Great Entrepreneurs shows a variety of the challenges that Black women face in their personal lives and in business, and how that can affect their entrepreneurship.
Most importantly, though, it shares the lessons learned by these entrepreneurs from the challenges they speak about in their entries and tips for the reader to take away from their stories.
It’s important for Black female entrepreneurs to know that they are not alone in the struggles they face in their businesses or personal life. Too often, Black women think that other successful entrepreneurs are only successful because they’ve got it made.
That because of their lack of resources, challenges, or whatever is getting in their way, they will never be able to succeed in their businesses. I want them to know that these stories they tell themselves are just stories. They aren’t exactly true. Every single day, Black women are pushing through problems and obstacles that are meant to derail their entrepreneurial journeys.
They find solutions and do everything they can to keep their businesses alive; sometimes, even themselves. I want them to read these stories and throw out the excuses. To see themselves in these stories and start looking at their own challenges with new eyes.
Then go out there and build the businesses that they have been dreaming of. Develop those ideas, register those businesses, apply for those grants, talk to someone who’s done it before and see how they can help; most of all, just start.
Great Entrepreneurs is 211 pages long and is now available for PRE-ORDER in eBook and print versions at the publisher’s website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and from many other booksellers. Readers can also purchase the workbook, Great Entrepreneur in Training, which provides practical guidance and exercises to empower aspiring and established entrepreneurs, on the same platforms
My Writing Journey
I grew up in Jamaica, and left after pursuing my first degree at the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies. I am from a BIG family. We were six siblings at home, but I left my family at a very young age and has pretty much been on my own since my early teens.
I’ve lived in four other countries before settling in the United Kingdom in 2014, buying a home and moving to Newton Aycliffe in 2020.
I have worked MANY jobs in my life thus far. The one most people find interesting is my working at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica. I’m spontaneous and LOVE learning, which makes for a busy spirit, I suppose. However, in 2014, I started working full-time as a consulting mathematician, providing research services to NGOs, government bodies, and other organisations worldwide, travelling to many different countries in this world.
Alongside that, I ran a decorating and catering business, also working as a wedding planner. I soon became a lecturer of mathematics but it is a lot of brain work with not enough variety in a day’s work, so in 2019, I got into publishing full-time and have been working as a publisher since. I registered my publishing business in 2022 after ‘testing’ and seeing how viable it was for almost five years.
As for how I got into writing, it started off with research. Back in 2007, I’d completed some research work, which led to more research that culminated into a book, which I titled When Rape Becomes Acceptable: Corrective Rape in Jamaica. It’s a collection of stories where women share their experience and speak about what happened to them. I’ve always written for work.
I’ve written many research papers and books for other organisations but this was the first piece of work for me and with my name on it. Although it was as a result of research, it was also the first “creative” piece I’d written for public consumption, as I’d taken the interviews I’d recorded and written them up as stories told from the women’s perspectives.
My new book, Great Entrepreneurs … Are Found on the Other Side of the Pressure, delivers fifteen stories of Black female entrepreneurs from six different countries. Each story of the struggles they’ve faced and the lessons they learned is told from the first person point of view.
Kemone S-G Brown-Tshabalala is a dynamic entrepreneur, who excels in several key roles. As a writing coach and biographer/ghost-writer, Kemone works with individuals to turn their life stories into
compelling narratives.
In the business world, she leverages her expertise to assist both profit and non-profit entrepreneurs in developing their ventures. Her portfolio includes launching over 30 successful businesses and aiding established companies in enhancing their English communication through training and contractual services.
Kemone has always believed in the importance of getting a good education and has made it an important part of her life to acquire one. Her inquisitive nature and passion for information creation has influenced her
studies in Mathematics and Statistics. Her drive to lead and build sustainable businesses was the catalyst for her studies in business.
About the Book
Do you ever feel like your entrepreneurial journey is a solo trek up a steep mountain in very high heels?
Being a Black woman in the entrepreneurial world is no simple feat. The external challenges, coupled with the internal battles, can sometimes make the journey seem insurmountable.
This book isn’t a compilation of idealized success stories. It’s a genuine look into the lives of women who have been where you are right now. Women who’ve faced those very challenges, grappled with the self-doubt, and broken through the barriers meant to hold them back.
Read their stories: Raw, honest accounts of their journeys, packed with trials, tribulations, and so many triumphs.
Connect: Understand the shared experiences, the silent struggles, and the milestones that may mirror your own.