Entrepreneur’s Confession: Why “AFRO”?

At the end of the 6^th year in business and through assessment and defining my long-term goals, I decided to rebrand. As the founder and leader of the company, rebranding meant shifting individual mindset in order to gear up and execute based on lessons learnt. Rebranding becomes about shedding the unnecessary and focusing on growth. It is the instance when you decide to stop what is not working, to continue what is profitable and start scaling.

I made the decision 10 years ago to start my own path to ultimately institutionalize my business, which is a combination of all that I had determined as solutions for stronger ties between North America my home and Africa my birthplace. Eventhough the conflict of being Ethiopian has been part of my story; I assimilated in the new world as a toddler, which is a blessing that allowed me to embrace both worlds. Born in a body with a melanin ratio that has been deemed unacceptable, I have wholesomely upheld the values of the West while proudly preserving my heritage. As Gingrich proclaimed an age to start learning the monetary value, I started working at that young age while seeking to understand the world equally, the old as well as the new. And yes, for those who knew me as a teenager, I was working either babysitting or behind a café counter serving croissants and cappuccinos. I was always sociable and developed interpersonal communication skills that permitted me to navigate in the hardest times. I graduated from college and university learning about globalization, business, sociology and psychology. Knowingly of the effects of globalization, understanding organizational behavior and with the conviction that the African Diaspora communities across North America would serve as cultural brokers with the potential to tie the knots between Africa and North America, I paved my path to establish my business with a clear mission – to transform the image of Africa for greater North American engagement. After 2 years consulting minority owned businesses, 2 years of overseas experience and 10 years as a professional specializing in public affairs and integrated communications, now almost a decade later, I marvel at my audacity to engage as an entrepreneur leading my branding business and launching our own tech-based solutions. So with a clear vision of what needed to be done and why I targeted specific organizations, I learnt a few lessons along the way that deepened my understanding about the human factor and mindset.  Having worked with many, I share my rational for this costly target “Afro” market.

The “Afro” rational

For most people that profoundly know me, I have always worked and dedicated my lifetime to serve as a cross-cultural bridge between the two worlds. I took the time to emphatically engage with every entity to understand their respective path as well as their mindset. I am mission driven as I have only been focused on assisting stakeholders transition into 21^st century operations in a systemized and branded manner integrating cost effective technology tools as well as practices to strengthen relations between North America-Africa relations. The circumstances that led me to open my business and the 6 years journey is sometimes unexplainable even to the believer. Eventhough Afro’s connotation is anything black including the “big hair do”; the Afro rational I embarked on was about more about the Diaspora Branding as the “Afro” brand is multilayered and complexe. In 21st century, as one of the layers is the Diaspora scattered around the world and those particularly in North America perfectly positioned to serve as cultural brokers able to strengthen the relationship between these two worlds have yet to be tapped upon.

In 2006, I realized about my own capabilities and capacity to build my own business instead of being used by others to build their dream ( especially if your responsibilities are of a founding member but the equity is nil), I decided to write a book; so I put ink to paper and compiled chapters of my writing forming a voluminous manuscript about globalization and my journey as an Ethiopian born North American. Remaining a manuscript to eventually publish, I entered the doors of no return when I decided to embark in the unknown. It began while I was seeking to indulge in some “mocha” on Georgia Ave in DC. Through this phase, I allowed myself to assimilate and understand the pain of those who still felt angry about the perceived interference in their growth. 15 months after laboring to develop the organization while editing and rewriting 13 chapters of someone else’s book with each chapter having no less than 50 pages single-spaced, in addition to planning and organizing the North American theatrical release of a new film along with the multi-channel distribution of previously produced films; I exited gaining further understanding about the state of “Afro” in addition to gaining further experience in the publishing world and the film industry all the way through P&A and distribution (independent & mainstream). Honing my skills in organizational development and public relations, I continued to implement my own solutions for the harmonious marriage between these two worlds.

From one experience to another, I thought I was embarking on a collaborative project demonstrating the positive outcomes of US PEPFAR – AIDS initiatives in Africa in parallel to the World Cup in South Africa,  I entered into another collaboration that wanted to ride on my back; I was doing the work and he just watched as I have always stood firm on giving “the benefit of the doubt” for every interaction while remaining loyal and hopeful. I am more about love than conflict, I adore discussions and learning as opposed to distasteful arguments and mischief. I eventually ran away thanks to a relative who stood by me during these ordeals and later became a business partner- the rest will be a post for another day.

It is then; I established my business to actualize my vision, consulting and providing cross-cultural branding solutions to transform the image of Africa for stronger North America- Africa relations. The business is designed to implement my earnest vision and to firstly contribute in the scaling of minority-owned businesses, advising creative entrepreneurs and enhancing existing yet struggling organizations founded by the Diaspora. In fact, since I established my business the majority of the “Afro” Diaspora organizations have shut down. Mind you, I have always done my homework so when I approach each organization I usually have studied the entity to craft a strategy (at times I had already done the work). One of the last drops came about when an organization executive with reputable Board members persistently demanded for my concept proposal before a set conference on trade he was scheduled to attend, yet he was unable to provide an NDA or a partnership agreement. Eventually, after a series of deceitful interactions by self-proclaimed individuals with “Any title they want along the EIN ”, I realized I was in the midst of the “seat burners” and “roamers” who just say they do because of their link to a so-called friend X while failing to establish any institutional legacy. Along the way, I experienced distrust in the Diaspora because my preparation, passion and perseverance which was often seen as a weakness. Others dishonesty didn’t stop me though from a business perspective, the assessment was completed and trial error period had elapsed; and part of comprehending the “Afro” rational is also accepting the state and capacity to serve as cultural brokers.

Understanding the Diaspora

There are numerous stories about the entrepreneurial journey ranging from checks that never arrived for services rendered to knowing the talking heads and comprehending the terrain. For instance, there is this non-sense self-appointed chairman of a US-Africa trade initiative that noone endorses due to his compounded faulty actions yet no one dares to disput a polarized platform as he viciously deters any alternative for growth. Another one claims, profusely the validity of his 10K service fee that consists of providing you a list available online for free while consistently referencing his work for top guys including Former President Bush Jr aside from his so-called overseas operations with representatives worldwide (questionable to retrace). Another common practice among the small-minded, when someone tells you “send it to my personal email rather than my work email”, beware- and yes I shared my documents to only feel like many who are struggling to have their IPs respected and protected. There are series of those who state one thing and do another or nothing at all, and often run a condoned sham. Despite the accolades received, every MAN has flaws and the discovery of a scroll of ineptness in each, just became part of the process in accomplishing my vision’s objectives.

I was not naïve to think that the Diaspora have the potential to be cultural-brokers between the old and the new as I go back to my years of research and working on migration related programs including human trafficking and IDP that demonstrated ample of external/internal factors impacting the receiving country culture and values. The cause of human displacement has been due to many reasons including transportation systems granted further commute, which brought differing cultures to the Western shores. The African Diaspora counts the Descendants of those from the Middle Passage even if few would proclaim themselves to be part of the African Diaspora. In this Era, the Diaspora has changed as those Descendants who identified to Africa dwindled and more African born migrants surged across America, especially after 2000 as reported by Pew, the role of cultural brokers became more pronounced. Unlike many Diaspora members, the “Africa Diaspora” has changed especially as many African Americans (just google African Americans and Africans) today rarely identify to Africa with the few exceptions like the elders who occupy the space by virtue of protocol. The African Diaspora matters have to be uncluttered because the collective, each with our respective role, would be a force to be reckoned with as we would be the sturdiest bridge linking these two worlds.

The Diaspora role

Unfortunately it is true, I continued to believe that targeted African Diaspora organizations could make a difference and those that have existed beyond my time would be even more potent- all founded by exemplary pioneers who have fought for the unbroken bond between America and Africa. For every organization, I developed a strategy to build upon the respective vision of Reverend Sullivan, C. Payne Lucas, Caroline Phelps Stokes, and Leonard Robinson just to name a few. So I had done a thorough research and for each based on their founders mission, programs and current state, I devised a strategy, prepared a proposal and connected with the leadership to implement the action plan- enhance organizations trying to do good. Who else other than the Diaspora can lead the efforts of strengthening these relations? Who else is best equipped to relay the message of capitalism than the African Diaspora who has natal roots?

Notwithstanding that the process has various factors and having engaged at various levels including with governments and private sector; my target clients (although not so the best target from a business perspective) were based on community-led entities that have the capability to mobilize individuals, private sector and government because there role is to advocate for a less dysfunctional approach to development as well as implement programs for better human management. I was committed to assisting these organizations develop through the design of programs, digital branding and leadership advisory because most remain in the operational instead of scale. By extending one of my skills, I immersed myself in these organizations only to learn that institutional legacy, leadership vision and organizational development were absent; rather all seek the photo-ops and being amongst the recognized.

I have long believed that the African Diaspora is North America’s strongest asset and even more so for it’s global positioning, which is also, its competitive advantage as opposed to China and even Brazil. Hence my work has been dedicated to, in various approaches, strengthening North America- Africa relations. For me, I was only thinking of my mission, North America’s positioning and securing its role as an exemplary leader. Granted, a strategy to engage the African Diaspora is pivotal if not vital because self-driven and with a personal agenda become the moles that deteriorate the bridge. As for me, rebranded from a leadership standpoint, as the Diaspora angle was merely one of the pillars of our implementation strategy and shying away from the redundancy found in these costly target markets, I shift focus towards growth. I remain determined about institutionalizing my business because the demand and opportunity is real. I close by stating that entrepreneurship can only be successful with the support and assistance of those who want to see you rise and actualize your vision.

Now aiming to raise start-up fund to continue building my vision, I am happy I have learnt about business with my own dollars and overall equity; because today, my tactful execution is based on added-value, wiser leadership skills and an undeniable track record. It has been a journey of self-discovery with the opportunity to further cultivate my knowledge while learning 3 important elements of entrepreneurship as passion drives one to refine strategies based on lessons learnt, resilience is defined by oneself through trials and tribulations that stem from business practices and last but not least perseverance as well as determination strengthen the entrepreneurial path.