WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Black women professionals are changing
their priorities. Many have stopped dreaming about the
highly coveted corner office because owning it would be
better. They have knocked down the corporate ladder. Instead,
they have built an escalator to get them to the top, making
entrepreneurship a priority - not just an option.
You don't have time to think
about relationships, friendships, families, said Syreeta
McDaniel, a business consultant. I would call my family
from the office at 10 at night. Her childhood and family
life are two of the reasons she said sparked her desire
to start her own business. Her father was a contractor
and her mom sold Mary Kay products. While growing up,
her father could attend her school programs during the
day because he controlled his daily schedule. Her mother
got home every evening at 5:30 to help her with homework.
This nurturing environment helped her grow into a success.
Ultimately, my parents had my back, she said. Now she
addresses potential clients at luncheons and organizational
meetings, she greets them with, I am Syreeta of McDaniel
Consulting. We write business plans. This simple catchphrase
and extensive experience keeps her business thriving in
21 states. She listens to a dream, inputs her ideas and
in approximately three weeks produces a framework for
the launch of a new venture.
In the past 10 years, {Syreeta} and several other budding
entrepreneurs have left the corporate boardroom
for an office building with their name on it. According
to the Center for Women's Business Research, African-American
women-owned businesses increased 147 percent between 1997
and 2006. This accounts for 770,396 firms that generate
over $29 billion in sales based on U.S. Census Bureau
statistics.
Originally from Philadelphia,
{Syreeta},
35, started McDaniel Consulting in Dallas in 2001 after
quitting her job at Ernst & Young, LLP as a senior
international tax and compensation consultant. Initially,
her family could not understand why she would leave a
$56,000 salary to start a business. But in her mind, she
was stepping out on faith to leave corporate America where
she said she had no time to breathe, to start a family
and be her own boss. She volunteered with the Small Business
Development Center in Dallas for six months and realized
that there were several entrepreneurs with good ideas
but without a solid business plan. Her ability to communicate
effectively and a love for research helped launch her
business. Then, her life changed. She dressed better,
felt better about herself and formed new relationships...
{Syreeta}
earned her bachelor's and master's degree in business
administration from Temple University. As a part of the
international business program, she worked in Paris and
Donetsk, Ukraine.
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, praised
Black women as the backbone of the Black family, in the
2008 State of Black America report. When Black women hurt,
the American family suffers, Morial said. So, for some
Black women, the decision to leave the corporate arena
was to maintain a functioning family life. In this case,
schedule flexibility and a drama-free environment trump
a corporate level salary. Jacqueline Smith is a full-time
entrepreneur and full-time mother. She splits her time
between running Diva Day Spa and home-schooling her 10-year-old
son Smith, 47, worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb, a global
pharmaceutical company in Boca Raton, Fla. for 10 years
before she started her day spa in 1999. Since then, she
has established her own skin care line and looks forward
to moving her business closer to the beach. This increase
in women-owned businesses has trickled down to youth as
well. Campuses are promoting business-savvy curriculum
The Kauffman Foundation selected Howard as one of eight
institutions to receive funding for entrepreneurial education
in 2003, according to the ELI Institute's Web site.
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