Side Hustle Pro: Women Entrepreneurs | Black Women Business Owners | Solopreneurs

An entrepreneur knows what it is to have a heart of a servant. Holli Draines had a desire to protect the vulnerable, which led to her career in law enforcement with 13 years as a secret service agent. For her, entrepreneurship came as a “blessing in disguise,” one she didn’t know she needed. In 2014, Holli lost her mother and sister, which led to a shift, not only in her personal life, but her professional life as well. This unfortunate event led her to step down from her role as an agent and become a full-time guardian to her beloved sister’s son, which she felt was her calling.  Although she had left her position, people were still reaching out to her for advice and wisdom. With an impressive resume and reputable relationships, Holli was able to organically launch her own security consulting firm: Elite Strategy Global. Her services include personal security, data privacy, cybersecurity, investigation vetting, and more. Get to know more about Holli and how she fell into entrepreneurship in this episode! Lis

“There’s so much more to being a boss than what’s on Instagram,” and Mielle Organics CEO Monique Rodriguez knows that all too well. Monique founded the company in 2014 after her healthy, hair care regimen for her tailbone-length hair became somewhat of a craze among her social media followers.  From living out her mother’s dream of being a nurse to pushing her own aspirations to the side, Monique decided that there had to be more than living paycheck-to-paycheck.  After making it to the top of her payscale in nursing with no room for growth, she knew that the entrepreneurial spirit that began in her at the age of seven had to make its debut. Combining her love for hair, science, health, and taking time to sit still and ask God for direction, Monique received a vision to create a hair product.  Little by little, she began to see what’s set in motion, now, come into play. The boss lady was already talking about hair care, hair health and her own mane journey on social media, which led to creating hair mixtures,

Jessica O. Matthews has covered every part of the side hustle sphere. She is the Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power, an award-winning, full-service power and data infrastructure company. At the age of 19, Jessica invented the SOCCKET ball, an energy generating soccer ball that provides off-grid power for the developing world. At the age of 22, she founded Uncharted Power (previously Uncharted Play), a global full-service power technology company that builds, owns, and operates renewable power infrastructure. Growing up, Jessica loved the idea of tinkering, science and invention. That, paired with seeing her family in Nigeria affected by not having access to reliable, cost-effective power inspired her to do something about it and make an impact, even if it wasn’t linear. After side hustling for five years before running her business full time, Jessica shows that you don’t have to have the roadmap before you start.  Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.  This episode is brought to you

Questions, questions, questions! I know you’re probably wondering, ‘Should I start a podcast? Should I turn my blog into a podcast? Should I start a podcast to support my business or personal brand?’ Well, I’m here to answer all those questions and more, today! I’ll dig into how to actually make money from your podcast and how to make an informed decision about the idea you might have. Trust me, I launched Side Hustle Pro in June 2016, and made zero dollars in the first few months. I had no idea my podcast itself would turn into my business, a six-figure business! I had no blueprint and had to learn by trial and error. That’s why I’m sharing everything I’ve learned to help you start making money podcasting as well. Grab your free recap and sponsorship calculator for this episode, here: sidehustlepro.co/183 Listen to this episode and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.   This episode is brought to you by: Acuity For a limited time only, you can get 45 days of Acuity Scheduling absolu

Some of you might not know that I was an MBA intern for a summer at Google when I was working towards my business degree at the University of Michigan. And usually, the summer before your second year in business school is when most people receive job offers from their temporary employer to come back after graduation and work full-time. But, plot twist, I didn’t receive an offer. That rejection, eventually, led me on the path to side hustling. I side hustled for over a year and a half until I was able to quit my full-time job, and pursue Side Hustle Pro full time. In this episode, I get honest about how I went from rejection to running my own six-figure business. Let’s rewind the tape! Listen to this episode and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.   This episode is brought to you by: Skillshare Get 2 free months of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/sidehustlepro.  Gusto Gusto offers modern, easy payroll, benefits, and HR to small businesses across the country. Sign up and give

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my entrepreneurship journey, it’s that “no one is going to ride harder for you than you will for yourself.” That’s a fact. In this episode, I’m giving you the real on Side Hustle Pro becoming an LLC after months of side hustling and landing my first podcast sponsor. We’ll also take an inside look into my business process for goal setting and accomplishing tasks, step-by-step. Get your pen and paper ready because you’re going to want to take notes! Click here to grab your 12-Week Goal Getter Worksheet (as I mentioned in this episode). Listen to this episode and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.     This episode is brought to you by: Gusto Gusto offers modern, easy payroll, benefits, and HR to small businesses across the country. Sign up and give it a try at gusto.com/shp. Acuity For a limited time only, you can get 45 days of Acuity Scheduling absolutely free - no credit card required - by going to acuityscheduling.com/hustlepro.   Links ment

It’s May! And that means it’s time for a rewind. Every week this month, I’m resharing an episode that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how I turned my side hustle into my main hustle. In this first episode, I talk about how when I started my side hustle, I didn’t read business plan books or follow a business plan template. I just started. Shocking, I know! I share the six steps you can take, now, to start building your business as a side hustle. Let’s jump in! Click here to grab your recap (as I mentioned in this episode). Listen to this episode and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.   This episode is brought to you by: Skillshare Get 2 free months of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/sidehustlepro.  Gusto Gusto offers modern, easy payroll, benefits, and HR to small businesses across the country. Sign up and give it a try at gusto.com/shp. Causebox  Go to causebox.com/hustlepro and use the code HUSTLEPRO to get your first box for 30% off. Links mentioned in this episode

Imagine being neighbors with the same person in multiple cities for the majority of your life. Well, that’s the story of the women behind Neighborly Paper—Robin Beck and Carmelle Kendall. Neighborly Paper is a paper goods brand dedicated to, in the founders’ own words, serving all the realness for all the occasions. Carmelle is an art director, illustrator, and filmmaker. She now resides in Atlanta where she’s working as an art director and growing the Neighborly business. And Robin is the writer behind Neighborly Paper cards. In the daytime, she creates content for Salesforce and at night, it’s all about Neighborly. These ladies took their experience in the workplace and used it to create a business together that is successful and thriving. Take a listen to how these lifelong friends became business partners, and are taking over the greeting card business in such a #BlackGirlMagic way! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.  This episode is brought to you by: ACUITY For a limited time

Today in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair, we welcome Monique Greenwood, owner and CEO (Chief Enjoyment Officer) of Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns, a collection of upscale B&Bs in Brooklyn, NY; Washington, DC; Cape May, NJ; Philadelphia, PA and a boutique resort in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.  After graduating from Howard University, Greenwood became a fashion journalist, eventually becoming an intrapreneur while working for Women’s Wear Daily by launching her own magazine about children’s fashion. And after a six-year stretch at Essence, leading her to Editor-in-Chief, Monique took on her side hustle, Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns, and made it her main source of income. After 25 years, she’s expanded, now, with five locations, and hasn’t looked back since. In addition to talking about her journey to being a successful entrepreneur, we also talk about her journey from experiencing early professional success in magazine publishing and overcoming difficult moments like opening a Bed & Breakfast

Today in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair is Dionna M. Dorsey, a gifted designer and brand development strategist and the creator of apparel line DISTRICT of CLOTHING.  After graduating from Villanova University in 2002, Dionna moved to Italy to study fashion design and pursue a job in the fashion industry.  She ended up relocating to New York City and designed outerwear for Oscar de la Renta and men's apparel for several other licenses. After rocky times hit the retail industry, she was eventually laid off from her job. She applied for job after job, but no one would hire her, so she made a decision to hire herself.  She went on to open Dionna Dorsey Design, a design boutique that specializes in being creative – from graphic design to art direction, brand strategy, and website development. Then, she launched DISTRICT of CLOTHING, a signature apparel line developed with the conventional and avant-garde dreamers and doers in mind. The rest is HERstory. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher

Today in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair we welcome Lorraine West, the Founder of Lorraine West Jewelry. Lorraine developed an affinity for creating and donning unique jewelry at a young age and says she’s been an artist since she was in the 1st grade. Her mother's love for ornate pieces was the inspiration for her to delve into jewelry design while studying Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After teaching herself how to manipulate various metals into beautiful original jewelry pieces, and with the increasing demand from family and friends to create custom designs, Lorraine West Jewelry was conceived. Understanding that she needed a steady income to support herself as she grew her business, she worked for 4 years as a full-time employee then another 6 years freelancing as an illustrator, as an assistant fashion and prop stylist on video shoots and through other part time gigs besides selling her own work on the side. She became a full-time entrepreneur in 2010. Lorraine met Erykah Badu, ear

Today in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair, we welcome Petrushka Bazin Larsen, the Co-Founder of Sugar Hill Creamery in Harlem, NY. Sugar Hill Creamery is Harlem's only family-owned neighborhood ice cream shop.  Petrushka’s Co-Founder is her husband, Nicholas, and prior to opening the shop, she worked as Vice President for Programs & Education at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and Program Director at the Laundromat Project. Even with her successful career, she had dreams of being an entrepreneur that started when she was in the 3rd grade and those dreams remained with her as she got older.  The opportunity for entrepreneurship eventually presented itself when her husband unexpectedly lost his job in the culinary industry. They began thinking about how to develop a business based on foods they love, and it was an experience at a pop-up ice cream shop while on a trip in Washington, DC, that sparked the idea to open an ice shop in Harlem. Petrushka and her husband went all in and found a location, secured a lo

Today in the guest chair we welcome Kesha Watkins, a true side hustler! Although she has a successful 13-year career in the Human Resource profession, she is also passionate about entrepreneurship and being her own boss. Her latest venture, BPolished Beauty Supply offers an array of hair care needs and provides an unparalleled level of beauty experience to customers in Arlington, TX and online. Kesha’s hope in opening BPolished Beauty Supply is to provide representation as an African American Owner in the beauty supply industry and promote entrepreneurship to other women.  Prior to opening, Kesha didn’t have any experience in beauty retail, so she decided to work at Sally’s Beauty Supply to learn the ins and out of running a store. She knew she was heading in the right direction because she loved the in-store experience, especially interacting with customers. Only a few months later, she was able to leverage her learnings and open a store that her community loves.  Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundclou

Today in the guest chair we welcome Kyara Uqdah, the Co-Founder of Charm City Buyers. Her Co-Founder is also her husband, Khalil Uqdah and they started investing in real estate only one year after graduating college.   They had an idea that they wanted to build their own empire, so they developed a plan to do it! They’ve gone from that first investment in a property in a depressed neighborhood in  Connecticut to investing in over 20 properties in Baltimore. They are literally buying the block. Almost eight years later they have been able to officially retire from their jobs and focus all of their efforts on maintaining their empire and helping others to build their own, in addition to being loving parents to their beautiful daughter.  They aren’t just keeping the knowledge to themselves, they lead a coaching program that teaches fellow Millennials and Gen Xers how to build a tremendous amount of wealth in a very short period of time as well. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher,  This episo

Today in the guest chair we welcome Brittani Allen, a Professional Home Organizer, and CEO and Founder of Pinch of Help-Home Organization based in Atlanta, Georgia.  I came across Brittani’s business on Instagram and was instantly hooked! She is passionate about creating environments her clients love living in, with her expert ability to match functional organization with aesthetically pleasing solutions.   The entrepreneur bug hit her while she was studying biomedical science in graduate school and substituting teaching. It was an overheard conversation between high school students that sparked the idea for her first business, Strategic Academic Planning. She eventually pivoted to blogging but was still feeling stuck until she read the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Would you believe that Brittani used to struggle with keeping her house clean and organized? She used the processes and tips from the book to declutter her home, and friends started t

Today in the guest chair we welcome Mattie James, a full-time content creator and the influencer behind MattieJames.com.  After being crowned Miss Liberia USA in 2009, Mattie started her blog as a hobby, but it was consistency and a great first hire that helped her grow her blog into the business it is today. She now creates lifestyle content for her blog, podcast and YouTube channel while working with brands like Samsung, TJ MAXX and J. Crew.  In addition to blogging, she has taught over 1,000 bloggers and entrepreneurs the business of blogging with her online courses and masterclasses.  In this episode, Mattie shares a ton of information about how to approach brand partnerships, the difference between a content creator and influencer, and how to share your story. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher,  This episode is brought to you by: Zip Recruiter  Side Hustle Pro listeners can try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE at ZipRecruiter.com/hustle. Skillshare Skillshare is offering Side Hustle Pro liste

Today in the guest chair we welcome Tammeca Rochester, the owner and founder of Harlem Cycle, Harlem's 1st and only indoor cycling studio.  Tammeca's journey to opening an indoor cycling studio in Harlem started when she was looking to find a workout that would both get her back in shape while putting her in a positive frame of mind. After exploring the various workout options, she found herself drawn to indoor cycling. Her entrepreneurial spirit and her passion for all things Harlem inspired her to start researching how to open a cycling studio. Her entrepreneurial spirit and her passion for all things Harlem inspired her to open the doors to Harlem Cycle in 2016.  In episode 189 of Side Hustle Pro, Tammeca talks about:  How her academic background and career helped her secure the space for Harlem Cycle  What it took for Harlem Cycle to become profitable  How she brings in new clients and strengthens brand loyalty   Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and Spotify!  This episode is brought to yo

As a busy working mom and wife, Chantel Powell found herself shuttling her son Kameron between summer basketball camp and football practice. She quickly noticed that he was starting to smell like a grown man because he was sweating buckets under his armpits, and that’s when her innovative mindset kicked in. Chantel decided to develop an all-natural deodorant for her son. And so Play Pits the brand was born.  Play Pits is a 100% all-natural deodorant for active kids. It’s free of aluminum, parabens, synthetic fragrances and other harsh chemicals. While it can be used on the most gentle skin types, it also packs a strong punch against odors.  In today’s episode, Chantel breaks down: How she tested out Play Pits on family to get feedback How customer demand led her to evolve from children’s deodorant to an adult deodorant component as well How she did it all while side hustling Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify This episode is brought to you by: Skillshare Get 2 free months of Premiu

Today in the guest chair we welcome Imani Ellis, Imani Ellis, the Founder of CultureCon and& The Creative Collective NYC (TheCCnyc), a community and creative agency dedicated to facilitating brave spaces for multicultural creatives.  Born in Imani’s one-bedroom apartment as a means to foster meaningful connections, TheCCnyc has since become the fastest growing community devoted to creatives of color in NYC who are looking to cultivate relationships that go beyond the business card.    TheCCnyc’s marquee event is CultureCon, an incredible conference that celebrates the influence creatives of color make on society and the culture that fuels it. Previous speakers have included Tracee Ellis Ross, Will Smith, Regina King, Spike Lee, and John Legend! Through all of this, would you believe that Imani is still a side hustler? Yes, she still has a full-time job as a publicist! Let’s get right into the episode to find out how she’s juggling an impressive career and a game-changing side hustle. Listen on Apple Podca

Today in the guest chair we have Tracey Pickett, Founder of Hairbrellal. Hairbrella is an innovative rain hat combining fashion and function to protect women's hair from the rain. Hairbrella was launched on Kickstarter and was successfully funded in December 2016. Since then, this passionate entrepreneur, attorney, inventor, and speaker has invested her money, time, blood sweat and tears into bringing Hairbella from an idea and prototype to fully developed product on the market. In today’s episode, you will hear how Tracey began her legal career at a Fortune 5 technology company working in the areas of corporate and intellectual property law. She was an attorney by day and spent nights and weekends developing her passion for entrepreneurship. In 2014, Tracey launched her first entrepreneurial venture, Eboticon – a media design company with a mission to create dynamic and culturally relevant emojis for niche social groups.  In November 2016, Tracey left her job to lead Eboticon full time and to launch her seco