Women Of Color Entrepreneurs

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
For thirty five years, Cindy Stumpo has been a female
home builder with a passion for design, a mastery of detail,
and a commitment to her crack. With daughter Samantha Stumpo
by her side, I don't need my.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Whole family on a date with me.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
That's a good note.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
It's goddymn weird. See. Stumpo Development is the only second
generation female construction company in the country.

Speaker 4 (00:21):
You're crazy, You're a wacko, You're insane.

Speaker 5 (00:25):
I mean, it just doesn't end together.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Cindy and Samantha welcome guests to explore the world of construction,
real estate, development, design and more.

Speaker 5 (00:35):
I'm predictable. Every time I think I know what you want,
you'd switch it out. But that's what makes your houses all.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Your dy Discuss anything that happens between the roof and
the foundation. Nothing is off limits.

Speaker 5 (00:46):
You truly do care about everybody.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
She can yell at, she can scream, but when you
get her alone, she's the best person on the planet.
Cindy Stumpo is tough as nails.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
And Welcome to City. Stoppo toughest Nails on WBZ News
and I'm here with Samantha and Gunny.

Speaker 6 (01:10):
Anu Yadav.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
So our topic tonight is women of color entrepreneurs? Am
I right about that?

Speaker 6 (01:17):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Okay take it from there. What does that exactly mean?

Speaker 6 (01:20):
So I'll tell you a little bit about women of
color entrepreneurs. I co founded it in twenty nineteen.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
I'm not ignoring you, I'm just multitasking, Okay. I'm o
thank every word you say. Okay.

Speaker 6 (01:30):
I co founded a Woman of Color Entrepreneurs in twenty nineteen,
and we support women of color entrepreneurs in Massachusetts who
are growing their businesses. And so when I co founded
this and started it, was really interested in tackling the
larger issues of racial engender equity and supporting women of

(01:51):
color in particular because they face even more barriers in
terms of growing, growing a business, even starting and growing
a business. So we founded in twenty nineteen and we
bring on a cohort on an annual basis, and we
provide a variety of different support services to the entrepreneurs,
including programming geared towards business growth, mentorship, peer to peer support,

(02:19):
So the equivalent of a CEO, a round table, and
just the access piece because as you know, as entrepreneurs
and business owners who you know makes a difference in
terms of starting and growing a business. So we try
to make introductions to the entrepreneurs that are in our cohorts.
We work with them also on kind of anything that

(02:42):
can help accelerate business growth. So it could be introductions
to service providers, whether it be lenders, investors, potential customers,
potential partners. And so there's a couple of things that
we do.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Give me the three biggest challenges in your yeah or
what you see there? Yeah, because I want to learn, Okay.

Speaker 6 (03:07):
Access So like it's just like the access to funding
is a huge thing, whether it be kind of uh
for companies that are looking for seed financing or that
round of angel investment being connected, or just even knowing
how to pitch to those investors lenders as well. I

(03:28):
would say another big challenge.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
I'm going to go right with you here, Okay, So
does a white woman have it easier in your opinion
of raising capital?

Speaker 6 (03:40):
I think actually I would. I would couple it, and
we work with a lot of or we have a
lot of different partners. I would say that a lot
of women, but especially women of color, are facing challenges
in this area. So this is an issue that faces
both women of color and.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
And you're you have must have a reason behind that
that you think, what is it? Is it racism? Is
it doubting? Is it again?

Speaker 6 (04:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (04:10):
So, I because I think it would help a lot
of the listeners understand that they're not feeling alone, like
they're not paranoid, like this is really the truth, This
really goes on.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (04:20):
I think that some of it is is just also
related to just I mean, when you're thinking about a loan,
as you just mentioned that, it's like the financial kind
of literacy, like again, who you know, who's the who's
the banker? Do you know a banker? Just the process
of going through the process of getting a loan itself

(04:41):
or a line of credit or whatever you need in
that in term to keep your kind of business growing.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
And that's part of what makes it harder. Now, if
they got a good credit score and their credit's good,
is it an easier task.

Speaker 6 (04:57):
I think it's. I think it depends. I think there's
a lot of kind of shopping around in terms of
like just trying to figure out loans or just any
kind of financial support that could that could be terms
that are great. We also connect companies in our cohorts
to attorneys so that they can have any kind of

(05:21):
documents that they signed, looked.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
At and what made you approved personally?

Speaker 6 (05:26):
Yeah, I'm a corporate lawyer by training, and I was
always really passionate about helping entrepreneurs and people starting businesses
when I was a lawyer, and so ended up working
with later stage immigrant entrepreneurs and Kendall's Square and then

(05:49):
went and worked with really early stage entrepreneurs in Dorchester.
So really passionate about just that access and opportunity piece
in terms of just providing resources I think of like
job creation and just important to have. I think it's
like all like the biggest kind of source of new

(06:12):
jobs are from local businesses, small business business.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
You are starting it easier now or more of a
challenge or was challenging when you first started and getting
easier as you're as you're building this.

Speaker 6 (06:27):
I think that's a great question. I think that we're
in year five now and so thank you, and we
work with like over fifty entrepreneurs right now, and I
think that starting it was was challenging because we started
it right before COVID and then for everybody, yes, okay,

(06:49):
so it was just a challenging time period in general,
and then you know, figuring out for us the best
way we can help the entrepreneurs. So I think we've
done that, like we've you know, we've gone through several cohorts.
So that's been really really helpful in terms of figuring
out the model that we provide for support and community

(07:13):
for our entrepreneurs. And now we are working at just
expanding that.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
And this is what you do full time now, Yeah,
and you still handle the legal end or.

Speaker 6 (07:25):
So I run the organization right now. I work closely
with legal partners right now. In terms of providing support
to our entrepreneurs.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Do you get the feeling when you know, when you're
dealing with a bank or a lender, angel one of them,
when you know that you got the right paper in
front of you and they're still churning away that woman
because of personal reasons. You still get that And I'm

(07:57):
not asking who, I'm just asking does it still happen?

Speaker 6 (08:01):
I mean, I think that part of it is such
a challenging and like in terms of getting also just
like let's like switch like a little bit with that
to Angel investing. It's just a hard environment to get that, uh,
to first get into get in the door, and then
to get that kind of funding round closed. And so

(08:24):
what I'm finding is that a lot of people are
getting feedback on what they're they're pitching and then having
to go back and provide more and more.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
Okay, so we grab that just for any questions that
come through. Chatta please, And then you know.

Speaker 6 (08:40):
You mentioned one other thing, and I think that a
challenge that a lot of people are facing.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Something. When he throws that clock behind you and my
eyes keep going up and down like this, Yeah, it's
because he's annoying me. I tell him, don't come into
the last twenty seconds, but she came into thirty, which
we just ate up. Kids, We're not going to go
to break. Okay, don't come into twenty seconds. Let's see
the city stump on top his nails on w b
Z and we'll be right.

Speaker 5 (09:02):
Back sponsored by Floor and Decor, National Lumber and Village Bank.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Candle coming became back around the world.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
A thing and.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
You're back with Sydney Stubbo tough his nails on w
b Z. We're here with Sammy and we're here with Anu.
Tell me let's go back to the challenges. I like
I like to hear what the challenges are again, I'm
inquisitive to that.

Speaker 6 (09:52):
No, No, that's that's that's a great question. I think
a lot of companies are facing challenges right now in
terms of just hiring people. And I think that you know,
it's just not our companies, I think is a universal
challenge people are facing in terms of right.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
To work from home and yeah, hiring me to an
office and hybrided and.

Speaker 6 (10:11):
Okay, yeah, so that finding those finding staff to grow
because our companies are often solo entrepreneurs initially, like with
one or one or two employees, and so to to
find staff to grow it is a challenge.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
So what are you short right now for staff? If
you had to take a number.

Speaker 6 (10:34):
Like in terms of US as an organization or the entrepreneurs.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
You for us as an organization, well, we.

Speaker 6 (10:40):
Need yeah, so we definitely need at least one or
two additional full time hires because we're like looking to
we work with their fifty entrepreneurs.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
How big is your team now?

Speaker 6 (10:51):
We have two, like two to three people that work with.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
Us people they're probably doing it, but they're probably doing
the work of six people. Right, there's the difference you
have two to three, but when they're spending eighteen nineteen
hours a day working right, because you she has she
understands it. She's a lawyer by trade, and she's this

(11:16):
is her baby, this is her So no one's gonna
work it as hard as you. I want to assume
they're correct.

Speaker 6 (11:20):
Yeah, I mean as you know, as who start a
business like both of you, like you just know that
when it's your business, you have to be be there
with it. And so we see that with our entrepreneurs,
like we have a diverse range of entrepreneurs from food,
But do.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
The entrepreneurs understand what they're walking into? These females are
walking into because I have a lot of like Samy's
friends that'll call me right that have become doctors and
lawyers and you know, and now they started with their
babies and they're like, how did you do two kids
and start a business? And do do do right? Like
you just like Nike says, you just do it?

Speaker 6 (11:53):
Yeah, you do it.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
But generations change and people change, and when do you
like sit down with these entrepreneurs and give them a
reality check of what it's going to be like to
run your own business. The sacrifices you make to do
all this. You know, we talk about it a lot,
and there's the all sounds good till it isn't right.

Speaker 6 (12:17):
And there's the emotional toll. There is kind of just
a guil physical toll, the guilt, the guilt of being.
Most of them are being I'm a mom, a five
year old and so you you smile.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
I just divorced you.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
You can't. I can't. You can't emancipate for me. I
can't from anywhere. I'm too old for that.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Okay, I should did that when you were ten.

Speaker 6 (12:37):
Yeah, so the challenge is like that, you know, every
problem is is you front? That is wonderful to hear.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yeah, I can't live without her. She's my eares, but
go ahead. But the point is that nobody prepared me
at twenty three, right, No one prepared me, No one
prepared her.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Maybe that was better, Yeah, that I wasn't prepared. Yeah,
you had no choice but to figure it out, right.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
So you learn as you go, absolutely, And that is
people watch too much Google YouTube. As far as I'm concerned,
I'm kind of glad I didn't grow up in that
era and had to figure it out my own brain. Yeah,
because maybe if I listen to all these people tell
me how to make money, Yeah, I'm going to make
you I was. I love the New Ones, guys. I
got to be honest with you. I was raved this that,
But I'm gonna teacher. I'd make a million dollars a month.

(13:23):
Like what do we have to get into your trauma
for to make a million dollars a month? That's like
the new take right, Yeah, to your parents what you do.

Speaker 6 (13:32):
Well, I come from I'm a first generation American and
so now they like it. But you know, there was
that pressure to be a doctor a lawyer.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
Of course and get the asking you that is because
the Indian culture is very very ninety percent of my clients,
ninety percent of our friends, right, So there's a different
You're going to be a scientist, cann be a doctor.
You're going to be you know, there is that and
you're going to marry this guy because he comes from
the right city or the right town and like we

(14:04):
have a lot of at this thoughs on right.

Speaker 6 (14:06):
Yeah, So there's a little bit of that kind of
emphasis on education on a certain path and so and
I did that. I practiced law for ten years and
then I transitioned to nonprofit and leading some nonprofit organizations
and then starting this.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
So in five years, yep, how many women that you
have brought on to educate, to teach, how are they doing?
How many women that you started with, like let's say
the first two three years, not five years down the road, right,
because I think now five years down the road or

(14:42):
maybe three four years, you can try to figure out
who's going to make it out there and who is
and I think you can read the room. Yep. At
the beginning you might have been a little bit more
naive and said, Okay, yep, we get buying you you
you you you you, and we're going to make you
successful and blah blah blah. Yeah, now you've reallyzed in
five years. It's not that simple.

Speaker 6 (15:03):
Yeah, it's not. It's not easy to grow, to start
and grow a business, and there's many of them that are.
You know, we call on hiatus or pause. Some businesses
are on pause. For our first two cohorts, it was
during the kind of really difficult times of COVID and
so but I think seventy five percent of our business,
of our companies are still in business, which is a

(15:23):
great kind of number. We are looking. You know, we
we track like the revenue increase, we track jobs created,
and as we have grown as an organization, companies when
they join us, they have to making some revenue. They
have to test it out there there.

Speaker 3 (15:41):
They're they're just not coming in.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
They're not coming yet about DASA, Like, have you had
to turn somebody away and be like, no, this is
not We have.

Speaker 6 (15:48):
Something that we call our like our women of color community.
And so they're the more early stage companies that are
more idea haven't really made that much revenue, and we
provide a small like a level of resources to them,
But we spend most of our time on the women
of color that are growing their businesses. So in our
range of businesses, there's like such a range. We've got

(16:12):
a no staffing business to a real estate construction business,
to a cleaning business to a lot of food.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
Really, have there been any lower buriered entry I'm gonna
overtalk in this, okay. Have there been any that have
blown your mind how much they've exploded in business? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (16:30):
We have one that's a construction company's construction Yeah, which
I know is near and dear to both of you,
is that one of them has has really kind of
blown it out of the park this year through getting
these larger contracts, like government contracts. So we let her
know about some opportunities.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
So she's been able to she's a somber certified Women
Business Minority yep, right, and then she's going after federal
work and state.

Speaker 6 (16:57):
Work state work and also federal work, and so just
also just knowing about it because it's a process too.
Thousand apply for an RFP from the MBTA or the
commonwealth or to even apply for any federal things, and
those things are important, Like you just mentioned certification. When
I needs to get certified, that's something that we help

(17:17):
with too.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, when I went for my somber certification on there
forget this, this was probably I remember that twenty years ago.
I walked in, I had a suit on, had my bag,
and you know, it's like kind of like a professor
state trooper. I don't know, summer with authority, I can remember.
And the first thing he says, anybody that's here for
their father husband walk out the room now because it's

(17:39):
a federal offense. He's looking directly at me, right, It's
not look at anybody else in the room, just me.
And I said, like, after like the fourth thing, I said,
why are you staring at me? Yeah? He said, well,
I don't believe you're here as a general contractor. I said,
excuse me, because yeah, you don't look like one. I
go and I spent most of my career here and
that you don't look like a building, right, And I said,

(18:01):
that's okay. I said, can I go in my pocketbook?
I said, because I'm really getting aggravated now. He's like, sure,
what do you want in your pocketbook? Just hold on
unrestricted license, skyscraper ABC and an HIIC license. You want
to keep staring at me, body, I'm not here for nobody,
but he just kept staring at me, the only white
woman in the room. Okay, nobody else but to there

(18:25):
was a real equipment walked out of the room because
they were I'm not going to jail for my husbands
or my father, so they walked out. But the whole
time for that first th events, he was staring at me.
Then he looked at my licenses and said, okay, all right.
Then he stopped staring at me. But I hated that
because I was really the one in there that's paid
their dues and like you're making me uncomfortable, but the

(18:49):
woman doing And again you need that somber for certification.
But remember also if you're making too much money, then
you don't get that license. If you get more than
five thousand in the bank, you don't get this license.

Speaker 6 (19:00):
There's so many different licenses like you can get and
I always tell people go for their state certification. But
it's it's it's a like all the things that you
probably went through in terms of just as you were
growing your business, but just getting the certification. Yeah, it's
just the certification. It's just then the how to get
all of the insurance requirements, how to get kind of

(19:21):
the capital in place, and all of these things, these
challenges and in terms of are real and we just
try to help right through all that.

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Well, I thought I'm sitting stopping was tough as Nails
and w busy right.

Speaker 5 (19:32):
Back sponsored by Pillow Windows of Boston, Next Day Molding
and Kennedy Carpet CA.

Speaker 3 (20:00):
And welcome back to Tubest Nails on w BC. And
I'm here with Samantha and An. We got we had
a really nice gentleman sitting behind you. Do you have
a name Dominic, who's dominic.

Speaker 6 (20:12):
To dominic is a is one of our board members
and is a longtime supporter of our work.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
I'd like to shake your hand. Nice to te meet you, buddy.
And what are you Well, that's a different combination, cicili
in Haitian. I'm just Silian and Jewish. Yeah, absolutely, And
she's collaborating Sicily and Jewish. She's a trifactor, she's she's

(20:40):
a mixture. So that's some of the challenges.

Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
So the one that's doing construction, construction, she's she's flourishing,
I'm sure. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (20:50):
She just was awarded to m B T A contracts
and then worth around four million, and then several other contracts.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
And how old is she?

Speaker 6 (21:01):
I think she's probably an I don't know her exact age,
but probably forties. Yeah, good for her, good for her.
Mom runs a business like with her husband and is
just is at it. She's the one that's like, has
grown the business and done an amazing job.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
And what's another one that wrings the bell.

Speaker 6 (21:21):
To Yeah, so one of our businesses. She has a
clothing line that she produces from dead stock product and
a store and on the vineyard and she has bought
the commercial real estate where her store is. And yeah,
that is an important kind of I.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
Always try to own your locations so when your rent
goes up, you don't have to move your business out.

Speaker 6 (21:47):
It's a very important thing. And then but her revenue
has increased kind of uh substantially from the couple of
years that we've known her.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Now, what about business like hairdressing salons, whatever you can
think of.

Speaker 6 (22:05):
Yeah, we have that too. We have we have kind
of Selvil beauty. We have a lot of food and
kind of more natural food products as well. That those
are doing. Okay, they're steady. They need to get more.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
If you had your pick on what you'd like as
a lawyer, now put your lawyer cap back on, right,
don't put personal, just your lawyer cap. And I came
to you and I'm a woman of color or whatever
you want to say. What's a woman of color? Right? Yes,
a woman of color. And I said, advise me. I'm smart,
I'm good with business. See I get this all the time, Cindy,

(22:43):
I'm smart, I'm good in business. Is there a place
for me in your business? But I need something more
than that. I need some better delivery than I'm smart,
and I can I can come help you, Right, I.

Speaker 6 (22:56):
Would say, what's your passion and what and where do
you see kind of like a gap in the market.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
But what would you like to see more women? Were's
the were's were's the crack and the foundation for more
female owned businesses? Like what kind of businesses?

Speaker 6 (23:11):
I mean, I would love to see more in terms
of just tech help And yeah, we have some businesses
because we have a range of businesses. We have a
couple in tech, but not that many I would love.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Is it that it's scary to a certain age group?

Speaker 6 (23:30):
Uh? I think I mean our age range is twenty
to sixty. I think it's I think it is, like
it's the background of.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
I don't want to start tech. I'm a tech tard,
like like literally like I just hear my phone to SMITHA,
just fix it. That's why I've got children. I didn't
know I had children to take care of all my
technical difficulties. Right, right, it's a technical difficulty.

Speaker 6 (23:52):
My mom does, said to you. So then the other
one I would say is clean energy. There's a lot
of emphas this on on businesses that kind of work
with that climate change, you know, I know Massachusetts, the
Commonwealth is really focused on that now.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
You guys are strictly in Massachusetts right now.

Speaker 6 (24:10):
Right now we are. Our long term plan would be
to expand to other to other places, but we are
currently just in Massachusetts.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
What if a woman of color calls you from Detroit
or Chicago or North Carolina, South Carolina? Do you guide
that way?

Speaker 6 (24:27):
Yeah, we would guide them towards resources that we see
kind of in a in their geographic area. I wouldn't
say like we would just say, oh, don't you know
do our program? We do most of our stuff online,
but we do several things in person. And so that
kind of proximity to Massachusetts and also just kind of
some of the resources we have within Massachusetts right now,
we would have to develop it in another place to

(24:48):
really help the companies.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
I have a question, Yes, so you did? Is that
your question or chat Out's question?

Speaker 2 (24:53):
Kind of a combination.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
Well, you guys say that if I'm coming from Chadder
coming from.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
You, I'm combining like three to one.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
Okay, good.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
But you worked corporate law for ten years. Was there
like a case that just triggered you to change to
want to start this?

Speaker 3 (25:07):
Good question?

Speaker 6 (25:10):
Well, so, I you know, I worked for people.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
Just don't wake up one day and say I'm going
to change you do this.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
No, no, No, I did a lot of work. I will
tell you that I did a lot of work on
the side with social impact companies and I was really
passionate about companies that had a social mission. So that's
what I that's what I did during the time I
was practicing law.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
Law.

Speaker 6 (25:31):
It's great, like the corporate law is an amazing field,
it just wasn't my passion and so that I really
loved the social entrepreneurship, the startup aspect, and so that's
why I ended up doing the career transition.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
Okay, is that you got three questions in one well?

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Want it asked, had your personal journey started? And what
was what made her want to start the company? And
what is her dream for the company?

Speaker 1 (25:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (25:57):
Okay, so let me explain. So you we're on chatter,
which is shatter is a social audio device, and they're
watching right now. Okay, So I don't know if you
know what social audio is. I mean Twitter spaces. Have
you ever gone in there? No? Have you ever heard
of Clubhouse? No as Boston people.

Speaker 6 (26:16):
Yeah, what happened to Clubhouse?

Speaker 3 (26:17):
It went far away? But now you can join Shata
Social and I think this is something that you need
to bring to that app because they are a women
I'll that want to know more about this. Yep, And
before you leave, I'll we actually twelve o'clock did the
show in shatter. Social audio device I think is very new,

(26:38):
especially and we don't really know much about it in Boston.
We really don't. I mean, I like I always say
I think there's a plane flying over Texas because it
seems like everybody in Texas is on social audio. In Boston,
I think in all my years and four years between
Clubhouse and Twitter, I've met maybe seventy eight people from Boston.
When I say Boston. You know how we always say Boston, Massachusetts, Okay,

(26:59):
but we never say Jesus, just say Boston. So it's
actually a great place to run your type of content
and educate women. And I'll interview you on there too,
because this is a whole different world for me, right
Like we can say women of color entrepreneurs I started

(27:21):
twenty three. Banks didn't care that was white. They weren't
getting you know what I mean. It wasn't okay, like Okay,
you're white, somebody's going to give you lots of money
to go out and build. Like it didn't happen that way,
Like it really didn't. I was lucky enough to get
an Asian gentleman that owned a bank on Milk Street
called Liberty Bank. But that was already like pounding down already, right,

(27:41):
And then he gave me that one break. And that's
what it takes, that one break. But I said the
white things to him to get behind me, and I had.
Then I had to prove to him. If that first
job I did I failed, the relationship would have been over.
So that's what I'm saying like this, So.

Speaker 6 (27:58):
That one took a chance on you, someone like me to.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Take a chance on me, for sure. Yeah, but if
I fell down, the chance would have been gone.

Speaker 6 (28:04):
Right and yeah, and that happens to a lot of
entrepreneurs if you don't if you have that one chance,
you get that one large contract to fulfill.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
But here's what you can't let happen. You can't fall down, Unfortunately,
you can't. Yeah, no matter if you're working twenty hours,
no matter if you've got to do three people's jobs,
you can't fall down. I have that personality. There's no
way I was going to fall down. Like I knew,
I wasn't going to fall down. I was never going
to fall down. Yeah, no matter what if it meant

(28:35):
and she was three years old at the time, if
it meant no sleep, it meant no sleep, And it
meant no sleep, trust me.

Speaker 6 (28:42):
But you had to do what you had to do.
I had to do what I had to do to
that next level, right, And that's what we work with our.

Speaker 3 (28:48):
Also to keep that present of that bank engage with
me too, right, so he keep coming with me into
the next deal and the next deal till now the
conference was there, he felt it, he was comfortable with me,
and we were off and running, you know. So, But
there's a lot of pain that goes into that, and
that's what we need to know. It always sounds easy, yeah,

(29:11):
but it's not easy. It's always been easier for men
because men were supposed to go out and make the
living dude to dom blah blah blah and the whole
nine yeahs. Right, women, here's the funny part. And I
always say this, thirty eight years ago, I was the
bad mummy, right. Think about this thirty eight years ago.

Speaker 6 (29:28):
Because you were working and starting your business.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
I'd be running to the baseball, right to my son's
baseball or hers whatever, jumping on the bleaches with the
beeper and the next tell and a cell phone going,
and the other mother's looking at me like, oh, what
a terrible mommy. She is me going like this with
my finger. Turn your head. I'm not in the mood
for you right now before I actually throw you off
the bleaches, right because I had that personality and then
thirty eight years later, now you're the bad mummy if

(29:53):
you're not working, and we're going to break on that one.
I'm Sitny stumbling, listen tough his nails on WBZ. We'll
be right back.

Speaker 5 (29:58):
Sponsored by new Brook Realis Group, Boston, would Smaller Insurance
World Auto Body and Tasca Drive Autobody Suit.

Speaker 3 (30:11):
Good, welcome back to Tapas Nails. I'm city stump On.
I'm here with Samantha and Anu. We're going to introduce
your anyways Dominic that's sitting in the corner. But he's
laughing as I'm talking. So I would just say that
I've seen the world change, and like I said, thirty

(30:35):
eight years and now the women that want to stay
home and raise their children, now they'll look down at right,
So what a big shift? Right?

Speaker 5 (30:44):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (30:44):
And I always say if you want to stay home
and raise your children, that's the hardest job in the world.
Going to work is easier than stay at home and
being a mommy all day, right, yeah, So do what
makes you feel comfortable and don't let the peer pressure
catch up on you. If you don't have to go
to work in your marriag and your house is making
enough money and you can support one, you know, one

(31:05):
income can support a family, I think it's more important
for a mom to be home too, or maybe a
part time job or you know, whatever you want. Just
don't let the don't let make, don't make. Don't let
other women make you feel like you're less than because
you don't have a career.

Speaker 6 (31:22):
Every woman has to make their own kind of personal choices. Well,
someone has to make their personal choices as to what
they do, and there's no right or wrong. Everyone just
kind of trying to make their way with that as well.
But you know, something that you just said resonated with me,
and it's something that we try to do with the
woman that we work with, is that you know you're
saying you were you were doing it all, and you know,

(31:42):
you were kind of in the minority so to speak
when you were doing it, when you were starting your business.
And so a lot of our entrepreneurs are working by
them like are you know, their solo entrepreneurs working by
themselves as you know, as you were when you started
your business. And so one of the things that we
try to provide is that community of support. So even

(32:03):
if you are going through like a challenging time with
your business, like there's opportunities to discuss it, to chat
about it, to raise an issue, to have those kind
of peers to talk through things with. And so that's
something that we are trying to do with the women
that we work with.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
You know, it's kind of great to see, like we'll
be on social audio, yeah and somebody's baby will be
screaming in the background, right, yeah, and it's okay, like,
go ahead, deal with you, take care of the baby,
blah blah blah. But the one thing that I live
with a lot of guild with is that there were
so many times my small children came in the room
and I didn't want a client to hear that I

(32:44):
had children. Yeah, so my hand would go up that up,
give me five, Give me five if I had or WeDo.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
I don't remember single five in my brain.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Okay, but I do, and that's all that matters. That
you would turn around say you don't remember this, but
you were be four or five years old, and you
would turn around and walk out of the room. Okay, mommy.
But it would bother me, right, it would bother me
that I just had to stick my hand and say
to my kid, give me five. After I've already been
spent ten hours out there. Right now, she wants my time.
And now mothers are holding their babies while they're on

(33:17):
the phone, right. But my ad to was, if mister
and missus Jones, here's my baby in the background, they're
going to go buy a house from somebody else, because
it's going to figure that I don't have the time
to give them, plus my children. So it's an automatic
to try to shut your kids down. And now it's
the greatest thing when I'm on a phone with another

(33:39):
mom or on social audio and you hear baby screaming
in the background or crying that it's accepted now, right.

Speaker 6 (33:46):
So cover times and when we were all during.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
I don't yeah, I don't know if that was a
game changer. But I just know that if I had
a doll, if every time I stuck my hand up
in the air, I hated that feeling. And the minute
hang up with the people, I go run to my kids,
like I remember that. And so now when a woman is,
you know, holding her baby or husband, I'm like, don't
worry about it, guys, it's okay, take care of the kids.

(34:10):
You want to call me right back or I'm not
going anywhere. So that judgmental's gone now too. But when
I was in my twenties and thirties, no, it wasn't.
So the husband would say. I didn't want the husband
to say, well, you know, let's go Bill with Tom
mcmaritt because he's not playing mummy. You see the difference.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
Yeah, no, but I think that now I see a
lot of women that are like chair design or something.
They use their kids the excuse of why they're not
doing their job period, Like, I never saw you do that.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
I will never use my kids asn't.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
Yeah, and I see that a lot.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
So I can't be there because the kids.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, I hear it all the time.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
Well that's that's taking advantage of a situation. So right,
it's got to be a happy medium.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
Even like my friends that are in tech, they're like, okay,
I'm leaving to go pick my kid up, and their
managers leaving them high and dry, and she's like, what
am I supposed to do?

Speaker 5 (34:59):
Now?

Speaker 2 (34:59):
You just let me and dry like this?

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Yeah, So I think pendulum swings sometimes to father right
and sometimes too father left, and some way that right. Yeah,
but again that's just the way I did things and
if I had a do over, but I just see
things have changed so much. It's kind of cool. But
I don't like that part about being the bad mommy,

(35:21):
because I was the bad mmy, like I said before.
So a really big thing when you're talking to women
as entrepreneurs somebody that has suffered through that is say, listen,
you're going to live with guilt working. I don't care,
I don't care what generation we're in. You leave those
kids to go to work, there's a guilt factor. Just
try not to put so much more guilt on yourself

(35:44):
and definitely don't let anybody put guilt on you. So
if you don't have a good chierlead at home, meaning
a really good husband or you know, the man that
you had children with or whatever or female female, male
male and turtles with frogs. I mean, I don't care
this point. You need a good cheerleader. Yeah, you have
to have that other person have your back and say, han,

(36:05):
if you got to stay at work till ten o'clock,
then you stay at work till ten o'clock at night.
That's what I see to be important that you have
each other's backs. Yes, you can't. And if you don't
have that other person, that's okay, it's sometimes it's even
better because then you can only be your own cheerleader, right,
if you don't have somebody at home.

Speaker 6 (36:23):
But it's good to have. I mean you're saying an
important thing. It's good to have that support system.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
You need it.

Speaker 6 (36:27):
And so it could be your family, it could be
your peers, it could be your friends, it could be
whatever it is that works for you as you're kind
of as you're working on it.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
I fel lucky enough to get that best girlfriend. Yes, right,
So you know, look, you come from probably a very
traditional Indian family. They're always going to have your back
no matter what. Yep. Right, Just it's a different it's
different way of growing up. Like I said, mine and
Sammy's probably my best girlfriend, Karen. I mean, she's Indian,

(36:58):
she's got old school back use, and it's just it's
amazing to see, like both kids went to Harvard of course, right, yea,
they are Harvard people. The kids go to Harvard and
you know, and they're smart and so like, it's grateful.

Speaker 6 (37:14):
I mean, it's great to have your family. I mean,
it's great to see both of you here together and
just working together closely. But to have that support.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
So do these women lean on you for support too?

Speaker 6 (37:26):
They lean on on yes, on us and our team
for support, and then they also lean We have worked
with several partners on getting mentors for the companies for
the entrepreneurs, and then they lean on each other. And
so one of the great things that has happened during
the course of our program is that the companies are collaborating,

(37:49):
working together, not fighting each other for grants or anything.
They're they're all being able to work together and share
opportunities and cross collaboration market together.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
And that's pretty sorry someone on chatter saying this is
very powerful to her that's listening.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
They wanted me to tell.

Speaker 6 (38:07):
You, thank you. I appreciate that.

Speaker 3 (38:10):
That's why we do. I want to bring you on
Chatter because I think that you know, you can speak
to a bunch of women and explain you know that
aren't arm right now because they're excuse me when I
start to lose my voice on the fourth or fifth
when more of this okay, It's important for social audio

(38:32):
because they can come on camera, you can see them,
you can be on camera as you're talking to them
on chatter. Clubhouse that have offered that one, well, you
can actually be on camera and people get a visual
of what you look like and how you hold yourself.
And that's important. That really is important.

Speaker 6 (38:50):
So that is great. I did not mean that I'm
not familiar with.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
No, because it's it's in beta testing right now, so
it hasn't gone public, so I'd have to send you
an invite bring you in. But night time is always
like the best time to do it because around seven
eight o'clock, after moms put their kids to sleep or
have to give them dinner, whatever, they come on and
I'll bring you to one of my rooms and teach
women because they need to know this. And financial literacy

(39:17):
is another big one that they don't understand, not women
of color, women in general. Okay, and men too.

Speaker 6 (39:25):
Yeah, because if you don't know just the basics and
knowing your books and knowing things and you want to
start something a business like just that that basic thing.
And what we do is we work with partners because
we can't do we're a nonprofit. We have our space,
we work with a specific group, and we have resources
that we provide. But we work with a lot of

(39:46):
partners and we depend on those partners. But financial forecasting
and thinking through kind of all of them.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
My guys, it's not just females. Every one of my
subcontractors have zero financial listy. They're great plumbers like Christians,
HVAC guys. They don't understand money. They think it lasts forever,
and they just keep spending. And then I have to
sit there and play bank cause Cindy, and then try
to teach them how to save money. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
just shoot me. I spare money. Okay, we're going to break.
I'm sendy stumble and listen to Tupes Nails on w

(40:13):
bz W.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
Candle Boy went a wake up in the morn and
love and the sunlight hurts my eyes something without balls, man.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Then I look at you.

Speaker 6 (40:49):
And the world all right, sidays.

Speaker 3 (40:55):
And welcome back to Tuness Nails on WBZ, and I'm
Cindy Stumple, I'm gonna forget my name and all three seconds.

Speaker 6 (41:00):
And you are Mamantha and I'm on you.

Speaker 3 (41:03):
Okay, go ahead, tell my listeners you're in thirty three
states right now? How they find you? How do they
look you up? Great?

Speaker 6 (41:10):
So we're women of Color Entrepreneurs. We work with women
of color entrepreneurs who are growing their businesses. You can
find us our website is WOCE dot us or follow
us on Instagram at WOCE dash Boston and.

Speaker 3 (41:24):
I'm Sinny Step. Will have a great, safe weekend and
we'll see you next weekend.