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Why Identity Is the New Currency in Business by Felicia Shakespeare

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Felicia R. Shakespeare is a TEDx and Global Speaker. She has graced stages in person and virtually around the United States, in Paris, France, and London. In 2022, at the London Global Woman Summit, she was invited to moderate the panel, The Rising Young Female Entrepreneur. Interviewing the Winner of The Apprentice UK, Harpreet Kaur, among several other influential women for the panel, Felicia has shared this same stage as a speaker with the likes of Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul), Kim Kiyosaki (Rich Woman), and many more. Felicia is also a 5X bestselling author and has been nominated as Author of the Year Finalist for her book project You Are Your Brand; Building from the Inside Out! (Small Business Category) after the book was less than a year in print. Branding is often mistaken for aesthetics: logos, color palettes, websites, photos, and social media presence. Those things matter. But they are not your brand. Your brand begins with identity: who you are, what you stand...
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The Conversations We Avoid: Why Communication Matters Most in the Relationships Closest to Us by Dr. C. Lynn Williams, MBA

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C. Lynn Williams, MBA , is an author, parent coach, educator, and family dynamics strategist dedicated to helping parents build stronger relationships with their children through practical, morally and ethically sound parenting principles. With more than 27 years of professional and educational experience, C. Lynn brings a unique combination of business expertise, parenting experience, and real-life perspective to her work. She understands the demands of balancing career, family, marriage, and personal goals—and believes parents shouldn't have to choose between being successful professionals and being present, connected parents. C. Lynn founded CGWW Books LLC and C. Lynn Williams Coaching, where she creates resources, workshops, and coaching programs to help parents communicate more effectively, strengthen trust, and build healthier family relationships. Her approach is practical and intentional, focusing on strategies parents can actually use in the midst of busy everyday lives. S...
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The Law of Confession: Speak Life Over Your Business by Niehla O.

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Niehla O. spent over 20 years in the fashion and beauty industry but decided to pivot into an industry that helps people look good on the inside. After a chance encounter with a tasty green hummus blend, a late-night craving led her to begin mixing unique hummus flavors of her own. Her goal is to continue to spread love and hummus throughout our community. As entrepreneurs, we spend a lot of time talking about business plans, marketing strategies, revenue goals, and networking. But one of the most powerful tools I’ve used in my entrepreneurial journey doesn’t cost a thing: My Words. The Law of Confession is the principle of intentionally speaking in agreement with what you believe and what you are trusting God to do, even when your current circumstances look completely different. And let me be clear : T his is something I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself of. There are days when business is slow, money is tight, an opportunity falls through, or I simply feel overwhelmed. In those momen...
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Remembering that Delay is not Denial by Briantria Smocks

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Briantria Smocks is a devoted researcher, visionary strategist, producer, and gifted educator. She is Editor-in-Chief of Levi&Toonk and CEO of Smocks Media Group (SMG). Also a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Bri enjoys lounging with her family, reading a juicy book, and getting lost in music.  As a woman who wears mini hats, I am about three weeks removed from ending my first crowdfunding effort. Since March, my team and I have been working on raising funds to produce an animated series, named after the literacy enrichment company I own with my mom. We had put together a solid plan with our core group of supporters and had lined up multiple funders to give. We had even come up with creative marketing strategies to highlight the muse of our work, my precocious 8-year-old son Levi. And even after coming into contact with at least 50,000 people/direct emails during the entire campaign window, we were unable to reach our goal of $30,000. And the platform we used required us to raise ...
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Your Best Leads Are Dying in the Follow-Up by Alicia T. Bowens

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Alicia T. Bowens is an AI Execution Architect and founder of ATB Innovative Solutions. With 20+ years in enterprise project management, she helps businesses stop automating chaos and start building systems that actually scale. Learn more at atbinnovative.com . You are not short on leads. You are short on follow-through. Walk into most growing teams, and you find the same thing. Money spent on leads at the top. Money lost at the handoff. A lead comes in, one person responds in four minutes, and another responds in four days, and the deal quietly goes cold in the gap between them. That gap is not a marketing problem. It is an execution problem. And it is the most expensive one you are not measuring. Here is where it gets worse. When a team like that adds AI, the chaos does not disappear. It speeds up. AI sends the wrong follow-up faster. It scales an inconsistent process across every lead you have instead of botching them one at a time. You do not get a fixed system. You get a bigger ve...
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Dangers of Inflation & How Your Business Can Survive It by Cassandra Hill

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Cassandra Hill is a Master Life Coach, Best-Selling Author, and Speaker. She is passionate about empowering Black women to live life on their terms by up-leveling their emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. Cassandra is passionate about spreading self-love as one of the solutions to eradicate the domestic violence epidemic among Black women. The U.S. economy is facing a severe recession. Life is getting increasingly unaffordable. Your business may have been doing reasonably well, but with inflation things are different. Businesses that are unable to adjust for inflation collapse. Why? Inflation means prices go up. Costs of equipment, materials, and services go up. The general increase in prices means that companies need to increase wages. If you increase your employees' salaries when your profits are not growing or even when they are falling, your business will collapse. A company stuck between rising prices and falling profits will go out of business. How can your business...
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Recognizing the Woman Behind the Work: What Every Woman Can Learn From a Pearl by Alana Matthews

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Founder and CEO of Bold & Becoming and Boss Babes, Alana Matthews is an entrepreneur, commercial real estate professional, and J.D. candidate dedicated to empowering women through leadership, professional development, and wealth-building education. With a career spanning real estate, compliance, and legal services, she is committed to creating opportunities that inspire women to lead boldly, build generational wealth, and create lasting impact in their communities. At 23 years old, I am learning that purpose is not just about what you build; it is also about who you become in the process. Being recognized as an honoree at Regina Stevenson’s Raining Pearls Awards Night allowed me to reflect on that truth. The evening was not simply about celebrating 25 Black women entrepreneurs. It was about recognizing the woman behind the work. Regina reminded us that a pearl begins with an irritant, a wound that the oyster cannot remove. Instead, layer by layer, it transforms what caused pain in...
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