The 4th Annual Black Businesswomen Rock Conference and Expo was held recently in Los Angeles, California, where hundreds of women entrepreneurs gathered at the Pasadena Convention Center to find more keys to success. Featured were speakers who motivated attendees with their own experiences establishing their businesses.
Been there/ done that
One speaker was “The Talk Show Maven” Raven Blair-Glover who literally began her radio show from her kitchen table. Her strongest piece of advice was to have a strong vision of where you want to go. She gave the example of how she used to post pictures of famous people and then practice interviewing them. She says her three keys to success are “step up, show up, and grow up.”
The importance of networking
Then there was Natalyn Randle, Founder of Black Business Women Rock (BBWR), a networking business community of experienced entrepreneurs and business professionals across various industries. Randle expressed how important it is to have a networking platform like BBWR and for women to “share their ideas and motivate other women to let them know that they can make a difference here in our community.”
Over 55 vendors were also present to share their entrepreneur stories and display their business products and services. Each year the Conference and Expo gets bigger and bigger, a true indication of its importance to black women and entrepreneurs.
Facts about Black business women
In case you didn't know, African American women control more than 1.3 million businesses in the United States. The number of businesses they own has grown by 322% since 1997, making black females the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S. The highest concentrations of black woman-owned businesses are in the states of Maryland, Georgia, and Illinois.
For more details about the conference, visit www.blackbusinesswomenrock.com