My journey as an entrepreneur started a few years out of college. Turns out it was also a few levels out of my league. Some friends from college asked me to be their band’s business manager. They had big plans and big dreams, and my job was to take care of their business affairs and help them get there.
I knew less than zero about the music business, so I compensated for my lack of knowledge with excitement and enthusiasm. I worked my full-time job and worked with the band a few evenings during the week and on weekends. I read as much as I could about the business of music, but I could never bridge the gap between reading and reality. I did not have a mentor, trusted advisor or coach. After a few years, the band folded and we all went our separate ways, back to regular jobs and unrealized dreams.
Other entrepreneurial opportunities followed, including serving as business manager to a song writer and helping to develop and publish a superhero comic book. None of these other ventures achieved more than minor success.
I don’t see these as failures, however. Every unrealized dream and minor success brought me to where I am today. My most important qualifications have come from what I didn’t know. Now I hope to translate these lessons learned into your success.
I finally did find success with my own financial services company. At first I worked part time in my business and kept my full-time job with the State of Virginia. When I reached the point where I had the opportunity to leave my full-time job to focus on my business, I took it. Things started off slow, gradually the business grew. I was able to start checking off some business goals, including opening an office. It felt good. I felt like I was officially a business owner. I wasn’t meeting my profit goals, but the business was growing so I was encouraged. Then, the 2008 recession and mortgage crises came. Legislation changed the financial services business landscape, and with the snap of a finger, 30 percent of my income was gone. I had no choice, so after six years, on Dec. 31, 2009, I closed the door on my business and began the search for employment.
I never shook the entrepreneurial bug, and in January 2018 I began investigating some franchises. My mentors (I found some this time around) helped me to take critical inventory of my skills, strengths, and Emotional Quotient (EQ). Turns out business coaching was an ideal fit for me. It combines my experience of project management with my passion of running my own business. Plus I get to help others.
I originally wanted to call my business EagleEye Business Solutions because of my love for the eagle and for my ability to see the big picture while focusing on important details. But that name was taken. I began searching Native American and African names and came upon on the African concept of Sankofa. Sankofa means in order to move forward, you have to look back. That certainly describes my career! I knew I wanted to incorporate Sankofa into my business coaching practice.
But I still didn’t have a name for the business. One of my favorite movies is “Furious 7,” which features the song “Ride Out.” Music has always been a very important part of my life, and one day this lyric from “Ride Out” popped into my head: “Each 1 teach 1.” The concept of “each one, teach one” is also an African-American proverb that traces back to slavery in the United States when Africans were denied education. When an enslaved person did learn to read, it became his duty to teach someone else.
Everything fell into place for me to open Each 1 Teach 1 Business Solutions. The tagline of “Helping you achieve balance and results” is important because I want to help others avoid the learning curves, long hours and hard lessons I’ve had along the way. I look forward to sharing more of the inspiration behind Each 1 Teach 1 Business Solutions, Sankofa, leadership, management, and success stories. Let me know what you’re struggling with and how I can help you find your success.