Yesterday, I had the honor of listening in as a successor in training, my co-founder in our tech startup, Taynita Harilal my daughter bravely defend her dissertation topic towards obtaining her #PhD. Her presentation was outstanding, and I couldn't help but do a proud dance in the corner where I was hiding to sneak in and listen.
All this took place while our President was being inaugurated. My pride overflowed as Taynita presented her research on succession planning and creating generational wealth for black females in family-owned businesses. Her pitch was impeccable.
What I wasn't prepared for was the feedback from her panel of experts. All professors, all highly decorated doctors in their fields, critiqued and analyzed the potential study. There were moments I thought, if this were me, I would tell them to back off. But I watched this young lady, the same one who, just days before, advocated for workers to get paid regardless of personal grievances, and who holds us as leaders accountable for transparent and honest entrepreneurship.
Taynita demonstrated grace, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to her values. She showed us how to walk away from anything that doesn't serve us and, with knowledge, that we can empower our hustle.
As an academic, she has the blessing to command the presence of such highly esteemed individuals to form a panel just to listen to her. If, as leaders, we take the time to listen to people who show up for us, offer us safe advice, and implement their insights, entrepreneurship would be significantly enhanced.
I am delighted to share that the panel approved her dissertation topic with minor changes. This journey to get her here shows me how knowledge and data matter, especially for black females on our continent and in our country, to unlock under-researched literature. In this case, a study focusing on Black Females in generational wealth in family-owned businesses will unlock opportunities to better position us, particularly in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Here are three key learnings from this experience:
My daughter told me to be wary of men, even black men, who tell women like me, who have been in business for over 30 years, that we are problematic. This feeds into centuries of stereotyping. In this generation, we have to do better in how we close down and weaponize oppression against women.
We need to use our agency. In our case, as a legacy brand with 20 years in business, we need to speak to be heard and use the data from our journey, expertise, and strengths.
#Entrepreneurship is a journey, and not everyone is fortunate to have a knowledge-based legacy to back their build. Two things can be right at the same time, but let's build capacity by supporting our hustle with facts to build future models that validate credibility. This is a harder ask for women because we will always have to prove ourselves.
#SuccessionPlanning
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Serial Entrepreneur. Investor. First Responder.
5mo🙌