August 27, 2024 • 33 mins
This episode is a rebroadcast of a previously aired recording from 2022, around the time the Besties started their podcast. It is revisited this week as a reminder of the importance of embracing flexibility, stepping out on faith and having the courage to make life altering changes. The message remains as timely now as it had been two years ago.
Original Notes:
During a roller coaster work situation, Angella felt increasing discontent about giving a select few decision-making power over her livelihood. So she took a leap of faith into entrepreneurship. Big pivots are inherently risky but sometimes when you know, you just know. Listen again to her story about the empowerment she felt in leaving a 30 year corporate IT career. After nearly 20 years at one of the world's top tech companies she has become founder and CEO of HeadSpace NC, a beauty and advocacy company.
This episode and all previous episodes are available on YouTube. Please join our Besties Quad Squad as a Patreon subscriber at the $5 or $10 monthly level. You'll receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content.
Visit Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn website for behind-the-scenes extras.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey folks, it's Angella from Black Boomer.
Besties from Brooklyn, Brooklyn.
Hey, this episode is arebroadcast of an episode that
aired in December of 2022.
So it was just a couple ofmonths after Leslie and I
started this beautiful labor oflove that we call our podcast
(00:23):
and I shared because Leslieinsisted I shared the story of
how I left my corporate careerafter almost 30 years to become
an entrepreneur.
It goes into a lot of detailabout, I think, our friendship,
how she supported me, I think afriendship, how she supported me
(00:44):
, even though it was just ashocking decision that I made,
and we actually talked about howI came to be in North Carolina
and, yeah, just some really goodbestie stuff.
And you'll also hear how myBrooklyn, how that began and why
(01:06):
I brought it back because Itotally, totally missed it.
Listen, I was trying to be asophisticate and I don't do that
very well.
So it is back, brooklyn is backand we hope you enjoy this
episode.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Brooklyn, so why do I always do that?
I?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
just don't want it to just be out there all by itself
.
It needs a little fanfare.
So every time you say it or Isay it's like whoop, whoop or
Brooklyn, it just needs a littlespicy.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It needs a little, a little scots bonnet, that's what
I don't know if you notice thatyou always end like that also
it just seems wrong to end itwith just but flat flatness, but
let me tell you, any podcasterworth his salt has to have a
(02:20):
signature sign off, so thatthat's your signature sign off,
okay, so anyway, but here we are, another episode of Black
Boomer Besties from Brooklyn,and in this episode we're going
to continue a theme that westarted several episodes ago
about pivoting and moving todifferent things in our lives.
(02:40):
Now, this is an episode thatI've been pushed to do for quite
a while and for some reason,she's had a little bit of
resistance.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, I can tell you why it's been resistance.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I'll tell you a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I'll tell you a little bit.
It is because there's so muchto unpack about my life in
corporate how I decided to endit, everything that happened to
get me to the point where it wastime to say goodbye, and so I
wanted to kind of treat all ofthat, to give all of that its
(03:15):
due, and not just kind of touchon a little bit here, a little
bit there.
And so now I've kind of thoughtit through and it's because you
know you made me commit todoing it.
And so now I've kind of thoughtit through and it's because you
know you made me commit todoing it.
(03:37):
And so now I've kind of thoughtit through and I picked up my
family and moved from New Jerseyto North Carolina.
Oh, my gosh year as an intern,right you were interning in
(04:09):
Maryland remember Wow At UMaryland Medical Center.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
That's right.
Yes, and we stopped there.
That puts a nice timestamp onthings.
Yeah, we stopped there and hada great night with you.
I think the kids reallybenefited from that because you
know you were familiar.
They were going to anunfamiliar place and I think it
reminded them that you knowwe're still going to be
(04:35):
connected to our loved ones, sothat was really wonderful.
Yeah, so anyway, I rememberthat.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Let me just interject for a second because I can't
believe that with our lastepisode, you actually thought we
were finished talking about ourpersonal pivots.
You just left it as leaving NewJersey to go to North Carolina
and from my perspective, lookingat you, there is so much more.
(05:04):
So go ahead.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Okay.
So what happened was you knowwhat's really?
An interesting perspective thatI have now kind of baked into
the way that I look at the worldis that the more that you do
things that are uncomfortable,the more you're able to do the
(05:28):
next uncomfortable or difficultthing, because you know, you
kind of broaden I think wetalked about that before just
this balloon.
If you think about that as yourcomfort zone, the way that it
gets bigger, the way that yourcomfort level gets bigger, is by
stretching, and once it's youknow, once it's that's the only
(05:51):
way is to blow into the balloonand stretch it some more remind
me in our day to day.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
pretty often, when I show some resistance to either
stepping into things or doingthings or even having
conversations with people youknow that are uncomfortable, or
I don't want to have you remindme of how you have to stretch in
that way.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, yeah, and I.
What it has done for me is toremind me that that I do want my
comfort zone to grow, and ifthat's the way that it has to be
done, then then I'm all for it.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So why are you imposing your comfort zone on me
then?
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Why I got a stress.
Nah, you got your own comfortzone, baby, and you know you.
You know that you getcomfortable in things that I
would never Okay, I'll give youthat, I'll give you that it's
like right, my sister, she willjump out of an airplane.
She's done that, twice, I think, jumped out of an airplane, but
(06:56):
she would never considerbecoming an entrepreneur right,
it's just kind of everyone hastheir space, that they want to
North Carolina, to nothing thatwas familiar at all.
(07:31):
And that growth I'm sure led toanother big pivot that I did and
that was to leave almost30-year career in IT working for
Fortune 500 companies and doingreally well and really enjoying
it and really feeling that Imade significant impact on the
(07:55):
cultures of those companies,moving into entrepreneurship,
right, and all of that.
And my children were I don'tthink they were all, maybe had
already graduated university, Idon't remember, but anyway, that
was a big thing and I am surethat my you know, my chutzpah
(08:20):
came from recognizing that Icould do hard things and I was
going to be okay.
You know, that was I rememberedwhen I moved to North Carolina
and you know, obviously thehouse was already purchased.
I had checked out theneighborhood as best I could,
but there was so much that Ididn't know and it turned out to
(08:42):
be really an incrediblywonderful, inviting,
friendship-laden community thatwe moved into.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Okay, let me just push you back for a little bit.
So hold that thought.
Okay, so let me just set thescene again.
So here I am a regular, alinear thinking person.
You do this step, then you dothis step, and then there's
security and oh, okay.
So here you are in this 20 plusyear stable, moving up, getting
(09:15):
raises, getting that executiveVP I don't even know what that
world looks like and moving upthese grades and what have you
with your company.
And then you tell me I'm goingto leave, even though I have the
ability to stay.
It's not like they gave you theboot, but I'm going to leave
(09:38):
and I'm going to turn my lifearound and tap into my creative
ability and you've always beencreative into my creative
ability, and then start my ownbusiness.
Right, and here I'm thinking OK, midlife crisis, my friend lost
(09:58):
her mind.
How can I pull her back so thatshe can keep getting a paycheck
?
What you talking about, ang?
All right, you continue.
Okay so, but you presented itwell to me, so I was with you.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, yeah, you're always with me.
So you know, earlier today youand I talked about the fact that
doing big things, people, oncethey are in it or have had
victory over something, theytend to want to think about that
win and not about thedifficulties that came in along
(10:33):
the way.
And I think it's important tokind of call those things out,
because and you did.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, you called me out on it when I said we can do
anything.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
The, the failures, the, the leaning in the, the
tears, the, the self-doubt, theyou know imposter syndrome, all
of those things that get in theway are important to talk about
because, you know, we're notsuper beings, right?
(11:10):
You know, I have a whole thingabout the black girl magic and
all that, but that's for anotherepisode.
So I want to talk about some ofthose things, right?
So?
And I and I think I willmention the company, we'll see
how it goes.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Okay.
The other thing that came upfor me from earlier today, when
we were speaking about thisability to do it all, have it
all, is that and I think this isa gift from God for me
sometimes is that I've oftenforgotten how difficult a road
I've had and the tribulationsthat were behind me.
(11:44):
I was speaking to my sisterabout this and I was saying you
know how I felt sorry forsomeone who's going through the
trial or whatever.
I'm like you know, thank God,our lives have been so much
better than that.
And then she just said listen,les, no, it hasn't.
Don't you remember this?
Don't you remember this?
Don't you remember this?
And I said wow, you know what?
(12:06):
You're right, thank God.
I really don't have such avivid memory of how difficult
our roads have been.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, yeah, that just made me think of childbirth
right, Exactly.
The baby comes.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
It's like you forget about the pain of the delivery,
and then the pain only comesback when they hit adolescence,
you know, or adulthood in mycase.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
So.
So here's how, how all of thatwent down.
So the fact of it is that thecompany that I was working for
is the technology company andthey had what's called a limited
restructuring.
That's their way of of doinglayoffs, and it usually includes
(12:55):
some changes with the structureof the organization, some jobs
change and things like that, andI was a part of that.
Right got a call from my managerand you know there was there's
always kind of rumor anddiscussion whispers about these
(13:19):
things happening, and so when Igot the call I kind of had a
sense that I was going to beimpacted by this.
So she told me that my job waseliminated and blah, blah, blah.
It didn't really matter whatelse she had to say, but
(13:39):
basically that was it.
So that was like in the morningand by early afternoon I got
another call and this is now me.
I'm now preparing, like OK,this is what I'm going to do
next, and at some points I lookforward to this type of call
because you know it comes withwith a lot of perks.
(14:01):
I don't think I was ready atthat point points before to have
left the company, but at thispoint it didn't hit me so hard,
it didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And I remember you called me that morning.
Yeah, you got the call, but OK,it didn't yeah.
And I remember you called methat morning.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, you got the call, but OK.
So the second call I got wasfrom HR and they told me that
there were a handful of peoplewho were a part of the LR, the
limited restructuring that theywanted to keep, and, angela,
(14:36):
you're one of them.
And I'm thinking great, and youknow they'll each person is
going to be given a recruiter,an internal recruiter, and they
would help them to find anotherposition in the company.
So that was going to be thenext part of my journey, I
thought.
But what had happened before isthat I had become a leader of
(15:01):
the Black Employees Organization, this big global organization,
and it was a position ofinfluence, right and scrutiny.
But there's a way that I wantedto show up for that and you
know, hair, this thing that iscoming out of our heads, has
(15:24):
always been this source of prideand artistic expression, and I
always knew the power in thehair of Black women.
I've always kind of felt itfrom when I came to America and
the way that hair was one of thethings that I used to connect
with the little girls that Iwanted to be friends with right.
(15:45):
It's also controversial.
It's also controversial Exactly, which is another whole other
story.
Exactly, you're amiscontroversial.
I don't run from it.
I don't run from it.
(16:11):
But so I mentioned hair, becausehair became this thing that I
chose to use to be really boldabout who I was as a Black woman
leader at right.
I wanted to represent that.
I wasn't trying to hide, Ididn't want to be demure.
I wanted to have big hair.
I wanted to really show up boldin the meetings that I was in,
when I went on college campusesto recruit Black and Brown
people to work for.
(16:32):
I wanted them to see,especially with natural hair and
curly hair, kinky hair becomingmore and more common with
younger folks.
I wanted to see that there weresenior leaders who looked like
them, who weren't trying to kindof put their authentic black
selves into a box once they gotinto corporate.
(16:54):
And I didn't see a lot ofoptions for me as a.
Then I was in my fifties, maybeearly fifties, I don't even
remember probably around fiftiesor soon to be 50.
And I didn't see a lot ofoptions for my.
My hair was starting to reallyshow its fineness, its thinness
(17:16):
and it wouldn't really do all ofthe kind of to beauty school.
I know, I know, I know Istarted looking into that.
(17:42):
I wanted to do it while I wasworking and with kind of being
very West Coast dominant becausethat's where their headquarters
was.
I was seeing how I could maybedo beauty school in the morning
and all kinds of configurations.
But anyway, even though I hadbeen offered the opportunity to
(18:04):
stay at and that whole internalrecruiting process was going
exceedingly well, I must sayexceedingly well because I'd
made great relationships andpeople wanted me to stay and I
was in line to get a positionthat was actually at a higher
level than the one that I hadbeen in.
(18:24):
What started to make me moreand more uncomfortable is that
other people were makingdecisions about me, my life, my
livelihood, my children.
I was like this doesn't feelright to me.
I'm too old for this shit.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Wow yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And that started to really become the thing that I
couldn't quiet.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah, but you started feeling this what after the
restructuring?
Speaker 1 (18:58):
After the restructuring, when people were
working with me to find anotherposition that you know that I
liked, that I would be good atand so on.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You said like wait, stop looking.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Well, actually, what happened is and I have to say,
there were some just people whoshe just stepped in and went to
bat for me.
You know, this is the personthat, yes, that that is the
position for for her.
She'll be amazing, and so on,and I was getting calls late at
(19:31):
night, you know, yeah, so thisis going to work out.
And you know, saying thank you,but also feeling like there's
just something coming up in myspirit, that was just, it was
yeah, and it just made meincreasingly uncomfortable that
I was not taking the opportunityto step away from this.
(19:51):
I'd given a lot of my talentsto the company and I started
feeling like, no, it's time forme to make decisions about these
things and not other people,kind of pulling yeah.
And that's when I decided toleave.
Wow, what a stressful time.
It was stressful, but if youcan imagine that, I felt really
(20:15):
powerful.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Jeez, that's that balloon stretch again.
There you go with that stupidballoon stretch again.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
It's like well, you know listen.
At that point I was clear Icould do hard things, yeah yeah
yeah, right, and we all havedifferent ways that we we
stretch.
There are things that you knowthat I don't really feel like I
can do, like you know swim.
(20:45):
We're going to cut that out,we're going to bleep that out.
It ain't nobody's business butyours and mine, Anyway.
So so I did, I decided to leave, and because I'd already kind
of done all this pre-thinkingabout what I was going to do
(21:05):
next and really has a reallykind of entrepreneurial culture,
Right, so as a manager I wasalways kind of planning my next
thing pitching, getting funding,then, you know, putting it in
place and measuring to see if Igot the return that I said I
would get.
So that was already kind ofsome of what was baked into the
(21:29):
work that I was doing there, andso I left.
That was like late October, Ithink of that year, and by
November I had an LLC and Istarted the company Headspace NC
Headspace, because I'm alwaysin my head.
(21:50):
And NC, not because Headspacewas already a company, but NC
because North Carolina hadbecome my new chosen state and I
really fell in love with a lotof what I experienced here and a
lot of the kind of NorthCarolina built companies they
use NC in their names.
(22:10):
So I incorporated Headspace NCand I knew it was going to be
kind of this umbrella companyright, Because there were so
many things that I'm good at andthat I enjoy doing and I wanted
a kind of a container for thosebusinesses to live in.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
All right, so just briefly say, you know what some
of those companies under theumbrella of HeadspaceNC are.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Absolutely so.
The first one because when Ileft I went to beauty school and
I became a licensed naturalhair care specialist after 350
hours of school.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So wait right there.
This is what I said to you whenyou first told me about this.
You said not only less am Ileaving corporate, but now I'm
going to enroll in beauty school.
Remember back in the day when,in the 70s, there was like
Barbizon School of Beauty?
(23:10):
So I'm thinking this lady isthe first Ivy League.
She's probably like the onlyIvy League educated student in
her beauty school.
But it made sense.
Like you know, you were able toconvince me that your plans
(23:30):
make sense.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Yeah, Well, all of that was true, by the way.
I admit all of that.
All of that was true.
But here's the thing the blackhair care industry is
multi-billion dollar industryand there aren't enough black
people in it.
We buy we're consumers butwe're not the producers, and
(23:53):
that bothered me, right?
Remember?
I'm looking for products for myhair and I can't find it, and
when I'm looking, I'm buyingfrom people who don't look like
us.
So a part of why I chose to dothat is because I wanted to take
advantage of the benefits ofthe black hair care industry.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, Right and fill a niche and fill a niche because
, again, I wanted to focus.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I was very clear about the people that I wanted
to serve.
Yeah, and that kind of stuffreally, really bothers me.
So, anyway, so I so the firstbusiness under Headspace NC that
I created was is called RhythmWigs.
It is my, my first kind ofsignificant product that I
(24:57):
launched.
You know, it's curly wigs fordiscerning black women over 40.
That's what I wanted.
I wanted people to who chooseto wear big curly hair to have
options that suit themstyle-wise, comfort-wise.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Custom.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Custom, and I'm a consumer, custom-wise and really
giving them the service, likepampering these women Right,
because it's like we deserve it,we've earned it, we've worked
hard, you know, and so that wasmy first and that led which I
won't go down here, but you know, it's just, you never know
(25:39):
where your right decisions willtake you right, and when you
kind of follow what you know inyour heart, in your gut and you
know I'm always checking in withthe Lord on these types of
things that has led to mebecoming a wig designer for film
and theater.
(25:59):
So a lot of the work that I donow is doing wig design and
supervising.
Yeah, and who knew, who knew?
So it's like a whole newstretch in that balloon.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
It's a whole new career, so Rhythm Wigs is one.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Okay, and so another project that I have out there is
called the Hair Stories Project.
Look, I just there are thingsthat just kind of I investigate,
right.
And so the thing was, our hairis so unique in the world, right
(26:38):
, the one thing that connects usas people from the African
diaspora is our hair, the kinky,curly, coily nature of our hair
, and because of what our hairis like, as you know, it is a
source of real connectedness forus, right, our hair takes
(27:02):
longer to style, and so wedevelop connections with our
grandparents who do our hair,with our hairstylists who do our
hair, with our mothers who doour hair.
And there was this one scene in, yeah, viola Davis With Viola
Davis, how to get away withmurder, how to get away with
murder With Viola Davis.
With Viola Davis, how to getaway with murder, how to get
away with murder.
And there was this one scenewhere she's having like her
(27:27):
worst day ever and Cicely Tysonplays her mom and she comes in,
she's like, taking off all hermakeup, her wig, comes off and
she sits on the floor CicelyTyson was on her bed, her mom,
and she starts scratching herscalp.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
And I was like, oh an experience that we've all had.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
It was such a black moment to see on TV.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
It's like broke the internet.
Yeah, everybody was talking.
It was like, oh my God, did yousee that?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yes, it was just kind of and I really wanted to kind
of tell, collect these storiesof the hair of Black folks,
especially Black women.
I wanted to really investigatethat and so the Hair Stories
Project I started interviewingpeople to share their stories
(28:24):
about their hair.
One experience that I had isbeing fired because I had braids
and they told me I had to takethem out or leave.
And I didn't take them out, andso we all have these sometimes
beautiful and love-filled,sometimes painful, sometimes
political stories around ourhair.
And so that's what the HairStories Project is all about,
(28:47):
and this podcast is another, youknow, kind of endeavor under
HeadspaceNC, so I just call it.
We do heady stuff.
It's like at the intersectionof beauty and advocacy.
That's the work that I do.
I focus on Black women becausethat's who I am, that's who I
know well and that is.
(29:08):
We are a group that is oftenignored, you know, or not kind
of seen for the power and thewisdom that we have, and so I'm
kind of really wanting to makesure that we're represented more
and more out there in the world.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
So I got a question for you, though.
Question Go ahead.
So we started this episode ofthe podcast in order to discuss
how you pivoted from IT toentrepreneurship Right.
To discuss how you pivoted fromIT to entrepreneurship Right.
Could you just explain a littlebit and we're running out of
time but how your experience incorporate prepared you to be the
(29:55):
business person that you aretoday, Because now you're your
own CEO.
I am today because now you'reyour own CEO.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I am, and well, I mentioned before that I remember
I have another friend who alsohad left and we always said when
we left we were going to becomeentrepreneurs.
Because it is a veryentrepreneurial culture there,
(30:21):
right, it was an expectationwhen you're at certain levels to
see what the need was and topitch it and to develop
operational practices to getthat out there and running.
And so my kind of operationalwhen I mean operational is how
things run, right, I am rightbrain, but I'm very comfortable
(30:42):
in the analytical left brainspace.
That's why I'm an engineer,that's why I was good at that is
because I see the value of thelogic and so on.
And so operations to me is kindof the how things kind of run,
kind of procedurally, or youknow time after time, how do you
(31:04):
kind of run the company.
So that was in place, I knewhow to do that well, and so on
top of that is where mycreativity comes in, and so for
me, I can create more freelywhen I know that things are
running smoothly as a business,right.
So the boring stuff that Ireally don't like, I know that
it's important because I want tobe really creative, and so I
(31:25):
get that stuff in place so thatI can play on top of it.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I mean, you know, obviously I'm going to be around
for as this all progresses andto see how it works out and what
have you, so it's reallyexciting.
I think the overall theme is tobe able to step out on faith,
to be uncomfortable with yourdiscomfort.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
To know that.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
To get more comfortable with being
uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
That's, that's and you know, tonot let discomfort stop, you To
not let discomfort stop you Tonot let discomfort stop you.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
That is exactly right .
You know this isn't foreverybody.
You know what I mean.
Everyone has to kind ofunderstand their own level of
risk, that that they're willingto take, and everybody should
take some type of risk?
I think so, I agree with that,I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I agree with that because comfortable existence,
in addition to it being boring.
You know, it's like we're humanbeings, but we're like some of
us, I mean the Lord made us andwe have no idea what our
capabilities are until we youknow push against it, so I love
it.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
And how many, how many times you've you've been
forced to do things that younever thought you could do.
Yeah, and you may not have madethat choice yourself, but when
you're forced to do it, youcould actually do it.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
So sometimes I rather volunteer my own discomfort.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
So anyway, that is another big pivot, that yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Wow, I'm just you know, I'm in awe of you, thank
you, thank you.
Yeah, I don't think that you'reyou know.
Initially I'm like this womanhas lost her mind what is going
on, but I get it now.
I'm a believer.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, I thank you.
I see that too, and so I nowhave met my commitment to talk
about the second pivot that Idid.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
We can check this off my list.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
You're welcome.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Black Boomer
Besties from Brooklyn.
See you next time.
Hey folks, it's Angella from Black Boomer.
Besties from Brooklyn, Brooklyn.
Hey, this episode is arebroadcast of an episode that
aired in December of 2022.
So it was just a couple ofmonths after Leslie and I
started this beautiful labor oflove that we call our podcast
(00:23):
and I shared because Leslieinsisted I shared the story of
how I left my corporate careerafter almost 30 years to become
an entrepreneur.
It goes into a lot of detailabout, I think, our friendship,
how she supported me, I think afriendship, how she supported me
(00:44):
, even though it was just ashocking decision that I made,
and we actually talked about howI came to be in North Carolina
and, yeah, just some really goodbestie stuff.
And you'll also hear how myBrooklyn, how that began and why
(01:06):
I brought it back because Itotally, totally missed it.
Listen, I was trying to be asophisticate and I don't do that
very well.
So it is back, brooklyn is backand we hope you enjoy this
episode.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Brooklyn, so why do I always do that?
I?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
just don't want it to just be out there all by itself
.
It needs a little fanfare.
So every time you say it or Isay it's like whoop, whoop or
Brooklyn, it just needs a littlespicy.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It needs a little, a little scots bonnet, that's what
I don't know if you notice thatyou always end like that also
it just seems wrong to end itwith just but flat flatness, but
let me tell you, any podcasterworth his salt has to have a
(02:20):
signature sign off, so thatthat's your signature sign off,
okay, so anyway, but here we are, another episode of Black
Boomer Besties from Brooklyn,and in this episode we're going
to continue a theme that westarted several episodes ago
about pivoting and moving todifferent things in our lives.
(02:40):
Now, this is an episode thatI've been pushed to do for quite
a while and for some reason,she's had a little bit of
resistance.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, I can tell you why it's been resistance.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I'll tell you a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I'll tell you a little bit.
It is because there's so muchto unpack about my life in
corporate how I decided to endit, everything that happened to
get me to the point where it wastime to say goodbye, and so I
wanted to kind of treat all ofthat, to give all of that its
(03:15):
due, and not just kind of touchon a little bit here, a little
bit there.
And so now I've kind of thoughtit through and it's because you
know you made me commit todoing it.
And so now I've kind of thoughtit through and it's because you
know you made me commit todoing it.
(03:37):
And so now I've kind of thoughtit through and I picked up my
family and moved from New Jerseyto North Carolina.
Oh, my gosh year as an intern,right you were interning in
(04:09):
Maryland remember Wow At UMaryland Medical Center.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
That's right.
Yes, and we stopped there.
That puts a nice timestamp onthings.
Yeah, we stopped there and hada great night with you.
I think the kids reallybenefited from that because you
know you were familiar.
They were going to anunfamiliar place and I think it
reminded them that you knowwe're still going to be
(04:35):
connected to our loved ones, sothat was really wonderful.
Yeah, so anyway, I rememberthat.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Let me just interject for a second because I can't
believe that with our lastepisode, you actually thought we
were finished talking about ourpersonal pivots.
You just left it as leaving NewJersey to go to North Carolina
and from my perspective, lookingat you, there is so much more.
(05:04):
So go ahead.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Okay.
So what happened was you knowwhat's really?
An interesting perspective thatI have now kind of baked into
the way that I look at the worldis that the more that you do
things that are uncomfortable,the more you're able to do the
(05:28):
next uncomfortable or difficultthing, because you know, you
kind of broaden I think wetalked about that before just
this balloon.
If you think about that as yourcomfort zone, the way that it
gets bigger, the way that yourcomfort level gets bigger, is by
stretching, and once it's youknow, once it's that's the only
(05:51):
way is to blow into the balloonand stretch it some more remind
me in our day to day.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
pretty often, when I show some resistance to either
stepping into things or doingthings or even having
conversations with people youknow that are uncomfortable, or
I don't want to have you remindme of how you have to stretch in
that way.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, yeah, and I.
What it has done for me is toremind me that that I do want my
comfort zone to grow, and ifthat's the way that it has to be
done, then then I'm all for it.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So why are you imposing your comfort zone on me
then?
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Why I got a stress.
Nah, you got your own comfortzone, baby, and you know you.
You know that you getcomfortable in things that I
would never Okay, I'll give youthat, I'll give you that it's
like right, my sister, she willjump out of an airplane.
She's done that, twice, I think, jumped out of an airplane, but
(06:56):
she would never considerbecoming an entrepreneur right,
it's just kind of everyone hastheir space, that they want to
North Carolina, to nothing thatwas familiar at all.
(07:31):
And that growth I'm sure led toanother big pivot that I did and
that was to leave almost30-year career in IT working for
Fortune 500 companies and doingreally well and really enjoying
it and really feeling that Imade significant impact on the
(07:55):
cultures of those companies,moving into entrepreneurship,
right, and all of that.
And my children were I don'tthink they were all, maybe had
already graduated university, Idon't remember, but anyway, that
was a big thing and I am surethat my you know, my chutzpah
(08:20):
came from recognizing that Icould do hard things and I was
going to be okay.
You know, that was I rememberedwhen I moved to North Carolina
and you know, obviously thehouse was already purchased.
I had checked out theneighborhood as best I could,
but there was so much that Ididn't know and it turned out to
(08:42):
be really an incrediblywonderful, inviting,
friendship-laden community thatwe moved into.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Okay, let me just push you back for a little bit.
So hold that thought.
Okay, so let me just set thescene again.
So here I am a regular, alinear thinking person.
You do this step, then you dothis step, and then there's
security and oh, okay.
So here you are in this 20 plusyear stable, moving up, getting
(09:15):
raises, getting that executiveVP I don't even know what that
world looks like and moving upthese grades and what have you
with your company.
And then you tell me I'm goingto leave, even though I have the
ability to stay.
It's not like they gave you theboot, but I'm going to leave
(09:38):
and I'm going to turn my lifearound and tap into my creative
ability and you've always beencreative into my creative
ability, and then start my ownbusiness.
Right, and here I'm thinking OK, midlife crisis, my friend lost
(09:58):
her mind.
How can I pull her back so thatshe can keep getting a paycheck
?
What you talking about, ang?
All right, you continue.
Okay so, but you presented itwell to me, so I was with you.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, yeah, you're always with me.
So you know, earlier today youand I talked about the fact that
doing big things, people, oncethey are in it or have had
victory over something, theytend to want to think about that
win and not about thedifficulties that came in along
(10:33):
the way.
And I think it's important tokind of call those things out,
because and you did.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, you called me out on it when I said we can do
anything.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
The, the failures, the, the leaning in the, the
tears, the, the self-doubt, theyou know imposter syndrome, all
of those things that get in theway are important to talk about
because, you know, we're notsuper beings, right?
(11:10):
You know, I have a whole thingabout the black girl magic and
all that, but that's for anotherepisode.
So I want to talk about some ofthose things, right?
So?
And I and I think I willmention the company, we'll see
how it goes.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Okay.
The other thing that came upfor me from earlier today, when
we were speaking about thisability to do it all, have it
all, is that and I think this isa gift from God for me
sometimes is that I've oftenforgotten how difficult a road
I've had and the tribulationsthat were behind me.
(11:44):
I was speaking to my sisterabout this and I was saying you
know how I felt sorry forsomeone who's going through the
trial or whatever.
I'm like you know, thank God,our lives have been so much
better than that.
And then she just said listen,les, no, it hasn't.
Don't you remember this?
Don't you remember this?
Don't you remember this?
And I said wow, you know what?
(12:06):
You're right, thank God.
I really don't have such avivid memory of how difficult
our roads have been.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, yeah, that just made me think of childbirth
right, Exactly.
The baby comes.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
It's like you forget about the pain of the delivery,
and then the pain only comesback when they hit adolescence,
you know, or adulthood in mycase.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
So.
So here's how, how all of thatwent down.
So the fact of it is that thecompany that I was working for
is the technology company andthey had what's called a limited
restructuring.
That's their way of of doinglayoffs, and it usually includes
(12:55):
some changes with the structureof the organization, some jobs
change and things like that, andI was a part of that.
Right got a call from my managerand you know there was there's
always kind of rumor anddiscussion whispers about these
(13:19):
things happening, and so when Igot the call I kind of had a
sense that I was going to beimpacted by this.
So she told me that my job waseliminated and blah, blah, blah.
It didn't really matter whatelse she had to say, but
(13:39):
basically that was it.
So that was like in the morningand by early afternoon I got
another call and this is now me.
I'm now preparing, like OK,this is what I'm going to do
next, and at some points I lookforward to this type of call
because you know it comes withwith a lot of perks.
(14:01):
I don't think I was ready atthat point points before to have
left the company, but at thispoint it didn't hit me so hard,
it didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And I remember you called me that morning.
Yeah, you got the call, but OK,it didn't yeah.
And I remember you called methat morning.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, you got the call, but OK.
So the second call I got wasfrom HR and they told me that
there were a handful of peoplewho were a part of the LR, the
limited restructuring that theywanted to keep, and, angela,
(14:36):
you're one of them.
And I'm thinking great, and youknow they'll each person is
going to be given a recruiter,an internal recruiter, and they
would help them to find anotherposition in the company.
So that was going to be thenext part of my journey, I
thought.
But what had happened before isthat I had become a leader of
(15:01):
the Black Employees Organization, this big global organization,
and it was a position ofinfluence, right and scrutiny.
But there's a way that I wantedto show up for that and you
know, hair, this thing that iscoming out of our heads, has
(15:24):
always been this source of prideand artistic expression, and I
always knew the power in thehair of Black women.
I've always kind of felt itfrom when I came to America and
the way that hair was one of thethings that I used to connect
with the little girls that Iwanted to be friends with right.
(15:45):
It's also controversial.
It's also controversial Exactly, which is another whole other
story.
Exactly, you're amiscontroversial.
I don't run from it.
I don't run from it.
(16:11):
But so I mentioned hair, becausehair became this thing that I
chose to use to be really boldabout who I was as a Black woman
leader at right.
I wanted to represent that.
I wasn't trying to hide, Ididn't want to be demure.
I wanted to have big hair.
I wanted to really show up boldin the meetings that I was in,
when I went on college campusesto recruit Black and Brown
people to work for.
(16:32):
I wanted them to see,especially with natural hair and
curly hair, kinky hair becomingmore and more common with
younger folks.
I wanted to see that there weresenior leaders who looked like
them, who weren't trying to kindof put their authentic black
selves into a box once they gotinto corporate.
(16:54):
And I didn't see a lot ofoptions for me as a.
Then I was in my fifties, maybeearly fifties, I don't even
remember probably around fiftiesor soon to be 50.
And I didn't see a lot ofoptions for my.
My hair was starting to reallyshow its fineness, its thinness
(17:16):
and it wouldn't really do all ofthe kind of to beauty school.
I know, I know, I know Istarted looking into that.
(17:42):
I wanted to do it while I wasworking and with kind of being
very West Coast dominant becausethat's where their headquarters
was.
I was seeing how I could maybedo beauty school in the morning
and all kinds of configurations.
But anyway, even though I hadbeen offered the opportunity to
(18:04):
stay at and that whole internalrecruiting process was going
exceedingly well, I must sayexceedingly well because I'd
made great relationships andpeople wanted me to stay and I
was in line to get a positionthat was actually at a higher
level than the one that I hadbeen in.
(18:24):
What started to make me moreand more uncomfortable is that
other people were makingdecisions about me, my life, my
livelihood, my children.
I was like this doesn't feelright to me.
I'm too old for this shit.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Wow yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And that started to really become the thing that I
couldn't quiet.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah, but you started feeling this what after the
restructuring?
Speaker 1 (18:58):
After the restructuring, when people were
working with me to find anotherposition that you know that I
liked, that I would be good atand so on.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You said like wait, stop looking.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Well, actually, what happened is and I have to say,
there were some just people whoshe just stepped in and went to
bat for me.
You know, this is the personthat, yes, that that is the
position for for her.
She'll be amazing, and so on,and I was getting calls late at
(19:31):
night, you know, yeah, so thisis going to work out.
And you know, saying thank you,but also feeling like there's
just something coming up in myspirit, that was just, it was
yeah, and it just made meincreasingly uncomfortable that
I was not taking the opportunityto step away from this.
(19:51):
I'd given a lot of my talentsto the company and I started
feeling like, no, it's time forme to make decisions about these
things and not other people,kind of pulling yeah.
And that's when I decided toleave.
Wow, what a stressful time.
It was stressful, but if youcan imagine that, I felt really
(20:15):
powerful.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Jeez, that's that balloon stretch again.
There you go with that stupidballoon stretch again.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
It's like well, you know listen.
At that point I was clear Icould do hard things, yeah yeah
yeah, right, and we all havedifferent ways that we we
stretch.
There are things that you knowthat I don't really feel like I
can do, like you know swim.
(20:45):
We're going to cut that out,we're going to bleep that out.
It ain't nobody's business butyours and mine, Anyway.
So so I did, I decided to leave, and because I'd already kind
of done all this pre-thinkingabout what I was going to do
(21:05):
next and really has a reallykind of entrepreneurial culture,
Right, so as a manager I wasalways kind of planning my next
thing pitching, getting funding,then, you know, putting it in
place and measuring to see if Igot the return that I said I
would get.
So that was already kind ofsome of what was baked into the
(21:29):
work that I was doing there, andso I left.
That was like late October, Ithink of that year, and by
November I had an LLC and Istarted the company Headspace NC
Headspace, because I'm alwaysin my head.
(21:50):
And NC, not because Headspacewas already a company, but NC
because North Carolina hadbecome my new chosen state and I
really fell in love with a lotof what I experienced here and a
lot of the kind of NorthCarolina built companies they
use NC in their names.
(22:10):
So I incorporated Headspace NCand I knew it was going to be
kind of this umbrella companyright, Because there were so
many things that I'm good at andthat I enjoy doing and I wanted
a kind of a container for thosebusinesses to live in.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
All right, so just briefly say, you know what some
of those companies under theumbrella of HeadspaceNC are.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Absolutely so.
The first one because when Ileft I went to beauty school and
I became a licensed naturalhair care specialist after 350
hours of school.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So wait right there.
This is what I said to you whenyou first told me about this.
You said not only less am Ileaving corporate, but now I'm
going to enroll in beauty school.
Remember back in the day when,in the 70s, there was like
Barbizon School of Beauty?
(23:10):
So I'm thinking this lady isthe first Ivy League.
She's probably like the onlyIvy League educated student in
her beauty school.
But it made sense.
Like you know, you were able toconvince me that your plans
(23:30):
make sense.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Yeah, Well, all of that was true, by the way.
I admit all of that.
All of that was true.
But here's the thing the blackhair care industry is
multi-billion dollar industryand there aren't enough black
people in it.
We buy we're consumers butwe're not the producers, and
(23:53):
that bothered me, right?
Remember?
I'm looking for products for myhair and I can't find it, and
when I'm looking, I'm buyingfrom people who don't look like
us.
So a part of why I chose to dothat is because I wanted to take
advantage of the benefits ofthe black hair care industry.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, Right and fill a niche and fill a niche because
, again, I wanted to focus.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I was very clear about the people that I wanted
to serve.
Yeah, and that kind of stuffreally, really bothers me.
So, anyway, so I so the firstbusiness under Headspace NC that
I created was is called RhythmWigs.
It is my, my first kind ofsignificant product that I
(24:57):
launched.
You know, it's curly wigs fordiscerning black women over 40.
That's what I wanted.
I wanted people to who chooseto wear big curly hair to have
options that suit themstyle-wise, comfort-wise.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Custom.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Custom, and I'm a consumer, custom-wise and really
giving them the service, likepampering these women Right,
because it's like we deserve it,we've earned it, we've worked
hard, you know, and so that wasmy first and that led which I
won't go down here, but you know, it's just, you never know
(25:39):
where your right decisions willtake you right, and when you
kind of follow what you know inyour heart, in your gut and you
know I'm always checking in withthe Lord on these types of
things that has led to mebecoming a wig designer for film
and theater.
(25:59):
So a lot of the work that I donow is doing wig design and
supervising.
Yeah, and who knew, who knew?
So it's like a whole newstretch in that balloon.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
It's a whole new career, so Rhythm Wigs is one.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Okay, and so another project that I have out there is
called the Hair Stories Project.
Look, I just there are thingsthat just kind of I investigate,
right.
And so the thing was, our hairis so unique in the world, right
(26:38):
, the one thing that connects usas people from the African
diaspora is our hair, the kinky,curly, coily nature of our hair
, and because of what our hairis like, as you know, it is a
source of real connectedness forus, right, our hair takes
(27:02):
longer to style, and so wedevelop connections with our
grandparents who do our hair,with our hairstylists who do our
hair, with our mothers who doour hair.
And there was this one scene in, yeah, viola Davis With Viola
Davis, how to get away withmurder, how to get away with
murder With Viola Davis.
With Viola Davis, how to getaway with murder, how to get
away with murder.
And there was this one scenewhere she's having like her
(27:27):
worst day ever and Cicely Tysonplays her mom and she comes in,
she's like, taking off all hermakeup, her wig, comes off and
she sits on the floor CicelyTyson was on her bed, her mom,
and she starts scratching herscalp.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
And I was like, oh an experience that we've all had.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
It was such a black moment to see on TV.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
It's like broke the internet.
Yeah, everybody was talking.
It was like, oh my God, did yousee that?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yes, it was just kind of and I really wanted to kind
of tell, collect these storiesof the hair of Black folks,
especially Black women.
I wanted to really investigatethat and so the Hair Stories
Project I started interviewingpeople to share their stories
(28:24):
about their hair.
One experience that I had isbeing fired because I had braids
and they told me I had to takethem out or leave.
And I didn't take them out, andso we all have these sometimes
beautiful and love-filled,sometimes painful, sometimes
political stories around ourhair.
And so that's what the HairStories Project is all about,
(28:47):
and this podcast is another, youknow, kind of endeavor under
HeadspaceNC, so I just call it.
We do heady stuff.
It's like at the intersectionof beauty and advocacy.
That's the work that I do.
I focus on Black women becausethat's who I am, that's who I
know well and that is.
(29:08):
We are a group that is oftenignored, you know, or not kind
of seen for the power and thewisdom that we have, and so I'm
kind of really wanting to makesure that we're represented more
and more out there in the world.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
So I got a question for you, though.
Question Go ahead.
So we started this episode ofthe podcast in order to discuss
how you pivoted from IT toentrepreneurship Right.
To discuss how you pivoted fromIT to entrepreneurship Right.
Could you just explain a littlebit and we're running out of
time but how your experience incorporate prepared you to be the
(29:55):
business person that you aretoday, Because now you're your
own CEO.
I am today because now you'reyour own CEO.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I am, and well, I mentioned before that I remember
I have another friend who alsohad left and we always said when
we left we were going to becomeentrepreneurs.
Because it is a veryentrepreneurial culture there,
(30:21):
right, it was an expectationwhen you're at certain levels to
see what the need was and topitch it and to develop
operational practices to getthat out there and running.
And so my kind of operationalwhen I mean operational is how
things run, right, I am rightbrain, but I'm very comfortable
(30:42):
in the analytical left brainspace.
That's why I'm an engineer,that's why I was good at that is
because I see the value of thelogic and so on.
And so operations to me is kindof the how things kind of run,
kind of procedurally, or youknow time after time, how do you
(31:04):
kind of run the company.
So that was in place, I knewhow to do that well, and so on
top of that is where mycreativity comes in, and so for
me, I can create more freelywhen I know that things are
running smoothly as a business,right.
So the boring stuff that Ireally don't like, I know that
it's important because I want tobe really creative, and so I
(31:25):
get that stuff in place so thatI can play on top of it.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I mean, you know, obviously I'm going to be around
for as this all progresses andto see how it works out and what
have you, so it's reallyexciting.
I think the overall theme is tobe able to step out on faith,
to be uncomfortable with yourdiscomfort.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
To know that.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
To get more comfortable with being
uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
That's, that's and you know, tonot let discomfort stop, you To
not let discomfort stop you Tonot let discomfort stop you.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
That is exactly right .
You know this isn't foreverybody.
You know what I mean.
Everyone has to kind ofunderstand their own level of
risk, that that they're willingto take, and everybody should
take some type of risk?
I think so, I agree with that,I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I agree with that because comfortable existence,
in addition to it being boring.
You know, it's like we're humanbeings, but we're like some of
us, I mean the Lord made us andwe have no idea what our
capabilities are until we youknow push against it, so I love
it.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
And how many, how many times you've you've been
forced to do things that younever thought you could do.
Yeah, and you may not have madethat choice yourself, but when
you're forced to do it, youcould actually do it.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
So sometimes I rather volunteer my own discomfort.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
So anyway, that is another big pivot, that yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Wow, I'm just you know, I'm in awe of you, thank
you, thank you.
Yeah, I don't think that you'reyou know.
Initially I'm like this womanhas lost her mind what is going
on, but I get it now.
I'm a believer.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, I thank you.
I see that too, and so I nowhave met my commitment to talk
about the second pivot that Idid.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
We can check this off my list.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
You're welcome.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Black Boomer
Besties from Brooklyn.
See you next time.
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