Earl "Butch" Graves Jr., president and CEO of Black Enterprise, and Jeff Fortson, JeffCars.com's editor, taking a few moments to connect at the 100s Awards Dinner.
Earlier this week I had an opportunity to attend Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference and BE's 100s Anniversary Celebration and Awards Dinner, which was held in my hometown, Atlanta. While I've intermittently worked with the magazine since 2005, providing automotive content, this is the first time I have actually had an opportunity to attend one of their conferences.
Boy, was it a life-changing experience! Over the two-day period I had an opportunity to be inspired by Lisa Nichols, a well-known motivational speaker and one of the featured teachers in The Secret, to hear savvy business advice on the four stages of branding one's business from the founder of FUBU and reality television star Daymond John and to learn step-by-step strategies to keep one's business afloat after a setback from twin brothers Shane and Shawn Ward, co-owners of SHANE and SHAWN shoe company.
And this doesn't begin to scratch the surface of all of the other educational forums I wasn't able to work into my hectic schedule. There was also two days of entrepreneurial workshops specifically designed for kids, too. Now that the event is over I regret I didn't have an opportunity to drop in on the kids.
Editor of JeffCars.com and author and nationally renowned motivational speaker Lisa Nichols, celebrating her birthday at BE's conference.
As any motivational coach will impart upon you, if you have a dream you're longing to achieve, its always in one's best interest to be surrounded around like-minded folks in order to propel to the next level. It's not everyday that one has an opportunity to network with over 1,200 of the most progressive black entrepreneurs from around the country.
To me, being at this conference is no different than a musical artist who has dreamt of attending the Grammy's or a professional football player or team that has yearned of one-day playing in the Superbowl. To most in the business community, BE's 100s Anniversary Celebration and Awards Dinner is the pinnacle of success for all black businesses.
While its been 40 years since Black Enterprise came into being, its just amazing to see how Earl Graves Sr., founder of the company and magazine, has managed to chronicle the history of black businesses, while at the same time creating healthy competition, too, for many of today's businesses to jockey for a spot to make the magazine's annual ranking of the top 100 businesses. Yes, as a small business owner looking to expand, Graves' vision throughout the years has provided a guidebook to help me realize that I, too, can blaze my own trail in spite of the current state of our economy.
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