Reverse Ambition Podcast

Taiia SMART YOUNG is an author, editor, book coach and writing consultant. She teaches coaches, consultants, thought leaders and experts how to use their experiences and expertise to write and publish brand-building non-fiction books. Prior to starting Smart Girl Media, she was the Entertainment Director for Latina and Latina.com. She has also held senior editor positions at Juicy, XXL and ESSENCE. Her byline has appeared in EBONY, Black Enterprise, NV, Bustle.com and MadameNoire.com. Her agency's previous clients include TIDAL, Refinery29, Wendy Williams Hunter Foundation, Columbia University, Black Girls Rock! and Verizon. As an interviewer and on-camera host, She has been in conversation with top talent, including Michelle Obama, La La Anthony, Mary J. Blige, Zendaya, Rita Moreno, Fergie, Taraji P. Henson, Judy Reyes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, Nas and Kelly Rowland. In 2022, She launched the S.T.E.P. Into Your Story writing and coaching intensive for experts ready to write a book that positions their expertise, propels their brand and prepares them for visibility. The S.T.E.P. Into Your StoryTM book has debut spring 2023. She graduated from Johnson C. Smith University with a B.A. in mass communications and earned a publishing certificate from the Columbia Journalism Publishing Course. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Caught up with my brother Mackenten Petion, a proud Haitian man, husband to a beautiful black queen, and father of two amazing young girls.  He is an entrepreneur with numerous businesses across the hospitality and technology industries including most notably Room 24k a members only dining club for the black community and Byld It a website that helps entrepreneurs in the different stages of their journey create, manage, and fund their businesses. She shared is amazing story of how he found success and purpose. Great inspirering listen.

Meet India Bertin, a woman who has overcome many challenges as a female business owner and is creating an impact by educating people on how to care for their textured hair. In this episode, India shares her journey of how she became an entrepreneur, the challenges she faces as a woman business owner, and how she is running a successful hair salon while homeschooling her children. In 2012, India opened Hi Texture Salon after noticing a gap in the market that catered towards textured hair. Her vision was to create a salon environment that was chic and professional, as well as educated men and women on how to manage their textured hair."

Teri Johnson is an entrepreneur and adventurer who brings her experience to life through storytelling and luxury products. A life-long traveler, Teri has visited nearly 70 countries learning about the rich cultures of the world while working as a travel and lifestyle expert for various television and digital platforms. During her travels, Teri experienced an array of different scents and developed a passion and obsession for beautiful and evocative fragrances that have the power to transport you to a different time and place. This sparked an idea to create a luxury home fragrance company inspired by her neighborhood of Harlem, specifically during the Harlem Renaissance period.  She founded the Harlem Candle Co in 2014 and now has 14 exquisite fragrances in the collection.  Teri’s work with some of the world's most innovative perfumers has helped her grow the brand’s popularity on an international level and has led to the brand’s launch in Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom and many boutiques around the world. www.harlemcandlecompany.com https://www.instagram.com/harlemcandlecompany/ https://www.facebook.com/HarlemCandleCompany/ https://twitter.com/harlemcandles

“I had to shift my mindset to be able to begin to imagine myself as a successful entrepreneur.”-  Kendrick Trotter Listen to the awesome entrepreneurial journey of Kendrick Trotter, the 27 years old founder and CEO of Us in Technology (UIT), a virtual community, job placement, mentoring and training platform aimed at bridging the gap between hiring companies and qualified underrepresented talent. Trotter is an award-winning sales manager operating primarily within the cybersecurity space. He successfully recruited, into the tech industry, himself in 2017, while moonlighting as an Uber driver. His life mission is to give others the same opportunities he’d been given to succeed in one of the world’s most lucrative career fields.