Reverse Ambition Podcast

Taiia SMART YOUNG is an author, editor, book coach and writing consultant. She teaches coaches, consultants, thought leaders and experts how to use their experiences and expertise to write and publish brand-building non-fiction books. Prior to starting Smart Girl Media, she was the Entertainment Director for Latina and Latina.com. She has also held senior editor positions at Juicy, XXL and ESSENCE. Her byline has appeared in EBONY, Black Enterprise, NV, Bustle.com and MadameNoire.com. Her agency's previous clients include TIDAL, Refinery29, Wendy Williams Hunter Foundation, Columbia University, Black Girls Rock! and Verizon. As an interviewer and on-camera host, She has been in conversation with top talent, including Michelle Obama, La La Anthony, Mary J. Blige, Zendaya, Rita Moreno, Fergie, Taraji P. Henson, Judy Reyes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, Nas and Kelly Rowland. In 2022, She launched the S.T.E.P. Into Your Story writing and coaching intensive for experts ready to write a book that positions their expertise, propels their brand and prepares them for visibility. The S.T.E.P. Into Your StoryTM book has debut spring 2023. She graduated from Johnson C. Smith University with a B.A. in mass communications and earned a publishing certificate from the Columbia Journalism Publishing Course. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Caught up with my brother Mackenten Petion, a proud Haitian man, husband to a beautiful black queen, and father of two amazing young girls.  He is an entrepreneur with numerous businesses across the hospitality and technology industries including most notably Room 24k a members only dining club for the black community and Byld It a website that helps entrepreneurs in the different stages of their journey create, manage, and fund their businesses. She shared is amazing story of how he found success and purpose. Great inspirering listen.

In this Episode, India shares her journey of how she became an entrepreneur, the challenges she faces, as well as how she is running a successful hair salon while homeschool her kids. In 2012, India opened Hi Texture Salon after noticing a gap in the market that catered towards textured hair. Her vision was to create a salon environment that was chic and professional, as well as educated men and women on how to manage their textured hair. Hi Texture has won multiple industry awards as well as been selected as a Top 200 salon by Salon Today Magazine for 4 consecutive years. She travels across the country, mentoring other beauty professionals to elevate and change many of the misconceptions about the beauty industry. In 2020, she also created Teen Texture Camp to introduce teens to careers in the industry, and build confidence and positive self-imagery.

Teri Johnson is an entrepreneur and adventurer who brings her experience to life through storytelling and luxury products. A life-long traveler, Teri has visited nearly 70 countries learning about the rich cultures of the world while working as a travel and lifestyle expert for various television and digital platforms. During her travels, Teri experienced an array of different scents and developed a passion and obsession for beautiful and evocative fragrances that have the power to transport you to a different time and place. This sparked an idea to create a luxury home fragrance company inspired by her neighborhood of Harlem, specifically during the Harlem Renaissance period.  She founded the Harlem Candle Co in 2014 and now has 14 exquisite fragrances in the collection.  Teri's work with some of the world's most innovative perfumers has helped her grow the brand's popularity on an international level and has led to the brand's launch in Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom and many boutiques around the world. www.harlemcandlecompany.com https://www.instagram.com/harlemcandlecompany/ https://www.facebook.com/HarlemCandleCompany/ https://twitter.com/harlemcandles

“I had to shift my mindset to be able to begin to imagine myself as a successful entrepreneur.”-  Kendrick Trotter Listen to the awesome entrepreneurial journey of Kendrick Trotter, the 27 years old founder and CEO of Us in Technology (UIT), a virtual community, job placement, mentoring and training platform aimed at bridging the gap between hiring companies and qualified underrepresented talent. Trotter is an award-winning sales manager operating primarily within the cybersecurity space. He successfully recruited, into the tech industry, himself in 2017, while moonlighting as an Uber driver. His life mission is to give others the same opportunities he'd been given to succeed in one of the world's most lucrative career fields.

Listen to a great conversation with Marcus Knight, an entrepreneur, about his journey in Tech as a Black man. His mission is to help founders lead with empathy and equity from the start, while generating a scalable revenue process. He is a Go-To-Market Strategist with over 15 years of experience in the SaaS industry. He's built revenue teams from the ground up that have generated exponential revenue success. As an expert in finding gaps in structure and processes, and then implementing effective strategy aligned to a company's desired outcomes, Marcus is adept at uncovering new revenue streams. He continuously researches markets, listens to customers, and tests his team's hypotheses against the current state of the relative market to produce transformative results for his clients.

Enjoy Nina's journey as a southern belle from Texas to a go-getter who conquered NYC. She discussed her successful venture into a little known industry and how she was able to turn $600 into 6 figures. This is another must listen to episode that will inspire you to stay focused and keep going no matter what.

In this amazing episode, entrepreneur and Superstar Real Estate Broker, Tricia Lee shares her life journey from growing up in Arizona with a Jamaican background to moving to New York and getting and dominating in her dream job at MAC, to quitting to open her own self-funded business Polish Bar, to closing it to become a Superstar Real Estate Broker.  Tricia shares ups and downs, success and challenges at each stage of her journey as well as what inspires her and keep going.  How being a business owner affected her personal life.  She also shares key things that contributes to her success.   This is a must listen conversation. Be prepared to be inspired

This great conversation with Detavio gives information about his background and insight about who he is as head of Revolt Media & TV.

Tarik shares his unconventional career path from attending the top schools to moving to another country to build hotels to his current position as President of Combs Enterprises. Great listen and inspiration to go for it.

Charles discusses his journey from humble beginnings in Chicago, Meeting the love of his life, challenges, and wins in NYC, San Francisco, and LA.

Xavier shares his career journey and what inspired him to create HBCU Change, a fundraising app for Historically Black Colleges & Universities.

Angela Jackson shares her journey from Chicago to Paris to founding her own nonprofit to becoming an Angel Investor. A great inspiring story for all looking to find purpose.

Brittany shares her journey from a great childhood to becoming a corporate lawyer and how she found her purpose in criminal justice reform.

Scadi shares the story of his extremely humble beginnings to joining the Army, then corporate America to Successful Real Estate Investor. He talks about vulnerable, scary, challenging, to exciting moments that happened to him on his journey. A great listen for all.

Lekeith shares the ups and downs of his creative journey. Great listen.

Lauren continues to share her journey into ownership opportunities in a lucrative industry in NYC. She discussed the responsibilities and setback that comes along with it. She discussed the skills she used to deal with and maneuver as an entrepreneur successfully. A fun listen.

Lauren shares her journey from college and traveling abroad to becoming a Human Resource professional in a surprisingly lucrative industry in NYC. She shares other skillsets she acquired while immersed in her new company and how they lead to ownership and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Great conversation with entrepreneur and world traveler Fred Smith. We covered his background and what made him fall in love with traveling. We discussed his venture into real estate development, becoming a trader then an events planner to ultimately what inspired him to find Where Are You From Apparel. Great listen especially during the current pandemic where things are unprecedented and uncertain. It's hoodie season. Go to www.whereareyoufrom.us Join the community on Instagram and Facebook @whereareyoufrom.us

Dr. Catrise shares her incredible journey of how she became a celebrity dentist, business ups and downs, and how she was able to pivot after challenges.

Lola shares her journey of how she finally leaped to follow her dream after deferring it for 10 years of creating luxury luggage and accessory brand Silver & Riley. She dived into a very difficult period when she loses her mother and how she overcame various setbacks.

Raval shares her journey of how she finally became a successful working actress after being discouraged to do so during her freshman year in college by her counselor.

Andre shares his journey from Duke University to Jamaica and back as an artist and ad executive striving to be great.

Dora shares her journey after working 18 hour days in India, led her to quit her well paid job at Ernst & Young job in search of work-life balance and happiness.

Jatali shares her amazing journey from a successful career in finance to become a self-publishing author and investor. Inspired by experiences growing up, she learned how to channel her focus and passion into building a legacy for her son by betting on herself even when the odds were against her. A great listen for those looking for inspiration and direction during these trying times.

Husband and wife Julia and Waziri Garuba share their story of how they are able to be fulltime entrepreneurs with three kids.

Eric Adams shares his amazing journey from a troubled youth to become the first Borough President of Brooklyn.

Tiffany shares her story as a creative, music enthused, and entrepreneur. Great listen.

Claire shares the story of her background and what inspired her to start the most influential fashion media platform featuring people of color.

Camara shares the amazing journey of her crazy ups and downs of how she became the makeup artist to the starts.

Lala shares her very challenging story as an entrepreneur and the roadblocks she faced because she was black and her business focused on celebrating blackness.

Listen to Dr. Nicole Grimes as she Shares Her professional journey from what she was great at to do what she is passionate about.

Listen to the journey of Victoria Anderson, a Human Resources Exec Who Quit to Open her Own Insurance Agency

Entrepreneur and finance professional Reggie Smith shares how he convinced his boss to let him work from home in another city so he can focus on building his boxing studio.

This is a bit long episode but it is worth the listen as Paul grew from a troubled teenager into an entrepreneur was is booked, busy, and blessed.

Listen to Sabrina Thompson Mitchell Journey from Becoming a TV Producer to NYC Teacher to Partaking in Survivor TV Show to Owning Her Own Production Company.

Gary (GC) Coichy shares his journey from a Haitian immigrant to the founder of Pod Digital Media, an agency that focuses on helping multicultural podcasters monetize their content.

Listen to Julian Riley who is Founder and CEO of Harlem Blue Beer Company about his journey from Boston to Harlem and what led him to start his company.

The RAP episode is a little longer than normal but its very much worth the listen. Cherae Robinson kept it all the way raw and real as she shares her personal and professional journey as Founder and CEO of a Tech startup. Enjoy.

Hollywood Writer and Producer, Felicia Pride shares her journey from Baltimore to Hollywood.

Miss. Renae Bluitt dive into her journey from college to a successful pr career, blogger, and documentary film producer.

This podcast dives into the journey of Shana Renee Stephenson as a budding entrepreneur.