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Omi Bell says entrepreneurship was her way out of poverty. While on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas, Bell shared how selling t-shirts changed her circumstances for the better. She was a computer scientist who had great jobs and grew up mainly in the middle class. However, she had her first child at 17 and her second child at 21, which led her to live in Section 8 housing and accept government assistance. She was working as a teacher and was supporting her children through school. “America’s not built for a person, a single person with children. That’s just the reality,” she said on the podcast. “But I had good jobs. I was a K-12 educator. I worked at a patent and trademark office … but I still couldn’t afford to live. Entrepreneurship was really my way out. I had gotten laid off twice. Me and my fiancé broke up. I realized I’m not going to get married. Now I have three children, and I’m not going to go back to anywhere where anybody...
DeVon Franklin began building a relationship with Babyface a decade ago, and it has blossomed with the release of his latest movie. Success Of “Ruth & Boaz” The former Sony executive has added a new project to his portfolio: “Ruth & Boaz,” a modern twist on a Biblical story that premiered on Netflix Sept. 26 and features Serayah McNeill, Tyler Lepley, Phylicia Rashad, and others. Boardroom reports that it became the platform’s most-streamed movie during its release week, garnering 434.4 million minutes of watch time. Franklin also tag-teamed with Tyler Perry as a producer on the film. Together, they “proceeded to negotiate the best film deal” he’s done in his career, he said in a Facebook post. Reflecting On Hollywood Tenure Franklin now has nearly 20 years of experience creating inspirational projects and has been in Hollywood for nearly 10 years more, he reflected on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. This experience is part of what...
The creator economy is growing stronger, so now is the time to position yourself for success. Creator Summit Goldman Sachs’ 2023 Creator Economy report projects the sector will reach $480 billion by 2027, nearly double its current size. To ensure Black digital entrepreneurs and creators are positioned to benefit, AFROTECH™ Conference 2025 attendees may want to keep their itinerary open for the Blavity Creator Summit in partnership with Dream Con, which will be hosted by Slug Global Founder Brittany Bosco. Dream Con brings together those interested in arenas including gaming and anime and was created by the members of RDCWorld (Real Dreamers Change the World), aligning with the AFROTECH™ Conference, which targets various sectors and caters to tech innovators, entrepreneurs, and professionals. View this post on Instagram A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) “The foundation of Dream Con was built off of creators. That’s the No. 1 part on why it even started or to get things,” John...
Journalist Roland Martin says it is important to “study the business of the business.” This mantra has served him well throughout his career in media. He used to host TV One’s “NewsOne Now” program until the network canceled the show in 2017. On the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, Martin revealed the decision occurred after its owner, Alfred C. Liggins III, refinanced the company’s debt, leading to various cuts. Martin was always ten steps ahead, paying attention to the evolving landscape of broadcast television, cable, and digital media. This also led to strategic decisions such as purchasing his own equipment. At TV One, owning his equipment allowed him to cement a deal that served him long-term. “I said, ‘I’m going to let y’all use my equipment. I’m not going to charge you a kit fee. But if my equipment is used, I get to co-own the content.’ Now the person listening or watching may go, ‘Man, why in the hell would you not charge?’ Because the content was more valuable than the...
Johnathan Newton had a dream, leading to a conference that is now attracting thousands of creators. Newton is a member of RDCWorld “Real Dreamers Change the World,” a Texas-based group of online personalities founded by longtime friends Mark Phillips and Affiong Harris. The group produces skits, vlogs, and short films. A YouTube video confirms that the group’s first viral video was titled “Anime People Take Anime Too Far.” Fast-forward to today, and the group has built a platform that has reached more than 12 million subscribers and followers collectively. Newton has been instrumental in helping creators expand into new territory with Dream Con, a conference that draws people from gaming, anime, sports, film, music, and pop culture, its website mentions. On the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas, Newton stated that he had emailed the group about an opportunity to appear in a news segment about Black creators, which his sister with PR...
Business and branding strategist Maya Elious offers a unique perspective on the intention of launching a business. Elious founded Built To Impact, a coaching company based in the Atlanta metropolitan area that launched in 2014. Built To Impact assists women coaches, consultants, and service-based entrepreneurs who are scaling businesses to profitability in the six figures and beyond, according to information shared on her LinkedIn. Elious noted her business has attracted many faith-based women. On the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas, Elious shared her take on the narrative keeping entrepreneurs from reaching new heights in their wealth-building journey. “Some of the things that hold us back is this fear of being greedy. This fear of seeming like, ‘Oh, I’m only doing it for money’… Starting a business for money is also noble,” she said. “Knowing how to put food on the table is a noble thing. You don’t need to have this deep, purposeful,...
Joseph ‘JoJo’ Simmons has advice for creators looking to diversify their income. Carrying The Torch As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Simmons is the son of Rev Run and has made several splashes on television through “Run’s House,” “Growing Up Hip Hop,” and “King of Newark.” Simmons took a page from his father’s book and learned from the successes of other family members, including his uncle Russell — who founded Phat Farm and Def Jam — as he mentioned on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. “Growing up and watching not only my dad perform for thousands of people and watching my uncle go in rooms and close deals that were amazing deals, not just like Phat Farm or Def Jam deals , but doing things where he was stopping gun violence in New York. He was really showing up in those type of spaces,” Simmons shared on the podcast. “I think watching that, being inspired by the ones before me — like I said, my dad, my uncle — and the older ones in...
Tennessee State University graduates became founders and took a chance on investing in their communities. Now it’s paid off. Their current venture, Slim + Husky’s, is expanding. Derrick “Moe“ Moore, Clint Gray, and Emmanuel “EJ” Reid have always used entrepreneurship to give back. The trio first launched a moving company with $3,000. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the company helped them employ their formerly incarcerated friends. “We had a big focus on giving back to our people and giving them jobs and providing opportunities,” Gray said on the “ Black Tech Green Money ” podcast. Slim + Husky’s Through the moving company, they scaled a $3,000 investment into a seven-figure business. The trio later sold the business. However, they were uncomfortable riding off into the sunset and wanted to find a new way to support their community. This materialized into a pizza shop called Slim + Husky’s, an idea that originated from inside a garage, the company website mentions. The first shop...
Collab Capital Managing Partner Barry Givens reveals his biggest mistake as a founder. Givens has entrepreneurial experience leading the tech-focused brokerage, Dream Reality, which operated between 2009 and 2010. Later, he became managing director of Techstars, further establishing himself in the venture capital world. In 2018, he co-founded Collab Capital, a venture capital firm supporting early-stage founders, alongside Jewel Burks Solomon — the former head of Google for Startups in the U.S. Collab Capital raised $75 million in 2025 from investors such as Apple, Leon Levine Foundation, and California IBank for its second fund, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. On the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas, Givens acknowledges that the pair did not initially have a steady track record when they were starting as investors, so their roles were strategic. That choice helped them secure funding for their first round in 2021, which led to a $50...
Yemi Akisanya believes Black populations should not be an afterthought when considering success benchmarks. Akisanya currently serves as the vice president of justice, equity, diversity, inclusion (JEDI), and people experience at Axon, a company creating security technology products, such as TASER, primarily for law enforcement. He works within people operations and has partners including the company’s head of talent acquisition, head of culture, and head of internal communications. Akisanya says he ensures belonging and high performance are infused into the company’s global strategy, as mentioned on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. He admits that the best opportunities within the company are through talent acquisition, believing it is essential not to leave any stone unturned. “We want to hire the best talent in all communities,” Akisanya mentioned. “We also want to make sure that once that talent comes to Axon, they have a culture...
Raud is sharing his secret to success in the streaming world. The Philadelphia native, who has more than 2 million followers across his social platforms, is in his sixth year of content creation and fourth year of streaming , as he mentioned on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. Born Cheraud Brown, Raud started on YouTube and has garnered 559,000 subscribers across 1,512 videos on two channels through the platform. In 2021, he joined Twitch, during a time that he described to Lucas as the final year of the “desktop era.” He now classifies himself as a “pure streamer.” “Anybody who knows 2K, it’s different builds, it’s different archetypes, it’s different attributes that certain streamers are good at. A lot of streamers are not good at click-and-start and not having no plan,” Raud said on the podcast. “I’m really good at that because before, where streaming’s at right now, the bigger streamers got it to a point where people feel like...
Nina Westbrook is stepping into the tech world with the launch of her new wellness app. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Westbrook has long been driven by wellness, a passion that also led her to launch Bene™ by Nina. This digital platform offers mental health e-workshops, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. While speaking on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, Westbrook traced her mission in wellness back to her sports background and her family’s involvement in athletics. According to People Magazine, she played basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s always been a part of my mission…just coming from a family of sports and having a sports background myself, and understanding the physicality and understanding how we train our bodies to perform and how we alter our diets to create the best performance physically,” Westbrook said on the podcast. “But we’re not putting that same amount of attention and energy and intention into training our minds and...
John Imah founded a tech company that has hit unicorn status. For Imah, the drive to succeed was instilled early. Growing up in a Nigerian household, his parents pushed him toward one of two career paths: lawyer or doctor. Tech wasn’t even on the radar. His family also grew up poor, so when his parents sacrificed for them to move to America, it was with the hope of building a better future. That dream came to life when several family members became doctors and nurses. But tech stayed in a “gray bubble” for most of them. However, Imah embraced it fully, showing an interest as early as age 7. “My parents knew early on because when I was 7 years old, I took apart my first computer. It was just a natural God-given talent,” he explained on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. “They were pissed. Like ‘We just bought this new household computer, and you just took it apart. If you don’t put this back together…’ And so I ended up putting it back...
Slauson & Co. serves as a bridge between Silicon Valley and entrepreneurs seeking investors. Based in Los Angeles, this venture capital firm takes pride in investing in “exceptional entrepreneurs” who historically have been excluded, as mentioned on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. Its founders, Ajay Relan and Austin Clements, established the firm in 2020, after having met 25 years ago off of Slauson Avenue. “When we were building it, we could confidently say we’re the only institutional grade VC firm on Slauson Avenue,” Relan explained on the podcast. “…I think when we think about this geography and what inspires us the most, it really is communities like the ones that exist alongside this corridor in every major city and municipality across the U.S. And we’re built to build a brand that kind of speaks to folks that have historically been excluded and, again, try to find the best and brightest of those that leverage their...
Derek Lewis’ corporate experience gave him the upper hand in becoming a franchisee. Lewis had an extensive career at PepsiCo that spanned 35 years, and he managed multi-billion-dollar operations. He spent the first seven years in various sales roles before rising through the ranks to become Pepsi Bottling Group’s regional sales manager (2001–2004), followed by three separate vice president roles (2001-2008) and two senior vice president positions (2008-2019). He exited the company at the end of 2022 after serving as president of multicultural business at PepsiCo North America for one year. Franchisee Lewis is now occupied as a franchisee of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, with 10 traditional locations slated for Central Florida. He is projected to be the largest franchisee in the Southern Region of the United States, according to a news release shared with AFROTECH™. His locations have broken ground at Orlando’s Kia Center and Camping World Stadium, and most recently in Oviedo, FL. Leslie...
