fter I graduated
from college
with a BS
degree in Biology, I embarked on a promising career in the pharmaceutical industry. I landed my first pharma sales job by answering a classified ad in the local paper, which is how we sought employment at that time before there was the internet, LinkedIn, and Google. Out of 600 applicants, I was one the candidate they chose. Once I entered the industry, I
performed well enough to move up within the companies that I worked for, but one thing was always noticeably
inconsistent, there were
not a lot of mentors that
looked like me that I
could turn to that could show me the ropes, provide me with sound career advice, and help guide me along my career path.
When I was laid off from my last corporate job back in 2008, I remember desperately searching for a new opportunity. My wife was 3-months pregnant with our first son, and I needed to land a gig soon. I knew that pharma jobs were limited, but based on my resume and experience I thought that I would eventually land something that would keep me gainfully employed. However, a year later I was still jobless, confused, determined, and scared. As I reached out to people in my network about job opportunities, I realized that all of my white manager counterparts that we were let go with me from my company had landed jobs soon after. I was the only one that was still unemployed. Why was that? I wondered. But then I realized that their network, mentors and support was vastly different than mine.
Because I could not find a job, I decided to take matters into my own hands and focus my energy on entrepreneurial aspirations. To say that being a stay at home dad and trying to build a business was a challenge is an understatement, but it was something that I needed to do. And after eleven years on this journey I learned that there is a tremendous lack of resources, opportunities, and mentors for black and brown entrepreneurs as well.
A
John Legend and James H. Lowry