When you're ambitious and know where you're going in life, two things are important to fuel your motivation and drive: positive affirmations and actual real-life examples to look to for advisement or mentorship. Research has proven it (y'all know I'm big on that) but even beyond a study, it makes logical sense.
As we're all about bossing up here and amplifying the stories of Black women who do so, we've collected so many jewels of knowledge from tried-and-true Black women building tables across industries. Here's a collection of top career advice on success, confidence, and leveling up from a few favorites:
Dimplez Ijeoma, Music Executive
CourtesyOn Polishing Communication Skills
Dimplez Ijoema, who has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Capitol Music Group and a leading digital marketer, paved her own lane, empowered herself through innovative thinking and leadership, and enjoyed the power of mentorship and advocacy from other senior leaders in her industry. In an interview with xoNecole, she talked about how effective communication plays a role in success:
"A lot of workplace or career challenges literally boiled down to miscommunication — whether it be intentional or unintentional. And as an executive, a woman, and a human, the moment we become better communicators, the less friction we will have."
Stormi Steele, Founder and CEO of Canvas Beauty
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On Engaging Authenticity
Canvas Beauty founder and CEO Stormi Steele built a brand from the ground up, going from her home-based business to being sold in major retailers. She’s also built a large following on social and real-life communities of supporters and brand-builders. Steele reiterated a key factor in success— for any power woman–that resonates across industries, experience levels, and business journeys:
“Focus on building a community, and not more so just selling a product. So for us, like, I was selling the product, but I wasn’t saying, like, ‘Oh, go buy this’ or ‘buy this.’ I'm more so taking people on a journey with the growth of our brand and I think people resonate with that more so than, you know, just saying sell, sell, sell.”
The same advice can apply to a 9-to-5er working to get to the top of the ladder and join the C-suite of a company. When you can unapologetically be yourself (while doing quality work with measurable results), relate to others, and take an approach of authentic relatability, it can do wonders.
Melissa Ingram, TV Executive
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On Empowering Through Service
For TV executive Melissa Ingram, servant leadership has been a common theme that has laid a foundation for decades of success in the entertainment industry. For her, lifting as you climb is a vital boss move that not only enhances her own self-development and advancement but empowers the overall bottom line of any company.
"When you invest in others, they begin to trust you. And it's always been purpose over position for me. Don't get so caught up in a title. Ask yourself, 'What's my purpose in this role? Is this an opportunity for me to serve and bring my unique skill sets to the table to help others?' As a manager, if your team succeeds, you succeed.
Kandace Banks, Web Series Creator
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On Building Resilience
From pursuing her dreams of being a celebrity stylist to overcoming challenges in the fashion industry to creating her own scripted series, Kandace Banks’ story of career fulfillment is the perfect case study on confidence and resilience.
“You have to expect to work really hard. I didn’t expect to work as hard as I had to. If you go in with the mentality of having to hustle and grind, unfortunately, that’s what you’re going to have to do. People are going to treat you terribly, but you have to be confident within yourself to know that you can't take anything personal. At the end of the day, you have to do your best work and give it all you got and know that you’ve tried your hardest.”
Nicole Walters, CEO
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On Prioritizing Strategy And Rest
Nicole Walters, CEO of Inherit Learning Co., is a best-selling author and podcaster, with extensive experience in consulting and working as an executive in Corporate America. She’s poured into other professionals to match their passions and talents with purpose and fulfillment. A big lesson she learned is the importance of being strategic in how we map out our professional plans and finding ways to incorporate rest as part of our success strategy.
“A lot of us think we work hard until retirement hits. I want to progress toward retirement. It is intentionally building out what I know I would like to have happen and not waiting for exhaustion to be the trigger of change.”
Brittany Yates, Founder of Grind on the Go
Arleshia McGirt/Authorized Shot PhotographyOn Building Go-Getter Strength
Brittany Yates, founder of Grind on the Go, a premium coffee and tea brand, balanced a 9-to-5 while launching and found initial investors to fund her idea via her network. Her simple but powerful mantra of just-do-it gusto has led to results, allowing her to build a large community and consumer base. There’s a certain amount of faith, audacity, and good time management that allows her to push through challenges to reach her goals.
“My mindset is that if it's something I really want to do, I can do it. [Some people would say] that's over-simplified, but for me, if I want to do something, I'm doing it. Another thing is time management. I time block, in a sense, so I'll say I'm working a certain amount [of time] on this, and a certain amount of time on that.”
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While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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