Style of Business
-Podcast Show Notes-
Episode 24
Summary:
In this episode, Keetria interviews Stephanie Caudle of Black Girl Group, a micro-job site and organization helping connect African-American freelancers to companies who are struggling to hire diverse, freelance talent. Listen as Stephanie shares the various struggles she has faced on her entrepreneurial journey. She shares about her noble vision of creating a platform aimed at helping African American women earn extra income as well helping the US marketplace become more culturally diverse and inclusive. Tune-in as she discusses the key factors that contribute to her success and the value of stepping out and taking that LEAP of FAITH.
Show Notes:
- Keetria introduces Stephanie to the show
- Stephanie is the founder and CEO of Black Girl Group, a micro-job site
o Similar to Fiverr and Upwork, but caters solely to African American women
- The Origins of Black Girl Group
o Was launched in November 2016
o As a PR agent at Tom Ford, Stephanie was handling 45 clients and was totally burnout
o Was laid off from her job immediately after registering her site; been working full-time on Black Girl Group ever since
- Stephanie has a two-fold mission:
o 1. Help women increase their load
o 2. Increase diversity
- Coming from a publishing background, was terrified of entering the tech industry; only 1% of women receive funding in the tech industry
o Admits that her misgivings for the tech industry were unfounded; was recently accepted into an incubator program promoted by Google
o Has received resources that have allowed her to grow as a freelancer and a startup founder
- Wants to leverage on the fact that African American women are the fastest growing entrepreneurs in the United States
- Realized the immense NEED for African American talent when she saw a Twitter ad for an African American writer placed by an influential CEO
o The CEO was specifically targeting African American buyers, the race that spends the most money in America
o The only way to get in front of African American audiences is through hiring African American talent
o For hiring African American talent, you need to go to a platform such as Black Girl Group where you can find all this talent in one place
- Offers a variety of services such as virtual assistance, writers, web designer, developers and much more
- Learn how Stephanie’s marketing background has helped her
o Graduated from North Carolina AT&T with a concentration in public relations
o Is able to handle her own media outreach and pitching to gain visibility
o Is able to create targeted content that resonates with viewers; recently created a blog post titled, “How do you make money as a freelancer without going broke”
o Digital marketing experience helps her in keyword searches through which she zeros in on the right topics
- CHALLENGES encountered
o Getting funding for her venture has been Stephanie’s biggest challenge; has received pushbacks because of the name of her company
o People think that her business model is divisive
o Many emotional challenges as well
- Stephanie’s shares how she kickstarted Black Girl
o Writing for Huffington Post was her side hustle while she had a full-time job
o In the midst of losing her job, took up freelance writing as a fulltime profession
o Her experiences as a freelancer has equipped her to deal with the ups and downs of business
- The things she ENJOYS the most about being an entrepreneur
o Being a mom, she values the flexibility that her profession offers
o Wishes to help African-Americans succeed by giving them access to valuable information
- Shares that the Google Incubator she is associated with is especially designed to help startup founders of color; has received help in the form of legal fees, website development and staffing
- RESOURCES to help you manage your startup
o Attended the 2-day internet summit focusing on digital marketing and broader technology
o Has checked out the Blavity conference online
o Recommends Medium to anyone looking for information about startups; this is where she got she found Google Incubator
- Managed to get 500 sign-ups in a week due to her Twitter presence
- Attributes her success to prayer and family support
- Take the LEAP OF FAITH
- Connect with Stephanie through her personal Twitter or company Twitter
- Watch out for Stephanie in Black Enterprise Pitch
- Connect with Keetria through her website or Twitter
3 Key Points:
- It is always good to have a side-hustle which will fetch you some extra money. In the event that you lose your job, this can develop into your main source of income.
- Finding a good incubator is a great way to kickstart your startup; there are incubators who focus solely on helping startup founders of color.
- Be bold, go ahead and just take the LEAP of FAITH; the only reason we have 9 to 5 jobs is because someone decided to do just that!
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