Black In Business

Happy Thanksgiving to all readers and supporters of blackinbusiness.org. We are in our second month of finding our voice. I am thankful for all of the well wishes and encouragement and pats on the back I have received. I have had some suggestions and some critical input. The topic of race makes some people uncomfortable, especially in the states. We at black in business understand racism and that racism is a reality, but at some point in our lives we must move on. We cannot allow it to hinder us and our ability to win. We are not the only people that face discrimination and living well is the best revenge.

Speaking of Thanksgiving what is your best memory of this holiday? I cannot think of Thanksgiving, without remembering my mom and a small house filled with the aromas of great cooking. My mom would say dinner will be ready at 3pm and it always was. My dad worked very hard and was a large man who loved to eat just like his three sons. Another memory I have is driving my new sports car from Baltimore, Maryland to Albany, New York in 5 hours, so that I could be at my sister’s home for Thanksgiving.  

Having said all that my favorite memory is taking place now with my wife and our three children Darius, Salihah and Talib. We have a tradition where I open with a long winded prayer and give thanks for various aspects of the year. I share my hopes for the next year and then I have everyone else do the same. You sorta have to be there to understand, but take my word, it is fun! Thanksgiving is the one day where every family tries to be together and reflect upon good stuff.

Speaking of tradition, the first Thanksgiving was held with the Pilgrims and Indians. The Pilgrims had planted a large garden of vegetables to be ready for a harsh winter. As November came they were not sure they would be able to harvest their food prior to a frost. A frost would spoil the crops and the Native Indians saved the day by helping harvest. The food was saved and the first Thanksgiving was a celebration. Later the Native Indians were thanked by the white man stealing their land while in the process of killing many Native Indians. I always wondered how did Columbus discover America when natives were already here.

In conclusion my hopes and dreams for the upcoming year are peace on earth and goodwill to mankind. Lets stop the killing, both on American streets and in a unnecessary war. Our nation was founded via death and destruction and we seem to enjoy war, but now lets sit at the table of peace. While we are at the table lets not exclude countries that may not like us. The U.S is not perfect so lets show the same focus and energy in delivering peace as we did in delivering war! Keep hope alive- Happy Thanksgiving

My friends and family have contributed greatly to my personal business success. My wife and children sacrificed plenty while I worked in the corporate world. We have benefited and also suffered due to my career demands.

My friends that are also black and in business, became a part of a group to lean on and be leaned on and grow together as we chased our dreams.

In college we dreamed about being able to afford nice cars and clothes. Sometimes we would talk for hours about our hopes.

Most of us came from blue collar working class families and in many cases were the first in our families to finish college.

As young black professionals we dreamed bigger and better. Often times life for blacks in the corporate world can be lonely. I have been lucky to have many black friends that were pursuing a similar lifestyle. Men like C.G Bendler, Richard Burns, Phil Turner, Rod Bennett and Tom Jackson have all played a role for me and me for them, In a way that my white friends could not.

I lost a member of my inner circle recently to a battle of cancer. Tom Jackson was a very successful business man and his story is motivation for blacks in business.

I met T.J in Baltimore, Maryland at a place where for happy hour they had food and 3 for 1 drinks. We saw each other several times before we talked. We were both young salesmen. I was in the medical field and T.J sold chemicals. We both bragged about our jobs. T.J always finding opportunities, joined my company as a sales person.

T.J and I would talk every night and he would relive his day call by call. T.J was obsessed with winning and he did just that. In his 2nd year with Abbott he was the AE of the year. He was incredibly focus on making money and being the best. T.J also had tremendous focus on taking care of his customers.

T.J talked business, but he also was tremendously proud of his family. He always would tell me how everyone was doing. He would beam with pride over his family.

T.J became active in real estate. He was a landlord and brought quite a few properties and flip them. I remember him showing me a large apartment building in Philadelphia that he owned and I was amazed by his confidence. He was doing the same thing as the white business community, investing in real estate.

T.J’s business acumen, allowed him when faced with what appeared to be bias in management, the ability to walk away from the prevalent “good job” to open Mid Atlantic restorations in Atlantic City, N.J. T.J’s company cleaned windows for the casinos in town. Tom hired many employees that were black and sharing his good fortune was his vision. His company was named, New Jersey Small Business of the Year, after only one year.

Lessons from T.J’s life for black in business are as follows…

-Dream Big

-Work hard

-Save money

-Invest in real estate

-Strive for Greatness

-Help others

-Care for family

T.J thank you for the influence you provided me. You will be missed.

I come across an article in black collegian online that discussed this topic. It reminded me of the time 4 young women asked me do women have to act and dress like men in order to be a success? At the time, I said no be yourself and the product manager level ladies pointed out to me, my staff which were at director level; and mostly women, acted and dressed like men. With no intention of steering the pot, I told my staff what was said. I THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE INSULTED, but they were not and agreed they dressed and acted like men or they would not be successful.

Back to black collegian, the students want to know are blacks in corporate America sell outs? I spent most of my career there and many people feel as blacks in corporate America, you have to sell out. Most, not all, infact do sell out. I worked for a company where many of the blacks would not speak to another black person, and would be insulted if another black was their boss, remember the whiteman’s ice is colder. The world of the corporate black is a very confusing world in which the divide and conquer strategy of white salves masters during the 1800’s still works well. I know successful black managers, who biggest claim to fame is to sing and dance for audiences of several hundred, in order to put smiles on white faces. I know of another successful black manager, who was a large man, over 300 lbs and wore a genie outfit with green face paint and tights, in order to put a smile on white faces, and even played santa claus for the white folks. I understand what the black collegians fear, but you can win and still be yourself. Please see the link below for more on this important subject.

http://www.black-collegian.com/issues/1998-06/identity.shtml

I have spoken to more bankers, these guys are outside of Wall Street and they confirmed the money is great. One man, worked in health care sales, and even moved up the ladder, but has discovered the money in banking can be huge. My friend, and major Wall Street money manager, told me to advise  Blacks for whom money is an important job consideration, to stay away from operations or administration, and key on sales. My other contacts felt the same.

Wall Street firms did a major study to determine, why do 20% of sales people make it and 80% fail.As Dennis Kimbro would say,”what makes the Great Great.” This study lasted several years and represented an considerable investment. The findings were inconclusive, showing few common traits.The Great ones, the 7 figure stars came from backgrounds and personalities all across the board.

It was shown that less black sales people made it than the standard 20% and more Asians made than the norm. Military Officers, particulary Marine officers did well.This is attributed to their focus and problem solving ability. The best were very goal focused and were able to take big issues, break it down to small parts, and fix the small parts step by step. In the end they had more success solving the big problems. We all should take note of that

The “Great ones,” had the ability to get in someone face and tell their story. My interpation is the great one are tough and will not allow anything , even the dynamics of race or gender stop them

The best black Wall street salesmen,

 were able to use their race as an advantage. They went after a black market and built relationsships based on comfort, respect and trust. I heard a story of a young black banker, who would travel to the southern cities, stay at the Red Roof Inn to meet his prospects. He would take these affulent black southerns to his hotel and say, “I have invested my last nickle to come here to meet you and let you know how important your business is to me.He also wanted to remove all doubt that he was a brother.Over time affuent blacks would seek out the brother and not much later he was able to stay at much nicer hotels.

The ones that failed, could not use their race as an advantage and were not able to find a following, with the white customers they went after, or from the black ones they paid no attention to. They had many of the same values as the white bankers but could not penetrate the black market. The black sales professionals who targeted their own people were more successful and over time also picked up white business due to over lap opportunties.

In closing,there is opportunity on Wall Street for blacks in business. Many firms consider black talent a trophy hire. Take a look at the 10 reasons for black in business success; (check out archives,) if you can relate to those dimensions, and like big money, have excellent problem solving skills, and not get trapped by vices, like drinking,sex and drugs, sales on Wall Street may be for you.

Did you hear the bell to start the day on Wall Street? Wall Street is in my top 5 for famous American streets.

Bourbon Street

Pennsylvania Avenue

Rodeo Dr

Broadway

Wait that is two New York Streets  and no Chicago, so how about Michigan Avenue.

Remember the movie clip where the actor said show me the money?

I spoke with one of the streets leading money managers about opportunities for blacks on Wall Street.

You can’t talk about Wall Street without speaking about the money.

The money manager, mentioned well over a trillion dollars to me. Now I don’t often speak in terms of trillions. So I inquired, how much is a trillion?

My man broke it down in such eloquence that I needed to share his answer. He used a metaphor of seconds.

In terms of seconds- 1 million = 11 days

1 billion = 32 years

1 trillion = 32,000 years

Think about 11 days ago we were talking about the Bears going unbeaten, or a million seconds ago.

32 years ago Geard Ford was president of a billion seconds ago.

32,00 years ago, was the stone age or a trillion seconds ago.

It is about the money and Wall Street has an open door regardless of ethnic background or gender, it is about talent and the ability to bring in money.

There are 3 business opportunities on Wall Street, Administration, Sales and Operations.

Sales is where the money is and a special talent can make $500,000 a year by age 26.

I will talk more about Wall Street this week and down the road.

I was told that some minority groups have succeeded in higher percent then over all success rates. The success rate of the 20% that make it, blacks tend to fall way below the success rate. Whats worse is that many of us never think of Wall Street as a place for employment. Why?