There’s something about March that makes this even more special
In 2021, dGC celebrated its 8th anniversary in November. It coincided with Perri’s birthday and her BrainTrust Tribe joined in the fun. L-R: Stacey Lanier, Janet Meek, Sunny Bray Cartmell, Perri, Becky Bayne and Jessica Walker.
In November 2019 I joined BrainTrust. I had been involved with the EO’s Catalyst program and wasn’t ready for EO but didn’t want to stay in the Bridge program. Plus, to be honest, I felt disconnected. It could’ve been that when we started Catalyst, all the Black people were put in the same group. When the intent was truly to build different relationships. Or it could’ve been that towards the end of my Forum (which overlapped with the start of my vault) COVID-19 had hit and we all just went our separate ways. It could’ve been that upon George Floyd’s murder that the organization and not one of my Forum mates said a thing. Not that they had to but, wow. And of course, I was one of three persons of color in the entire class of Catalyst 8. I was pissed. And yet, I really learned a lot in the process and built really interesting and strong relationships with people I would not have met. But something was missing.
I also knew that I needed to continue the momentum of working on the business, as Michael Burcham coached us on –> throughout Catalyst. So, I explored BrainTrust because a year prior to learning about the organization Sherry Deutschmann made me cry the first time we had coffee. I immediately wanted to know everything she went through to achieve her success. The only other woman in Nashville that I personally knew had achieved this, was Hannah Paramore and I was chasing her too.
Then Sherry launched BrainTrust and I said, “If Sherry is about to provide the blueprint on how to scale in a way that allows me to benchmark off of what I learned in Catalyst, and it put me in an environment with like-minded women, I was in with all ten fingers and toes.” It also felt like it’d be a better process with women…having an accountability component that went past the book-learning of Catalyst.
Well…
I met my vault and was determined that I wasn’t saying anything personal. Wasn’t sharing any feelings. I was there with a purpose and did not need any new friends. This was business.
And then we did our lifeline. And it was over.
These women are amazing, we’ve challenged each other, supported each other personally and professionally and I’m extremely grateful to have found my tribe. We each have different stages of our business and we are all pushing each other to be accountable and HIT THAT $1 million goal (in top-line revenue) and achieve past that goal, too.
There’s so much to be an entrepreneur and no one really understands that. Today’s version builds on the solo-preneur model of the Mom and Pop shops that our parents and grandparents developed (even if those are the entities that fueled our entrepreneurial spirt). Instead, we’re looking to scale, build and work towards our next step.
I’ve never been so proud to celebrate a group of women. I’ve never been so motivated to do so and I’ve never been so hopeful that you find a group of women (or people) who push you in your passion to succeed like I have found.
FYI – We use the phrase “BrainTrust Beauties” as the name of our text thread…with the beauty of this group comes massive intelligence, grit, determination, grace, drive and resilience (my favorite word for 2021).
Want to know more about Perri’s journey, find out who she’ll connect you with from her network or if there’s a fit in working together? Schedule an in-person or virtual coffee with her to learn more (List $6mil Convo w Perri in the subject line).
