November 28, 2023 • 11 mins
This week's guest, international boss lady Barkue Tubman-Zawolo, takes us on a journey from Liberia to global leadership. A true trailblazer, Barkue has not only shattered barriers but also established herself as a visionary entrepreneur and Chief of Staff at Essence Ventures. With a focus on bridging gaps and fostering connections, she's redefining industries and leaving a lasting impact. In this episode, Barkue recounts her family's journey and shares how those early experiences shaped her perspective on hard work, integrity, and the hidden strength found in overcoming fear. Join us for an inspiring conversation with a leader who's making waves on a global scale.
Host IG:@itstanyatime
Guest IG: @barkue
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Decided to take those matters into my own hands and say,
you know what, I got to figure out because I
want to.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I want to live. Not only do I want to
live the.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Lifestyle that I've become accustomed to, I want to make
sure that now as a parent, I set a foundation
so my children can even start out better than I am.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You're listening to Money Moves powered by Greenwood, a finance
podcast dedicated to dropping all the knowledge and gems from
the world's leading celebrities, entrepreneurs and experts, and tech, business
and more. I'm your host, angel investor, technology enthusiast, and
media personality Tanya Sam. Each week, we talk with guests
who are making significant strides in their fields and learn
(00:39):
how they are making their money move. If you're someone
who's looking to make your money move, you're in the
right place, So open up your notes app and lock
us in, because this podcast will give you the keys
to the kingdom of financial stability, wealth and abundance you
so rightly deserve. Before we start the episode, I'd like
to remind you to check us out at gogreenwood dot
com and follow us on social media at Greenwood and
(01:02):
me on all Things Social at It's Tanya. Time to
stay locked in too new episode. Hey, Moneymovers, get ready
for a week of inspiration and empowerment. I'm your host,
Tanya sam and our guest today is a true trailblazer
who's been making waves on a global scale. She's not
only shattered barriers, but established herself as a visionary entrepreneur
(01:24):
and is now the chief of staff at Essence Ventures,
with the focus on bridging gaps and fostering connections and
finding money grants to fund your wildest business dream. She's
defining industries and leaving a lasting impact. Money Movers, please
welcome the International Boss.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Barku Tubman Zavolo. Hi Barkoo, how are you?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Tanya. I like that intro.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I'm gonna have to keep that for something else.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I mean, I feel like I had to chop it
down a little bit because I also know you wear
a lot of different hats and you have some other
roles in there. So I'm leaving space for you to
sprinkle in. And this is your time to humble brag
because you are a multifaceted woman, And so tell me
what I left out, because I know there's others in there,
but I just took you know, your top roles here.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, So I mean I think you captured just about
everything I pride myself on. I like, the boss Lady
is really the boss Lady is the Barku brand, right,
and and it really it has a lot to do
with not only your accomplishments, but also your journey to
your accomplishment. So I think you know what we don't
do sometimes as women, as boss ladies is give ourselves
(02:35):
grace and credit for how we're even waking up, moving
and thriving every day.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
So one of the things that I take pride and
I have.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
A nonprofit in Liberia called the Boss Lady Effect, And
what we do and what we say we do that
we we take pride in is we're changing the world
one boss girl at a time and helping young women
understand that legacy starts with them.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So that's that's one of the other things.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And of course, as you mentioned, I'm the chiefless staff
and diasporic engagement at Essence Ventures. Really exciting role as
as a serial entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
When the opportunity came almost two.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Years ago, I had not worked for anybody, but this
is such a different opportunity first of all, Essence Communications
means Essence Festival. I mean, like, you know, the the
universe for black women globally, and I get to participate
in my little way and contribute and be in service
to this community.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So it was, it was, it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And plus I get an opportunity to work with the
amazing Caroline Wanga and Richel Dennis and the incredible team
that that's there. So yeah, and that's that's I think
you captured all of it.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I mean so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And I love that you're starting us off on just
encouraging our money movers audience. Like you know, sometimes as
black women in particular, we don't give ourselves the grace
the credit about how much we've done, how much it
takes to do what we do. So listeners out there
seriously like we are handclapping you all right now. I'm
so excited to dive into your story. So I want
to take us back because you know, in our little
(04:07):
pregame preamble here, both of us recognize that we are
neighbors because you know, my family comes from Ghana and
you are from Liberia.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
So I want to go back to the very beginning
of little Barku, tell us about how you grew up.
And I want you to frame this because you know,
what I think is so interesting about money moves is
we always talk about generational wealth and like, you know
how we were taught to think about money as children,
the family sort of you know, whether or not they
were good or bad legacies that were indoctrinated into us.
(04:38):
So let's go back to your early days. And you
grew up in Liberia or you were born there.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
This is this is how what I always say, I
was born in Liberia, raised in America by very Liberian parents.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Aha.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
So yes, I've been here for as long as I
can remember. But I also remember growing up in like
a my family left Liberia in nineteen eighty. There was
a coup, there was a civil unrest in Liberia. My family,
my father was in government. My grandfather was a president
of Liberia.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Well, yo, what she is.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Saying, very you left Liberia like you were not you
could not stay there?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah wow, right, So we were fortunate to be able
to make it out of Liberia and we came to
the United States.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
The interesting thing is, I mean I grew.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Up extremely privileged.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You know, you're from Africa and your family's from Africa,
and for those in the diaspora that understand, you know
what it means to have family in government. You know,
you do live a pretty privileged life. But we did
come to America and have to start all over again.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Because one of the.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Things that I think most of our most of our parents,
and I when I find that when I talk to
my other Liberian relatives and friends and even other Africans,
is you know, I think they get so accustomed to
how things you know were and are, that they don't
for there not to be right.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, so you sort of grow up with everything, but
when you come to America, you're who you were in
Liberia doesn't translate to America. You know, my mom used
to call my mom right, my mom calls America the
great equalizer. Like, you know, everybody's got to show up.
Everybody's got to work hard. Your last name or who
you are or the click you in does not matter here.
You really have to show up and do that work
(06:26):
in order for anybody to do it. So I did
grow up very fortunate, but coming to America at a
young age with the parents that I have instilled hard
work is really and integrity is really you know, how
you you you survive and how you thrive. It's so
funny because as I even talked about earlier, why my
nonprofit does what it does and how you know. For me,
(06:47):
the boss Lady title really is about your your whole self.
Everything I do really speaks to myself or those people
that may follow me or people that start to follow
me on social media. If you see a comment, it
really is me preaching to myself and trying to tell
myself this is where. This is the headset, this is
the mindset I need you to be in. Right now,
you get it together right. You have done this because
(07:09):
as you know, as you continue to climb the ladder
of success, as you as driven as you are, when
you're put in position, it's not always easy to show
up so confident.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
What's exciting about is you tend to do scared?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yes, yeah, do it scared absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
As a young as a young girl basically you know,
just grew up very fortunate.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
My mom and dad were not married.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I have I have a very I have a You
have to excuse the lightning and thunder in the background.
It just is what it is. You can't showers of blessings.
Look will take it as that. But my parents weren't married.
I come from a family, a very very African family. Actually,
my father has six kids. I'm the youngest by three
different women, and they might kill me when they hear
but it's it's reality.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
And you know what I like to say, Like you know,
on podcasts like this, all these pieces rest with different people.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
There's somebody else out there who's listening. It's like, oh,
that sounds like my family.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Tell me more.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
You know somebody else who was like huh.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And so I just I love the truth because it's
your truth is definitely somebody else's. And if not, you
are informing other people on just your life.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, And and listen if you have a show where
you're educating people. And I think in order for people
to learn how to navigate where they are, is they
if I'm going to jump on, it's really important that
I'm on right, It's really important that I'm honest.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But but but.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I think that I had an amazed both my parents
and my stepmother, They're all amazing. And then of course
by extension, we have second parents, the aunts and the uncles,
you know, because in Africa, and as we grew up,
even as we lived in America, even more so, it
took a village. And so just growing up just really
really was forced to just you know, it's all about
do good in school, do good in school, right, and
(08:49):
it's got to you know, who wants to be the doctor,
the lawyers and all the traditional beings.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I grew up and like this is where I feel like,
you know, I overstand being first generation. I was born
in Canada. However, my older brothers and sisters were born
in Ghana, and my dad similar background. His dad was
a civil servant, but he came to Canada to go
to med school.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
And it was like just be a doctor.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's success, that's a savior money, Be a doctor, take
care of my family. The interesting thing is when you
talk about money management at an early age and now
that I have children, I have six year old triplets
by Praskuylar and kJ who owned me and ruled my life.
We didn't get taught the money, you know, how to
(09:32):
manage money, right. The sort of things were just there
for you, right, they were star just there. And I
think when I got older was when I decided to
take those matters into my own hands and say, you
know what, I got to figure out because I want to.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I want to live.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Not only do I want to live the lifestyle that
I've become accustomed to, I want to make sure that now,
as a parent, I set a foundation so my children
can even start out better than I am.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
So I so, now you're growing up in New Jerseys
that correct, So when we came to America.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Sorry, I didn't give you that part. When we came
to America, I actually grew up in Manhattan. I grew
up on sixty fifth Street and Third Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
All right.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I went to the International School. Units loved it, and
then I went to boarding school. I graduated from boarding
school in Princeton at the Hunt School in Princeton, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I'm a New Yorker.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's sort of my my, my sort of backstory Liberia America.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It's I'm very much a worldly global citizen.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Thanks for listening to today's episode. If we helped you
make your money move, please share it with your community,
Subscribe and leave us a review on iHeartRadio and Apple Podcasts.
Follow us on social media at Greenwood, and visit us
at gogreenwood dot com for more financial tips and remember
money movers. If this were easy, everyone would do it.
So take the lessons you've learned from this episode and
(10:53):
apply it to your life. Money Moves is an iHeartRadio
podcast powered by Greenwood Executive produced by Sunwise Media. For
more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Make sure to.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Tune in Monday, Wednesday and Friday and subscribe to the
Money Moose podcast powered by Greenwood, so that you too
can have the keys to financial freedom you so rightly deserve.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Until next time,
Decided to take those matters into my own hands and say,
you know what, I got to figure out because I
want to.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I want to live. Not only do I want to
live the.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Lifestyle that I've become accustomed to, I want to make
sure that now as a parent, I set a foundation
so my children can even start out better than I am.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You're listening to Money Moves powered by Greenwood, a finance
podcast dedicated to dropping all the knowledge and gems from
the world's leading celebrities, entrepreneurs and experts, and tech, business
and more. I'm your host, angel investor, technology enthusiast, and
media personality Tanya Sam. Each week, we talk with guests
who are making significant strides in their fields and learn
(00:39):
how they are making their money move. If you're someone
who's looking to make your money move, you're in the
right place, So open up your notes app and lock
us in, because this podcast will give you the keys
to the kingdom of financial stability, wealth and abundance you
so rightly deserve. Before we start the episode, I'd like
to remind you to check us out at gogreenwood dot
com and follow us on social media at Greenwood and
(01:02):
me on all Things Social at It's Tanya. Time to
stay locked in too new episode. Hey, Moneymovers, get ready
for a week of inspiration and empowerment. I'm your host,
Tanya sam and our guest today is a true trailblazer
who's been making waves on a global scale. She's not
only shattered barriers, but established herself as a visionary entrepreneur
(01:24):
and is now the chief of staff at Essence Ventures,
with the focus on bridging gaps and fostering connections and
finding money grants to fund your wildest business dream. She's
defining industries and leaving a lasting impact. Money Movers, please
welcome the International Boss.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Barku Tubman Zavolo. Hi Barkoo, how are you?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Tanya. I like that intro.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I'm gonna have to keep that for something else.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I mean, I feel like I had to chop it
down a little bit because I also know you wear
a lot of different hats and you have some other
roles in there. So I'm leaving space for you to
sprinkle in. And this is your time to humble brag
because you are a multifaceted woman, And so tell me
what I left out, because I know there's others in there,
but I just took you know, your top roles here.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, So I mean I think you captured just about
everything I pride myself on. I like, the boss Lady
is really the boss Lady is the Barku brand, right,
and and it really it has a lot to do
with not only your accomplishments, but also your journey to
your accomplishment. So I think you know what we don't
do sometimes as women, as boss ladies is give ourselves
(02:35):
grace and credit for how we're even waking up, moving
and thriving every day.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
So one of the things that I take pride and
I have.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
A nonprofit in Liberia called the Boss Lady Effect, And
what we do and what we say we do that
we we take pride in is we're changing the world
one boss girl at a time and helping young women
understand that legacy starts with them.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So that's that's one of the other things.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And of course, as you mentioned, I'm the chiefless staff
and diasporic engagement at Essence Ventures. Really exciting role as
as a serial entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
When the opportunity came almost two.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Years ago, I had not worked for anybody, but this
is such a different opportunity first of all, Essence Communications
means Essence Festival. I mean, like, you know, the the
universe for black women globally, and I get to participate
in my little way and contribute and be in service
to this community.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So it was, it was, it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And plus I get an opportunity to work with the
amazing Caroline Wanga and Richel Dennis and the incredible team
that that's there. So yeah, and that's that's I think
you captured all of it.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I mean so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And I love that you're starting us off on just
encouraging our money movers audience. Like you know, sometimes as
black women in particular, we don't give ourselves the grace
the credit about how much we've done, how much it
takes to do what we do. So listeners out there
seriously like we are handclapping you all right now. I'm
so excited to dive into your story. So I want
to take us back because you know, in our little
(04:07):
pregame preamble here, both of us recognize that we are
neighbors because you know, my family comes from Ghana and
you are from Liberia.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
So I want to go back to the very beginning
of little Barku, tell us about how you grew up.
And I want you to frame this because you know,
what I think is so interesting about money moves is
we always talk about generational wealth and like, you know
how we were taught to think about money as children,
the family sort of you know, whether or not they
were good or bad legacies that were indoctrinated into us.
(04:38):
So let's go back to your early days. And you
grew up in Liberia or you were born there.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
This is this is how what I always say, I
was born in Liberia, raised in America by very Liberian parents.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Aha.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
So yes, I've been here for as long as I
can remember. But I also remember growing up in like
a my family left Liberia in nineteen eighty. There was
a coup, there was a civil unrest in Liberia. My family,
my father was in government. My grandfather was a president
of Liberia.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Well, yo, what she is.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Saying, very you left Liberia like you were not you
could not stay there?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah wow, right, So we were fortunate to be able
to make it out of Liberia and we came to
the United States.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
The interesting thing is, I mean I grew.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Up extremely privileged.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You know, you're from Africa and your family's from Africa,
and for those in the diaspora that understand, you know
what it means to have family in government. You know,
you do live a pretty privileged life. But we did
come to America and have to start all over again.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Because one of the.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Things that I think most of our most of our parents,
and I when I find that when I talk to
my other Liberian relatives and friends and even other Africans,
is you know, I think they get so accustomed to
how things you know were and are, that they don't
for there not to be right.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, so you sort of grow up with everything, but
when you come to America, you're who you were in
Liberia doesn't translate to America. You know, my mom used
to call my mom right, my mom calls America the
great equalizer. Like, you know, everybody's got to show up.
Everybody's got to work hard. Your last name or who
you are or the click you in does not matter here.
You really have to show up and do that work
(06:26):
in order for anybody to do it. So I did
grow up very fortunate, but coming to America at a
young age with the parents that I have instilled hard
work is really and integrity is really you know, how
you you you survive and how you thrive. It's so
funny because as I even talked about earlier, why my
nonprofit does what it does and how you know. For me,
(06:47):
the boss Lady title really is about your your whole self.
Everything I do really speaks to myself or those people
that may follow me or people that start to follow
me on social media. If you see a comment, it
really is me preaching to myself and trying to tell
myself this is where. This is the headset, this is
the mindset I need you to be in. Right now,
you get it together right. You have done this because
(07:09):
as you know, as you continue to climb the ladder
of success, as you as driven as you are, when
you're put in position, it's not always easy to show
up so confident.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
What's exciting about is you tend to do scared?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yes, yeah, do it scared absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
As a young as a young girl basically you know,
just grew up very fortunate.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
My mom and dad were not married.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I have I have a very I have a You
have to excuse the lightning and thunder in the background.
It just is what it is. You can't showers of blessings.
Look will take it as that. But my parents weren't married.
I come from a family, a very very African family. Actually,
my father has six kids. I'm the youngest by three
different women, and they might kill me when they hear
but it's it's reality.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
And you know what I like to say, Like you know,
on podcasts like this, all these pieces rest with different people.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
There's somebody else out there who's listening. It's like, oh,
that sounds like my family.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Tell me more.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
You know somebody else who was like huh.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And so I just I love the truth because it's
your truth is definitely somebody else's. And if not, you
are informing other people on just your life.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, And and listen if you have a show where
you're educating people. And I think in order for people
to learn how to navigate where they are, is they
if I'm going to jump on, it's really important that
I'm on right, It's really important that I'm honest.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But but but.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I think that I had an amazed both my parents
and my stepmother, They're all amazing. And then of course
by extension, we have second parents, the aunts and the uncles,
you know, because in Africa, and as we grew up,
even as we lived in America, even more so, it
took a village. And so just growing up just really
really was forced to just you know, it's all about
do good in school, do good in school, right, and
(08:49):
it's got to you know, who wants to be the doctor,
the lawyers and all the traditional beings.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I grew up and like this is where I feel like,
you know, I overstand being first generation. I was born
in Canada. However, my older brothers and sisters were born
in Ghana, and my dad similar background. His dad was
a civil servant, but he came to Canada to go
to med school.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
And it was like just be a doctor.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's success, that's a savior money, Be a doctor, take
care of my family. The interesting thing is when you
talk about money management at an early age and now
that I have children, I have six year old triplets
by Praskuylar and kJ who owned me and ruled my life.
We didn't get taught the money, you know, how to
(09:32):
manage money, right. The sort of things were just there
for you, right, they were star just there. And I
think when I got older was when I decided to
take those matters into my own hands and say, you
know what, I got to figure out because I want to.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I want to live.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Not only do I want to live the lifestyle that
I've become accustomed to, I want to make sure that now,
as a parent, I set a foundation so my children
can even start out better than I am.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
So I so, now you're growing up in New Jerseys
that correct, So when we came to America.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Sorry, I didn't give you that part. When we came
to America, I actually grew up in Manhattan. I grew
up on sixty fifth Street and Third Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
All right.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I went to the International School. Units loved it, and
then I went to boarding school. I graduated from boarding
school in Princeton at the Hunt School in Princeton, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I'm a New Yorker.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's sort of my my, my sort of backstory Liberia America.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It's I'm very much a worldly global citizen.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Thanks for listening to today's episode. If we helped you
make your money move, please share it with your community,
Subscribe and leave us a review on iHeartRadio and Apple Podcasts.
Follow us on social media at Greenwood, and visit us
at gogreenwood dot com for more financial tips and remember
money movers. If this were easy, everyone would do it.
So take the lessons you've learned from this episode and
(10:53):
apply it to your life. Money Moves is an iHeartRadio
podcast powered by Greenwood Executive produced by Sunwise Media. For
more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Make sure to.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Tune in Monday, Wednesday and Friday and subscribe to the
Money Moose podcast powered by Greenwood, so that you too
can have the keys to financial freedom you so rightly deserve.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Until next time,
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If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.