September 12, 2024 • 25 mins
In this solo episode, host Rachel Foster revisits her quest to find a supportive community of Black women entrepreneurs and establish a community of support for women of color in the tech industry.
Rachel talks about her discovery of Mighty Networks as a community-building platform and her struggle to decide which group to focus on first. She also teases her session topic for an upcoming speaking engagement.
We are planning a Q&A episode. Do you have burning questions? Contact us at (404) 425-9862 or on social media @askimperfectgenius.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Welcome to Imperfect Genius, the podcast that helps Black women thrive by providingtechnical advice on effectively navigating the business development journey and offering
advice to all women on building successful careers in the tech industry.
I'm your host, Rachel Foster, a tech professional, educator, and entrepreneur.
It's just me today, folks, no guests.
And the reason I'm doing a solo episode, recording a solo episode is because I want togive you a few updates.
(00:37):
So this will be a short update episode.
Episode six came out, episode six was the finding community was the title of the episode.
That was the episode where I talked about looking for a community of support.
And after that episode came out, I had a few folks who came to me and asked if I wouldkeep them updated.
(00:59):
And so said, yeah, sure, I'll probably record a follow -up episode.
So this is that follow -up episode that I'm recording to catch you up on that particulareffort and to share some other news as well.
Just a brief recap for those of you who were, because I I said it was episode six, it wasa while ago.
For those of you who don't remember or who didn't have a listen to episode six.
(01:23):
So in the Finding Community episode, episode six, I talked about, I went through thejourney of my life and through the lens of different communities that I belong to and
talked about how now that I'm an entrepreneur,
Again, it's not my first business, I talked about how, you know, it's very isolating andthat I'm looking for a community of support again.
(01:50):
And I was just sort of just talking about the, the nuances and the feelings that I had ineach of those communities throughout my life.
And I shared some, some funny, funny, not funny stories about some of my recent networkingattempts and feeling invisible.
Just as reminded, that was the episode where I talked about the, well, what did I call theguy?
(02:13):
I think the fake name I gave him was John, the financial planner.
This was the chamber of commerce meeting that I went to where the guy was basicallyclimbing over me to get to the guy next to me to share his information in his car.
Meanwhile, I had been looking for a financial planner for like six months and I was justbasically invisible to this guy.
And I was saying, yeah, that's right.
(02:34):
I remember what this feels like to be
the only in a room.
so, and I wasn't the only black woman in the room.
I was one of very few.
But anyway, so that was the episode where I was talking about that and I was talkingabout, you know, looking for a community that I could join as a black woman entrepreneur,
(02:59):
but then also missing the community that I had as a woman of color in tech.
And so was just sort of looking for something.
And there, and I mentioned that there are several communities, because people have sent meFacebook groups and some things like that.
And I mean, first of all, social media is not my thing.
Social media, it's really not my thing.
(03:22):
Funny story, I got blackmailed into joining Facebook way back in the day.
Like literally a friend of mine, somebody who's known me for a very long time.
threatened to post embarrassing pictures of me online.
It was like, well, if you're not on Facebook, then you won't know that, you know, I didthat.
So, and this was just predates other more modern social media.
(03:45):
But anyway, so yeah, social media is not my thing.
It's just not my thing.
remembering to go to, say, for example, Facebook, to go to a Facebook group or somethinglike that, it's just not, and I don't like...
I don't like having to navigate through all of the crap, all of the click bait and randomupdates.
(04:09):
It's just, I can't express to you how much is not my thing.
I used to log in and I'm just using Facebook as the example, but I feel this way about allsocial media for the most part.
Or most social media, there are some that I tolerate.
(04:30):
but, I forgot what I was going to say.
I was talking about, I used to log in once a year just for my birthday, so I could getevery, you know, everybody's like wishing me happy birthday and I would log in once a year
and that was it.
Anyway, so I'm on a tangent.
So social media is not really my thing.
So looking for community on a social media platform that is just there to steal my data isnot a thing that I'm really all that interested in.
(04:57):
and so when I.
did that episode, I think where I left off was I mentioned that I had found MightyNetworks, which, so what happened was, so what happened was, so what happened was I was
looking for a course platform because I'm planning on offering courses as part of theImperfect Genius.
(05:22):
And I was looking for a course platform.
And when I was looking at the different reviews for different platforms and, you know,just all of the standard ones that you probably like, Conjabi and Thinkific and I can't
even think of all of them right now, but there would be, I would see these comparisons andthey would say, this one's best for this or best for that.
(05:45):
And consistently in every review I saw, Mighty Networks was listed as best for communitybuilding.
And when I first,
had the, and I mentioned this in the previous episode, when I first had the fever dreamthat would eventually become Imperfect Genius, the one thing that I wrote down about what
I wanted this business to be was community -based.
(06:06):
And I had no idea what that meant.
Like it just, was a thing that popped in my head and I just said community -based and Iwas like, I'll figure that out later.
So when I was looking for a course platform, meaning a platform that could host my coursesthat I'm going to be building, and I saw this one was best for
community building, I was like, well, that's the perfect platform for me.
(06:28):
So again, at the time of the last episode where I talked about community, that's where weleft off.
was sort of cyber stalking Gina Bianchini, who is the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks.
I was listening to all these podcast episodes and I had ordered her book, which is called,I don't remember what,
(06:51):
something about purpose, don't remember.
I think it's just called purpose.
Anyway, I'd ordered her book, which is about community building.
And I was listening to these podcast episodes she did, and was considering taking hermasterclass on community design.
And so I was just sort of like trying to figure out if this was the right way to go.
And I hadn't yet signed up for Mighty Networks.
And so since then, and also I was workshopping a name.
(07:15):
picking up there since then.
I did sign up to be a host on Mighty Networks, which is what they call their users.
did sign up to be a host on Mighty Networks.
Originally, I just was sort of hanging out in their community, because that's the coolthing about Mighty, which is that you can become a part of their community even if you
(07:37):
don't even have to sign up.
So I was actually a member of their community for a month before I ever even signed up foranything.
So I can sort of like hang out and listen to or, you know, join live streams and eventsand listen to other people who are building their communities and some of the challenges
that they were facing.
(07:58):
every time there was a new feature release, was hearing that.
So I was able to sort of be a part of their community while I was figuring out if I wantedto use them as my platform for community.
And then I eventually signed up and
And I did take the community design accelerator masterclass and it was fine.
(08:21):
I ended up hitting a snag and it's a snag that I hit.
trying to think of how I want to say this.
So it's a snag that I've hit a couple of times, but it was really drilled into me withregard to this community design course.
(08:42):
So here's what it boils down to.
When it comes to marketing, especially if you're a new business owner, if you're in asmall business owner, the thing that you're going to hear a lot is...
ideal customer avatar, ideal client avatar.
You want to focus on, want to figure out who your ideal customer is.
(09:03):
You want to figure out their demographics and their psychographics.
And you want to think about where do they shop and where do they do they, like it's awhole big thing.
I'm mocking a little bit, but it's a whole big thing of you get super specific about yourideal client avatar.
so that was, know, I've heard all that before.
That was not news to me.
And so as I'm doing this community design accelerator,
(09:25):
It was like, you want to be super specific about your ideal community member.
The problem with it is, as you've heard, if you've been listening to this podcast for awhile, then you know I have two segments of that I consider to be my listening audience.
I have women of color in the tech industry and I have black women entrepreneurs.
(09:46):
Those are the two, what I consider to be my two.
And I know there's more.
I know there are other, I have friends who listen to this podcast who do not belong toeither of those groups, friends and former colleagues.
And so I'm not saying that this podcast is only for them.
I'm saying that those are the people that I'm trying to help with my business and also inthe podcast.
(10:07):
And so those are the two groups.
They're very different, but at the same time, I happen to be in both of those groups and Iknow people who were in both of those groups.
I'm not looking for a community of just people who have that intersect.
Like if it's a Venn diagram, I'm not looking for, and for those who are watching thevideo, they can see me making these circles with my hands.
(10:28):
if you got a circle of black women entrepreneurs and you got a circle of women of color intech, I'm not only looking for where there is an intersection.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying I just happen to be in that intersection, which is why I have a hard timechoosing one side or the other.
I mean, I have my leanings, which I'll get to in a minute, because I am, we'll get to thatin a minute.
(10:54):
But so anyway, so the point is that I have these two groups and all the feedback I keptgetting was, no, no, no, you can't serve both.
Let me be clear.
It's not that it was, that they were saying that I can't do both.
They're saying you got to focus on one to start.
And then as you grow the community, then you can bring in other, you know, other idealcustomer or
(11:16):
community members, ideal community member avatars, different types of people, but you wantto focus on one star.
And for me, who is a black woman, it's like asking me, well, are you black or are you awoman?
And I'm like, it's not an either or, I'm a black woman.
(11:38):
And again, I'm not only looking for the people who are in the intersection for mycommunity, I'm just saying I want to serve both.
And I kept being told, no, no, no, no, no, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta pick basically.
Cause otherwise your messaging is not gonna be clear because if you're trying to talk toone segment versus the other, like the things that you would say to one and the course,
(12:02):
possibly the courses, but although the courses that I feel like the courses that I'm goingto be offering are generic, but cause they're tech courses.
And anyway, I'm on a tangent.
can't.
So anyway, so that was the challenge that I hit in the community design course, which isnot specific to community design.
It's a thing that I've hit with regard to marketing in general for Imperfect Genius.
(12:25):
And so I just kept thinking, I don't want to pick.
was being, I'm going to be perfectly honest.
was being stubborn.
I can be very stubborn, but
Because here's the thing.
From a community perspective, as an entrepreneur, that is the community that I need.
(12:52):
That's the community of support that I need right now.
And I would like for it to be a community of black women, just because I want people whoshare my experience.
So that is the community, that is the group that I need right now.
However, I have 30 plus years experience in the tech industry.
(13:12):
I currently mentor.
women of color in the tech industry.
And well, here's my news.
Let's segue into my news.
Cause I was gonna say, you if I were going to pick, I would have to go with the women ofcolor in tech.
And here's why.
If I was looking at the very short term, the other news that I have is that if you followme on social media, you know this, but I am, I've been very honored to be invited to be a
(13:39):
speaker at the Grace Hopper celebration in Philadelphia next month.
For brevity sake, we'll just call it GHC 2024 or GHC 24.
The Great South for Celebration is the world's largest tech conference for women and non-binary people.
So I am going to have a huge opportunity to do a lot of networking with women in the techindustry.
(14:02):
So if I were going to pick a single group of these two groups that I don't want to reallypick from, I pick between.
then I would have to go with Women of Color in the tech industry as the first point offocus for my community.
By the way, I didn't mention, I glossed over this earlier.
I mentioned I was workshopping the name.
(14:23):
The name is Phenomenal Journey by Imperfect Genius.
So if I were going to pick one to focus on for Phenomenal Journey by Imperfect GeniusCommunity, then it would be Women of Color in Tech because I have this huge opportunity.
So my session that I'm doing is
at GHC is called a brain date.
So as opposed to like one of the breakout sessions or like some of the sessions that areon stage where you're doing a presentation and you're sort of just talking at the
(14:55):
audience, I specifically, can't talk today, specifically chose brain date as my type ofsession that I wanted to do because it's for small group conversations.
I was gonna say one -on -one, but it's not.
Well, it could be one -on -one if nobody shows up or if only one person shows up, but it'smeant to be the small group session where you're just doing knowledge sharing and talking
(15:17):
about a topic of interest and sharing ideas and connecting.
And it's just really great opportunity to meet people and make one -on -one connectionsthat can be more lasting than just talking at a group of people as a, mean, again, nothing
wrong with that, no shade on that.
If somebody wants to have me come speak at their conference, I'm happy to do that.
(15:38):
I'm just saying that I specifically, when I was applying to be a speaker for the GraceHarper celebration, I specifically chose BrainDate because I wanted that opportunity to do
more one -on -one or small group connections.
And the topic, just FYI, if you're gonna be in Philadelphia next month and you're going tothe Grace Harper celebration, my topic is, the official title is, Good Enough,
(16:04):
Perfectionism and Impostor Syndrome.
a battle on two fronts, because y 'all, we need to talk.
I came up with this idea.
First of all, it was already rattling around in my head for a couple of different reasons,just from my own personal experiences as a Black woman in tech.
But also, I was seeing signs of it in other Black women that I worked with in tech, whichis that these dual pressures that we have.
(16:33):
And I have a whole rant about imposter syndrome.
I'm not going to get into the whole of the talk in this podcast episode.
In fact, what I think I'm going to do, I'm still sort of workshopping this.
I tend to come to y 'all with my workshop ideas.
What I think I'm going to do while I'm at the conference is I'm going to do a video diary.
(16:55):
It's just like, you know, because I'm going to be there for I think four days.
So I'm going to do a video diary clips each day and then maybe put that all together andrelease the audio as a podcast episode.
The video will be posted in the community.
By the way, all of the all the podcast episodes to date have all all have video attachedto them.
So for those of you who've just been listening, well, actually, that would be everybodybecause I haven't released the video.
(17:18):
So nobody has seen the videos except me.
But there is a video that goes with every episode and those videos will be available forcommunity members only.
So this video diary that I'm going to do while I'm at the Grace Opera celebration, thevideo will be.
available for community members, but I will release the audio as a podcast episode.
(17:40):
So I was making a point and I went off on a tangent again.
Let me think, where was I going with that?
just that there's a great opportunity to network and meet people.
And I was talking about my topic and sort of why I came up with that.
(18:01):
And I didn't want to get into it here.
So I'm just saying that.
I'll talk in my video diaries that I'm going to release after the video and then the audiothat I'm going to release after the conference.
I'll talk more about how the session went and what some of the some of the discussionsthat went on.
So we'll get more into my rants about imposter syndrome, because believe me, I got rantsabout imposter syndrome.
(18:22):
But, you know, the reason I came up with this topic and this idea was because of thesedual pressures of, you know, if you're an other.
you know, which is to say you're not a white male in tech.
So if you're an other in tech, then you automatically, I don't want to say automatically,but more than likely feel like you don't belong because these are spaces that are not, you
(18:45):
know, you're not encouraged to be in and that we're not made for you.
And so you're already, you're sort of, you have those tendencies towards feeling like youmight be a fraud or maybe you don't belong.
But then there's also if you're a woman, if you're a person of color, again, if you're another, then sometimes you tend to feel like you have to be 10 times better just to get
(19:13):
half as far, right?
So you put that pressure on yourself with regard to being perfect.
And so anyway, so it just feels like that you're being squeezed from all sides betweenthose two pressures and the professional anxiety, y 'all, is very real.
So I just thought it would be a really great topic for this conference of women in tech.
(19:35):
So that was why I came up with that topic and that's what I'm going to talk about it.
I'm going to do a video diary and it's going to be great.
Well, I don't know if it's going to be great, but I'm going to release it anyway.
So my point is because I'm going to be at this conference, I'm going to have thiswonderful opportunity, then back to the community design and the pressure to pick a group.
(19:59):
If I was going to pick a group, and I keep saying if, because I still haven't made thatdecision, if I was only going to pick a group that to start the community, it would be
women of color in the tech industry, just because I'm about to go to this conference andI'm going to have an opportunity to meet so many people.
And it'll be a great opportunity to offer this as a mechanism of support for these womenin the tech industry.
(20:23):
Again, haven't made that choice yet.
Because honestly,
Making that choice would make me just a little bit sad because like I said, the communityof support that I need right now is other black women entrepreneurs or business owners,
women of color who are business owners.
I need support and I need somebody to bounce ideas off of and that's what I need for me,the women of color in tech.
(20:49):
I am exiting the tech industry.
Well, I mean, I still work.
mean, my business is tech.
That's what I do, tech coaching.
Tech coaching, can't talk today.
But my point is I'm not in the corporate space anymore.
That is not for me.
is, so that part of the community is for me to support others.
And I'm happy to do that.
(21:09):
I just would like to get some support myself.
So that's why I don't want to just focus on just one, but I'm still mulling it around ormulling it over.
So yeah, stay tuned to, know.
What was the to be continued?
I don't know that there's going to be another episode podcast episodes on this specifictopic, but I will probably mention it in, in with some other, you know, maybe when I'm
(21:35):
talking to a guest, if it comes up, the subject of a community comes up, then maybe I'lltalk about it again.
But yeah, stay tuned.
I will say a couple of things.
Number one.
Because I'm going to this conference, think I'm going to offer a special for thecommunity.
Like I'm going to launch the community and I'm going to offer a special.
(21:55):
Right now I think I'm going to offer three months free.
Stay tuned for that.
if if follow me on social media at at ask imperfect genius or subscribe to our newsletter,subscribe at imperfectgenius .com because if I'm going to offer a special, I'm going to
announce it on.
It's probably going to be on Instagram and or LinkedIn and Facebook.
(22:17):
Probably all three of those if I'm going to do a special.
And I will definitely announce it in the newsletter if I'm going to do that.
And I keep saying if I'm probably going to do it, it's just a matter of spinning up theweb page and the offer code and all that fun stuff.
I got to do the back end work.
It's going to happen.
I just got to do the work to make it happen.
So that's that's the good news there.
(22:38):
The other thing is I am planning another Q &A episode.
did that a while back with with assistant producer Emma.
I'm going to show that's the other other update.
had some folks ask me, where's assistant producer Emma?
Assistant producer Emma is is planning a epic road trip and also working on a politicalcampaign.
(23:00):
I did the classic thing that people do or that small business owners make the mistake.
And you would think this being my second business.
that I would not have made this mistake, but I did, which is start spending money beforeyou're making money.
And so I hired Emma before I ever made a dime.
And so then I quickly realized, wait, that was not smart, because I'm not making anymoney.
(23:24):
But she's, like I said, she's got other things that she's doing and she's great.
But anyway, my point was we did a Q &A episode a while back.
And so I'm going to do another where I was answering questions about getting started inbusiness.
I haven't decided yet what the topic of this next Q &A.
So that one was specifically getting started in business.
I'm going to do another topic.
(23:45):
It's going to depend on the questions that I get.
So if you have questions, it doesn't have to be about business.
It could be about business.
It could be about tech.
I don't want to say it can be about anything.
Let's keep it in there, you know, about tech or about business.
You can give us a call at 404 -425 -9862 and leave us a voicemail with your questions.
You can also, you can also
(24:08):
post them on, well, you could DM me on social media.
I'm trying to think, you could text us at that same number, 404 -425 -986.
I'm trying to give you a couple of options for sending your questions over.
I can't even remember, this is sad.
I built my website and I don't remember if I have a, I do have a contact us page.
(24:29):
There's a contact us page on the website.
can.
issue your, or give us your questions that way as well.
Like if you can fill out the form and send us your questions that way.
So we've got a couple of different ways.
If you've got questions, can, you can send them to us and I'll compile, see if I can comeup with some themes and do another Q and A episode coming out very soon.
So again, stay tuned.
(24:49):
Thank you for listening.
I, maybe I'll see you in Philadelphia.
That'd be awesome.
But until next time, this is Rachel Foster reminding you while your journey may not beflawless, it can be phenomenal.
Welcome to Imperfect Genius, the podcast that helps Black women thrive by providingtechnical advice on effectively navigating the business development journey and offering
advice to all women on building successful careers in the tech industry.
I'm your host, Rachel Foster, a tech professional, educator, and entrepreneur.
It's just me today, folks, no guests.
And the reason I'm doing a solo episode, recording a solo episode is because I want togive you a few updates.
(00:37):
So this will be a short update episode.
Episode six came out, episode six was the finding community was the title of the episode.
That was the episode where I talked about looking for a community of support.
And after that episode came out, I had a few folks who came to me and asked if I wouldkeep them updated.
(00:59):
And so said, yeah, sure, I'll probably record a follow -up episode.
So this is that follow -up episode that I'm recording to catch you up on that particulareffort and to share some other news as well.
Just a brief recap for those of you who were, because I I said it was episode six, it wasa while ago.
For those of you who don't remember or who didn't have a listen to episode six.
(01:23):
So in the Finding Community episode, episode six, I talked about, I went through thejourney of my life and through the lens of different communities that I belong to and
talked about how now that I'm an entrepreneur,
Again, it's not my first business, I talked about how, you know, it's very isolating andthat I'm looking for a community of support again.
(01:50):
And I was just sort of just talking about the, the nuances and the feelings that I had ineach of those communities throughout my life.
And I shared some, some funny, funny, not funny stories about some of my recent networkingattempts and feeling invisible.
Just as reminded, that was the episode where I talked about the, well, what did I call theguy?
(02:13):
I think the fake name I gave him was John, the financial planner.
This was the chamber of commerce meeting that I went to where the guy was basicallyclimbing over me to get to the guy next to me to share his information in his car.
Meanwhile, I had been looking for a financial planner for like six months and I was justbasically invisible to this guy.
And I was saying, yeah, that's right.
(02:34):
I remember what this feels like to be
the only in a room.
so, and I wasn't the only black woman in the room.
I was one of very few.
But anyway, so that was the episode where I was talking about that and I was talkingabout, you know, looking for a community that I could join as a black woman entrepreneur,
(02:59):
but then also missing the community that I had as a woman of color in tech.
And so was just sort of looking for something.
And there, and I mentioned that there are several communities, because people have sent meFacebook groups and some things like that.
And I mean, first of all, social media is not my thing.
Social media, it's really not my thing.
(03:22):
Funny story, I got blackmailed into joining Facebook way back in the day.
Like literally a friend of mine, somebody who's known me for a very long time.
threatened to post embarrassing pictures of me online.
It was like, well, if you're not on Facebook, then you won't know that, you know, I didthat.
So, and this was just predates other more modern social media.
(03:45):
But anyway, so yeah, social media is not my thing.
It's just not my thing.
remembering to go to, say, for example, Facebook, to go to a Facebook group or somethinglike that, it's just not, and I don't like...
I don't like having to navigate through all of the crap, all of the click bait and randomupdates.
(04:09):
It's just, I can't express to you how much is not my thing.
I used to log in and I'm just using Facebook as the example, but I feel this way about allsocial media for the most part.
Or most social media, there are some that I tolerate.
(04:30):
but, I forgot what I was going to say.
I was talking about, I used to log in once a year just for my birthday, so I could getevery, you know, everybody's like wishing me happy birthday and I would log in once a year
and that was it.
Anyway, so I'm on a tangent.
So social media is not really my thing.
So looking for community on a social media platform that is just there to steal my data isnot a thing that I'm really all that interested in.
(04:57):
and so when I.
did that episode, I think where I left off was I mentioned that I had found MightyNetworks, which, so what happened was, so what happened was, so what happened was I was
looking for a course platform because I'm planning on offering courses as part of theImperfect Genius.
(05:22):
And I was looking for a course platform.
And when I was looking at the different reviews for different platforms and, you know,just all of the standard ones that you probably like, Conjabi and Thinkific and I can't
even think of all of them right now, but there would be, I would see these comparisons andthey would say, this one's best for this or best for that.
(05:45):
And consistently in every review I saw, Mighty Networks was listed as best for communitybuilding.
And when I first,
had the, and I mentioned this in the previous episode, when I first had the fever dreamthat would eventually become Imperfect Genius, the one thing that I wrote down about what
I wanted this business to be was community -based.
(06:06):
And I had no idea what that meant.
Like it just, was a thing that popped in my head and I just said community -based and Iwas like, I'll figure that out later.
So when I was looking for a course platform, meaning a platform that could host my coursesthat I'm going to be building, and I saw this one was best for
community building, I was like, well, that's the perfect platform for me.
(06:28):
So again, at the time of the last episode where I talked about community, that's where weleft off.
was sort of cyber stalking Gina Bianchini, who is the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks.
I was listening to all these podcast episodes and I had ordered her book, which is called,I don't remember what,
(06:51):
something about purpose, don't remember.
I think it's just called purpose.
Anyway, I'd ordered her book, which is about community building.
And I was listening to these podcast episodes she did, and was considering taking hermasterclass on community design.
And so I was just sort of like trying to figure out if this was the right way to go.
And I hadn't yet signed up for Mighty Networks.
And so since then, and also I was workshopping a name.
(07:15):
picking up there since then.
I did sign up to be a host on Mighty Networks, which is what they call their users.
did sign up to be a host on Mighty Networks.
Originally, I just was sort of hanging out in their community, because that's the coolthing about Mighty, which is that you can become a part of their community even if you
(07:37):
don't even have to sign up.
So I was actually a member of their community for a month before I ever even signed up foranything.
So I can sort of like hang out and listen to or, you know, join live streams and eventsand listen to other people who are building their communities and some of the challenges
that they were facing.
(07:58):
every time there was a new feature release, was hearing that.
So I was able to sort of be a part of their community while I was figuring out if I wantedto use them as my platform for community.
And then I eventually signed up and
And I did take the community design accelerator masterclass and it was fine.
(08:21):
I ended up hitting a snag and it's a snag that I hit.
trying to think of how I want to say this.
So it's a snag that I've hit a couple of times, but it was really drilled into me withregard to this community design course.
(08:42):
So here's what it boils down to.
When it comes to marketing, especially if you're a new business owner, if you're in asmall business owner, the thing that you're going to hear a lot is...
ideal customer avatar, ideal client avatar.
You want to focus on, want to figure out who your ideal customer is.
(09:03):
You want to figure out their demographics and their psychographics.
And you want to think about where do they shop and where do they do they, like it's awhole big thing.
I'm mocking a little bit, but it's a whole big thing of you get super specific about yourideal client avatar.
so that was, know, I've heard all that before.
That was not news to me.
And so as I'm doing this community design accelerator,
(09:25):
It was like, you want to be super specific about your ideal community member.
The problem with it is, as you've heard, if you've been listening to this podcast for awhile, then you know I have two segments of that I consider to be my listening audience.
I have women of color in the tech industry and I have black women entrepreneurs.
(09:46):
Those are the two, what I consider to be my two.
And I know there's more.
I know there are other, I have friends who listen to this podcast who do not belong toeither of those groups, friends and former colleagues.
And so I'm not saying that this podcast is only for them.
I'm saying that those are the people that I'm trying to help with my business and also inthe podcast.
(10:07):
And so those are the two groups.
They're very different, but at the same time, I happen to be in both of those groups and Iknow people who were in both of those groups.
I'm not looking for a community of just people who have that intersect.
Like if it's a Venn diagram, I'm not looking for, and for those who are watching thevideo, they can see me making these circles with my hands.
(10:28):
if you got a circle of black women entrepreneurs and you got a circle of women of color intech, I'm not only looking for where there is an intersection.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying I just happen to be in that intersection, which is why I have a hard timechoosing one side or the other.
I mean, I have my leanings, which I'll get to in a minute, because I am, we'll get to thatin a minute.
(10:54):
But so anyway, so the point is that I have these two groups and all the feedback I keptgetting was, no, no, no, you can't serve both.
Let me be clear.
It's not that it was, that they were saying that I can't do both.
They're saying you got to focus on one to start.
And then as you grow the community, then you can bring in other, you know, other idealcustomer or
(11:16):
community members, ideal community member avatars, different types of people, but you wantto focus on one star.
And for me, who is a black woman, it's like asking me, well, are you black or are you awoman?
And I'm like, it's not an either or, I'm a black woman.
(11:38):
And again, I'm not only looking for the people who are in the intersection for mycommunity, I'm just saying I want to serve both.
And I kept being told, no, no, no, no, no, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta pick basically.
Cause otherwise your messaging is not gonna be clear because if you're trying to talk toone segment versus the other, like the things that you would say to one and the course,
(12:02):
possibly the courses, but although the courses that I feel like the courses that I'm goingto be offering are generic, but cause they're tech courses.
And anyway, I'm on a tangent.
can't.
So anyway, so that was the challenge that I hit in the community design course, which isnot specific to community design.
It's a thing that I've hit with regard to marketing in general for Imperfect Genius.
(12:25):
And so I just kept thinking, I don't want to pick.
was being, I'm going to be perfectly honest.
was being stubborn.
I can be very stubborn, but
Because here's the thing.
From a community perspective, as an entrepreneur, that is the community that I need.
(12:52):
That's the community of support that I need right now.
And I would like for it to be a community of black women, just because I want people whoshare my experience.
So that is the community, that is the group that I need right now.
However, I have 30 plus years experience in the tech industry.
(13:12):
I currently mentor.
women of color in the tech industry.
And well, here's my news.
Let's segue into my news.
Cause I was gonna say, you if I were going to pick, I would have to go with the women ofcolor in tech.
And here's why.
If I was looking at the very short term, the other news that I have is that if you followme on social media, you know this, but I am, I've been very honored to be invited to be a
(13:39):
speaker at the Grace Hopper celebration in Philadelphia next month.
For brevity sake, we'll just call it GHC 2024 or GHC 24.
The Great South for Celebration is the world's largest tech conference for women and non-binary people.
So I am going to have a huge opportunity to do a lot of networking with women in the techindustry.
(14:02):
So if I were going to pick a single group of these two groups that I don't want to reallypick from, I pick between.
then I would have to go with Women of Color in the tech industry as the first point offocus for my community.
By the way, I didn't mention, I glossed over this earlier.
I mentioned I was workshopping the name.
(14:23):
The name is Phenomenal Journey by Imperfect Genius.
So if I were going to pick one to focus on for Phenomenal Journey by Imperfect GeniusCommunity, then it would be Women of Color in Tech because I have this huge opportunity.
So my session that I'm doing is
at GHC is called a brain date.
So as opposed to like one of the breakout sessions or like some of the sessions that areon stage where you're doing a presentation and you're sort of just talking at the
(14:55):
audience, I specifically, can't talk today, specifically chose brain date as my type ofsession that I wanted to do because it's for small group conversations.
I was gonna say one -on -one, but it's not.
Well, it could be one -on -one if nobody shows up or if only one person shows up, but it'smeant to be the small group session where you're just doing knowledge sharing and talking
(15:17):
about a topic of interest and sharing ideas and connecting.
And it's just really great opportunity to meet people and make one -on -one connectionsthat can be more lasting than just talking at a group of people as a, mean, again, nothing
wrong with that, no shade on that.
If somebody wants to have me come speak at their conference, I'm happy to do that.
(15:38):
I'm just saying that I specifically, when I was applying to be a speaker for the GraceHarper celebration, I specifically chose BrainDate because I wanted that opportunity to do
more one -on -one or small group connections.
And the topic, just FYI, if you're gonna be in Philadelphia next month and you're going tothe Grace Harper celebration, my topic is, the official title is, Good Enough,
(16:04):
Perfectionism and Impostor Syndrome.
a battle on two fronts, because y 'all, we need to talk.
I came up with this idea.
First of all, it was already rattling around in my head for a couple of different reasons,just from my own personal experiences as a Black woman in tech.
But also, I was seeing signs of it in other Black women that I worked with in tech, whichis that these dual pressures that we have.
(16:33):
And I have a whole rant about imposter syndrome.
I'm not going to get into the whole of the talk in this podcast episode.
In fact, what I think I'm going to do, I'm still sort of workshopping this.
I tend to come to y 'all with my workshop ideas.
What I think I'm going to do while I'm at the conference is I'm going to do a video diary.
(16:55):
It's just like, you know, because I'm going to be there for I think four days.
So I'm going to do a video diary clips each day and then maybe put that all together andrelease the audio as a podcast episode.
The video will be posted in the community.
By the way, all of the all the podcast episodes to date have all all have video attachedto them.
So for those of you who've just been listening, well, actually, that would be everybodybecause I haven't released the video.
(17:18):
So nobody has seen the videos except me.
But there is a video that goes with every episode and those videos will be available forcommunity members only.
So this video diary that I'm going to do while I'm at the Grace Opera celebration, thevideo will be.
available for community members, but I will release the audio as a podcast episode.
(17:40):
So I was making a point and I went off on a tangent again.
Let me think, where was I going with that?
just that there's a great opportunity to network and meet people.
And I was talking about my topic and sort of why I came up with that.
(18:01):
And I didn't want to get into it here.
So I'm just saying that.
I'll talk in my video diaries that I'm going to release after the video and then the audiothat I'm going to release after the conference.
I'll talk more about how the session went and what some of the some of the discussionsthat went on.
So we'll get more into my rants about imposter syndrome, because believe me, I got rantsabout imposter syndrome.
(18:22):
But, you know, the reason I came up with this topic and this idea was because of thesedual pressures of, you know, if you're an other.
you know, which is to say you're not a white male in tech.
So if you're an other in tech, then you automatically, I don't want to say automatically,but more than likely feel like you don't belong because these are spaces that are not, you
(18:45):
know, you're not encouraged to be in and that we're not made for you.
And so you're already, you're sort of, you have those tendencies towards feeling like youmight be a fraud or maybe you don't belong.
But then there's also if you're a woman, if you're a person of color, again, if you're another, then sometimes you tend to feel like you have to be 10 times better just to get
(19:13):
half as far, right?
So you put that pressure on yourself with regard to being perfect.
And so anyway, so it just feels like that you're being squeezed from all sides betweenthose two pressures and the professional anxiety, y 'all, is very real.
So I just thought it would be a really great topic for this conference of women in tech.
(19:35):
So that was why I came up with that topic and that's what I'm going to talk about it.
I'm going to do a video diary and it's going to be great.
Well, I don't know if it's going to be great, but I'm going to release it anyway.
So my point is because I'm going to be at this conference, I'm going to have thiswonderful opportunity, then back to the community design and the pressure to pick a group.
(19:59):
If I was going to pick a group, and I keep saying if, because I still haven't made thatdecision, if I was only going to pick a group that to start the community, it would be
women of color in the tech industry, just because I'm about to go to this conference andI'm going to have an opportunity to meet so many people.
And it'll be a great opportunity to offer this as a mechanism of support for these womenin the tech industry.
(20:23):
Again, haven't made that choice yet.
Because honestly,
Making that choice would make me just a little bit sad because like I said, the communityof support that I need right now is other black women entrepreneurs or business owners,
women of color who are business owners.
I need support and I need somebody to bounce ideas off of and that's what I need for me,the women of color in tech.
(20:49):
I am exiting the tech industry.
Well, I mean, I still work.
mean, my business is tech.
That's what I do, tech coaching.
Tech coaching, can't talk today.
But my point is I'm not in the corporate space anymore.
That is not for me.
is, so that part of the community is for me to support others.
And I'm happy to do that.
(21:09):
I just would like to get some support myself.
So that's why I don't want to just focus on just one, but I'm still mulling it around ormulling it over.
So yeah, stay tuned to, know.
What was the to be continued?
I don't know that there's going to be another episode podcast episodes on this specifictopic, but I will probably mention it in, in with some other, you know, maybe when I'm
(21:35):
talking to a guest, if it comes up, the subject of a community comes up, then maybe I'lltalk about it again.
But yeah, stay tuned.
I will say a couple of things.
Number one.
Because I'm going to this conference, think I'm going to offer a special for thecommunity.
Like I'm going to launch the community and I'm going to offer a special.
(21:55):
Right now I think I'm going to offer three months free.
Stay tuned for that.
if if follow me on social media at at ask imperfect genius or subscribe to our newsletter,subscribe at imperfectgenius .com because if I'm going to offer a special, I'm going to
announce it on.
It's probably going to be on Instagram and or LinkedIn and Facebook.
(22:17):
Probably all three of those if I'm going to do a special.
And I will definitely announce it in the newsletter if I'm going to do that.
And I keep saying if I'm probably going to do it, it's just a matter of spinning up theweb page and the offer code and all that fun stuff.
I got to do the back end work.
It's going to happen.
I just got to do the work to make it happen.
So that's that's the good news there.
(22:38):
The other thing is I am planning another Q &A episode.
did that a while back with with assistant producer Emma.
I'm going to show that's the other other update.
had some folks ask me, where's assistant producer Emma?
Assistant producer Emma is is planning a epic road trip and also working on a politicalcampaign.
(23:00):
I did the classic thing that people do or that small business owners make the mistake.
And you would think this being my second business.
that I would not have made this mistake, but I did, which is start spending money beforeyou're making money.
And so I hired Emma before I ever made a dime.
And so then I quickly realized, wait, that was not smart, because I'm not making anymoney.
(23:24):
But she's, like I said, she's got other things that she's doing and she's great.
But anyway, my point was we did a Q &A episode a while back.
And so I'm going to do another where I was answering questions about getting started inbusiness.
I haven't decided yet what the topic of this next Q &A.
So that one was specifically getting started in business.
I'm going to do another topic.
(23:45):
It's going to depend on the questions that I get.
So if you have questions, it doesn't have to be about business.
It could be about business.
It could be about tech.
I don't want to say it can be about anything.
Let's keep it in there, you know, about tech or about business.
You can give us a call at 404 -425 -9862 and leave us a voicemail with your questions.
You can also, you can also
(24:08):
post them on, well, you could DM me on social media.
I'm trying to think, you could text us at that same number, 404 -425 -986.
I'm trying to give you a couple of options for sending your questions over.
I can't even remember, this is sad.
I built my website and I don't remember if I have a, I do have a contact us page.
(24:29):
There's a contact us page on the website.
can.
issue your, or give us your questions that way as well.
Like if you can fill out the form and send us your questions that way.
So we've got a couple of different ways.
If you've got questions, can, you can send them to us and I'll compile, see if I can comeup with some themes and do another Q and A episode coming out very soon.
So again, stay tuned.
(24:49):
Thank you for listening.
I, maybe I'll see you in Philadelphia.
That'd be awesome.
But until next time, this is Rachel Foster reminding you while your journey may not beflawless, it can be phenomenal.
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