The Beauty of Success E-Book

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 344

Beschreibung

Tap into your authentic self in work and life, unlock your career potential and embrace your freedom to choose

If you have ever thought about becoming an entrepreneur—or if you are an “intrapreneur” climbing the corporate ladder—this book is for you. The Beauty of Success is an ultra-modern blueprint for navigating the path to starting, growing and accelerating your career while sowing the seeds of self-awareness and self-reflection. You’ll discover how author and 3x founder, Kendra Bracken-Ferguson aligned her personal pillars of community, mentorship, education, and capital with her business goals to bring her vision for building a successful company to fruition. Through her story, and the stories of other entrepreneurs in the beauty industry, she shares helpful nuggets of wisdom and collective experience that will help you pursue an entrepreneurial career or follow your path to the top of your corporate sector. The Beauty of Success is your guide to discovering your own guiding pillars, finding what ignites your passion, recognizing your strengths, and safeguarding what makes you valuable.

• Find inspiration in the story of Kendra Bracken-Ferguson’s entrepreneurial success and the candid stories of other prominent visionaries and leaders
• Identify the values and pillars that guide your life and your career, and find ways to align with them every day
• Reconnect with your inner purpose and your passion, whether you are starting your own business or climbing to the top of the corporate world
• Transcend any barriers to open yourself to new paths and levels of success

The Beauty of Success will help you find your own professional north star—the principle or principles that will serve as your compass as you navigate your professional journey. You will also learn to appreciate the strengths that have gotten you this far, and how to leverage them to get where you want to be. Unlock your own success, find freedom, and carpe diem!.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

List of Podcast Excerpts

Foreword

Preface: An Invitation to Freedom: Unlocking the Entrepreneurship Journey

1 Are You an Entrepreneur or Intrapreneur?

Intrapreneur versus Entrepreneur

My Journey from Entrepreneur to Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur Again

An Entrepreneur for Sure

Settling into Entrepreneurism: Pivoting Through COVID and Making Mistakes

Fully Embracing Entrepreneurism: Hosting a Podcast and Highlighting Leaders

Having Passion as an Entrepreneur

2 Heart for God

Living in Purpose to Achieve the Highest Expression of Self

Reclaiming My Own Purpose

You Meet Who You Are Supposed to Meet in Divine Time

3 Know When to Pivot to Survive and Thrive

The Story of How I Became an Intrapreneur

Moving on Up

The Story of How I Became an Entrepreneur

4 Ego: Who, Me?

A Valuable Lesson Around the Self-Serving Sabotage of Ego

Your Ego's Job Is to Feel Important

Understanding Your Own Ego

The Intersection of Meekness and Ego

The Role of Self-Actualization When Confronting Your Ego

5 Claim the Nonnegotiables

Understanding Your Traits as an Intrapreneur and an Entrepreneur: Are They Different?

Leaning into Divine Epiphanies

Spirituality Is Essence

Nonnegotiables Across My Pillars

6 Protection

She Walked Ahead of Me So I Could Walk Ahead of Others

Protected by Angels, the Story of Troy Alexander

We All Win Together

A Reason, a Season, a Lifetime

7 Jungle Gym versus a Ladder

Climbing Your Own Jungle Gym

Sit at the Top, Don't Get Stuck Looking Up from the Bottom

8 Intention of Time: Balancing What's Important

Tackling Important Moments Every Day

9 Stand in Your Power

Define, Claim, and Own Your Power

I Choose Me Every Day

10 Greater Than You Can Imagine

Move Out of Your Own Way

22 Years of Experience and Beyond

People Who See You, Seeeee You

11 Character, Allyship, and Finding Your People

The Story of Lisa Stone: Character Meets Allyship

Diverse Teams Perform Better

The Impact of Allyship

12 In Closing

Reflecting on My Key Lessons

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

The Beauty of Success

List of Podcast Excerpts

Foreword

Preface: An Invitation to Freedom: Unlocking the Entrepreneurship Journey

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

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FEATURING STORIES FROM THE TOP RATED PODCAST, BUSINESS OF THE BEAT

the beauty of Success

Start, Grow, and Accelerate Your Brand

KENDRA BRACKEN-FERGUSON

Copyright © 2024 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.

Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781394162949 (Cloth)ISBN 9781394162987 (ePub)ISBN 9781394162994 (ePDF)

COVER DESIGN: PAUL MCCARTHY

If you have ever thought about becoming an entrepreneur and finding your true defining life pillars to guide your journey, this book is for you.

With Immense Gratitude:

For my mother, Teresa Bledsoe, who taught me to love the Lord, treat people right, and do my best.

For my husband, Pleas Ferguson, who is my life partner and pushes me to value my extraordinary gifts and talent.

For my daughter, Tierra Ferguson, who gives me joy and something greater than myself and my work to cherish and love.

I support whatever decision you make because I truly believe that you have a heart for God and that you truly listen and seek His guidance. What He has in store for you is greater than you can ever imagine.

Make sure that the language of the agreement protects you and BrainTrust. Take care of your team. Do what is right—do your best and treat people right.

Carve out the things that are important to you and that are nonnegotiable.

T.

—Teresa Bledsoe (my mom), as written to me in 2018 when I was deciding on whether to go back into the world of being an entrepreneur

List of Podcast Excerpts

Listen to Kendra's podcast, Business of the Beat, wherever you listen to podcasts. Business of the Beat continues to be solely focused on the business of beauty and wellness specifically from the viewpoint of BIPOC founders, senior executives, and operators. The show focuses on the real stories of passion to profit where guests share the highs and lows, successes and learnings of launching, building, scaling, and exiting their companies. The show has more than 100 episodes across two seasons and kicked off season 3 on January 3, 2023.

We've included the following excerpts in the book.

Guest Name

Podcast Episode

Season/Episode

Date First Aired

Chapter

Rachel Roff

Unlocking Inequalities for Darker Skin

Season 1, Episode 7

January 23, 2021

1

Angela Manuel Davis

Living in Purpose

Season 2, Episode 9

March 27, 2022

2

Youmie Francois

Creating a Money Mindset

Season 2, Episodes 42 and 43

November 13, 2022

2

Angel Cornelius

Lessons from the “Book of Failures”

Season 2, Episode 3

February 13, 2022

3

Dionne Phillips

I Said Yes to Everything

Season 1, Episode 46

October 24, 2021

4

Natasha Edwards

The Journey to Peace, Purpose, and Community

Season 2, Episode 16

May 15, 2022

5

Tai Beauchamp

Knowing When and How to Pivot

Season 1, Episode 35

August 8, 2021

5

Lisa Price

Pass It Forward

Season 1, Episode 18

April 11, 2021

6

Troy Alexander

An Extraordinary Story of Brand Manifestation

Season 2: Episode 11

April 10, 2022

6

Helen Aboah

We All Win Together

Season 2, Episode 13

April 24, 2022

6

Chidinma Asonye

Will vs. Skill

Season 1, Episode 19

April 18, 2021

7

Joni Odum

Keep Recreating What's Next

Season 2, Episode 41

November 6, 2022

8

Tonya Lewis Lee

Team Is Everything

Season 3, Episode 6

February 12, 2023

9

Charreah Jackson

Honoring Your Legacy

Season 1, Episode 9

February 6, 2021

9

Junior Mintt

I Choose Me Everyday

Season 2, Episode 25

July 17, 2022

9

Monaè Everett

Get Out of Your Own Way

Season 3: Episode 1

January 8, 2023

10

Nyakio Grieco

Nyakio Grieco

Season 1, Episode 1

December 12, 2020

11

Ron Robinson

There's Nothing Quite Like Beauty Products

Season 2, Episode 26

March 27, 2022

12

Foreword

Picture early fall on a crisp LA afternoon; I wore a dark green Italian wool double-breasted suit (lol). I'd heard amazing things about Kendra's impact and contributions but had yet to experience them first-hand until that night at Gwyneth's. I vividly recall how Kendra made me feel; she was completely engaged. I knew after one quick conversation with her that I'd know more about the life we were meant to live. I felt clear, more focused, and ready.

The moment Gwyneth thanked her guests and introduced Kendra to “take it away,” my life changed. This incredible Black woman with strong, poised body language began to speak and shared with us what she knew we needed to do—what we needed to know! She was audibly arresting. The entire audience was in a trance, myself included. I wanted to know more about what seasons an individual in this way. What leads someone to champion people (our people) in this way? I wanted to be a student.

In Kendra's words:

One moment, one job, one career, or one person does not define your success. You must define what success looks like for you and what will enable you to live the highest expression of self that is so gratifying and rewarding while also realizing that your viewpoint will change with time and experience. People may try to erase you or change history, but ultimately they do not have that much power to erase the truth. Stand in your truth at all times.

Sometimes the path to intrapraneurship is parallel to entrepreneurship, as both are driven by an innate desire to create and build something.

This book is an ultra-modern blueprint for navigating the wilderness of entrepreneurship while sowing the seeds of self-reflection with an emphasis on grace. Kendra has a natural curiosity for what makes each intrapreneur and/or entrepreneur unique and the ability to engage the student in us all. We don't need permission to align and tap into our authentic selves, and Kendra's work and ideas are the perfect reminders.

It was refreshing and inspiring to read the stories and conversations of founders, entrepreneurs, and divine minds that serve as a guiding light for those of us who are blessed enough to hear them. These guidelines and this roadmap unite us all in a shared desire to live in purpose, on purpose.

Sir John Barnett

Makeup artist, activist, influencer, executive

January 2023

Preface: An Invitation to Freedom: Unlocking the Entrepreneurship Journey

You are ready to be free and ask the hard questions to unlock that freedom. The only way to true freedom is to unlock and challenge the thing that has held you back. When you are ready, you are willing to do things that you wouldn't do before. And now you are willing to do things that you once were not ready to do.

—Julie Flanders (executive coach, mentor, and close friend), words spoken to me on September 1, 2022, during an executive coaching session

This is a divine season, and there is a divine energy surrounding this book. It is the journey, temerity, and tenacity that has taken me from intrapreneur to entrepreneur, back to intrapreneur, and ultimately living in my destiny as an entrepreneur. Throughout this journey, I have landed on the core pillars and truths that I know bring me freedom and ignite my path: community, mentorship, education, and capital.

To define each pillar separately would be to undervalue each of them; we must look at them as the sum of their parts and the source of my energy as a founder and voice in the world.

We are not meant to walk through life alone; we are meant to live in a community as a brain trust. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a brain trust is a “group of people who advise a leader.” For me, my brain trust is the core group of people I trust to collaborate, consult, and advise me in business. My ability to go from vision to execution is derived from the consistent presence of my brain trust. In fact, our overall personal happiness and pleasure may be derived from our internal ability to love, nurture, and care for ourselves, but that happiness is amplified and heightened when we have a community, or brain trust, of people we trust to go through the good times and the bad times. How boring would life be if we never heard other perspectives or never felt the emotional empathy of others?

I have learned some of my best lessons from mentorship. I am inspired to learn and want to give and receive knowledge. Being a mentor is a great responsibility and one that I cherish. When we allow ourselves to be both teacher and student, we open ourselves to the nuances that lateral relationships can never deliver. The greatest teachings reside in life experiences and individual approaches to living. Yes, there is a benefit to more experience—you'll have had more encounters, so there are more opportunities to grow. There is also a benefit to being a newcomer—the fresh, “bright-eyed bushy-tailed” outlook. I've been both mentor and mentee and am certain that they each provided different elements to my life just when I needed them most.

I chose the fastest path to a master's degree to get to my place as a professional in the world of business—I had deals to make, ladders to climb, and boardrooms to conquer. My lifelong friend Ebony Wilkins, who encouraged and coached me to write this book, has at least five degrees, and I have always admired her patience and approach to learning. She stayed her course, she fed her soul with knowledge, and I respect her so much for her own path to freedom. Education is a funny thing; you can truly never have too much of it because there is always something new to learn. Every year, I write “What do I need to learn this year?” to myself—2022 was the year of Web3, Blockchain, the Metaverse, and investing. I am still on an educational journey for the first three, and while now I can say that I am officially an investor and fund manager, I will never stop learning about investing and the venture space. For 2023, my goals are rooted around seeking equity and expanding economic advancement for Black founders through our BrainTrust Founders Studio. Equity is powerful and drives the most impact by recognizing that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. While these goals are lofty, every founder we support and investment we make takes us one step closer to accomplishing these goals on a daily basis. As I step out to be of service and do my life's work, I know I am walking on the shoulders of those who have opened doors and created spaces before me. It is all interconnected. The more we know, the more “woke” we are and the more we are encouraged to keep pushing forward. Education is also very personal—what is important to you to learn may not be important for me to learn. When we think about people having been denied education, it is the ultimate expression of repression and slavery in the most modern form. To be educated is to seek a level of freedom that only knowledge in new things can provide. You are free to learn, and you are free to grow in whatever area of your life is craving enrichment.

I believe that community begets mentorship, which creates pathways for education, which leads to monetary value; in other words, capital. Capital is defined as the most important or most serious relationship to wealth. In business and economics, the three most common types of capital are financial, human, and social. I look at all three as essential to maximizing this pillar for myself and my community. Defining and acquiring capital are parallel to community, mentorship, and education on the human level as well as the tactical nature of capital to run a business. At times I have lost balance and been focused on one pillar while losing sight of the others. It is that self-actualization of the connectivity of all four that is centering when it's rocky and that gives perspective on satisfaction, humility, and direction.

I am a founder in my bones and in my core. I am a visionary in my heart, and according to Genetic Matrix (an app-based software that provides human design and astrology charts and tools), I am an emotional generator, an opportunistic role model with a strategic personality who is motivated by hope and wanting. I was designed to survive. I am a theist, which, according to Merriam Webster, is one who believes in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race—which I do believe. Human design shows you where and how to access your body's consciousness as a decision-making tool and, ultimately, how to live as your true self.

I invite you to join me in my story of freedom and my unwavering servitude aligned with my core pillars of community, mentorship, education, and capital. I hope that you will find helpful nuggets from my story and experiences throughout this book, whether you are pursuing an entrepreneurial path or are an intrapreneur climbing the corporate ladder. Remember to discover your own guiding pillars, discover what ignites your passion, and hold tight to your brain trust.

As we go on this journey together, start with your own pillars. It doesn't matter how many you have; just write toward your own North Star.

What guiding principles are your compass as you navigate your professional journey?

What words define how you show up armed for what lies ahead? How do you define each word?

Throughout this book, I invite you to replace my pillars with your own and continue to expand on your why and purpose.

Carpe diem!

1Are You an Entrepreneur or Intrapreneur?

Dear Kendra,

I THINK you ARE an entrepreneur learning for your OWN purposes and leadership the LESSONS that INTRAPRENEURSHIP offers you right now so that the NEXT TIME you put on the LEADER's ROBES, they will be higher quality fabric :-) and you will have ALL THE SUPPORT you need as the CHIEF AND CHAMPION of your projects to have a team of INTRAPRENEURS to EXECUTE.

—Love, Julie Flanders (my executive coach, as told to me in 2019 upon returning to entrepreneurship)

As an intrapreneur, I was calculated and political, and I prayed every day that I would have a seat at the table to do what I was hired to do for the company I worked for. I was an employee, a boss, and a leader, but I was undervalued.

As an entrepreneur, I took risks, I made decisions, I prayed every day we'd make payroll, but I was the bearer of all decisions, successes, and failures. I was a chief and my own champion, mentor, colleague, and coach. Entrepreneurs and visionaries encompass a much smaller group than what is portrayed by job titles; there are a lot of people who pretend or wish. Entrepreneurs see possibilities that other people can't.

Having spent the past 20 years of my career navigating between my role as an intrapreneur and my role as an entrepreneur, I have created a set of definitions that I believe summarize both.

Intrapreneurs

are internal corporate entrepreneurs who follow the goals of the organization.

Entrepreneurs

follow their dreams and passions. They aren't confined to the goals of a company or bound by the hierarchy, the politics, or the boundaries that intrapreneurs face.

The qualities that make good intraprenuers and good entrepreneurs exist in both people, and sometimes the path to intrapreneurship is parallel to entrepreneurship, as both are driven by an innate desire to create and build something. This chapter takes you on my journey from entrepreneur to intrapreneur to entrepreneur again. My hope is that it will help guide your path to embrace which direction is right for you: maybe it's a mix of both and maybe, like me, you will go between the two throughout your journey to ignite and fuel your passions, aspirations, and purpose.

Text message from Lisa Stone, co-founder and chief investment officer, BrainTrust Founders Studio

Intrapreneur versus Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is very romanticized.

—Samantha Golay, HR executive recruiter, Netflix

Not everyone aspires or wants to become an entrepreneur. Some businesspeople are content to lead teams and manage employees but don't want to take on the risk or financial responsibility of being an entrepreneur.

According to Ebrary.net, “Moreover, although there are probably tens of millions of potential entrepreneurs in the United States alone, most people simply are not in a position to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and ideas for a variety of reasons, including financial constraints, family concerns, and others.”

Intrapreneurs have the safety net of a company, are able to lead a team, and have a voice and opinion, but, ultimately, final company decisions are not solely in their hands. Senior management will listen and support, but an intrapreneur's paycheck doesn't necessarily stop if their ideas get nixed. Intrapreneurs are ambassadors of other chiefs' or leaders' ideas, vision, and direction who ultimately look to others for final buy-in and approval.

By definition, intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. According to “Intra-Corporate Entrepreneurship” by Gifford Pinchot III and Elizabeth S. Pinchot, the first written use of the terms intrapreneur, intrapreneuring, and intrapreneurship date from a 1978 paper. The term intrapreneurship was used in the popular media first in February 1985 in the TIME magazine article “Here Come the Intrapreneurs” by John S. Demott and then later in the same year in Newsweek, when Steve Jobs, Apple Computer's chairman, was quoted as saying, “The Macintosh team was what is commonly known as intrapreneurship; only a few years before the term was coined—a group of people going, in essence, back to the garage, but in a large company.”

For me, I had to grow and expand my career through experiencing both professional paths, starting as an intrapraneur, taking the leap as an entrepreneur, resolving to go back to being an intrapraneur, and ultimately claiming my lifelong destiny as an entrepreneur. I had to address my natural sense of individuality, vision, and creativity, and what I learned is that it was important to be honest with myself about how I wanted to show up in the world. I had to embrace and walk confidently in my resolve that I am an entrepreneur and there is no amount of money or fame that can change that. I realized that I let people's opinions of fancy titles, company size, and status influence my decision and redefine what was important for me. Not only did this hurt me in some situations, but it also impacted those around me. Deciding what is important while also balancing personality factors and life situations is key. Your intuition is strong. Trust it. I am sharing my journey of how I learned to navigate wearing both hats in the hopes that you'll take what you need and be encouraged to create your own path.

My Journey from Entrepreneur to Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur Again

As I mentioned, I have been both entrepreneur and intrapreneur at various stages of my life. Traveling this journey back and forth has given me unique insight into the differences between them and how one or the other will talk to your soul.

I started my career in the community relations department at the Indiana Pacers in 2000. From there I took a position in New York to become an assistant account executive at FleishmanHillard (FH), one of the largest public relations agencies in the world. After helping build the digital practice group at FH and becoming one of the youngest vice presidents in the company, I was recruited by Ralph Lauren to become their first director of digital media, launching the first global influencer campaigns and the brand across social media. At both FH and Ralph Lauren, I was an intrapreneur creating a new division, a new capability, and new revenue streams for the company.

When I was 29, I became an entrepreneur by starting my first company, Digital Brand Architects (DBA), one of the first talent management agencies for bloggers. It was at DBA that I had my first experience raising money and earned the distinction of being one of the first 100 Black women to raise more than $1 million for her company.

From there, in January 2015, I continued feeding my entrepreneurial spirit and went on to found BrainTrust, a brand development, social media, and influencer marketing agency that drives brand strategy and builds products and online communities for celebrities and global brands.

In 2017, I decided to take a lucrative offer and what I thought was all the risk off my plate when I allowed Creative Artists Agency–Global Brands Group (CAA-GBG) to acquire BrainTrust. Now, instead of being the founder, I was answering to others as the chief digital officer. Back to being an intrapreneur. Then, in an interesting turn of events, I bought BrainTrust back in 2019 and expanded the agency in 2021 to launch BrainTrust Founders Studio, now the largest membership-based platform dedicated to Black founders of beauty and wellness companies. Further building the BrainTrust ecosystem, in 2022 I co-founded BrainTrust Fund, our first venture fund to invest capital in Black-founded beauty and wellness companies.

Now, as a founder three times over, I understand and recognize that, ultimately, the deal I made as an entrepreneur to become an intrapreneur was not the deal I would have made as an intrapreneur to become an entrepreneur. I confused mentorship for definitive direction and followed negative advice such as “You are better off without the headache of running your own business” and “You don't have the systems in place to compete” to heart.

The responsibility faced by entrepreneurs as the captain of the ship means balancing a personal affinity for the team and the business with the practicality of running a business and being accountable for the livelihoods of that team. For me, I didn't want to be a “solopreneur” running a business; I wanted multiple teams, breadth across different geographical markets, and the ability to grow and scale across different industries. I was taking the path of least resistance when I left entrepreneurship to become an intrapreneur. Let's face it, I was simply tired and was overexposed to other people's success as a metric for my own.

When I think about my path of leaving entrepreneurship to go back to intrapreneurship, I later realized that I allowed the wrong feedback to seep into my consciousness. The negative feedback was not rooted in the education of the path either as an intrapreneur or entrepreneur but was the catalyst of fear that at times I transferred to others in ways that diminished my value.

Don't get me wrong. There were many upsides to being an intrapreneur. It truly took some pressure off of me financially because, as an entrepreneur, I was responsible for so many people, financial commitments, and operational tasks to make the business run. Intrapreneurship took me inside a global company, generated personal press, positioned me on the scene and radar of peers and colleagues, and created the perception that was the reality of a “come up.” I expanded my team, built a base of clients, and strengthened my internal database of contacts and networks. As an intrapreneur, I had a kind of financial support and security that only a global company can provide.

I had an expense account, a fancy office in an even fancier building, and newfound access. I wasn't worried about payroll and rent; I was worried about fitting in, making numbers, reporting, and relearning how to be a good employee and reporting to a manager or, in corporate-speak, “managing up”—a task I utterly loathe.

The Harvard Business Review defines “managing up” as “Being the most effective employee you can be, creating value for your boss and your company.” It wasn't that I didn't want to learn how to “communicate effectively” with my boss or learn his management, leadership, and communication style; it was more that I wanted to get the work done, be the best at the work, and plow forward in my own style. For me, the experience was humbling, psychologically damaging, and riddled with myriad stereotypes of corporate personalities that came to life before my eyes. That's why it's important to align your own vision, passions, and direction for your career with the right decision that will propel you to greatness. For me, that meant understanding the right fit at different pressure points in my career. It's not just about surviving; it's about thriving and understanding when you've hit a roadblock or a glorious mountain to climb.

It's easy to explain why I took the in-house position at CAA-GBG after being out on my own. Ever since I had started my first company, I secretly deep down wanted to work at CAA—mainly because of the intrigue and the perception of being at the top. It was the same reason I ended up working at the global PR firm FleishmanHillard too; they were number 1 and at the top. I strive to sit on top of the mountain, not live in the valley. I had a vision early on in my professional career and CAA sat prominently on my vision board for many years. I was able to manifest that vision at 2000 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles.

Brandon Carter, managing partner of BrainTrust, and Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, moving into CAA on November 15, 2017

In that building, I got a taste of the physical corporate notion I thought I wanted—the address, the office, the view. I met some good and not so good people but learned so many lessons coming out of the experience. From my experience as an intrapreneeur, I was able to apply those lessons in my life, redefine how I wanted to do business, sharpen what I wanted out of business, and home in on the type of work I excel at and how to build the bridge to my next blessing.

Tips for Surviving as an Intrapreneur

When someone asks to “pick your brain” and they are your boss, make sure they aren't claiming your ideas, thoughts, or work as their own. The characteristics of a good boss are to give you credit for your work and for them to feel proud that they identified you as a core member of their team versus being threatened by your greatness.

Stand up for yourself. In many companies, there is an HR function or senior person to talk to when a situation doesn't feel right; always speak up and do it in a way that is not immediately accusatory or aggressive. We sometimes go into a situation with our fists up and ready to box; your approach and positioning in every situation will fundamentally shape the outcome.

Do not allow anyone to change who you are. If someone has so much control over you that your ethics are compromised, figure out the fastest way to exit.

Approach the situation with the best outcome that can happen in your mind; in other words, stay positive. Your attitude in those first 90 days will determine how you perform overall. It will lay the foundation for how you show up and how people perceive you.

I hit my roadblock as an intrapreneur under the corporate structure when a senior executive told me he didn't see color after I questioned why I wasn't being leveraged as the first chief digital officer and only Black female officer in the company.

“When you ‘claim’ to not see a person's race, you are denying the very fabric of their being. You are denying something that they cannot and should not ‘rid’ or deny themselves of. How can we deny in others what they cannot and should not deny in themselves? A student cannot not see their race. It looks them in the face every day as they look in the mirror. Their race contributes to the experiences that they have as they navigate through society.”

—Makeda Brome, an instructional math coach at Fort Pierce Westwood Academy in Fort Pierce, Florida

It wasn't just my managers denying who I was that made me want to get out from under the corporate structure. It was also the acts of sabotage on a daily basis, such as being told by senior leadership that the rug color in my office didn't match company policy after I met all of my performance goals for that quarter or that one woman was enough representation in a new business meeting when I asked why I wasn't included given my expertise in the area. I learned that discrimination is alive and omnipresent in corporate structures, especially toward women of color, and I had reached a point where working for others was not for me in the role of employee.

My boss and I reached the end of the road after months of discussions, debates, and trying to determine the best course forward. I will say—and I truly believe—that he always had the best intention for our partnership. He and I are both visionaries, and to this day, I will thank him for believing in me and taking a chance on BrainTrust. During this time, I had many choices to make, and I chose to recommit to myself and my team as a founder and CEO.

In May 2019, my relationship with CAA-GBG ended. After two years of being an intrapreneur, I ventured out on my own again. I bought back BrainTrust, and my team and I were once again out in the wild. It was hard, it was emotional, and it was a time of deep reflection: What did I do wrong? What could I have done better? Was I doomed from the beginning? Who really had my back? My soft landing came from my longtime friend and collaborator Moj Mahdara, who told me to bring my team and work from their office, and she would help me rebuild my company. One step in front of the other, one day at a time, and with a dedicated team who packed up our fancy office at 2000 Avenue of the Stars, we dove headfirst back into “startup” territory with a few boxes, a roster of great clients, and something to prove.

“Entrepreneurism is the most beautiful paintbrush one can have.”

—Moj Mahdara, managing partner/co-founder of Kinship Ventures, co-founder and chair of the board of BeautyUnited, and guest on Season 1, Episode 50 of Business of the Beat podcast

At that time of my life, I did not see my pillars—community, mentorship, education, and capital—as connected yet. They existed in a siloed expression of what was important to me: building new things, being of service to others, sharing my knowledge and expertise, and finding new opportunities to learn and grow. For me, the only way to truly be educated was to step out in faith and navigate the course of my career back as an entrepreneur.

An Entrepreneur for Sure

In 2019 the BrainTrust agency was consciously uncoupling with CAA-GBG and becoming independent again. During this time, I was working hard as an entrepreneur to rebuild the agency, working as a business partner to an A-list celebrity to build her health and wellness brand, as well as just living my regular life as a mom, wife, daughter, and friend.

With BrainTrust being independent once again, we dove headfirst into what we called BrainTrust 3.0, developing our core pillars as an agency, rebuilding our revenue, and toeing the line between our old business model and innovating into a new agency model. We were riding high, generating new clients, and leveraging our new relationship with Beautycon, the largest beauty festival in the United States.

As part of this, I became a shareholder in Beautycon and took the title of chief business officer. To this day, I believe that Beautycon was one of the most important movements in the beauty industry. Walking into the Beautycon festival was a surreal experience. It was the Super Bowl of the beauty industry, complete with glitter, more makeup samples in one room than any Target or Ulta, and an energy of acceptance, realness, and a melting pot of brand executives, influencers, beauty lovers, celebrities, and product junkies all in one room convening around the magic of beauty uniting people across racial, gender, and class lines.

This was a special time and one that pushed my wherewithal and faith to levels I had not experienced. I was once again wearing my intrapreneurial hat, but this time simultaneously while acting as an entrepreneur. The plurality of these roles is not something I would wish on any one person. It's hard enough to do one really well but to be both and do both was not sustainable for any of us. It's a pattern of excess that, through deep self-actualization and awareness, I have learned to steer away from.

The gift of March 2020 for me was that it was a forced outlet to stop living a dual life and make a choice. I chose BrainTrust as an entrepreneur and never looked back.

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