Visit Our Website

Home – updated

Read more stories by our team
https://defendernetwork.com/category/news/opinion/

Sign-up for the Top 5 newsletter

Defender Newsletters

Donate/ Support Our Work

Contribute to the Defender Network

Former Houston TV personality Yolanda Green Barnes sits down with The Defender to talk about leaving corporate America, launching her own leadership firm, and why reinvention doesn’t mean starting from scratch.

After 30 years in television and business, Barnes is now the founder of The Ashayé Group, where she coaches executives and organizations and speaks to women across the country. She shares the people who poured into her along the way, why she tells professionals “you’re not starting over, you’re starting from experience,” and why it’s never too late to do something different.

In this video, you’ll hear about:
– The women and mentors who believed in her before she believed in herself
– Leaving corporate America and betting on herself in the “fourth quarter” of her career
– How The Ashayé Group helps leaders connect the business to the people
– Why pouring into women is at the heart of her work
– Taking inventory of your value before your next career move

Chapters
0:00 “Those are the inspirations”
0:27 Meet Yolanda Green Barnes
0:32 Just do what you love
1:07 The Ashayé Group
1:40 You’re starting from experience
2:10 It’s never too late

Thinking about your next chapter? Learn more about Yolanda’s work at theashayegroup.com and follow her on Instagram at @yolandagreenbarnes.

Subscribe to The Defender for more exclusive interviews, local news, and community coverage.

Visit Our Website

Home – updated

Read more stories by our team
https://defendernetwork.com/category/news/opinion/

Sign-up for the Top 5 newsletter

Defender Newsletters

Donate/ Support Our Work

Contribute to the Defender Network

Transform your business relationships by prioritizing service over profit. When you intentionally seek to help others first, you build authentic value and lasting connections. Shift your focus and watch the dynamic of your entire business change. #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipMindset #ServantLeadership #Entrepreneurship

🎤 Throwback Thursday, and class is back in session! Rakim brought the classics, deep cuts and legendary flow to City Winery, reminding St. Louis why his place in hip hop history is secure. Watch the video, then read Kenya Vaughn’s full review.

What’s the one Rakim track you’ll always turn up?

🖊️ Written by Kenya Vaughn
https://www.stlamerican.com/arts-and-entertainment/rakims-hip-hop-masterclass/ 

#ThrowbackThursday #Rakim #HipHop #stlamerican

True change starts from within. Building a stronger future for North Minneapolis requires local leadership and collective action. It is time to invest in our own land to create better opportunities for every young person in the community. #NorthMinneapolis #CommunityGrowth #LocalEmpowerment #CommunityBuilding

Terresa Hardaway’s favorite part of being a business owner is the chance to intentionally build community. She has built two.

In this On the Radar episode, host Damenica Ellis sits down with Hardaway to talk about co-founding Blackbird Revolt in 2017, acquiring Black Garnet Books in 2024, and how she uses both to move Black liberation from theory into practice every day.

Blackbird Revolt is a Twin Cities design studio focused on social justice, anti-racism and abolition. The studio works with government agencies, nonprofits and grassroots organizations on branding, animation, video and audio production, fabrication and other creative work. At Black Garnet Books, Hardaway curates Black and Brown authors whose stories do not always receive the amplification they deserve and hosts community events designed to make the bookstore a safe third space.

“We find ourselves in a time where we really need third spaces, places where our neighbors feel safe, and so being able to build that, to create events that center Black and Brown voices.”

Hardaway is also an associate professor of graphic design and director of design justice at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, where her research centers on abolition, design and Black liberation. Running two businesses allows her to put those ideas into daily practice rather than keeping them in the classroom.

She talks honestly about what it took to keep Black Garnet Books a safe community space during Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. Her approach was to adapt and center what the community was actually asking for rather than following the model others expected.

“I own this model and actually don’t have to do it the way that other people do. I actually want to center community.”

Hardaway credits her network with giving her the confidence to become an entrepreneur, and she is direct about the fact that she does not do it all alone. Her advice for anyone looking to work across multiple fields is to find where they overlap. Her advice for anyone starting a business is to have a plan, know who you are and surround yourself with people who will remind you of that when you forget.

“Know who you are and surround yourself around people who, when you forget, because you will forget who you are, they will remind you.”

Full story at msr.media.