I’ve been thinking about communication a lot over the last year. I believe that how small and medium-sized businesses communicate with customers needs to change, especially post-COVID-19. I can’t wait until a talented entrepreneur solves the B2C problem! I’ve recently spent time analyzing how I communicate. I spend tons of time in Zoom, email, Slack, texts, and a variety of other channels. Managing all of this every day consumes more of my energy than I’d like.

I started thinking about how serious this is. I’ve said numerous times publicly that a solution to a problem is more of a nice-to-have (versus a must-have) if people affected by it haven’t taken steps to solve it. Of course, that applies to me too, so I identified what I’ve done to alleviate this problem. I’ve tried a variety of hacks over the years, from implementing software tools to removing myself from some communication channels. I’ve stuck with one hack and expanded my use of it: multiple inboxes.

I get a decent amount of email, but the importance of it varies wildly. Some messages should get a response immediately, while others deserve only a glance when I have serious downtime. Sorting through all of it was a challenge. So, like many other people, I created multiple accounts for different purposes. I have a personal email address for close friends and family. I have a work email address for close professional relationships. I have an email address for newsletters and interests. I have an email address to capture inbound communication from social channels (LinkedIn and others). There are a few others, but you get the idea. Some I check every day, while others may get a glance once a month.

This method helps address (not solve) my problems. It’s very manual and far from ideal, but it’s what I’ve been doing. I know lots of other people who use a similar approach. There are features inside Gmail and other email platforms that address some of the pain points, but to me they aren’t ideal. Email clients like Mail and Outlook don’t do it for me either. Through research, I’ve found a few things that may address some of my pains. I’ll be testing them in the near future. Hopefully I’ll find a silver bullet. Ideally, I’d like something robust that addresses the following high-level issues:

• Privacy – I don’t want important email addresses on email marketing lists.
• Prioritization – I’d like communication from people who are important to me prioritized.
• Aggregation – I’d like messages from various accounts and channels in one central place (maybe even one view).
• Segregation – I’d like some sort of segregation, although I admittedly don’t know exactly what that would look like.
• Presentation – I’d like everything presented in a clean easy-to-digest manner.

There’s a list of features I’d like too. Right now, my hack puts the onus on the user—me—to manage multiple accounts, channels, etc. It’s doable but, some days, draining. My energy could be better used. It’d be nice to find a tool that does all this in a beautiful way that makes communication via a variety of channels easy and enjoyable.

If you have any suggestions for tools or hacks, please share them. I’m all ears and actively looking to solve this problem!

Today marked the end of my twenty-fifth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week twenty-five:

• Holiday weekend – I’m excited about having some downtime. I wish we weren’t in a pandemic so I could spend it with family and friends. Regardless, I’ll enjoy the time off.
• Time blocks – I’ve continued blocking out time on my calendar. I made progress on bigger projects. I’m improving!
• Giving back – I spent time giving back this week by talking with rising entrepreneurs, and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to doing more of these talks.

Week twenty-five was a good one. It was very busy and I’m looking forward to a three-day weekend.    

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

Today I had a good conversation with an investor. I said that I always wanted to be an entrepreneur but fell into the world of tech. She described how she ended up falling into being an investor. Our journeys were very different, but there were similarities. The most obvious one? Passion.

Both of us discovered something we were passionate about. We didn’t initially know exactly how we would act on our passion, but we knew that passion needed to be the foundation of whatever we did. I was passionate about entrepreneurship, having gotten a taste of it with side hustles in high school and college. Continuing to feel strongly about it, I decided to give it a try. When I left corporate America, I wasn’t sure where the journey would take me. But I believed that as long as it included me being in an entrepreneurial environment, I’d be fine.

Fast forward a few years. I ended up in circles that included Atlanta entrepreneurs with tech backgrounds. I developed relationships with them and learned about tech (I was the definition of an untechnical founder) through those relationships. What they exposed me to opened my eyes. I eventually realized how tech could accelerate CCAW’s growth and made it the core of the company.

I didn’t set out to be an entrepreneur in the tech world. I fell into it. And I’m glad I did. I’ve met amazing people and learned what’s possible with the help of tech.

I never would have described myself as the kind of person who falls into things. I like to think I’m more of a planner. But embracing my passion and being open to where it took me led to an amazing entrepreneurial journey. I’m excited to see where it takes me next!

Today I was the (virtual) speaker at the Founders Journey Lesson Lab for the latest cohort of It Takes A Village. The program is a pre-accelerator focused on helping female founders and founders of color be successful. The program lasts four months and culminates in a graduation/demo day event.

I chose an informal approach that allowed for a candid conversation. I shared my background, my transition from corporate America, and the highs and lows of my CCAW journey. I also learned more about each founder, the problem they’re solving, and what they’re currently struggling with. It was a good conversation. At the end, I let the founders ask me anything.

One of them asked me a pointed question.  He wanted to know why he’d never heard of me before today and how he could find more founders of color like me who have experience building sizable companies. He said that hearing from someone he could relate to who has built a big company was inspiring. He wants more inspiration and to learn from the experiences of other successful founders of color. He doesn’t know where to find us.

I absolutely loved his question because it hit on a very important area where I’ve fallen short. Here’s how I responded:

• Personality – I’m a private person by nature and don’t like the limelight. I shy away from attention because it makes me extremely uncomfortable. But, through conversations with others, I’ve realized how impactful my journey can be. This far outweighs my personal comfort. I’ve started telling my story more.
• Heads down – Founders trying to build something big don’t have a ton of free time. They’re busy building a business. In my opinion, founders who devote time to giving interviews and getting press do so at the expense of their company, which will make substantially less progress because the founder isn’t as focused. Because founders building something great aren’t out and about and you don’t read about them, you don’t know they exist.
• First gen – Tech founders of color who started a decade or so ago (I call them the “first gen”) didn’t have a blueprint. No coworking spaces (e.g. WeWork) and few accelerators were available in Atlanta. It was a different time and we figured it out as we went. We did the best we could with the information we had at that time and learned as we went along. We got some things right and some things wrong. Some (not all) tech founders of color are realizing, looking back, that we made a mistake. We were too heads-down trying to make sure we didn’t fail. We didn’t spend enough time sharing our experiences in our community.

I’m so glad that founder asked that question. He was spot-on. The question reinforced that I need to continue doing more chats like the one today. No excuses. I should have shared more over the years. I’ve pledged to do better. I’d like to inspire and motivate rising founders of color to do something great. And I hope that other founders of color do the same if they can.

From those to whom much is given, much is required!

When I talk to founders, I like to understand what they view as their core business. What’s at the heart of their business, and what parts of the business support that core? For example, Target is a retailer, but it’s built a sizable logistics operation to move products.

As a business grows, it’s likely to need the support of many non-core functions to be successful. When you’re the size of Target, this isn’t an issue—you’ve got the resources to execute in all areas in-house. In a company’s early stages, though, that may not be the case, and founders should think hard about what they should and shouldn’t do in-house.

At CCAW, I recognized early on the critical role that fulfillment warehouses played in supporting our core function of selling automotive parts to consumers. I also knew we’d need multiple warehouses in our network and that running them was a huge undertaking. I visited a few warehouses and interviewed their owners. The upshot? I decided I didn’t want CCAW in the business of operating warehouses. Instead, I decided to outsource this function. We partnered with folks who did own warehouses to leverage their infrastructure and operational know-how. Sure, we had to learn how to work with their processes and systems, but that was relatively easy. In the end it worked out and we built a network of nearly 100 warehouses.

I knew the problems people had buying auto parts and had a vision for how to solve it through processes and technology. Warehouse fulfillment wasn’t part of our secret sauce. Recognizing that it was non-core and that there were tons of companies who did it far better than we ever could (and that we didn’t have the money to do it even if I wanted to), I chose to outsource it.

Now, I’m not saying that every newish company should outsource everything that’s non-core. CCAW’s solution is just an example of one way to deal with the core-versus-non-core issue early on when resources are limited. There’s no right or wrong way—only the way that’s right for your situation.

Entrepreneurs should have a clear idea of what their core business is and make sure that other areas of the business support it.

Early in my journey building CCAW, I kept a notebook. I wrote everything down. It was a catchall of sorts for whatever was on my mind. Projects I was considering. Daily priorities. Problems I was trying to solve. Meeting notes. You name it. I recently came across one of these journals and spent time reviewing it. That particular one is about seven years old.

Reading it reminded me of many long-forgotten details. I got a glimpse of my entrepreneurial thought process back then. I laughed as I read some of the entries. Some of the challenges I considered big at the time paled in comparison to obstacles I would face years later.

Entries detailing the pros and cons of big decisions I was considering were very revealing. They gave me insight into the way I made decisions then. With the luxury of hindsight, I enjoyed evaluating my former self. I was spot-on about a few things, in the general vicinity for a lot of things, and way off the mark (i.e., wrong) about a ton of things. Looking at my notes, I can see where my logic was flawed when decisions didn’t turn out well. And why it was sound when they did. I can see that my thought processes evolved. I was learning and making better decisions.

As CCAW grew, I stopped writing in my journals. I got really busy, and trying to keep up with a notebook annoyed me. I started using the notes app on my MacBook and iPhone instead. I really regret that. I wish I’d kept writing in my notebooks. And I should have taken more time to review and reflect on my entries. I think that would have supercharged the evolution of my decision making.

If you’re an entrepreneur or are considering entrepreneurship, consider keeping a notebook and reviewing it periodically. You just might accelerate your growth!

Whenever I chat with someone, I enjoy learning about their background. It’s easier to connect if we find we have something in common. Over time, I’ve started to pay attention to something else: I want to understand their journey. I know it sounds odd, so let me explain.

People take notice of where someone is in life—what they’ve accomplished. It’s thought of as evidence of many things. The person is working in ABC position, so they must be of X intelligence or Y caliber. It’s believed to predict the degree of success they’ll reach. There may be some merit to this, but I think there’s a better indicator of future success. How far someone has traveled, metaphorically speaking, to reach their current position is more informative, in my opinion.

For example, Bob and John both graduate top of their class from the same prestigious university. They both receive employment offers from top-tier firms. Most people would think Bob and John having the same odds of success. I disagree. I would like to understand the journey each of them has taken.

Bob attended great K–12 schools. His parents are alums of his college, so he networked with other alums and faculty before he even got there. He joined the same fraternity as his father and chose the same major as his mother. He interned at a company where his mother had worked. He graduated with a stellar GPA and job experience.

John went to public schools with inadequate resources. He doesn’t have any college graduates in his immediate family, so he chose his university by researching those with strong programs in his desired major. He learned about the admissions process and got to know admissions officers by attending conferences in high school. He didn’t join a fraternity. He learned everything about his future profession through his coursework. He networked his way into an internship via career fairs. He too graduated with a stellar GPA and job experience.

Bob and John are at the same place professionally, but John traveled further to get there. He had far fewer resources. John and Bob will both go on to do great things, but I’d bet on John. Given adequate knowledge, relationships, and capital, John has the potential to go further faster than Bob does.

How far someone has come can be a strong indicator of future success. The determination that has served John well so far isn’t likely to go away.

Next time you’re evaluating someone, find out more about their journey. The information you glean may be revealing.

I caught up with a fellow entrepreneur today. We talked about the obstacles we overcame and how our large gaps slowed our progress. We both come from great families, but they’re not entrepreneurial. Not being exposed to entrepreneurship meant we had knowledge gaps. We didn’t know anyone who had the knowledge we lacked or who could open doors to decision makers, so we had relationship gaps. And our families aren’t rich, so we had capital gaps. Because of these gaps (I call them the big three), it took both of us two or three times longer to achieve success than it might have. We’re thankful we made it, but it was a long, rough journey. Now that we have the knowledge, the relationships, and some capital from our first companies, we could build another one much faster.

We also talked about different ways we can help emerging entrepreneurs who are where we were years ago—early in their journey and hampered by the big three. In my opinion, both of us are perfectly positioned to help. I think entrepreneurs with a desire to give back could be amazing investors. Entrepreneurs turned investors can fill the big three gaps and also empathize. They truly understand what early entrepreneurs are going through because they’ve walked in those shoes. Other investors can offer some of this, but the combination of all of it is rare, which is why I believe entrepreneurs can make terrific investors.

Of course, entrepreneurs must learn the nuances of investing in companies to do it successfully, but assuming they do, they’re ideal accelerators of the success of newbies.

If you’re an entrepreneur stymied by the big three, consider reaching out to an experienced entrepreneur in your space and asking them to invest in you!

Today marked the end of my twenty-fourth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week twenty-four:

• Teamwork – I was reminded of the value of working as a team. No one person can be good at everything. But combine people’s individual strengths, and you’ve got a team that is! (Well, good at everything important to you, anyway.)
• Pace – The pace this week was closer to normal.  Busier than I planned, but slower than the past two weeks. I was more intentional about whether and when I scheduled meetings.
• Time blocks – I began blocking out chunks of time on my calendar to focus on bigger things. So far so good. Mornings are still my most productive time.  

Week twenty-four was a good one. No major takeaways this week.    

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

I’m always hearing aspiring entrepreneurs talk about how uncertain they are. They don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know where to start. They don’t realize it, but this is normal. Uncertainty is a consistent part of the entrepreneurial journey (and life for that matter). Seasoned entrepreneurs will be the first to tell you they’re constantly encountering things they don’t know, questions they can’t answer.

Uncertainty itself won’t hold you back. Lack of action because of uncertainty will. Action is the foundation of entrepreneurship. Getting things done is what sets entrepreneurs apart from the rest of the population. Entrepreneurs don’t just talk, they do something. Do they have a perfect plan for what they’ll do? Usually not. Do they fully understand what they’re tackling? No.

Certainty is as rare for entrepreneurs as it is for everyone else. There’s no clear path to their goal. The way is fuzzy if they can see it at all. But successful entrepreneurs do a few things well to mitigate uncertainty. They determine the direction they want to head. You hear people talk about the vision entrepreneurs have. That’s because they describe to people where they want to be. Next, they start walking in that general direction. They don’t need a smooth or clear path; they just need to know they’re headed the right way (and have a little faith). Something funny happens: the path and the destination become clearer as time passes and they keep moving.

This weekend, I was chatting with someone and he said something that stood out to me. He was talking about starting a new venture. As you can imagine, the pandemic adds a whole new layer of uncertainty. There are lots of things he doesn’t know, but he knows one thing for sure. “I can’t do nothing.” He hit the nail on the head.

If you want to do something great, don’t let uncertainty stop you in your tracks. Keep walking, no matter how small your steps have to be.