My name is Greta Faye Ross. I was born in September 1957 in a very small town named Raeford, North Carolina. I was raised by my grandparents, who were slaves. I was blessed to be born in a six-bedroom, brick home in 1957. It was rare back then for former slaves to be able to own, let alone accomplish such an ambitious project. My grandfather was able to accomplish this because, as a slave, he learned the trade of building plantations. He took that trade and built a six-bedroom house for his family. As slaves, my grandparents had no money. They came out of slavery with nothing. Their ambition and success taught me a valuable lesson. If their strategy was still utilized today, it would help entrepreneurs tremendously. It is called bartering — the exchange of goods/services for other goods or services without using money. My grandfather would go to the man that owned the lumberyard and say, "If you give me some lumber, I'll help you build your house.” Then he would go to the owner of the brickyard and say, “If you give me some bricks to build my house, I'll help you build your house.” He did that all the way down to every single nail, hammer and saw, and guess what? That house is still in my family to this day. My grandparents lived well, enlarged their territory and left a legacy. Once my grandmother became free from slavery, she never worked a day outside of the home. She raised 11 children. What I didn't realize was how my grandparents managed everything.
I believe they were entrepreneurs and great managers because of their trust and belief that God was able. Watching and observing my grandparents on a dayto-day basis with how they handled their business and maintained the household, taught me that your name is everything. When my grandparents gave their word, it was their bond. They taught me core values, which have carried me all these years as an entrepreneur.
At the time, I didn't realize how blessed I really was. We had apple trees, pecan trees, strawberry patches, watermelons, green beans and collard greens —all from the land. We would turn over the land, plant the seeds and then reaped the harvest. We were able to eat the entire winter on our harvest.
Here’s the moral to these fact, if there is two teenagers that’s in slavery can realize that they can do better with two of then one, to make a conscious decision to join in a union to become one and overcome whatever they faced. They took a negative and turned it into a positive. They could have waited for someone to give them a hand out, but while they were still slaves, they learned all they could, they knew one day they would be free and they had to have a plan. My grandfather learned how to build houses, and took the same thing that his master meant for his harm. Here’s the key that his master didn’t understand, their mentality. My grandmother always said “you can live in hell for a year as long as you know you’re getting out the next year “key” have a plan before you get out”. Once my grandmother became free she never worked outside the home, how do you do that with 11 children and 1 income and build a 6 bedroom brick home debt free? They had an agreement, they had the same mindset, on the same page if you will. There’s no way they could have accomplished such a wonderful task at odds with each other, they knew their rolls and they stayed in their lanes and did what they agreed upon. Today there’s no commitment, people we have to be willing to give of their, time or treasurer to help for the betterment!
Greta Faye Ross