BARS! for Business: Building Your Future Unapologetically

When you step out into the world as an entrepreneur, having a few of your favorite bars to hype you up can change the trajectory of your life. I can picture my most opulent self when Rick Ross is playing, pushing me to hustle more to reach that success. For others, the ups and downs of building a business from the ground up bring to mind some old-school rap lines that give us wisdom.

On episode 5 of BARS! season 2, I invited my long-time mentor and tech industry pioneer, Clarence Wooten, to share his best advice on making it… while rapping Jay-Z’s Big Pimpin’ and Rakim’s Ain’t No Joke. His decades of experience have included everything from almost being ousted from his company by his own team members to buying and selling his first yacht. Clarence has plenty of success under his belt, but he’s not stopping anytime soon and wants to bring other Black founders along with him on the journey.

Here are a few things we’ve learned and want to pass onto to the future generation of entrepreneurs:

Don’t Join the Club

I’ve spent a lot of time as a young business owner cultivating a persona that was digestible to other people. It felt like I couldn’t be the person that wanted a grill and the CEO being interviewed by Forbes. But one doesn’t exist without the other. I’ve…