Dr. Curtis shares her complicated relationship with Wisconsin—a "love and hate" dynamic shaped by leaving Milwaukee at 17, experiencing HBCUs and the East Coast, and returning multiple times before finally seeing the opportunity hidden in her home state. She now runs Taylor Nicole Wine and Cupcakes in Madison's Black Business Hub, creating the cultural space she couldn't find as a young woman in the city.
Research on Black Women's Success Dr. Curtis's doctoral research followed 14 Black women at CEO level or higher in Fortune 500 companies for two and a half years, uncovering the SCALE framework—five foundational elements these women needed to succeed and sustain success for 10+ years:
• Support Systems (mentors, networks, village)
• Capital Management (resources, allocation)
• Assets and Investing (wealth-building)
• Learning and Knowledge (continuous professional development)
• Enabling Technology (staying current with industry trends)
A striking finding: 90% of successful Black women she studied had never had another Black woman as a mentor in their workplace.
The Superpower Nobody Wants Dr. Curtis describes being a Black single mother as "a superpower nobody wants"—the exhausting reality of working harder because "no one was giving me handouts," of always being both woman and Black woman in corporate spaces, and of constantly asking "who's saving her?" when Black women are expected to save everyone else.
From Pain to Healing In a vulnerable moment, Dr. Curtis shares hitting a breaking point during COVID—scoring 50 out of 50 on a stress assessment, meaning "you can break at any moment." Her journey to therapy, initially for her daughters, became her own path to asking a fundamental question: "Do I want success from pain, or do I want success from a healing space?"
The Energy Economy Dr. Curtis speaks candidly about being "energy-led" rather than simply social—giving deeply in every interaction, which means protecting her capacity fiercely. She's retired from being "the strong friend" and encourages other Black women to ask daily: "Did you do anything selfishly for you?"
Honest Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Rather than romanticizing entrepreneurship, Dr. Curtis asks the hard questions: What do you actually want? Can you live in uncertainty? Can you handle anxiety? Can you go into deficiency for a long time? She emphasizes that stability doesn't come from entrepreneurship and that sometimes the answer is investing in someone else's business or keeping your 9-to-5 while building—whatever serves the life you actually want, not the one you think you should want.
Defining Freedom The conversation closes with Dr. Curtis's challenge to listeners: What would you define as freedom? What kind of life do you really want? For her, it's "an unimaginable life"—and getting there requires the honesty to say no to many things to say yes to what matters most.
• LinkedIn/Instagram: @DrShakkiahCurtis
• Email: shakia@thepinkhustle.com (mailto:shakia@thepinkhustle.com)
• Visit: Taylor Nicole Wine and Cupcakes (Madison's Black Business Hub)
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.