post that they like by scrolling through what people are wearing on that day so I think that even getting an Instagram account getting your clothes worn and once again young people because I will say that they have their Instagram followership grows like wildfire I mean my son who is no fashion plate has like thousands of Instagram followers I don't know how it happens so fast for them but to the degree that you can get your clothes on sort of the cool kids so to speak and have them take pictures of themselves in your clothes on Instagram on a regular basis you'd be surprised people will be asking them where'd you get that from what is that so you don't have to always rely on the individuals who are established to verify you once you make enough noise in that space people will come looking for you great advice a lot of viewers are wondering great question when and how can we purchase your book I'm still writing my book the name of my book is black women lead owning your power living your purpose exceptional leadership and the boardroom and beyond and I'm really excited about it because the point of this book is to really look at the various facets of black women and leadership women who lead exceptional nonprofits to black women who are public servants to black women who are exceptional entrepreneurs and over the course of this process I'm interviewing 50 women around the country who are just doing some amazing things in all those fields distilling that information to sort of give it out put it out there to say this is what we can learn from women who have met with exceptional success in all of these areas so stay tuned follow me on Twitter I'll let you know when it comes out we won't be coming out until I would say late fall early winter of December 15 2015 so it will be coming out but I'm very excited about it and I hope you do support it it must be an inspirational process to interview all those women and learn from them it's been wonderful great we have a very diverse international audience as we can tell from all of the questions that we've received from all over the world Grace would you give them for growing their own businesses in emerging global markets that's a good question and I would say this is such a very exciting time in history right now with everything that's going on globally markets are just exploding all over the world and it does provide opportunity that I don't know it's unlike anything I've seen in my lifetime the biggest point that I would give people to sort of really maximize that opportunity is you have to connect it's hard to be as successful as you otherwise would be on an island you really can't nobody, absolutely nobody gets there on their own one of the favorite phrases that I like to say is teamwork makes the dream work right it really does nobody gets there on their own so to the degree that you can connect organizations with individuals that can help you raise your profile and get you in the right networks to get your goods on the market, on the global scale that's really how you do it so how does that happen that happens in a couple of different ways networking is big so to the degree that you can connect yourself in those circles where there are people that are already where you want to go how do you do that you know you have to be willing to help folks who are already established even if you're providing some free service you can ask for information you ask to have informational interviews sort of like what I just mentioned before sit down with people over coffee and chat or you can offer to help them with something even if you're not getting paid you are learning, you are getting networks you're getting access to information and they might be able to bring you into opportunities as opportunities grow I just suggest learn as much as you can and reach out and connect with people it's very very hard to do it unilaterally a lot of people feel uncomfortable with networking because they feel like there's something false or inauthentic or they don't like asking for help when really networking at its most pure is connecting and building relationships with other people that are mutually beneficial you're learning from that person that person is learning from you and if you're passionate about what you want to do passion with others and ask for their advice on how to grow it then it's the most powerful tool that you can have exactly it looks like we have time for one more question what was the best piece of advice you ever received and would you share it with us oh man that's a good question the best piece of advice okay I would say the best piece of advice that I've received is a closed mouth that can get fit a closed mouth that doesn't get fit and what that basically means is you have to ask if you have an immediate a lot of times people will have networking opportunities they'll have business meetings with individuals and they'll leave the table without the ask you have to ask for the business it's not just going to come to you so never be afraid to ask a closed mouth doesn't get fit wise words thank you very much it's been 10 hours on the subject it's been a fascinating conversation but we do have to wrap up and before we go I'm going to ask Avis if you have any final message that you want to share with our audience it's just about committing to your dream knowing that you have that dream for a reason that passion was placed inside you for a reason and not only are you not doing yourself a service by ignoring it you are denying the world the potential of your greatness by being me but you're not being all that you can be so I want you to do it great very inspiring words thank you so much Dr. Avis Jones Deweaver and to all of our viewers around the world for really fantastic and enlightening questions before we go please take our online poll and please remember the views expressed in this discussion are not necessarily the views of the US Department of State that's it for today see you next time this program has been brought to you by Kinex