Translator: David DeRuwe Reviewer: Elena Crescia
You don't have a boss, you have flexible hours,
and you're happy doing what you love.
That's the three-pillar formula for success - except it's not.
You realize that this is what they always say
at major entrepreneurship events?
But when I got into the world of entrepreneurship,
nobody ever told me entrepreneurship is really just about getting by, right?
You get by trying to do something you know and like,
often working 18 to 20 hours a day, doing this, that, and yet another thing.
There's no time for anything, much less a personal life,
and on it goes.
It's so common, too, at these big events,
and it's comfortable - I think the right word is "comfortable" -
and easy for those who run businesses and organizations
to start talking about their big, grand ideas,
like they're instructing us:
what it is, what it does, and what results it achieves.
And it's also comfortable and easy for us who are listening,
to hook onto those ideas,
to hear about the three pillars of success,
and to think that our idea is going to be just as good,
just because someone's saying it.
And I was in this crisis, right?
For you to understand better,
"darken" better what I'm trying to say,
I'll share a few stories.
I was at an event in Salvador.
A guy about my age - I'm 21, he's 24 -
started telling his ideas, "start-ups" and all that,
how he started and the results he achieved.
And how did he get his start?
His father lent him 30,000 Brazilian reals,
and he was able to triple the value in one year.
I thought, "Wow, I'll never be able to do that."
But he forgot
that 56% of Brazilian black entrepreneurs
started before they were 18 -
child labor -
and even still, we're not successful entrepreneurs.
There was another man there
who worked over 30 years for big companies in Bahia
and decided ...
suddenly, after 30 years of work
and after building up his assets,
to drop out and become an entrepreneur, right?
The tip from him was, "Be innovative.
Be creative.
But be creative and systematic. Put it all onto paper."
But he also forgot that over half of today's Afro-entrepreneurs
have no education at all:
only 11% completed elementary school,
and only 4% graduated from college.
Of course this data might have changed -
it's from the SEBRAE study "Donos de Negócios no Brasil" -
based on affirmative action,
but that doesn't mean it's different today.
The last person I heard there turned to the audience and said,
"You're not rich, because you don't want to be."
(Laughter)
Then I stopped and thought, "I'm in the wrong place, folks."
I thought, "Wow ..."
"All you need is to have something called 'financial resources'"
Then you only have to put in savings, investments, financial reserves,
find a purpose, you find ... "
(Laughter)
"I found the purpose.
And then you can be happy doing what you love."
This is the "being happy doing what you love" myth.
I thought, "I'm totally in the wrong place."
Right?
I thought, "Wow, how does a person have the courage to look at another,"
or actually to an audience, as I'm looking at all of you now,
"and ignore the fact that only 62% of Afro-Brazilians can afford a house
and of these, 22% are married and 17% have children?"
I mean, we can't give it up when it's the only asset we have,
especially when we earn up to 1,000 Brazilian reals
selling things in the streets or working as manicurists.
People, don't think I'm a mercenary, OK?
This is to show that what people call entrepreneurship today
is just what we black women in the communities call "survival."
(Applause)
(Cheers)
It's all "extra income."
And speaking of money,
it doesn't mean that we're ignoring that racism is what maintains capitalism.
That's not what it means.
Talking about this shows that "black" and "money" are not incompatible terms.
"Black woman" and "power" also aren't incompatible terms.
Talking about this shows
that we don't want only to be political beneficiaries anymore.
We want to sit at the table and make decisions too.
And so you don't get too saddened by this data,
there are excellent ideas from noted and anonymous people
around the world that deserve to be shared.
An example is a fair called "Preta,"
"Black Fair."
It's more than an exposition of products and services.
It's more than a show, it's more than this.
We're talking about economic and financial autonomy
for the black community.
Another example is "Outburst," an event of mine
that went from a personal level to a societal level,
and it affirms that when we say, "If a thing is black, the thing is good,"
it isn't only a print on a t-shirt, it isn't only a talk,
and it isn't only a simple phrase that's going viral online.
We're talking about self-esteem.
Not forgetting the "Kilombu" app,
the first application and the only one in the world
made by black people for black people to advertise their services.
And finally "Kumasi,"
the first "marketplace" for black entrepreneurs.
Initially, it was from Salvador - which is where I'm from -
the biggest black capital in the country
that understood that "black" and "money" aren't incompatible.
More than a marketplace, it turned into a support for black entrepreneurs
in the areas of marketing, management, and business.
Incredible, right? You can say, "Incredible."
(Laughter)
But I want to talk about something you might not really notice -
you know, that person who cheers us up somehow
when we leave the house for work, go from work to the university,
to school, or wherever else,
convinces us to buy a product, and makes us smile -
all in under a minute.
I'm talking about the candy sellers on public transport,
who, for me, are the best entrepreneurs,
and it wasn't in those entrepreneurship events
that they all learned what we call the elevator "pitch," was it?
(Applause) (Cheers)
It wasn't there. For sure, it wasn't.
This only reinforces what I said in the beginning: survival.
And best of all are the incredible women who've come onto this stage
and the others who will come onto this stage later today,
onto this red carpet of Iansã.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
They have such incredible and inspiring ideas,
like Black Fair, Kilombu, Boogie Naipe, and so on.
But, if I were to leave some advice - me, a young girl, 21, giving advice -
(Laughter)
it would be to never compare your beginning with anyone's middle.
It's all a process.
And thank you.
(Applause)
(Cheers)