Celebrating Black Identity as an Asset this Black Business Month

Donald Jones is a Partner in Next Street’s New York Office

As I hope you know, the month of August is National Black Business Month. According to recent data, about 3% of US businesses were black-owned. It is goes without saying that black owned businesses face a myriad of challenges as result of a host of systemic challenges and structural racism. What doesn’t get enough attention and acknowledgment is how black entrepreneurs use their identity as an asset.

The topic of leveraging identity is particularly personal to me. You see, growing up, my aunt ran a successful cake business out of her home. A key to her success was how she leveraged her identity as a black woman and her other identities to operate her business. To commemorate Black Business Month and honor the memory of my aunt, I sat down with three successful black female entrepreneurs to hear how their identity has been an asset in their entrepreneurial journey.

Please check out my candid and insightful conversations below.

Interviewee: Laura Donald, Founder & CEO, Axis Talent Partners

Axis Talent Partners, led by women and founded by women of color, is a boutique search firm placing executive leaders in nonprofit organizations of all sizes.

“We’re an executive search firm that exists because we want to center People of Color in executive search differently than they’ve ever been centered. And we believe that an important lever in disrupting racism is supporting black and brown leadership.” Read the full interview with Laura here.

Interviewees: Carine and Farah Saint Jean, Co-Owners, Spectacular Affairs

Spectacular Affairs is an award-winning, sister-owned wedding planning and production company based in New York and D.C.

“We knew who we were, and we served our community. It gave us this sense of excellence that we needed to be the best, because we were the leaders in our community. And it really drove us to become the event planners and designers that we are.” Read the full interview with Carine and Farah here.

Contact Donald to discuss this series or learn about how Next Street works with clients to help diverse businesses succeed.