What do successful Black entrepreneurs have in common? They kept building when the odds said they shouldn’t.
Every August, we celebrate Black Business Month. We applaud successful entrepreneurs, admire thriving companies, and often marvel at the wealth they have created. What we don’t always see is the long road that came before the success.
Behind every thriving Black-owned business is a story of obstacles, setbacks, persistence and faith. No one started at the top.
Consider six Black entrepreneurs whose journeys remind us that greatness is built one step at a time.
Alonzo Franklin Herndon was born enslaved in Georgia in 1858. After emancipation, he learned the barbering trade and eventually owned several upscale barbershops serving Atlanta’s elite. Instead of stopping there, he invested his earnings into a struggling insurance company. That small investment became the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the largest Black-owned businesses in this country and a financial lifeline for thousands of Black families who were denied equal access to insurance.
John Berry Meachum, born into slavery in Virginia, purchased his freedom and became both a minister and entrepreneur. When Missouri outlawed the education of Black people, he refused to surrender to injustice. He placed a classroom on a boat anchored in the Mississippi River — outside the state’s jurisdiction — creating what became known as the “Floating Freedom School.” His school educated hundreds of free and enslaved Black people for about 13 years! It was an act of defiance in broad daylight. His business success gave him the resources to invest in the education and liberation of others. With his entrepreneurial spirit, he sowed into the genius of others.
Mary Ellen Pleasant understood that economic power creates social change. Through investments, boarding houses, restaurants, and other business ventures during California’s Gold Rush era, she accumulated significant wealth. She then used those resources to challenge segregation, helping finance legal efforts that ultimately secured the right for Black passengers to ride San Francisco’s streetcars — long before Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a bus. Mary Ellen Pleasant proved that business success can become a powerful tool for justice.
Fast forward to today.
Tope Awotona had an idea that many investors rejected. After leaving a successful sales career, he invested his own life savings to create a scheduling platform that eliminated the endless back-and-forth of arranging meetings. That company, Calendly, grew steadily — not overnight — and today serves millions of users around the world. One simple idea, pursued with persistence, became a global technology company.
Janice Bryant Howroyd, raised in North Carolina as the youngest of eleven children, moved to Los Angeles with little more than determination and a vision. She started her staffing company with a modest amount of capital and one client. Years later, ActOne Group became the largest Black woman-owned workforce solutions company in the United States. Her journey reminds us that success is often measured not by where you begin, but by your willingness to keep going.
Their stories inspire me because they mirror the season I’m living in today.
After decades as an educator, author, speaker, and cultural historian, I launched GriotSpeaks — a board game and educational platform designed to celebrate Black culture, honor our history and heritage, and tell accurate truth. Like every entrepreneur before me, I am building one step at a time. The vision is clear, but the work is daily. There are prototypes to refine, partnerships to cultivate, sponsors to secure and customers to reach. It is exciting, challenging and sometimes exhausting.
But that is how businesses are built.
This Black Business Month, let’s celebrate more than successful companies. Let’s celebrate courage. Let’s celebrate the first customer, the first sale, the first rejection, the first lesson learned, and the decision to keep moving forward.
Every successful entrepreneur once had an idea that existed only in their imagination.
Because every giant started small. Every successful entrepreneur once had an idea that existed only in their imagination. And every thriving Black-owned business began with someone who believed that tomorrow could be greater than today.
Perhaps the next great Black-owned business is not already making headlines. Perhaps it is sitting quietly in someone’s notebook…or waiting patiently on someone’s kitchen table … or taking shape in a game called GriotSpeaks (which, by the way, is available at www.griotspeaksgame.com.)
After all, every legacy begins when someone has the courage to recognize their God-given genius … and the faith to build it anyway. Happy Black Business Month!
Maxine Bryant, Ph.D., is the founder of GriotSpeaks, which celebrates culture, history and heritage. For more information, visit dr.maxinebryant.com.
MAXINE BRYANT
Maxine Bryant, Ph.D. is the founder of GriotSpeaks, author and African-American culture keeper. Dr. Bryant replaces mythology with truth about Africa and the African Diaspora experience. Learn more about her at www.drmaxinebryant.com and email her at mlb@drmaxinebryant.com.
