MY BFF: Black Female Founders Podcast

Diamond Sands a creative entrepreneur and brand medium, Diamond embodies the philosophy that branding at its core is rooted in authenticity and mirrors how we develop, maintain and deepen relationships with one another as human beings. As the owner of an award-winning branding agency, DS Creative Design Studio, that serves DTC brands, her and her team have helped businesses tap into their unique essence and connect deeply with their audiences. Her agency's approach, informed by her degree in art, studies in psychology and sociology, and her innate intuition has earned her the trust of over 70 brands.

An Atlanta, GA  native with years of experience she brings a unique perspective to the branding world.

Diamond's philosophy is that branding is not at all about creating a facade but about revealing the truth of who you are, it's about authenticity and allowing that to shine through. 

Arion Long is the self-proclaimed “Chief Estrogen Officer'' at Femly, a hi-tech feminine care company that she started in 2016 after being diagnosed with a cervical tumor linked to additives in popular products. Femly increases access to natural and organic hygiene products through a high tech dispenser found in restrooms at schools, hotels, hospitals and other organizations. Some people go through their entire lives without disrupting the status quo and then you come across a unicorn who started college at 15 years old, decoded the genetic makeup of anthrax by 17, and disrupted a multi-billion dollar feminine care industry before 30.

Whitney L. Barkley, M.S. is an author and co-author of four books, including a children's book, Hey, Black Girl!, and the founder of Luv Yours Stationery, which specializes in inclusive and nontraditional greeting cards and paper products. She also serves as the Director of the award-winning Greater West Dayton Incubator and is the CEO of Speakerazzi, a content marketing firm that caters to authors, coaches, speakers, and small business owners across the country.With over ten years of experience, Whitney has worked with nonprofits, startups, organizations, and influencers nationwide to repurpose and create original content that leverages storytelling.

In 2019, Whitney produced, filmed, and directed the documentary "New Normal," which sold out during a film festival at the Gateway Theatre in Columbus, OH. The film highlights the lives of families affected by gun violence death. She is a former professor and social media instructor at the Ohio Media School and the International College of Broadcasting. Whitney is enthusiastic about helping others leverage authenticity to boost their personal brand and influence through value-based content.Whitney hosts the self-help podcast, Pink Lemonade Podcast, which has been downloaded in over 50 countries and has over 75K+ downloads. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Millennial Visionary of the Year Award (2015), Project Entrepreneur Recipient (2016), Power of “I Am” Award (2017), Ambitious List (2018), "52 YPs to Know in Columbus" by City Pulse Magazine (2018), Who’s Who in Black Columbus (2019), The Hustler of the Year Awards (2021), and Dayton Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award (2022).

In her free time, she is a certified SWERK Instructor, teaching hip-hop dance fitness, and enjoys traveling the world.

Nikki Merkerson is the founder of Pairgap, an innovative web platform that matches ideal partners to one another with the intent of buying property together. The platform makes homeownership both accessible and affordable. Nikki strongly believes that by leveraging today’s shared economy and matching potential buyers to one another, more people will have the opportunity to build wealth through co-ownership.

Prior to pursuing her entrepreneurship ventures full-time, Nikki spent 23 years in the financial services industry. She most recently held the role of a Community Reinvestment Officer at JP Morgan Chase covering the Northeast markets and was responsible for building long-term relationships supporting key community stakeholders and assisting low and moderate income individuals with greater economic opportunity. In her former role, Nikki worked on many initiatives with partnerships between public officials; city, state, and government agencies; financial institutions, and community organization partners to help raise public awareness, target outreach to the unbanked and underbanked, and expand access to financial education. Prior to JP Morgan, Nikki served as a Loan Officer for 15 years at various financial institutions.

Chrissy Watts is a proud Philadelphia native, or as she would say, "Proud Philly jawn," mom of two, hood advocate and founder of Philly Experiences LLC. Philly Experiences LLC started in 2018 as a passion project to give Black, Latinx and LGBTQIA+ travelers visiting the city of Philadelphia alternative experiences to the traditional Philadelphia Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal tours. The success of her first tour, Cheesesteak & Trap Music Bar Crawl surprised even Chrissy. Later she added Morals & Murals: Tales From Our Hood & X Rated Game Night Experiences has increased Philly Experiences popularity and provided Chrissy a path to healing! Travelers from all around the world have take her weekly experiences where strangers have become fast lifelong friends! Listen to her powerful, inspiring story. 

BEE NATURAL was founded by two recent Temple University grads Brittney & Tachi who turned their passion for hair, beauty, and empowerment into a business that tells a hair story of who we are and our goal is to help you embrace your natural locs.

Meet these two ladies who have taken the guess work and frustration out of figuring out which products to buy through their monthly personalized box full of products for natural hair.

For this Live IMPACT episode for MED WEEK podcast episode, Mixed Messages: real estate collaboration and communication we talk with Maleda Berhane, Principal & CEO at AR Spruce LLC and Traci Powell, Vice President Mosaic Brokerage.

Sherrill Mosee is founder and inventor of MinkeeBlue organizational travel and work bags. With two engineering degrees in hand, she created the patented 3-in-1 stylish and functional bags for busy women on the go.

After struggling with three bags while commuting to work on a crowded train into the city, she wanted one bag to organize and separate her shoes or lunch from her laptop and purse essentials. She can’t sew or draw, so she went to Target and bought a bag to cut and created the style she envisioned in her head. What differentiates MinkeeBlue from everything else on the market is a folding shelf in the middle of the bag that creates an upper and lower compartment to separate items in the bag.

MinkeeBlue has been featured in Forbes, Cosmopolitan, the Katie Couric Show, Today Show, QVC and Macy’s. Sherrill is an alum of the University of Maryland, Drexel University, Philadelphia Fashion Incubator and the Workshop at Macy’s.

Sharita M. Humphrey is a nationally-recognized, award-winning finance expert and money mentor. Having previously been broke and homeless herself, Sharita knows first-hand that financial freedom has a blueprint and she’s committed to helping women change the financial trajectories of their lives.

Sharita is a certified financial educator, speaker and coach. At her namesake financial consulting company, Sharita helps minority women better understand, manage and grow their money. Sharita also helps Black and Brown entrepreneurs learn how to accelerate their businesses and secure funding through her other company, BH Ventures which offers a comprehensive education program.

Sharita was named the 2020 National Financial Educator of the Year for her work within her local community and across the country. She is the national partner and media spokesperson for Self Financial, Inc., and has been featured in top-tier media including CNBC, iHeartMedia, Forbes, Yahoo Finance and BBC World News.

Carmen started her company Elevate as a protest to the lack of diversity and inclusion in Birmingham, Alabama. Gifted with a powerful instinct to discern systemic gaps that too often hinder communities, Carmen has vision. She actively seeks out opportunities to expand equity within underinvested legacy neighborhoods and forges ahead with solutions. Carmen has developed blueprints that have been successfully leveraged by community leaders and partners to bridge equitability gaps and promote economic empowerment and transportation access. 

She brings this intuitive approach and ardency for action to all of her work, including her first foray into entrepreneurship as the founder of Elevators.

Entrepreneur, producer, strategist…LaToya Stirrup gets things done. With over seventeen years of experience in advertising and marketing, LaToya is able to bring a wealth of knowledge to any business challenge. She’s the co-host of Tech, Beats & Bytes, and co-founder of KAZMALEJE, a company she started with her two sisters to create hair tools and accessories for the textured hair care market. 

LaToya shared her founder story during our Founders to Funders kickoff mixer.

LaRaine Henry has been working in the food and beverage industry since she was a teenager. Together with her husband Larry she has worked in every aspect of the food and beverage industry. They've owned restaurants, a catering company and now their latest venture Plates EDU they have created proprietary technology and a platform that offers a convenient, safe and affordable to offer a virtual culinary experience. Listen and share her story. 

By now most have heard or read about Greenbook and how it served as a way for Black people to travel safely. Meet Tracey Hobbs creator of Vanter. Vanter is Greenbook meets Trip Advisor. Vanter is a digital travel assistant to ensure diverse communities can travel safely. Listen to her story and contact vanter.co to learn more. 

Fallon has an incredible story of seeing a need and creating a solution. When her mother suffered a back injury and was prescribed opioid for pain management. Concerned about the side effects including addiction, Fallon went to work searching for an alternative. Listen to her founders journey. 

Judith's founder story is a love story.  Judith and her husband were regular spa goers and found there was not a place for just men. A Man's Cave  is a Pop Up Spa where Grooming and Kings meet. We are intentional about helping men prioritize their quality of life so that their health is not compromised.  We are a one stop total health and wellness space for men.

Monique Curry-Mims has over 15 years of business and leadership experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She is a social impact professional skilled in strategic planning, collective impact, community relations, fundraising, and capacity building. Through her consulting and philanthropic work, she provides innovative strategies that help organizations meet their mission and goals.

As Founder and CEO of Empact Data Solutions, her leadership provides a wealth of analysis and strategy insight for the organization and its clients - ensuring our team and solutions are effective and impactful.

This month our focus is Resilience!  Our guest for our six month anniversary is Ashlee Ammons founder of Mixtros. 

Mixtroz is a SaaS company providing CaaS "Community-as-a-Service" driving attendees from phone to face-to-face in real time while capturing custom data. Users download the app, complete a virtual name tag and survey customized by organizer.

Named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s inaugural list of “100 Powerful Women” in 2019; Kerry Schrader and Ashlee Ammons are a dynamic Mother/Daughter duo in the new wave of entrepreneurs creating services to make work and play simpler and more satisfying. Without formal tech backgrounds, they’ve blazed trails in the male-dominated tech startup space with their company Mixtroz, which increases engagement and collects data at gatherings.

Following remarkable progress in 2017, Team Mixtroz kicked off 2018 by joining Alabama’s prestigious Velocity Accelerator and starring on an episode of A+E ‘s series “Rooster & Butch.” In May 2018, the duo was selected to pitch to AOL Co-Founder Steve Case during the Rise of the Rest tour stop in Birmingham, AL and secured a $100,000 investment from Cases’ Revolution Fund. The team went on to close a $1M round of funding, making them the 37th  and 38th black females to ever close a $1M+ round of funding.

This month our focus is Systems! By definition a systems is a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network. Procedures according to which something is done.

We had an absolute blast with Charisse McGill, the owner/producer at Lokal Artisan Foods who in a little less than two years her French Toast Bites are the talk of the town in open air markets and is the first Black-owned business in Philly's popular summer hang out Spruce St. Harbor Park. 

Our other guest Judy Wicks  is widely known as founder of Philadelphia’s iconic White Dog Cafe and a pioneer in the “Buy local food movement”. Judy runs the Circle of Aunts & Uncles, a micro loan fund for local entrepreneurs and has won numerous local and national awards. She dropped some gems! Take a listen. 

This month's episode of IMPACT: A Mom Your Business Podcast is Disruption: Strategic Depth,” as we discuss opportunities to create depth and diversity in partnerships and supply chain. We have two amazing guest; Jamila Medley, Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance and Aaron Cabello of Black & Mobile. 

Both guest share some important details and strategies on building depth and diversity through partnerships and supply chain, in business and mutual aid. 

Impact explores the impact of action in business, communities and education on the Philadelphia Region. This months episode powered by  Venture Cafe Philly features community leaders sharing how their networks are creating opportunities for mutual aid.

Mutual aid is when people get together to meet each other’s basic survival needs with a shared understanding that the systems we live under are not going to meet our needs and we can do it together RIGHT NOW!

Interior designer Rasheeda Gray started her career in marketing. She spent fifteen years in corporate America, and when a friend suggested she stage her home to sell it during the real estate down time she discovered a new passion. Rasheeda started Gray Space Design in 2016 and has completed 60 projects, both residential and small boutiques. Her seven step process has led to features on Good Day Philadelphia, Raymour & Flannigan Design Magazine and HGTV's Flea Market Flip. 

Melissa Harville - Lebron is the founder and CEO of W.M. Stone Enterprises, Inc. A multifarious entertainment conglomeration that is the home to Coutrá Music Group, a boutique music label. This would be Melissa's initial exposure to NASCAR and also what would capture her attention and direct her awareness to the lack of diversity in the motorsport. 

Melissa Harville-Lebron is the first African American woman, to soley own a Camping World Truck Series and a developmental racing team in NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series, Division I. The multicultural racing team is the first ever to consist of two brothers from two different ethnicities and minority classes, hailing from the North East and under the age of 25. The team consist of 6 drivers of various professional licensed levels. On February 16, 2018, E2NE partnered with Copp Motorsports for “The Next Era Energy 250” at Daytona. Scott Stenzel finished an impressive 15th. Recently recognized as an “Ebony Power 100 Honoree of 2018” & a Black Enterprise “Top Story of 2018”.

Interview with Jacqueline M. Jenkins, Acting Executive Director Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Jackie and I discuss everything business in fashion the impact of the tariffs and China, the Supply Chain and how to build a global fashion brand.

Live Interview with Author | TV Personality | Entrepreneur Tionna Smalls. Tionna keeps it real and raw about business building, the power of networking and relationships.

Day Party Episode II w/Online Business Strategist Shalena Diva. Shalena shares her story of turning obstacles into opportunities. 

Interview with mompreneur, author and health equity advocate Jenne Johns. Jenne has been advocating for health equity for years. But it was during the birth of her son when she faced maternal mortality head on and while advocating for herself wrote and published the only children’s book written for the parents of preemies while they are in the NICU. This bedside companion seeks to motivate, encourage and inspire preemie babies and families until they go home.