Experts dish moneymaking advice to future entrepreneurs

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — A power-packed panel of three African-American business titans served a heaping helping of wealth-building advice during the business luncheon portion of the NEXT Level: 2018 CIAA Minority Business & Leadership Symposium.

“For those people complaining about millennials, stop complaining about them and partner with them,” said Kimberly Blackwell, CEO of PMM Agency. “I surround myself with a team of millennials.”

PMM is the agency of record of some of the world’s most recognized brands and includes automotive, insurance and financial services.

The panel also included Tirrell Whittley, CEO of Liquid Soul, whose marketing portfolio includes the movies Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, 42, Red Tails and others; and Joel Stone, vice president and wealth management adviser for Fifth Third Bank, which sponsored the event along with Black Enterprise.

The discussion was attended by about 200 people, most who indicated they were business owners and listened raptly as the best and the brightest spoke.

“If you leave this room and you have not found someone to collaborate with,” Whittley said, “you have failed. I come to events like this looking for partners.”

However, Whittley cautioned the audience to not look at building an empire but, instead, look to build a legacy.

Don’t try to wear every hat, create a fancy business card and have a long title; look to find partners who can help you grow to the next level.

Whittley also said that too many young filmmakers believe that “if I can just hook up with your company,” they will be successful.

That’s not the case, he said. “I say go out and make your own film.”

Stone said business owners should have a personal “board of advisers you can lean on and have a personal CFO.”

“Know what you want your business to do for your family, your community and your employees,” Stone said.

The business owners were also urged to demand the appropriate price points for their work and products.

“Come in the door, bring past performance and know your worth,” Blackwell said. “I don’t rest on laurels.

“I eat what I kill, and I’m on the hunt every day.”

The leadership symposium was part of CIAA 2018 and was an expansion of the 2017 entrepreneurs panel.

The event was restructured, according to CIAA commissioner Jacqie McWilliams, to “become a more inclusive and progressive business and education resource platform.”

The event kicked off in the morning with a fireside chat with Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., CEO of Black Enterprise, who was queried by Fifth Third Bank senior vice president Byna Elliott.

Graves discussed following in his father’s footsteps and ascending to his post, only to realize “most people aren’t reading magazines and newspapers anymore.”

The business had to adapt to the habits of the new consumer, particularly millennials.

“I have millennial children,” Graves said. “If I call them, they will text me back. … We had to evolve to what the marketplace is doing.”

He says he now refers to the company as Black Enterprise, leaving off the former “magazine” moniker.

Besides its digital media products, Black Enterprise includes events centered on professional development, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment.