Breaking the Blueprint
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. In today’s rapidly changing corporate landscape, the concept of “professionalism” is undergoing a transformative shift, one that may completely radicalize the working world for better. For years, traditional professionalism standards have shaped how individuals present themselves and navigate the workplace. However, these standards have been criticized for their lack of inclusivity, sustaining inequality and limiting opportunities for historically underrepresented groups, especially Black and Brown individuals. This article explores the historical context behind these constructed principles, the reasons they exist, and ways to empower BIPOC/POC professionals in their respective journeys towards creating more inclusive and equitable workplaces. Table of Contents:
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a new blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. White authors dominate book publishing, and it can be difficult for people of color to find successful entrepreneurship stories written by founders, CEOs, and marketing executives with similar cultural backgrounds.Penguin Random House, a “Big Five” publisher, reported that 76% of their released books in 2019-2021 were by white contributors. This percentage may correlate with 74% of their staff being white. Between statements to prioritize DEI efforts and leadership restructuring—like at PRH after their bid to acquire Simon & Schuster was halted—time will tell if publishing houses will make significant strides in diversity across their rosters and
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. Publishing an ad or working with influencers isn’t the only option to get your business in front of an audience on YouTube. And with 41% of YouTube users being ethnically diverse, this multicultural demographic is eager to watch and support brands and entrepreneurs who they feel represent their culture and life experiences. Small business owners are starting channels to share videos that connect deeper with their customers, introduce themselves to new consumers, and even earn some passive income. When Azia Anderson, the founder of prty grl beauty, started sharing videos about her Black-owned business, she saw it
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. Small businesses are the lifeblood of America, and those owned by LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs make a hugely positive impact. According to a 2022 report by the NLGCC, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, LGBTQ-owned businesses contribute over $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy and support over 33,000 jobs annually. But as any entrepreneur knows, starting and growing a small business is not just hard work, but it can be expensive. Startup and growth costs are especially challenging for business owners in marginalized populations, such as the LGBTQ+ community, who face higher levels of financial insecurity and fewer resources than
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. Native entrepreneurship often occupies two worlds. Aspiring Indigenous business owners navigate historic barriers to traditional financing and growth — while building culturally informed, sustainable ventures. This challenging climate hasn’t stopped these entrepreneurs from entering nearly every industry imaginable to make an Indigenous imprint on the world while supporting themselves and their communities. Some Native business owners build on cultural touchstones like tribal art and stories to launch design studios and art shops. Others address long-time systemic hurdles to credit by stepping into the financial sector, bringing an Indigenous perspective to the issue that often proves crucial in addressing it.
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. Courage and hope reside at the heart of building a business. Hope for a better quality of life, financial stability, and, if we’re lucky, generational wealth for our families. However, for Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs, spinning an idea into a profitable business requires startup funding that is often difficult to access because of systemic barriers. As an alternative to venture capital, angel investments, and loans, business grants can help bridge this gap by awarding money that doesn’t require repayment or equity exchange. This post will explore where AAPI entrepreneurs can find business grants, and how
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. Everything You Need to Know about the Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBE) Certification Minority-owned business certification dates back to the 1970s but only gradually began being considered potentially applicable to entrepreneurs with disabilities some 15 years ago — decades after the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. This explains why, in 2023, there are only 500 DOBEs across the country despite the numerous commercial advantages. What is the disability-owned business certification? A disability-owned business enterprise (DOBE for short) is a for-profit business that is at least 51% owned by an individual with a disability. The DOBE certification
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. This piece is in collaboration with HubSpot Podcast Network’s Amplifying Voices campaign partnership with The Gathering Spot. In 2019, Charli D’Amelio shared a video on TikTok doing the Renegade dance. The video blew up and is inarguably her claim to fame. Since then, she’s amassed 150M followers on the app, done brand deals with household names, and her family has an unscripted reality docuseries called The D’Amelio Show. Thousands of TikTokers followed her lead, did the dance, and attributed it to D’Amelio, but she didn’t create it — Jalaiah Harmon did. Harmon’s erasure from her dance is
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. Innovation and creativity are driving the new workforce, and many underrepresented professionals are making career pivots to monetize their talents through entrepreneurship. The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship report more than four million minority-owned companies in the United States today. Despite these numbers, minority business owners still face systemic barriers to accessing capital, resources, and support. These barriers prove why choosing where to start or scale a business is essential. Read ahead to learn about some of the best cities supporting underrepresented founders in elevating their businesses. 1. Houston, TX Houston, Texas, is one
Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. It can feel isolating if you’re the only one in the room who looks like you. Meeting peers and mentors with a unique understanding of your lived experience and business roadblocks can help you connect the dots needed to grow your business and community. However, finding spaces for this kind of connection can be challenging for Black Americans. In this post, discover in-person and virtual events nationwide where Black entrepreneurs can strengthen relationships and build expertise. How to Prepare for Attending a Conference The United States Census Bureau reported almost 1.4 million self-employed Black people in September 2022, an
