September 10, 2024 • 45 mins
Regina Gwynn co-founded Black Women Talk Tech, an organization that supports and encourages black women to build billion-dollar businesses. Recognized as one of the hundred most influential women by Entrepreneur magazine and one of the top ten women in tech by Essence magazine, Regina knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities black women face in tech. She believes that black women possess a unique ability to stretch resources and achieve remarkable outcomes, even in the most challenging situations. Through initiatives like the Roadmap to Billions conference, Regina aims to change the perception of what a tech founder looks like, emphasizing that innovation can come from diverse backgrounds and that the tech industry must be inclusive to foster true success.
Key Takeaways:
- Black Women Talk Tech educates, amplifies, and funds black women in the tech industry to provide resources for success. - Regina Gwynn highlights the challenges black women face in the tech ecosystem and the need for a platform like Black Women Talk Tech. - Regina Gwynn emphasizes the importance of diversity in tech spaces and discusses the pressure she faces as the token black woman in these environments. - Personal growth and resilience are key factors in the journey towards success. - Resilience is crucial in entrepreneurship, helping individuals bounce back from failures and stay focused on their goals. - Regina Gwynn believes in the ability of black women to succeed, emphasizing their unique strengths and perseverance. - Taking action and starting without hesitation is crucial for progress and success, as highlighted by Regina Gwynn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm Makini Smith. After going through a divorce, my
sister passing away, experiencing narcissistic abuse and some significant
health scares, I realized through sharing my story that
I wasn't alone in my suffering. Suffering subjective distress
generated by the experience of being out of balance
in a deep dive to holistically heal mind, body
(00:21):
and soul is where I discovered peace, clarity and
connection. It is impossible to be truly wise without
some real life hardship, and we cannot develop post
traumatic wisdom without making it through, and most importantly,
through it together. Social connection builds resilience and resilience
(00:43):
helps create post traumatic wisdom, and that wisdom leads
to hope. Hope for you and others witnessing and
participating in your healing and hope for your community.
A healthy community is a healing community. And a
healing community is full of hope because it has
seen its own people weather, survive and thrive. Regina
(01:23):
Gwen is the co founder of Black Women Talk
Tech, the organization that aims to identify, support and
encourage black women to build the next billion dollar
business. Black Women Talk Tech is the largest collective
of black women tech founders that brings a unique
understanding of the challenges black women face and the
advantages that they offer to the tech community. As
(01:46):
a co founder, Regina co leads business strategy, strategic
partnership development and sponsor relations. Regina has been named
one of the hundred most powerful women by entrepreneur
magazine and top ten women in Tech by Essence
magazine. Her features include bet, her black enterprise, Wall
(02:06):
Street Journal, Crane's business and more. She's on the
cabinet for Black Entrepreneurship in the city of New
York and a women NYC advisor, along with a
former board member of Rising Tide Capital, an entrepreneur
development program based in New Jersey. So please welcome
(02:26):
to the show, Regina. Gwen.
Hello. Hello, Makini. How are you?
I'm good. Thank you so much for agreeing to
come on the podcast and sharing your story with
us. I truly, truly appreciate when women like yourself,
you know, come on and share the adversity that
you've had to overcome to get to where you
(02:47):
are today. As I was sharing with you before
we started recording, people may view your accolades or
the position that you're in and assume life is
perfect. You have no problems. But you and I
both know life is not without struggle.
No, no, no, no. As I mentioned before, I
have plenty of struggle. If you also struggle, I
(03:12):
got some for you. I could give it to
you. Please. I'm happy.
So I appreciate you, I appreciate your time and
I appreciate the gems that you're about to share
with us. So thank you.
Of course, of course.
So I like to start the show with an
icebreaker question. I like to kind of get a
(03:32):
feel of who you were before you became who
you presently are. You know, I strongly understand how
our childhood and our upbringing and our environment shapes
who we are today and shapes our viewpoint and
our desires. So, before we get to where you
are today, I would love to know. First, I
(03:54):
guess, what is your earliest childhood memory that defines
who you are today?
Interesting. So, I will have to say one of
my earliest childhood memories is a cartoon called Gem
and the holograms. Do you remember? Does anyone?
I hope any.
I hope people remember. I remember Jam and the
hologram was, like, my favorite cartoon. Like, the minute
(04:19):
you heard that music, jam. Jam is excitement. Ooh.
And I was, like, the rude house in front
of the tv. And it really sparked my interest
in fashion. So I started my career at Macy's
department stores in New York City and started college
(04:43):
at Fashion Institute of Technology. So, my background is
in fashion retail. And it started with gem and
the hologram straight up, like, she was a fashion
designer. It was, like, fabulous. And then when you
really start working for these companies, you realize all
of the grunt work that goes into creating a
line, the merchandising, the planning, the business of fashion
(05:05):
and the business of retail, it just was something
that really defined, like, my need for creativity, but
also, like, heart, like, business. Like, I'm very left
brain and right brain. You know, I'm not this,
like, artiste, but I need to be around something
that sparks my creativity, something that inspires me, something
(05:28):
that gives me, like, curiosity, if you will. And
it was like, black girl had purple hair, and
it was asymmetric. Like, it just. Yeah, like, definitely
shaming the holograms is, like, a favorite childhood memory.
And then they butchered the remake, and I was
very, very upset. They did a remake in the
(05:49):
two thousands, and I was like, this is trash,
right?
Sometimes they try to redo things from our childhood,
and it's like, no, no, just leave it as
is. Wasn't broke. Don't. Don't fix it.
Don't. Don't do it. Don't do it.
So, okay, so I would love to know, and
I guess, for the listeners, if you could give
(06:10):
the. The Coles notes version. So, in, what is
it called in the states? Goodness. Now I remember
the word. Now it's not coming to me, but
there we go. The Cliff notes.
Yeah.
The Cliff notes version of how you became a
co founder of black women talk tech and how
(06:30):
you got to where you are today.
Yeah. So, definitely Cliffs knows version. So, I mentioned
I started off my career in fashion spent several
years, spent six or seven years at Macy's in
their merchandising division. So I got to launch brands
that are actually still on the floor today. And
(06:52):
then went to business school. Wanted a more, like,
strategic and analytic driven perspective to, like, making crafting
strategies. So I went to business school, met these
folks called consultants, so ended up in management consulting
for a few years. And all throughout, you know,
my kind of corporate America career, I always knew
I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
(07:14):
My dad was an entrepreneur. His dad was an
entrepreneur. So I have grown up in a very
blessed position to see how small business works on
a very intimate level. But I did not know
what, right. Like, at first I thought it was,
you know, hair product, and then I, you know,
(07:34):
thought it was something else. And so it wasn't
until I was talking to one of my really
close friends and we were gonna launch a hair
salon. Like, you know, I've had hair my whole
life. I knew hair, like, intimately. And I've had
natural hair for a very, very long time. Before
it was the craze, before natural hair was in,
(07:56):
like, I've had natural hair, and people used to
call me Tracy Chapman.
So I actually launched a beauty tech startup called
Tres Noir. And Tres Noir was the first on
demand, on location beauty booking app for women of
color. So think Uber for black hair care. Think
glam squad for hair care. But instead of buying
(08:19):
a blowout that you can do through Glam Squad,
you could get a crochet set, you could get
box braids, you could get a press and curl,
you could get a silk press, whatever. So we
started off in Philadelphia. We expanded to New York
City. We were in New York, Philly, LA, Washington,
DC, Dallas, Texas, and did some private events for
(08:41):
corporate brands. For several years, we received venture funding.
We were a part of Backstage Capital's portfolio. So
Arlen Hamilton, who is amazing, was one of the
first VC's to invest in my company.
We did an accelerator program for $100,000 in Philadelphia
(09:03):
and all the things, and then Covid hit. And
you can't send a stylist into someone's home during
a global pandemic. And so we ended up having
to wind that business down. But it was that
experience that made my business partner, and I think
a lot about, like, wow, like, this ish is
hard. Finding the seat, out of body experiences, finding
(09:26):
the right ctO. Like, we went through so many
ctos, it was terrible.
Finding the right venture capital, like, navigating these tech
ecosystems, finding the right talent for your business, growing
and scaling your business, figuring out how to navigate
that piece. And we essentially created and my business
partner working on a completely different startup, working on
(09:47):
a completely different pain point, different opportunity. We were
experiencing the exact same things. Still having problems getting
our foot in the door, still having people look
at you like, oh, well, where's the CEO? I'm
the CEO, right? I'm the one running this business.
And so we created black women talk tech in
(10:10):
order to be the resource that we wish we
would have had when we first started. And, you
know, we educate, amplify, and fund black women. That's
essentially what we do. We are a resource platform.
We amass lots of different resources. We curate rooms.
We design experiences intentionally so that black women can
(10:31):
be educated, amplified, and funded.
And we do that through a couple of different
ways. We host a technology conference called Roadmap to
billions. We've been hosting this conference in the US
for eight years, which is crazy. And I look
back and I'm like, what? Anyway, and we also
hosted in London, and we are bringing our first
(10:52):
roadmap to billions experience to Toronto September 30.
So we're here to change the idea of what
a tech founder looks like or what a woman
in tech looks like, right? She's not a guy
in hoodie in a hoodie from Harvard and Stanford.
She is a woman from Nashville, Tennessee, you know,
creating a Medicare, you know, a medical tech startup
(11:16):
worth millions of dollars. She's in Atlanta, Georgia. She's
in Newark, New Jersey. She's in Toronto. She's in
Brampton. She's in Waterloo. She's in Montreal. Like, you
know, this is not about expecting everyone to come
from Silicon Valley or expecting everyone to come even
from, like, you know, GTA. It's like innovation happens
(11:38):
when you've got brilliant minds working on complex problems.
And those brilliant minds just happen to be in
the mind of a black woman. They just happen
to be there.
Love it, love it, love it, love it. I
love what you do, but I also love that.
(11:58):
So I feel like the pandemic did a lot
of things for entrepreneurs. It either forced you to
pivot or it forced you to step your game
up and figure out other ways to connect that
with your audience. So I remember at the beginning
of the pandemic, every podcast episode that I was
doing, I was like, has the podcast? I mean,
(12:20):
has the pandemic helped or hurt you? And it
was beautiful to hear the stories of how it
amplified so many businesses, how it nurtured and grew
so many new businesses. Like, black women know how
to. How to make things work.
Oh, we will stretch a dollar. We will flip
(12:41):
that dollar five times. We will make a dollar
out of $0.15. Like, you know, put it in
the hands of a black woman. It will get
done.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, it will. It will get done. Whatever it
is, it does not matter. And that's a health
and a hindrance. Right. Because when it doesn't work,
then, you know, it. Well, it was. It was
(13:01):
because she was black.
Right.
Not because the problem was ridiculous and probably couldn't
have been solved by anyone.
Right.
But I think we definitely fall into, you know,
a very, you know, tricky trap of when. When
there's a problem, you know, we people know, like,
when there's a problem, you know, you let a
black woman solve it, but then when it isn't
solved, then it's because she was. Because she was
(13:24):
like, you know, so it's a, it's a very,
you know, it's a tightrope that a lot of
women have to walk. And, you know, I'm here
to walk my own tightrope. If I'm going to
be stressed out, it's going to be on my
terms, not by somebody else that wants to, like,
(13:45):
put that on me. So.
Yeah, so you spoke about especially, you know, the
women that are going to be a part of
this conference and that are part of your community,
not being the typical what. What people think about
when they think about people in tech. And, you
know, I've studied a lot of Doctor Brene Brown's
stuff where she talks about, first, only different. And
(14:08):
in my line of work, I'm always the first,
only different, where it comes to being the first
or only black woman in a room with a
bunch of white men or things like that. So
I'm curious, I guess, to your experiences and things
that you've had to work through or overcome as
a black woman in the tech space.
(14:31):
Well, definitely being that first and only has been
the story of my life. Literally. Yesterday, I went
to a cyber tech event, and I was the
only black woman in the space. This is in
2024, right? In September of 2024 in New York
(14:52):
City. I can go into a room and still
be the only black woman in space. And, you
know, you shake your head and you're just like,
all right, you know, like, why am I surprised?
But, you know, it's one of those things where,
a, you get used to it, and b, it
(15:15):
reminds you that I have to bring everybody else.
Yeah.
Like, I gotta bring everybody else because this room
should not look like this yes. It shouldn't look
like this. And you would be. You would benefit
from my network being here. You would benefit from
the cybersecurity founders that I know you would. It
behooves you to expand your network because we are
(15:38):
here to make money. That is, you know, the
headline here is we all need to be comfortable
in talking about money. Black women, women in general.
Like, we have to start being very, very comfortable
in saying that it's okay to want to make
money. Right?
Yes.
(15:58):
You know, money is not the root of all
evil. It's the love of money that is the
root of all evil. And so when we see
opportunities where there can be investment, where there can
be development, where there can be, you know, expansion,
this is meant for our benefit like it's meant
for financial benefit. And when, you know, there are
(16:21):
plenty of times when I. When I would pitch
trust noir to white investors and especially white male
investors, and the first thing out of their mouth
would be, I don't know anything about hair. My
wife, you know, my wife. I give my wife
money for her hair. I don't even have any
hair. But once you start talking about the numbers,
the average, the lifetime value of these customers, the
(16:43):
average order size, like, when you talk about the
numbers, then it all matter what it is. It's
a widget at that point. So, you know, reminding
myself of that when I'm going into any space,
you know, where I know I'm going to be
the first and the only, or when I don't
think I'm going to be, and I am, Bill,
(17:04):
however that happens, it makes me very comfortable walking
up to people and talking about business and numbers,
because that's a. It's a universal language.
Yeah.
We all should want to understand.
I love that you pointed that out, because I've
done a few episodes with women that are running
multimillion dollar companies, and their conditioning, growing up, their
(17:25):
conditioning as kids, was to believe that the woman,
you know, should be the homemaker, the woman shouldn't
be the one, you know, the majority bread maker.
All of those things were that conditioning that they
had to work through, that the biases that they
had to push through their own paradigms that they
had to push through in order to be who
(17:45):
they are today, like, and I. So my former
mentor, he passed away a couple years ago, but
a huge thing that I learned from him is
that money is a reward for service, right? So
as people, and if we want to make money,
how are we being of service? How are we,
you know, serving or providing a solution for other
(18:06):
people. It doesn't matter if you're a man or
woman, right? So it's just all about our belief
system. And I would love to know, I guess,
for yourself, like, what have been some beliefs that
you had to unlearn and relearn.
Well. Hmm. So this is the part. This is,
(18:27):
you know, it's so interesting because you talked about
Brene Brown. And I also follow Felicia Hatcher on
Instagram. She's also, like, an amazing woman. And she's
been a huge supporter of black women talk tech.
She's spoken at our conferences. We've worked together on
the black ambition, her, the black ambition initiative. And
(18:49):
she has this amazing question that says, you know,
like, who are you uninterrupted? Like, if you could
think back to, like, a time when you just
were on it and you had, like, all cylinders
fired, what stopped that? And, you know, what were,
you know, how have you, if you were to
(19:10):
think about what that thing is? And I'll say,
like, there have definitely been times where, you know,
your confidence is just rocked. You know, like, your
confidence is second guessed you, the doubt starts to
come in. And that, that doubt, Mandy, it is
a mind killer. The imposter syndrome. Should I really
(19:31):
even be in this room? My business isn't even
that big. So why are they talking to me?
Or we really haven't figured it all the way
out yet. These confidence killers kill women. They kill
women. They fully kill men in some way, shape,
or form. But honestly and truly, you know, not
(19:54):
as much. And I always, I try to pull
myself out by saying, is a guy, is a
white guy really sitting here thinking about whether or
not they're. They're supposed to be in this room?
Hell, no.
That part?
Hell, no. Mediocre white men have been out here
doing the most for a very long time. And
(20:16):
if. If I can even try to put my
little bit on it, I should probably do that.
And. But it is the, you know, your confidence
has been. Can be a make or break. And
I also want to say it's not about necessary.
The phrase fake it till you make it. I
(20:38):
kind of take issue with, like, there's times in
which sometimes you kind of fake it too much
or you've actually made it and you don't even
realize it and you're still faking it kind of
thing. So I caution about, you know, having confidence,
for sure. And if that requires you to visualize,
(20:59):
if that requires you to, you know, kind of
come up with, like, the mantra, that's one thing.
But the idea of, like, faking your confidence, will,
could actually be a deterrent. And so, yeah, I
have definitely. I mean, I have failed publicly. Failed,
(21:22):
failed, failed, failed. Hosted an event. I'll never forget
this. We hosted a holiday event in Brooklyn, and
no one showed up.
Wow.
No one showed up. It was me and my
team eating all the food, you know, all the,
you know, all the gift bags. Like, you know,
maybe. Maybe, I don't know, ten people showed up.
(21:45):
But, like, it was a public just, you know,
and we could. We look back on it. It
was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You know, marketing. Like, you could just look back
on all the things, but talk about a confidence
shaker, like, you know, do I do another event
again? You know?
Right.
That type of thing. And there's. Yeah, there's definitely
(22:10):
other instances that I won't get into because, you
know, not worth my time, but people do, you
know, look at you and say, oh, well, you're
that black person. So, of course you did it.
Like I said, I got plenty of struggle.
There's so much that you said there that I
want to unpack. I'm gonna see if I can
(22:32):
remember all of it. But. So you were talking
about, you know, the negative self talk and the
imposter syndrome and all those things that happen as
you're working towards things. And my. So my mentor,
Bob Proctor, he gave this analogy, and I'm going
to use it here because you're in the tech
space. But it was like, our brains are like
computers, right? And the negative self talk, the imposter
(22:57):
syndrome, the self doubt, the fear, the worry, all
those things are like viruses that we allow to
infect the computer, and we have no idea how
powerful our mind is. Look at these computers. All
the things that they can do, right? It can
do things far beyond our comprehension, far beyond things
(23:18):
that we've ever imagined. But these little things, once
they get in, they start to infect and spread
and build. So it's important that we actually do
the work to keep those things out from affecting
how we operate. And then when you're talking about
(23:38):
the mediocre white man that may not have those
same insecurities or those same thoughts, there's a black
woman from Toronto that built multi million dollar business.
She built a few of them, and I think
the second one was actually in hair. She now
speaks about, like, her signature talk is called what
(23:59):
would Chad do? And Chad is that mediocre white
man that goes, after all the opportunities he applies
for the job that he doesn't have the quality
everything for. He doesn't question whether or not he's
good enough or if he's qualified. He shows up,
and because he showed up, he gets the job.
So, you know, her motivational talk, especially to black
(24:22):
women, is to show. Just show up.
Be tad. Exactly. Be sad.
And then to also, like, you know, the confidence
piece. You know, we have these two images of
ourselves. We have the outer self image, which is
(24:42):
how we walk, how we talk, how we do
our hair. You know, what. What the outside world
sees us as. And that self image, I think
it's like Doctor Maxwell Mulch. He has a book
called Psycho Cybernetics, where he came up with the
theory that we have two self images and the
one on the inside of how we truly see
(25:03):
ourselves. That affects how we show up in the
world. It affects our confidence in going after opportunities,
a confidence in building these opportunities and these communities
and these platforms, our interactions with other people, all
of those things. So, you know, people may look
at the outer self image of someone and be
(25:24):
judging, but it's the inner self image that we
have that we project out into the world, into
how we show up. So, you know, I think
about what you're building with black women, talk tech,
and what it takes to even have the audacity
to do that. And I love it. I love
it, love it, love it. And to your point
(25:47):
about the fake it till you make it, I
realized quite a few years ago where I let
go of that motto and I shifted it to
faith it till you make it. Because I don't
want to pretend to be anyone that I am
not. But in believing what God has for me
(26:07):
or believing the opportunities that are out there for
me or believing in my ability to do a
thing, then I work towards that thing. Because when
we have this fake confidence or any of those
that come, it shows up as arrogance. It shows
up as all these other, um, not so nice
qualities, right?
Absolutely.
(26:28):
And then when you spoke about having the event
where no one showed up, I remember being at
a big conference, and one of the speakers, a
white male, was talking about, you know, overcoming those
things and how many events he had in building
his career, where there were events where no one
showed up, it was just his family that showed
up and all the money that he had invested,
(26:50):
you know, his savings, all those things. But if
we allow those things to stop us, then we'll
never show up again. Like, things happen beyond our
control. There are things that maybe, you know, like
you said before, sometimes it could just be the
location or marketing or. Or any of those things
that can affect it. But if we allow that
to hinder us from ever showing up again, not
(27:12):
only will we not walk into the fullness of
our purpose, but that could be a part of
our journey to teach us something, to show us,
you know, things that we, we need to learn.
So I love your transparency and even sharing all
of those parts of your journey. So thank you.
Listen, it's important people, you know, you know, to
your point, like, people see where I am now,
(27:37):
but, you know, you really, you have to balance
where black women talk tech is now versus where
black women talk tech was in 2017. Like, it's
just a different. It's. It's a completely different organization.
Who I am in 2024 is different than who
(28:00):
I was two years ago. Why? Because I have
a two year old. I have a baby boy.
His name is Julian. He runs around all day.
I didn't have mitrally two years ago. I didn't
have a baby boy named ran around. So, you
know, it's so important. Like, the journey. What is
it? The journey? Something about a destination. It's not
just the finish line. It's the destination. Or.
(28:22):
It's not about the destination. It's about the journey
and who you become along the way, who you
develop into. And it's usually the vision of what
it is that you're going after that big goal
as you go after that goal, who you develop
into. I guess in pursuit of that goal is
(28:47):
what really matters.
Absolutely. And then it's like, if you're only focused
on the destination, you'll miss. You'll miss it. Miss,
like, everything that you're supposed to learn, that you're
supposed to experience. Like, you need to sit and
feel, like, you need to feel the hurt, you
need to feel the awkwardness, you need to feel
(29:07):
the embarrassment. That, for me, is motivation.
Yes.
I don't want to do this again. I don't
want to be here anymore. I don't want this
right here. I don't want that. So, yes, it
drives me. It's like, I'm not going to fail.
Not in, you know, I don't know. I don't
believe there's failure. Either you win or you learn.
(29:28):
Learn. Yes.
That's it. So, you know, if, if. But you
do need to feel so that you can remember
that feeling, so that, you know, you don't want
to feel that ever, ever, ever again. And I
think it's just important to share these experiences to
help people realize, like, I have absolutely been there.
I'm still. I'm still there like you. There, there.
(29:50):
Can, who knows what's the. To come in the
future, so. But you need to be prepared for
it. You need to know that, you know, you
can rebound. Resilience is key as an entrepreneur, just
black women in general, but resilience allows you to
know, even on those bad days, there's going to
(30:11):
be a good day coming up. So, you know,
that's what prepares you for the fight, if you
will. And it also lets me know, like, the
best is yet to come. Like, I'm just getting
started. Yeah, yeah.
Look, my backdrop, my back lighting. Resilience is my
superpower. I have it tattooed on my arm. Reminder.
(30:33):
I love that. Yes. Yeah. Yes. To all of
that double click.
I think it's what I, what I hear oftentimes
for from people who just start coaching. They have
this belief that it has to be perfect in
order for them to start, that, you know, even
it has to be perfect while they're, they're doing
(30:54):
it, not realizing that the people who are doing
it, the people who are in the ring, we're
not focused on perfection. We're focused on action, because
that, that idea of perfection, that idea that you
shouldn't have any, you know, teachable moments or setbacks,
because I don't want to failures, it's. It hinders
them from actually taking action. So I love that
(31:16):
you even shared that because I think that it's
important for people that are listening to hear that
anyone who is successful, we can look at their
success and admire it. And, you know, anyone who,
you know, may have insecurities, could be jealous or
whatever feelings that they're feeling, but have you taken
the time to look at that person's journey? Have
you looked at where they've evolved from? Have you
(31:38):
looked at the things that they've had to overcome
in order to get there? It wasn't an overnight
success. They didn't snap their fingers and automatically like,
oh, look, now I'm rich, or, oh, look, now
I have this community. Like, that's not how things
work.
No, definitely not. Not at all.
What, what are some, some lessons that you wish
you had learned sooner in your journey?
(32:00):
I wish I would have learned to fail faster,
ie, like testing products or testing concepts, testing ideas
faster. Part of the challenge, you have no money,
right? Like, it's just you and, you know, your
partner or whomever, and you're like, you're trying to
(32:21):
test different concepts, whether it's an ad strategy or
whether it's an influencer marketing or whether it's pr,
I think towards the end or even now. Well
now we test very quickly, like 30 days. And
if it works, great. If it doesn't, keep it
moving. But I wish I would have learned to
test faster and test with the least amount of
(32:46):
money as possible. When I started trust noir, I
was still in corporate America. So I was throwing
money left and right. Oh, $10,000 for a website.
Sure. What in the hell? I'm thinking who in
the world is paying that for their very 1st,
1st website? Terrible, terrible, terrible. I just did not
(33:10):
know what I didn't. You just don't know what
you don't know, right? And these web designers come
to you, it's like, oh well, you know, gotta
have this and gotta have that man throw up,
right? Go to wix.com and get you a basic
behind website. Now. I will say for beauty brands
or brands that are products that have like luxury
(33:33):
or status design, it's everything. So, you know, invest
in a designer, but the website itself should not
necessarily take like tens of thousands of dollars. So
think especially in the very, very beginning thing, I
would have wished I would have known or someone
would have told me, test all of your concepts
for less than $1,000, everything like, you know, and
(33:57):
that will tell you how long you can run
it. If you want to do an ad campaign
and you only have $100, you can only run
it for a day or you can only run
it for two days or like if you only
have one influencer or maybe you do two. So
you can do like an A B test or
something like that. But like spend the least amount
of money as possible so that when you do
(34:18):
discover what is the thing, you can pour gas
on it. Yeah, you got, you know, you won't
have it. You don't have any money now because
you don't spend all the money in testing. So
now once you figured out what it is, you
don't have any money to go deep on it.
So I would definitely say those are the two
main things. Test fast and test cheap.
Love it, love it, love it, I guess. Okay,
(34:40):
so what's been one of the best decisions that
you have ever made both personally and professionally?
Well, I can actually say it's the same thing
for both. So part choosing your partner hands down.
My partner at trust Noir. Her name is Octavia
(35:01):
Pickett Blakely. She is one of my closest friends
to this day. We were friends before and we've
been able to still remain friends after having a
tech startup. And you know, you have to find
the people that are going to stay with you
and it's tough that are going to be a
(35:22):
ride or die. Like, if you have the people
that are just not with it, like, it just
makes the whole experience even worse or you just
do it on your own. Like, I'm not a,
I just don't, I don't, I don't know. I
mean, I feel like I'm actually working on some
new projects where I will be a solo founder.
But I really love having, like, that accountability partner.
(35:43):
Like, that pushes, you know, you and be able
to help you map out, you know, projects together.
And in my personal life, my boyfriend, like, you
know, great decision as far as I'm concerned. Like,
he's an amazing partner, is always supportive. You know,
came to my pitch, you know, pitch events, helped
me with the conference, moving boxes. Like, truly a
(36:08):
great, like, partner partner, you know, and, and if
you have a bad partner, it just, it affects
everything in you, both your personal and your professional
life. When you don't have that support system, you
as an entrepreneur, like, you're, it can be a
very lonely road, right? Like, no one else is
(36:29):
working on this thing but you, right, like, and
you're bringing a brand new concept to market. You're
bringing a brand new thing to market. And so
because it can feel really lonely, you need that
support from somewhere else. And so I would definitely
say those are some really great decisions that I
(36:50):
made, and we both, I mean, I guess we
all made, we made together. But I would have
hated and I would not have, I would not
be with black women, talk tech for eight years
if it wasn't for, like, my business partner associate.
You know, we both bring very different energy, very
different networks and experiences to the table. And that's
(37:12):
also what makes it great because I can come
with, you know, with this marketing and strategy background.
She had finance background from Citigroup and also working
on, you know, completely different tech startup before coming
in. And I was coming from beauty. So, like,
you know, the people that you put, like, you
(37:33):
know, the company.
You keep that part, the old saying, like, the
five people that you spend the most time around,
you know, you become an average of those people.
But I actually, I saw a study that went
deeper, that talked about the effects of our connections
(37:54):
with how we think, how we view life. You
know, what we say yes and no to. Like,
do you remember that thing that went around about
what color was the dress and half the population
on one color and once or the other, and
some people weren't sure. But they agreed with other
people because they were in their network. Like, we
are affected by the people that are around us.
You know, your partnerships can make or break you.
(38:16):
Make or break.
I can't remember the exact words, but I remember,
like, maybe 15 years ago or so when I
started as an entrepreneur and someone gave me some
advice about, they said ships can either. I don't
remember if it was, like, help you sink or
float or something, but he was talking about friendships,
partnerships, relationships, like, all these ships, how important they
(38:40):
are in our ability to either float or sink.
That's it. That is it.
Yeah. Okay. So I guess before we go to
the final segment of the show, I would love
if you could share with the listeners where they
could stay connected with you, where they can learn
more from you, where they can learn more about
the conferences.
Yes, absolutely. So if you want to learn more
(39:02):
about what I'm working on, definitely follow me on
LinkedIn. So if you search Regina Gwen, g w
y, as in yellow n n, you can follow
me there. And then black women talk tech on
Instagram. So just literally, black women talk tech on
Instagram. If you go to our link tree, you'll
(39:23):
see all of our links, not only to the
conference coming up in Toronto, but we have a
digital membership where we keep conversations going after the
conference and keep that vibe. We also have our
New York conference coming up in May of 2025.
We're doing some great, cool things with partners across
the country. And, yeah, I would say sign up
(39:44):
for our newsletter. That's also the very best way
to keep in contact and find out more about
what we're working on.
Perfect. So I will have all those links in
the detailed section of the episode so they can
just click and connect with you directly.
Love it. Thank you.
You're welcome. So for the final segment of the
show, it's kind of like a rapid fire. You
can answer one word or one sentence. I am
(40:06):
claustrophobic. I don't like to be put into a
box. So if we feel the need to expand,
you're more than welcome to do so.
Okay.
Okay. Name a book that has changed or greatly
impacted your life. The Bible. Perfect. What is. I'm
like, what do I want to ask you? What
(40:28):
new belief, behavior, or habit has improved your life
in the last five years? Oh.
So I would say working out. I definitely am
much more committed to working out almost every day.
I work out Monday through Friday. I take the
weekends off. But as you get older, definitely it's
(40:49):
much more important in terms of flexibility. In terms
of just everything. So now I have a two
year old that I'm running around after lort. So,
yeah, I'm in the gym a lot. And that.
That habit has definitely been strengthened over the past
five years. Yeah.
Love it. Okay. If you could have a gigantic
(41:09):
billboard anywhere with anything on it, what would it
say?
And why black women will win is what the
billboard would say. And they will win because we.
I'm not going to say we're magical, because I
sometimes feel like that makes us, like, be able
(41:31):
to have different. Different powers. Like, we don't have
different powers. We just have focus and drive and,
like, perseverance, and it's those qualities which will allow
us to win. But I want. I love the
idea of, like, a billboard because I want everyone
to know it. I want you to know it.
And you and you and you and you. I
want every one of y'all to know that black
women are going to win, period. Whether you. Whether
(41:55):
you like it or not, whether you support it
or not, whether you believe it or not, we're
going to win. And I need black women to
know that, too.
Amen.
So I think that that's what would be on
my billboard.
I love it. Okay. If you could describe yourself
in one word, what would it be?
One word board. I would say my one word
(42:24):
would be free. I like entrepreneurship. Gives me a
freedom that I do not take for granted. My
dad passed away seven years ago, and. Thank you,
thank you, thank you. He was an entrepreneur. First
entrepreneur I ever met. And I still think back
(42:46):
to, like, how blessed I was to be an
entrepreneur at the time. I didn't have to check
in with anyone to let them know I was
leaving. I didn't have to fill out any forms
for bereavement. I didn't have to fill out any
forms. Cause I was just on the road at
02:00 in the morning going home. Cause I just
wanted to see, like, it was a. That's the
freedom of my time. It's something that is extremely
(43:09):
valuable to me and at play at times when
it's great and, you know, in times of challenge.
And it's just. It's something that is extremely, extremely
important to me. And I've seen it. I've seen
its value played out. And so I am free.
I love it. I love it. Okay, last but
(43:30):
not least, what do you wish women would do
more of?
Get started on whatever it is. Get started on
the business. Get started on the resume. Get started
on interviewing. Get started on baking some cookies. I
don't know, but get started. We overthink. We overanalyze.
We second guess. We need more research. We need
(43:52):
more time. No, no, no. Get started. Figure it
out as you go along.
I love it.
Just figure it out as you go along, because
guess what? Someone else has started, right? So now,
you know, there's pros and cons to being first
mover, you know? But you just get. Just get
(44:13):
started, sis.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much, Regina, for
taking the time to join us. I truly appreciate
you sharing all your gems and your wisdom with
us. I appreciate you taking the time. I do
not, you know, take this lightly. You're a busy
woman on top of business. You have a two
(44:33):
year old. Like, I get it. I value your
energies. Thank you so much, Regina, for being with
us here today.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I hope
to see you at the conference.
I will definitely be there.
Love it, love it, love it.
Perfect. And to all you healers out there, until
next time, subscribe on all platforms. Don't forget to
rate the show and leave us a review on
Apple Podcasts. And I just want to thank all
(44:56):
of you who listen globally to help the show
rank in the top 1.5% of most popular podcasts
out there. Thank you. And I want to challenge
you to share this episode with five people that,
you know, that need to hear Regina's story. Feel
free to, you know, tag us on Instagram with
your aha moments. And you can tag black women
(45:19):
talk tech. You can tag myself. He real McKinneysmith.
A healthy community is a healing community. And a
healing community is full of hope because it has
seen its own people whether survive and thrive. So
let's continue to heal her.
I'm Makini Smith. After going through a divorce, my
sister passing away, experiencing narcissistic abuse and some significant
health scares, I realized through sharing my story that
I wasn't alone in my suffering. Suffering subjective distress
generated by the experience of being out of balance
in a deep dive to holistically heal mind, body
(00:21):
and soul is where I discovered peace, clarity and
connection. It is impossible to be truly wise without
some real life hardship, and we cannot develop post
traumatic wisdom without making it through, and most importantly,
through it together. Social connection builds resilience and resilience
(00:43):
helps create post traumatic wisdom, and that wisdom leads
to hope. Hope for you and others witnessing and
participating in your healing and hope for your community.
A healthy community is a healing community. And a
healing community is full of hope because it has
seen its own people weather, survive and thrive. Regina
(01:23):
Gwen is the co founder of Black Women Talk
Tech, the organization that aims to identify, support and
encourage black women to build the next billion dollar
business. Black Women Talk Tech is the largest collective
of black women tech founders that brings a unique
understanding of the challenges black women face and the
advantages that they offer to the tech community. As
(01:46):
a co founder, Regina co leads business strategy, strategic
partnership development and sponsor relations. Regina has been named
one of the hundred most powerful women by entrepreneur
magazine and top ten women in Tech by Essence
magazine. Her features include bet, her black enterprise, Wall
(02:06):
Street Journal, Crane's business and more. She's on the
cabinet for Black Entrepreneurship in the city of New
York and a women NYC advisor, along with a
former board member of Rising Tide Capital, an entrepreneur
development program based in New Jersey. So please welcome
(02:26):
to the show, Regina. Gwen.
Hello. Hello, Makini. How are you?
I'm good. Thank you so much for agreeing to
come on the podcast and sharing your story with
us. I truly, truly appreciate when women like yourself,
you know, come on and share the adversity that
you've had to overcome to get to where you
(02:47):
are today. As I was sharing with you before
we started recording, people may view your accolades or
the position that you're in and assume life is
perfect. You have no problems. But you and I
both know life is not without struggle.
No, no, no, no. As I mentioned before, I
have plenty of struggle. If you also struggle, I
(03:12):
got some for you. I could give it to
you. Please. I'm happy.
So I appreciate you, I appreciate your time and
I appreciate the gems that you're about to share
with us. So thank you.
Of course, of course.
So I like to start the show with an
icebreaker question. I like to kind of get a
(03:32):
feel of who you were before you became who
you presently are. You know, I strongly understand how
our childhood and our upbringing and our environment shapes
who we are today and shapes our viewpoint and
our desires. So, before we get to where you
are today, I would love to know. First, I
(03:54):
guess, what is your earliest childhood memory that defines
who you are today?
Interesting. So, I will have to say one of
my earliest childhood memories is a cartoon called Gem
and the holograms. Do you remember? Does anyone?
I hope any.
I hope people remember. I remember Jam and the
hologram was, like, my favorite cartoon. Like, the minute
(04:19):
you heard that music, jam. Jam is excitement. Ooh.
And I was, like, the rude house in front
of the tv. And it really sparked my interest
in fashion. So I started my career at Macy's
department stores in New York City and started college
(04:43):
at Fashion Institute of Technology. So, my background is
in fashion retail. And it started with gem and
the hologram straight up, like, she was a fashion
designer. It was, like, fabulous. And then when you
really start working for these companies, you realize all
of the grunt work that goes into creating a
line, the merchandising, the planning, the business of fashion
(05:05):
and the business of retail, it just was something
that really defined, like, my need for creativity, but
also, like, heart, like, business. Like, I'm very left
brain and right brain. You know, I'm not this,
like, artiste, but I need to be around something
that sparks my creativity, something that inspires me, something
(05:28):
that gives me, like, curiosity, if you will. And
it was like, black girl had purple hair, and
it was asymmetric. Like, it just. Yeah, like, definitely
shaming the holograms is, like, a favorite childhood memory.
And then they butchered the remake, and I was
very, very upset. They did a remake in the
(05:49):
two thousands, and I was like, this is trash,
right?
Sometimes they try to redo things from our childhood,
and it's like, no, no, just leave it as
is. Wasn't broke. Don't. Don't fix it.
Don't. Don't do it. Don't do it.
So, okay, so I would love to know, and
I guess, for the listeners, if you could give
(06:10):
the. The Coles notes version. So, in, what is
it called in the states? Goodness. Now I remember
the word. Now it's not coming to me, but
there we go. The Cliff notes.
Yeah.
The Cliff notes version of how you became a
co founder of black women talk tech and how
(06:30):
you got to where you are today.
Yeah. So, definitely Cliffs knows version. So, I mentioned
I started off my career in fashion spent several
years, spent six or seven years at Macy's in
their merchandising division. So I got to launch brands
that are actually still on the floor today. And
(06:52):
then went to business school. Wanted a more, like,
strategic and analytic driven perspective to, like, making crafting
strategies. So I went to business school, met these
folks called consultants, so ended up in management consulting
for a few years. And all throughout, you know,
my kind of corporate America career, I always knew
I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
(07:14):
My dad was an entrepreneur. His dad was an
entrepreneur. So I have grown up in a very
blessed position to see how small business works on
a very intimate level. But I did not know
what, right. Like, at first I thought it was,
you know, hair product, and then I, you know,
(07:34):
thought it was something else. And so it wasn't
until I was talking to one of my really
close friends and we were gonna launch a hair
salon. Like, you know, I've had hair my whole
life. I knew hair, like, intimately. And I've had
natural hair for a very, very long time. Before
it was the craze, before natural hair was in,
(07:56):
like, I've had natural hair, and people used to
call me Tracy Chapman.
So I actually launched a beauty tech startup called
Tres Noir. And Tres Noir was the first on
demand, on location beauty booking app for women of
color. So think Uber for black hair care. Think
glam squad for hair care. But instead of buying
(08:19):
a blowout that you can do through Glam Squad,
you could get a crochet set, you could get
box braids, you could get a press and curl,
you could get a silk press, whatever. So we
started off in Philadelphia. We expanded to New York
City. We were in New York, Philly, LA, Washington,
DC, Dallas, Texas, and did some private events for
(08:41):
corporate brands. For several years, we received venture funding.
We were a part of Backstage Capital's portfolio. So
Arlen Hamilton, who is amazing, was one of the
first VC's to invest in my company.
We did an accelerator program for $100,000 in Philadelphia
(09:03):
and all the things, and then Covid hit. And
you can't send a stylist into someone's home during
a global pandemic. And so we ended up having
to wind that business down. But it was that
experience that made my business partner, and I think
a lot about, like, wow, like, this ish is
hard. Finding the seat, out of body experiences, finding
(09:26):
the right ctO. Like, we went through so many
ctos, it was terrible.
Finding the right venture capital, like, navigating these tech
ecosystems, finding the right talent for your business, growing
and scaling your business, figuring out how to navigate
that piece. And we essentially created and my business
partner working on a completely different startup, working on
(09:47):
a completely different pain point, different opportunity. We were
experiencing the exact same things. Still having problems getting
our foot in the door, still having people look
at you like, oh, well, where's the CEO? I'm
the CEO, right? I'm the one running this business.
And so we created black women talk tech in
(10:10):
order to be the resource that we wish we
would have had when we first started. And, you
know, we educate, amplify, and fund black women. That's
essentially what we do. We are a resource platform.
We amass lots of different resources. We curate rooms.
We design experiences intentionally so that black women can
(10:31):
be educated, amplified, and funded.
And we do that through a couple of different
ways. We host a technology conference called Roadmap to
billions. We've been hosting this conference in the US
for eight years, which is crazy. And I look
back and I'm like, what? Anyway, and we also
hosted in London, and we are bringing our first
(10:52):
roadmap to billions experience to Toronto September 30.
So we're here to change the idea of what
a tech founder looks like or what a woman
in tech looks like, right? She's not a guy
in hoodie in a hoodie from Harvard and Stanford.
She is a woman from Nashville, Tennessee, you know,
creating a Medicare, you know, a medical tech startup
(11:16):
worth millions of dollars. She's in Atlanta, Georgia. She's
in Newark, New Jersey. She's in Toronto. She's in
Brampton. She's in Waterloo. She's in Montreal. Like, you
know, this is not about expecting everyone to come
from Silicon Valley or expecting everyone to come even
from, like, you know, GTA. It's like innovation happens
(11:38):
when you've got brilliant minds working on complex problems.
And those brilliant minds just happen to be in
the mind of a black woman. They just happen
to be there.
Love it, love it, love it, love it. I
love what you do, but I also love that.
(11:58):
So I feel like the pandemic did a lot
of things for entrepreneurs. It either forced you to
pivot or it forced you to step your game
up and figure out other ways to connect that
with your audience. So I remember at the beginning
of the pandemic, every podcast episode that I was
doing, I was like, has the podcast? I mean,
(12:20):
has the pandemic helped or hurt you? And it
was beautiful to hear the stories of how it
amplified so many businesses, how it nurtured and grew
so many new businesses. Like, black women know how
to. How to make things work.
Oh, we will stretch a dollar. We will flip
(12:41):
that dollar five times. We will make a dollar
out of $0.15. Like, you know, put it in
the hands of a black woman. It will get
done.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, it will. It will get done. Whatever it
is, it does not matter. And that's a health
and a hindrance. Right. Because when it doesn't work,
then, you know, it. Well, it was. It was
(13:01):
because she was black.
Right.
Not because the problem was ridiculous and probably couldn't
have been solved by anyone.
Right.
But I think we definitely fall into, you know,
a very, you know, tricky trap of when. When
there's a problem, you know, we people know, like,
when there's a problem, you know, you let a
black woman solve it, but then when it isn't
solved, then it's because she was. Because she was
(13:24):
like, you know, so it's a, it's a very,
you know, it's a tightrope that a lot of
women have to walk. And, you know, I'm here
to walk my own tightrope. If I'm going to
be stressed out, it's going to be on my
terms, not by somebody else that wants to, like,
(13:45):
put that on me. So.
Yeah, so you spoke about especially, you know, the
women that are going to be a part of
this conference and that are part of your community,
not being the typical what. What people think about
when they think about people in tech. And, you
know, I've studied a lot of Doctor Brene Brown's
stuff where she talks about, first, only different. And
(14:08):
in my line of work, I'm always the first,
only different, where it comes to being the first
or only black woman in a room with a
bunch of white men or things like that. So
I'm curious, I guess, to your experiences and things
that you've had to work through or overcome as
a black woman in the tech space.
(14:31):
Well, definitely being that first and only has been
the story of my life. Literally. Yesterday, I went
to a cyber tech event, and I was the
only black woman in the space. This is in
2024, right? In September of 2024 in New York
(14:52):
City. I can go into a room and still
be the only black woman in space. And, you
know, you shake your head and you're just like,
all right, you know, like, why am I surprised?
But, you know, it's one of those things where,
a, you get used to it, and b, it
(15:15):
reminds you that I have to bring everybody else.
Yeah.
Like, I gotta bring everybody else because this room
should not look like this yes. It shouldn't look
like this. And you would be. You would benefit
from my network being here. You would benefit from
the cybersecurity founders that I know you would. It
behooves you to expand your network because we are
(15:38):
here to make money. That is, you know, the
headline here is we all need to be comfortable
in talking about money. Black women, women in general.
Like, we have to start being very, very comfortable
in saying that it's okay to want to make
money. Right?
Yes.
(15:58):
You know, money is not the root of all
evil. It's the love of money that is the
root of all evil. And so when we see
opportunities where there can be investment, where there can
be development, where there can be, you know, expansion,
this is meant for our benefit like it's meant
for financial benefit. And when, you know, there are
(16:21):
plenty of times when I. When I would pitch
trust noir to white investors and especially white male
investors, and the first thing out of their mouth
would be, I don't know anything about hair. My
wife, you know, my wife. I give my wife
money for her hair. I don't even have any
hair. But once you start talking about the numbers,
the average, the lifetime value of these customers, the
(16:43):
average order size, like, when you talk about the
numbers, then it all matter what it is. It's
a widget at that point. So, you know, reminding
myself of that when I'm going into any space,
you know, where I know I'm going to be
the first and the only, or when I don't
think I'm going to be, and I am, Bill,
(17:04):
however that happens, it makes me very comfortable walking
up to people and talking about business and numbers,
because that's a. It's a universal language.
Yeah.
We all should want to understand.
I love that you pointed that out, because I've
done a few episodes with women that are running
multimillion dollar companies, and their conditioning, growing up, their
(17:25):
conditioning as kids, was to believe that the woman,
you know, should be the homemaker, the woman shouldn't
be the one, you know, the majority bread maker.
All of those things were that conditioning that they
had to work through, that the biases that they
had to push through their own paradigms that they
had to push through in order to be who
(17:45):
they are today, like, and I. So my former
mentor, he passed away a couple years ago, but
a huge thing that I learned from him is
that money is a reward for service, right? So
as people, and if we want to make money,
how are we being of service? How are we,
you know, serving or providing a solution for other
(18:06):
people. It doesn't matter if you're a man or
woman, right? So it's just all about our belief
system. And I would love to know, I guess,
for yourself, like, what have been some beliefs that
you had to unlearn and relearn.
Well. Hmm. So this is the part. This is,
(18:27):
you know, it's so interesting because you talked about
Brene Brown. And I also follow Felicia Hatcher on
Instagram. She's also, like, an amazing woman. And she's
been a huge supporter of black women talk tech.
She's spoken at our conferences. We've worked together on
the black ambition, her, the black ambition initiative. And
(18:49):
she has this amazing question that says, you know,
like, who are you uninterrupted? Like, if you could
think back to, like, a time when you just
were on it and you had, like, all cylinders
fired, what stopped that? And, you know, what were,
you know, how have you, if you were to
(19:10):
think about what that thing is? And I'll say,
like, there have definitely been times where, you know,
your confidence is just rocked. You know, like, your
confidence is second guessed you, the doubt starts to
come in. And that, that doubt, Mandy, it is
a mind killer. The imposter syndrome. Should I really
(19:31):
even be in this room? My business isn't even
that big. So why are they talking to me?
Or we really haven't figured it all the way
out yet. These confidence killers kill women. They kill
women. They fully kill men in some way, shape,
or form. But honestly and truly, you know, not
(19:54):
as much. And I always, I try to pull
myself out by saying, is a guy, is a
white guy really sitting here thinking about whether or
not they're. They're supposed to be in this room?
Hell, no.
That part?
Hell, no. Mediocre white men have been out here
doing the most for a very long time. And
(20:16):
if. If I can even try to put my
little bit on it, I should probably do that.
And. But it is the, you know, your confidence
has been. Can be a make or break. And
I also want to say it's not about necessary.
The phrase fake it till you make it. I
(20:38):
kind of take issue with, like, there's times in
which sometimes you kind of fake it too much
or you've actually made it and you don't even
realize it and you're still faking it kind of
thing. So I caution about, you know, having confidence,
for sure. And if that requires you to visualize,
(20:59):
if that requires you to, you know, kind of
come up with, like, the mantra, that's one thing.
But the idea of, like, faking your confidence, will,
could actually be a deterrent. And so, yeah, I
have definitely. I mean, I have failed publicly. Failed,
(21:22):
failed, failed, failed. Hosted an event. I'll never forget
this. We hosted a holiday event in Brooklyn, and
no one showed up.
Wow.
No one showed up. It was me and my
team eating all the food, you know, all the,
you know, all the gift bags. Like, you know,
maybe. Maybe, I don't know, ten people showed up.
(21:45):
But, like, it was a public just, you know,
and we could. We look back on it. It
was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You know, marketing. Like, you could just look back
on all the things, but talk about a confidence
shaker, like, you know, do I do another event
again? You know?
Right.
That type of thing. And there's. Yeah, there's definitely
(22:10):
other instances that I won't get into because, you
know, not worth my time, but people do, you
know, look at you and say, oh, well, you're
that black person. So, of course you did it.
Like I said, I got plenty of struggle.
There's so much that you said there that I
want to unpack. I'm gonna see if I can
(22:32):
remember all of it. But. So you were talking
about, you know, the negative self talk and the
imposter syndrome and all those things that happen as
you're working towards things. And my. So my mentor,
Bob Proctor, he gave this analogy, and I'm going
to use it here because you're in the tech
space. But it was like, our brains are like
computers, right? And the negative self talk, the imposter
(22:57):
syndrome, the self doubt, the fear, the worry, all
those things are like viruses that we allow to
infect the computer, and we have no idea how
powerful our mind is. Look at these computers. All
the things that they can do, right? It can
do things far beyond our comprehension, far beyond things
(23:18):
that we've ever imagined. But these little things, once
they get in, they start to infect and spread
and build. So it's important that we actually do
the work to keep those things out from affecting
how we operate. And then when you're talking about
(23:38):
the mediocre white man that may not have those
same insecurities or those same thoughts, there's a black
woman from Toronto that built multi million dollar business.
She built a few of them, and I think
the second one was actually in hair. She now
speaks about, like, her signature talk is called what
(23:59):
would Chad do? And Chad is that mediocre white
man that goes, after all the opportunities he applies
for the job that he doesn't have the quality
everything for. He doesn't question whether or not he's
good enough or if he's qualified. He shows up,
and because he showed up, he gets the job.
So, you know, her motivational talk, especially to black
(24:22):
women, is to show. Just show up.
Be tad. Exactly. Be sad.
And then to also, like, you know, the confidence
piece. You know, we have these two images of
ourselves. We have the outer self image, which is
(24:42):
how we walk, how we talk, how we do
our hair. You know, what. What the outside world
sees us as. And that self image, I think
it's like Doctor Maxwell Mulch. He has a book
called Psycho Cybernetics, where he came up with the
theory that we have two self images and the
one on the inside of how we truly see
(25:03):
ourselves. That affects how we show up in the
world. It affects our confidence in going after opportunities,
a confidence in building these opportunities and these communities
and these platforms, our interactions with other people, all
of those things. So, you know, people may look
at the outer self image of someone and be
(25:24):
judging, but it's the inner self image that we
have that we project out into the world, into
how we show up. So, you know, I think
about what you're building with black women, talk tech,
and what it takes to even have the audacity
to do that. And I love it. I love
it, love it, love it. And to your point
(25:47):
about the fake it till you make it, I
realized quite a few years ago where I let
go of that motto and I shifted it to
faith it till you make it. Because I don't
want to pretend to be anyone that I am
not. But in believing what God has for me
(26:07):
or believing the opportunities that are out there for
me or believing in my ability to do a
thing, then I work towards that thing. Because when
we have this fake confidence or any of those
that come, it shows up as arrogance. It shows
up as all these other, um, not so nice
qualities, right?
Absolutely.
(26:28):
And then when you spoke about having the event
where no one showed up, I remember being at
a big conference, and one of the speakers, a
white male, was talking about, you know, overcoming those
things and how many events he had in building
his career, where there were events where no one
showed up, it was just his family that showed
up and all the money that he had invested,
(26:50):
you know, his savings, all those things. But if
we allow those things to stop us, then we'll
never show up again. Like, things happen beyond our
control. There are things that maybe, you know, like
you said before, sometimes it could just be the
location or marketing or. Or any of those things
that can affect it. But if we allow that
to hinder us from ever showing up again, not
(27:12):
only will we not walk into the fullness of
our purpose, but that could be a part of
our journey to teach us something, to show us,
you know, things that we, we need to learn.
So I love your transparency and even sharing all
of those parts of your journey. So thank you.
Listen, it's important people, you know, you know, to
your point, like, people see where I am now,
(27:37):
but, you know, you really, you have to balance
where black women talk tech is now versus where
black women talk tech was in 2017. Like, it's
just a different. It's. It's a completely different organization.
Who I am in 2024 is different than who
(28:00):
I was two years ago. Why? Because I have
a two year old. I have a baby boy.
His name is Julian. He runs around all day.
I didn't have mitrally two years ago. I didn't
have a baby boy named ran around. So, you
know, it's so important. Like, the journey. What is
it? The journey? Something about a destination. It's not
just the finish line. It's the destination. Or.
(28:22):
It's not about the destination. It's about the journey
and who you become along the way, who you
develop into. And it's usually the vision of what
it is that you're going after that big goal
as you go after that goal, who you develop
into. I guess in pursuit of that goal is
(28:47):
what really matters.
Absolutely. And then it's like, if you're only focused
on the destination, you'll miss. You'll miss it. Miss,
like, everything that you're supposed to learn, that you're
supposed to experience. Like, you need to sit and
feel, like, you need to feel the hurt, you
need to feel the awkwardness, you need to feel
(29:07):
the embarrassment. That, for me, is motivation.
Yes.
I don't want to do this again. I don't
want to be here anymore. I don't want this
right here. I don't want that. So, yes, it
drives me. It's like, I'm not going to fail.
Not in, you know, I don't know. I don't
believe there's failure. Either you win or you learn.
(29:28):
Learn. Yes.
That's it. So, you know, if, if. But you
do need to feel so that you can remember
that feeling, so that, you know, you don't want
to feel that ever, ever, ever again. And I
think it's just important to share these experiences to
help people realize, like, I have absolutely been there.
I'm still. I'm still there like you. There, there.
(29:50):
Can, who knows what's the. To come in the
future, so. But you need to be prepared for
it. You need to know that, you know, you
can rebound. Resilience is key as an entrepreneur, just
black women in general, but resilience allows you to
know, even on those bad days, there's going to
(30:11):
be a good day coming up. So, you know,
that's what prepares you for the fight, if you
will. And it also lets me know, like, the
best is yet to come. Like, I'm just getting
started. Yeah, yeah.
Look, my backdrop, my back lighting. Resilience is my
superpower. I have it tattooed on my arm. Reminder.
(30:33):
I love that. Yes. Yeah. Yes. To all of
that double click.
I think it's what I, what I hear oftentimes
for from people who just start coaching. They have
this belief that it has to be perfect in
order for them to start, that, you know, even
it has to be perfect while they're, they're doing
(30:54):
it, not realizing that the people who are doing
it, the people who are in the ring, we're
not focused on perfection. We're focused on action, because
that, that idea of perfection, that idea that you
shouldn't have any, you know, teachable moments or setbacks,
because I don't want to failures, it's. It hinders
them from actually taking action. So I love that
(31:16):
you even shared that because I think that it's
important for people that are listening to hear that
anyone who is successful, we can look at their
success and admire it. And, you know, anyone who,
you know, may have insecurities, could be jealous or
whatever feelings that they're feeling, but have you taken
the time to look at that person's journey? Have
you looked at where they've evolved from? Have you
(31:38):
looked at the things that they've had to overcome
in order to get there? It wasn't an overnight
success. They didn't snap their fingers and automatically like,
oh, look, now I'm rich, or, oh, look, now
I have this community. Like, that's not how things
work.
No, definitely not. Not at all.
What, what are some, some lessons that you wish
you had learned sooner in your journey?
(32:00):
I wish I would have learned to fail faster,
ie, like testing products or testing concepts, testing ideas
faster. Part of the challenge, you have no money,
right? Like, it's just you and, you know, your
partner or whomever, and you're like, you're trying to
(32:21):
test different concepts, whether it's an ad strategy or
whether it's an influencer marketing or whether it's pr,
I think towards the end or even now. Well
now we test very quickly, like 30 days. And
if it works, great. If it doesn't, keep it
moving. But I wish I would have learned to
test faster and test with the least amount of
(32:46):
money as possible. When I started trust noir, I
was still in corporate America. So I was throwing
money left and right. Oh, $10,000 for a website.
Sure. What in the hell? I'm thinking who in
the world is paying that for their very 1st,
1st website? Terrible, terrible, terrible. I just did not
(33:10):
know what I didn't. You just don't know what
you don't know, right? And these web designers come
to you, it's like, oh well, you know, gotta
have this and gotta have that man throw up,
right? Go to wix.com and get you a basic
behind website. Now. I will say for beauty brands
or brands that are products that have like luxury
(33:33):
or status design, it's everything. So, you know, invest
in a designer, but the website itself should not
necessarily take like tens of thousands of dollars. So
think especially in the very, very beginning thing, I
would have wished I would have known or someone
would have told me, test all of your concepts
for less than $1,000, everything like, you know, and
(33:57):
that will tell you how long you can run
it. If you want to do an ad campaign
and you only have $100, you can only run
it for a day or you can only run
it for two days or like if you only
have one influencer or maybe you do two. So
you can do like an A B test or
something like that. But like spend the least amount
of money as possible so that when you do
(34:18):
discover what is the thing, you can pour gas
on it. Yeah, you got, you know, you won't
have it. You don't have any money now because
you don't spend all the money in testing. So
now once you figured out what it is, you
don't have any money to go deep on it.
So I would definitely say those are the two
main things. Test fast and test cheap.
Love it, love it, love it, I guess. Okay,
(34:40):
so what's been one of the best decisions that
you have ever made both personally and professionally?
Well, I can actually say it's the same thing
for both. So part choosing your partner hands down.
My partner at trust Noir. Her name is Octavia
(35:01):
Pickett Blakely. She is one of my closest friends
to this day. We were friends before and we've
been able to still remain friends after having a
tech startup. And you know, you have to find
the people that are going to stay with you
and it's tough that are going to be a
(35:22):
ride or die. Like, if you have the people
that are just not with it, like, it just
makes the whole experience even worse or you just
do it on your own. Like, I'm not a,
I just don't, I don't, I don't know. I
mean, I feel like I'm actually working on some
new projects where I will be a solo founder.
But I really love having, like, that accountability partner.
(35:43):
Like, that pushes, you know, you and be able
to help you map out, you know, projects together.
And in my personal life, my boyfriend, like, you
know, great decision as far as I'm concerned. Like,
he's an amazing partner, is always supportive. You know,
came to my pitch, you know, pitch events, helped
me with the conference, moving boxes. Like, truly a
(36:08):
great, like, partner partner, you know, and, and if
you have a bad partner, it just, it affects
everything in you, both your personal and your professional
life. When you don't have that support system, you
as an entrepreneur, like, you're, it can be a
very lonely road, right? Like, no one else is
(36:29):
working on this thing but you, right, like, and
you're bringing a brand new concept to market. You're
bringing a brand new thing to market. And so
because it can feel really lonely, you need that
support from somewhere else. And so I would definitely
say those are some really great decisions that I
(36:50):
made, and we both, I mean, I guess we
all made, we made together. But I would have
hated and I would not have, I would not
be with black women, talk tech for eight years
if it wasn't for, like, my business partner associate.
You know, we both bring very different energy, very
different networks and experiences to the table. And that's
(37:12):
also what makes it great because I can come
with, you know, with this marketing and strategy background.
She had finance background from Citigroup and also working
on, you know, completely different tech startup before coming
in. And I was coming from beauty. So, like,
you know, the people that you put, like, you
(37:33):
know, the company.
You keep that part, the old saying, like, the
five people that you spend the most time around,
you know, you become an average of those people.
But I actually, I saw a study that went
deeper, that talked about the effects of our connections
(37:54):
with how we think, how we view life. You
know, what we say yes and no to. Like,
do you remember that thing that went around about
what color was the dress and half the population
on one color and once or the other, and
some people weren't sure. But they agreed with other
people because they were in their network. Like, we
are affected by the people that are around us.
You know, your partnerships can make or break you.
(38:16):
Make or break.
I can't remember the exact words, but I remember,
like, maybe 15 years ago or so when I
started as an entrepreneur and someone gave me some
advice about, they said ships can either. I don't
remember if it was, like, help you sink or
float or something, but he was talking about friendships,
partnerships, relationships, like, all these ships, how important they
(38:40):
are in our ability to either float or sink.
That's it. That is it.
Yeah. Okay. So I guess before we go to
the final segment of the show, I would love
if you could share with the listeners where they
could stay connected with you, where they can learn
more from you, where they can learn more about
the conferences.
Yes, absolutely. So if you want to learn more
(39:02):
about what I'm working on, definitely follow me on
LinkedIn. So if you search Regina Gwen, g w
y, as in yellow n n, you can follow
me there. And then black women talk tech on
Instagram. So just literally, black women talk tech on
Instagram. If you go to our link tree, you'll
(39:23):
see all of our links, not only to the
conference coming up in Toronto, but we have a
digital membership where we keep conversations going after the
conference and keep that vibe. We also have our
New York conference coming up in May of 2025.
We're doing some great, cool things with partners across
the country. And, yeah, I would say sign up
(39:44):
for our newsletter. That's also the very best way
to keep in contact and find out more about
what we're working on.
Perfect. So I will have all those links in
the detailed section of the episode so they can
just click and connect with you directly.
Love it. Thank you.
You're welcome. So for the final segment of the
show, it's kind of like a rapid fire. You
can answer one word or one sentence. I am
(40:06):
claustrophobic. I don't like to be put into a
box. So if we feel the need to expand,
you're more than welcome to do so.
Okay.
Okay. Name a book that has changed or greatly
impacted your life. The Bible. Perfect. What is. I'm
like, what do I want to ask you? What
(40:28):
new belief, behavior, or habit has improved your life
in the last five years? Oh.
So I would say working out. I definitely am
much more committed to working out almost every day.
I work out Monday through Friday. I take the
weekends off. But as you get older, definitely it's
(40:49):
much more important in terms of flexibility. In terms
of just everything. So now I have a two
year old that I'm running around after lort. So,
yeah, I'm in the gym a lot. And that.
That habit has definitely been strengthened over the past
five years. Yeah.
Love it. Okay. If you could have a gigantic
(41:09):
billboard anywhere with anything on it, what would it
say?
And why black women will win is what the
billboard would say. And they will win because we.
I'm not going to say we're magical, because I
sometimes feel like that makes us, like, be able
(41:31):
to have different. Different powers. Like, we don't have
different powers. We just have focus and drive and,
like, perseverance, and it's those qualities which will allow
us to win. But I want. I love the
idea of, like, a billboard because I want everyone
to know it. I want you to know it.
And you and you and you and you. I
want every one of y'all to know that black
women are going to win, period. Whether you. Whether
(41:55):
you like it or not, whether you support it
or not, whether you believe it or not, we're
going to win. And I need black women to
know that, too.
Amen.
So I think that that's what would be on
my billboard.
I love it. Okay. If you could describe yourself
in one word, what would it be?
One word board. I would say my one word
(42:24):
would be free. I like entrepreneurship. Gives me a
freedom that I do not take for granted. My
dad passed away seven years ago, and. Thank you,
thank you, thank you. He was an entrepreneur. First
entrepreneur I ever met. And I still think back
(42:46):
to, like, how blessed I was to be an
entrepreneur at the time. I didn't have to check
in with anyone to let them know I was
leaving. I didn't have to fill out any forms
for bereavement. I didn't have to fill out any
forms. Cause I was just on the road at
02:00 in the morning going home. Cause I just
wanted to see, like, it was a. That's the
freedom of my time. It's something that is extremely
(43:09):
valuable to me and at play at times when
it's great and, you know, in times of challenge.
And it's just. It's something that is extremely, extremely
important to me. And I've seen it. I've seen
its value played out. And so I am free.
I love it. I love it. Okay, last but
(43:30):
not least, what do you wish women would do
more of?
Get started on whatever it is. Get started on
the business. Get started on the resume. Get started
on interviewing. Get started on baking some cookies. I
don't know, but get started. We overthink. We overanalyze.
We second guess. We need more research. We need
(43:52):
more time. No, no, no. Get started. Figure it
out as you go along.
I love it.
Just figure it out as you go along, because
guess what? Someone else has started, right? So now,
you know, there's pros and cons to being first
mover, you know? But you just get. Just get
(44:13):
started, sis.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much, Regina, for
taking the time to join us. I truly appreciate
you sharing all your gems and your wisdom with
us. I appreciate you taking the time. I do
not, you know, take this lightly. You're a busy
woman on top of business. You have a two
(44:33):
year old. Like, I get it. I value your
energies. Thank you so much, Regina, for being with
us here today.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I hope
to see you at the conference.
I will definitely be there.
Love it, love it, love it.
Perfect. And to all you healers out there, until
next time, subscribe on all platforms. Don't forget to
rate the show and leave us a review on
Apple Podcasts. And I just want to thank all
(44:56):
of you who listen globally to help the show
rank in the top 1.5% of most popular podcasts
out there. Thank you. And I want to challenge
you to share this episode with five people that,
you know, that need to hear Regina's story. Feel
free to, you know, tag us on Instagram with
your aha moments. And you can tag black women
(45:19):
talk tech. You can tag myself. He real McKinneysmith.
A healthy community is a healing community. And a
healing community is full of hope because it has
seen its own people whether survive and thrive. So
let's continue to heal her.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!