MBA1968 Guest Teacher – Jessica Norwood – How to overcome adversity as an entrepreneur

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Welcome to the Hundred Dollar MBA Show. Turn your startup into a Stay up with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. Also the co founder of Webinar Ninja, an independent software company I started with my co founder back in 2014 and today's episode is a guest teacher episode. Today we have Jessica Norw and she'll be teaching how to overcome adversity as an entrepreneur. Listen, adversity hasn't been a stranger to many of us in the last couple of years, but adversity is par for the course. For every business you're going to have challenges. How you deal with those challenges, those moments of adversity, will define your level of success and ability to continue to grow as a business. This is why we brought on Jessica Norwood to teach you her personal strategies when dealing with any difficulty, any challenges, any adversity in your business. Jessica Norwood is the founder of Runway, a financial innovation company that focuses on using entrepreneurship to close the gap in African American communities by providing pre seed friends and family capital so they can start their business. She's a financial activist and social entrepreneur and she uses her skills to help people change their personal situation. But change will come with challenges, will come with adversity. She's seen it and today she's going to share with you what you can do when you're faced with adversity. What are some steps you can take? What are some things that you can remind yourself of? What are the practical strategies that you could use on demand when you need them? We get into that and more in today's guest teacher lesson. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business.

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T Mobile in the past I was really excited to bring on Jessica Norwood on today's podcast because she really offers a great insight when it comes to something as practical as, hey, things are going to get rough, let's prepare for it, let's know how we're going to deal with it. She's a great teacher, a great presenter, really well spoken, and is going to leave you with some great tips that you can implement if you're going through a difficult time right now. Or have them handy when the time arises. Because listen, as we know, entrepreneurship is a roller coaster up and down. This lesson will help you be prepared for those down moments. So I'm gonna pass it on to Jessica Norwood now, but I'll be back to wrap up today's episode. But for now, take it away, Jessica.

Hi everybody, I'm Jessica Norwood and thank you for joining me today. Today I will be teaching you about the lessons, lessons from 2020 on overcoming adversity as an entrepreneur. All right, so let's get to it now. When I think about 2020, I think about the adversity we faced as a nation and the world. And because I focus on black entrepreneurship, my heart and mind immediately goes back to the summer of 2020 and the death of George Floyd. The part of that that's really important to me as a financial innovator is the way that the national conversation on racism and biased moved from policing to black businesses. Overnight there were these pledges of support for black companies and there was this interesting combination of stories about how black businesses have been boxed out of economic opportunities and exploited by brands and and this real desire, I think, at least to invest in black companies as a way of signaling their support for the community. But what actually happened was there was a huge amount of overwhelm and stress on those companies as the pandemic raged. And remember, we're Talking about a pandemic that disproportionately impacted communities of color. There was not a lot of support to begin with for black companies to get the capital they needed. And so that meant that as these opportunities came by, the ability to take advantage of these big offers from major corporations just wasn't there. The pandemic also made it incredibly terrible, terribly difficult to hire people and to retain them. And if that wasn't enough, there were significant supply chain delays for products and goods that were backordered for months. This put a level of adversity for entrepreneurs, particularly black entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color, in a level of peril that I've never seen before. The idea behind the resources was meant to be transformative. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually really get a different positioning for these companies. Instead, there was a lot more adversity than I think we even acknowledge. Here are the four things that I noticed that helped companies overcome the adversities that they faced. All right, so these are the four things that I learned that I really became more familiar with and got a chance to appreciate and what it takes to overcome adversity, particularly in 2020. Four things. And I'm going to tell you what they are right now to pivot. Gratitude, wisdom and community. Pivot, Gratitude, wisdom and community. All right, so let's unpack it. Pivoting. If there was ever a moment in time for you to pivot that business, now is the time. I love a good pivot because it can re energize you and it gives you permission to let go of what's not working, so long as you keep constant with this question about what new revenue streams can we introduce that provides more value to our customers. I had a lot of the companies that we worked with move from a traditional brick and mortar into a relationship with their customers through a digital space. And in order to do that, they had to deepen their understanding of what that customer needed in that new moment and in that new relationship and also how to reach them. So we saw a lot of increase in expenditures around marketing. And these kinds of movements, I think, made all of the difference. And particularly those companies that were able to do it early on, it was a game changer. So pivoting your business is important, particularly, I would say, you know, a lot of times it's the piece of advice that folks don't really want to give you because it makes you think that you failed in your company if you made a biz, if you made a pivot, or that you're staving off the inevitable, that the company is, you know, in danger in some way. But I think not making the movement is the danger. And there is some risk in doing this, but a calculated, thoughtful risk, where you go into an exploration period around this could be generously helpful for your company. The second thing I would recommend, and that I've seen a lot, I personally do this, is I practice gratitude. Gratitude, oh, my goodness, is so important. There's a saying that trouble don't last always. And I love it because it's helpful to keep things in perspective. Every morning I get up and I do my gratitude practice and I sit quiet quietly and I think about how far I've come, how this, even in the midst of the adversity, was a prayer, was something that I hoped for. That where I am in my business and what I'm doing was once something that I dreamt of being able to do. And so I keep calm and I practice gratitude. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the lessons. Thank you for the experience. Thank you for the exposure. Thank you for the opportunity to become the human being and the business owner I've always wanted to be. The third thing that I see is the way that wisdom grows. This is an opportunity to let this mold you, to let this turn you into the thoughtful, steadfast, measured, boss employer that you've always wanted to be. There is wisdom inside of the adversity. There's experience inside of surviving a thing. And being able to come out on the other side with your testimony, with your story of how you did, gives you an advantage, a strategic advantage where other folks might fall into that pit of despair or unknowing. You've got the information. You know how to move, and you can offer that to other folks and to your team members. You become infinitely more valuable. Valuable. Having allowed the wisdom of the moment to wash over you, I also love the idea of wisdom coming from elders and keeping a good counsel around you and even young people. I love the energy and the innovation that they bring. And it helps to settle my spirit and my mind out of the troubled time, the troubled water, and into something that's hopeful, that's joyful and positive. And lastly, but definitely not the least, I absolutely rely and recommend you rely on community to get through the adversity. Having a tribe of people with whom you. You can express yourself, share ideas, but not only sharing ideas, you can also share the burden. A lot of times as entrepreneurs, you see things coming down the horizon or over the horizon, and maybe you're not able to fully communicate that with all of your team members or even your family members. But another entrepreneur, oh, they get it. They definitely get it. And so having this tribe, this community that you're able to lean into is so important. One of the things that I loved watching in 2020 was the way that Runway helped companies come together inside of a tribe and shout out to some beautiful companies. One story that comes to mind is Essence of Flowers. It is a company that's based in Oakland, and they were pivoting their business and doing some really interesting ideas and things. But they struggled, like a lot of companies, with having enough workforce or people to come and help them to fulfill the orders that they had. And so what I saw was they were able to tap into this community of other entrepreneurs who completely understood and completely wanted Essence of Flowers to succeed. And they came together and they served as the employees, the workforce, if you will, to help make that possible. It was magical. So beautiful to watch. So here it is again. After a tremendously heartbreaking year. In 2020, we walk away with some deep understanding about what it means to pivot, what it means to allow a new thing to be born. That's the opportunity, in pivoting your company, to let something manifest that maybe you wouldn't have always tried to practice gratitude, to remember that no matter what it is that you're going through, this was once a prayer. This was once a hope or a dream. And to allow for that to comfort you because you're prepared. You envision this, and you're prepared to go through this. The third thing, let the wisdom shape you. Let it wash over you. Let it change you. Let it turn you into who you've always wanted to be. And the fourth and my favorite, if you're going through something, lean in on your community. A community of entrepreneurs, a community of people who are like one minded and values folks who get you and get what you're about. Lean on them, trust in them, because they're the people who are going to say, you know what? You're not crazy. I'm feeling it too. And you will get through this. Remember, trouble don't last always. All right, this was Jessica Norwood. And if you want to continue learning about how to overcome adversity as an entrepreneur and the lessons we took away from 2020, you can visit us at Runway, It's Runway Family. And learn more about the exciting community that gave me these great lessons. Thanks again for joining me today. Now back to my friend Omar. They put hot honey sauce on the snack wrap. McDonald's outdid themselves again. The classic snack wrap we all know and love paired with the sweet heat.

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What an insightful and powerful lesson by Jessica Norwood. If you want to learn more about Jessica Norwood's work or you want to support it, go to Runway Family. One of the strategies she shared today was, was gratitude was the idea of just recognizing the fact that you have overcome challenges before. One of the traits that entrepreneurs often have is that they are always looking forward. They're always looking at what's the next thing, what you have to do, what they should accomplish by next week, by next month, by next year. And we often do not look backwards, meaning we don't look back at all the accomplishments we have accomplished or have achieved. You know, we don't look at all the things that we've done, all the things that we've conquered. We kind of just forget about all the work we've done to get to this point. And it's really important as entrepreneurs, especially when you're in a tough situation, to remind yourself you've been through tough times, you've overcome them, you've done amazing things, you've built an incredible business. You have customers that are spending money at your business. They love what you do. You have great reviews, you have great compliments from friends and family. You're doing what you set out to do. You are capable of great things. Reminding yourself of these things is really important because they're facts, they're undeniable. And it's great evidence to give yourself to say, hey, you got this. Thanks so much for listening to the $100 MBA show. If you love what you hear, hit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Don't to forget, we're on every single podcast, app, whatever you like to use, but make sure you hit subscribe or follow or whatever it says on the app so you don't miss out on a great lesson. By subscribing, you get our next episode automatically. Like tomorrow's lesson where we explore the topic. Do you need to hire a full time website manager, somebody to manage your website, update it, improve it? We get into all of those details in tomorrow's episode. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. You'll often hear me say that. You know, the truth is, business is hard, it is challenging, but in my opinion, it's actually one of the perks of being a business owner. Why? How could that be a perk? Well, when you go through a challenge, it makes you a better person, it makes you a better entrepreneur, it makes you more valuable to the marketplace. You're able to navigate, you're able to adapt, you're able to solve problems and pivot. These challenges, these adversities, make you stronger. And because entrepreneurship will give you these things constantly, you're constantly getting stronger and stronger every day. And like a friend of mine once said, the thing about businesses, it's never boring. It's always exciting. There's always something new to tackle. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

Gas, snacks, tolls. This trip is draining my wallet.

Yeah, but we'll be with family.

You're in a good mood.

What's your deal?

What's my deal? I saved at Metro with no activation fees and I got one line of 5G for just $25 per month. Kept the phone I love and a 5 year price guarantee on my top.

Tuxt and data detour to Metro. Get that more for your money feeling Only at Metro by T Mobile.

Just bring your number 31st month and $25 after with autopay not available.

If with Metro or T Mobile in the past 180 days.