As a copyright owner, you can use something called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice to take action against copycats, even if your copyright isn’t registered.
*Keep in mind that you don’t own a copyright just because you are in a photo or video, or because you paid for the photos (say, from a photographer).
The DMCA says that an Internet Service Provider (ISP) must remove materials from its users’ websites that appear to be copyright infringement after getting an appropriate notice.
ISPs include companies and organizations that provide their customers with Internet access, including big companies like Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, and Cox, or smaller entities.
If you want to send a DMCA takedown notice, here are three simple steps to follow:
#1 Consider whether the use is a fair use or not.
“Fair use” is a defense to copyright infringement – meaning, if something is considered fair use, it is legal and cannot be taken down. If you have a good faith belief that the activity is not covered by fair use, you should be protected in demanding that a photo be taken down under the DMCA. So how do you figure out whether a use is fair or not?
[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
This isn’t really a bright line test, more like a balancing of all of the various elements.
There aren’t black and white answers for whether fair use exists, but here are some guidelines:
Purpose and Character of the Use
The “purpose and character of the use” is one of the most important factors. Most courts ask whether the copyrighted work (i.e., the original photo) has been used as a basis for creating a new work (called “transformative use”) or just copied and/or placed directly into something else. The more changes that have been made, the more likely that it will be considered fair use. In my opinion, an original photo with words typed over it, like a meme, probably isn’t transformative enough to be protected by fair use.
Nature of the Copyrighted Work
Regarding the “nature of the copyrighted work,” a court is more likely to find fair use when the original work (i.e., the original photo) used has been published, rather than unpublished. In the context of social media, photos published online are probably considered “published,” though this may depend on the nature of your privacy settings, how many people the photo was shared with, and that kind of thing.
Amount Used
With the “amount” used of the original work, if a small amount is used, this is more likely to be considered fair. With photos, this may be tough to apply, because typically the entire photo will be used. This may be relevant in the context of photoshopping though, or if the photo is used as part of a larger video (think the #UNameItChallenge videos, which incorporate lots of photos into one video).
Effect on the Market
Finally, regarding the effect on the market, what matters most is whether you (or the original copyright owner) could have made money off of the photo. Courts usually consider whether the unauthorized use impacts and competes with the original owner’s potential for income. If it does, this is not fair use.
Determining fair use can be difficult, but what is most important is that you weigh all of the considerations. The most important thing, again, is that you have a good faith belief that the use isn’t fair. If you have a good faith believe that the use is illegal and not fair use, proceed to step #2.
#2. Find the web host where the image is posted.
Most social media sites, ISPs, and content publishers have specific DMCA takedown forms that you can fill out easily online. Here are links to some of the biggest:
When you find the host, you can send your DMCA takedown notice there. Most of those hosts will have their DMCA process posted somewhere on their website.
If you can’t find the information for the host, the DMCA requires ISPs to provide the Register of Copyrights with contact information for a designated agent who can receive takedown notices.
While there is no specific format for a DMCA takedown notice, there are some things you need to include:
Your signature, as the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on the copyright holder’s behalf
Identification of the original, copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed/wrongfully posted;
Identification of the material that is infringing/wrongfully posted & where it is located (perhaps by link or screenshot);
Your contact information (email address, phone number, address, etc.);
A statement that you have “a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;”
A statement that, “under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the notification is accurate;” and
A statement that you have the right to proceed, because you are either the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on the copyright holder’s behalf.
I’ve included a sample takedown notice at the end of this post. The ISP will usually remove the infringing/wrongfully posted photo in 24-72 hours.
If you’d like to read more about best practices for takedown notices, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has posted a great set of guidelines for such notices on its website here.
P.S. If you send one of these notices, the person who is the allegedly infringing poster can file a counter-notice, basically disputing your claim. You’ll get a copy of that counter-notice. The ISP will decide within 10-14 days whether to post the photo back online. At that point, you’ll have to make a decision about whether to file a lawsuit or not.
Hopefully this information is useful to someone out there who doesn’t know where to turn.
SAMPLE DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is [Your Name] and I am the copyright owner of work(s) being infringed at [www.___________.com]. This letter is a Notice of Infringement authorized under §512(c) of United States Copyright Law.
According to [InterNIC, WHOIS, etc.], your company hosts, on its servers, the website where the infringing work appears. I am contacting you as the designated agent for the website.
This letter serves to assert my rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and requests removal of the infringing content from your servers.
Specifically, I request that you: (a) notify the infringer of this letter, (b) inform the infringer of their duty to remove the infringing work immediately, and (c) demand that the infringer cease posting any infringing work to your server in the future.
Please be advised that law requires service providers to “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing work upon receipt of this notice. The failure to do so may result in a loss of immunity for liability under the DMCA.
I have a good faith belief that the use of the aforementioned copyrighted work(s) appearing on the website for which you are the designated DMCA agent is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by law. I declare, under penalty of perjury, that this notice is true and correct and that I am the copyright owner entitled to exclusive rights which I allege are being infringed.
Please send me a prompt response indicating the steps you have taken to resolve this matter. If you would like to speak with me directly, I can be reached at the email address or phone number below.
Morning routines are awesome, but trying to recreate the habits of people like Oprah, Warren Buffett and others is STRESSFUL.
On the morning routine spectrum, I’m somewhere in the middle. I want one, but I don’t have the kind of life the allows me to check everything off the list perfectly every day.
The world seems to be on fire right now, but black women entrepreneurs are killing the game right now.
From having million-dollar-months, to creating anti-racist movements, to landing huge brand deals, the wins just keep coming and I love to see it.
Black women like Tabitha Brown, Rachel Rodgers, Danielle Leslie, Dawn Dickson, Teri Ijeoma, and King Ashley Ann Jones are serving up the motivation that entrepreneurs and creators NEED. TO. SEE. RIGHT. NOW.
I’ve been applauding all of this #blackexcellence and am incredibly motivated by the success of these black women entrepreneurs and creators.
I’ve also been looking for the lessons I can learn from all of their success.
In this episode of the Shontavia Show, I outline 6 of the lessons I’ve learned from these women and their journeys.
Here’s a summary of these lessons:
Lesson #1 from Tabitha Brown: Continue to make your content (02:19)
Lesson #2 from Rachel Rodgers: Speak your truth (06:36)
Lesson #3 from Danielle Leslie: “I dream it. I work hard. I grind, I own it.” (13:02)
Lesson #4 from Dawn Dickson: Invest in yourself and your education (16:12)
Lesson #5 from Teri Ijeoma: You can talk about God AND business IN your business (23:26)
Lesson #6 from King Ashley Ann: Authenticity is your superpower (26:18)
For more on each of these lessons, check out the full Shontavia Show episode below:
Questions and Action: Who can you draw inspiration from online?
After you’ve had a chance to watch the video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!
Please answer the questions relevant to your current situation:
1. Who are your business mentors in your head on social media?
2. What moves of theirs can you watch and learn from?
3. What lessons can you share with your own supporters?
Please give as much information as you can in response to these questions. I want to know who you follow, because I’m always looking for more good vibes!
Thank you so much for joining me on this roller coaster of an experience.
I am eternally grateful that I get to do this work with working professionals who are also creators, entrepreneurs and side hustlers like yourself.
What’s up, y’all. Welcome to The Shontavia Show, where my goal is to help you start a business based on your life’s vision. This ain’t gonna be your daddy’s business advice. I’m laser focused on entrepreneurship in the 21st century, vision and breaking the traditional mold. If you can get with that, you can get with me, be sure to visit shontavia.com for more episodes, blog posts, and other content. Thank you for listening. The show starts now.
Hey everybody. This is Shontavia Johnson. And welcome to another episode of the Shontavia Show, where I want to inspire you to build a brand business and life that you love. And I wanted to do this episode today because I have been so motivated by black women entrepreneurs who are thriving right now. I’m wearing my “Black Women Have the Best ROI” shirt. I’m thinking about all the black women who are inspiring and motivating millions and millions of other black women to start businesses.
Our demographic is starting more businesses than any other demographic group right now in 2020. And the women who I’m about to talk about today are teaching lessons to everybody, but especially to black women, about what they can do to be successful. So I want to talk about a couple of women today, six in particular, and the lessons that I have been learning from them, just watching their journeys.
I don’t know any of these women. I follow all of them. I read the work about them and the things that they write, but they are basically my mentors in my head right now. And I want to encourage you to find some mentors in your head, follow these folks, because they are showing us how to do it. They are laying out the roadmap and I want to give you one lesson from each of them. So here are the six women. So the first is Tabitha Brown. The second is Rachel Rodgers. The third is Danielle Leslie. The fourth is Dawn Dickson. The fourth is Teri Ijeoma, and the fifth is King Ashley Ann. And I have learned just incredible things watching them, but I wanted to pull out one thing in particular that I’ve learned from each of these women so that I can continue on my journey so I can better serve all the people who are watching this episode and listening to this episode and the clients who are working with me.
So let me start with Tabitha Brown. So if you don’t know who Tabitha Brown is at this point, you must not be on social media. You must not be watching all these amazing Tik Tok videos and videos that she’s posting on Instagram and Twitter. She has really catapulted herself as one of the major influencers of 2020. And Tabitha Brown is an actress. She’s been acting since 2005, but she’s actually had a pretty tough go of things. She’s tried multiple times to break into acting in different ways, but there always been life, like, life setbacks, things that have, that have made her have to move back home. Her mom was sick. She had to take care of her mom. She got sick herself and has been on this journey for a while. And I was introduced to Tabitha Brown through her videos on Tik Tok and on Twitter, where essentially she talks about being vegan.
She talks about God. It’s like motivational speaking it’s humor and it’s veganism. And as of June, 2020 Tabitha Brown has amassed more than 4 million followers on Tik Tok, over 2 million followers on Instagram. And I saw a couple of weeks ago that because of her success on social media, she got a deal on Ellen DeGeneres’s Digital Network. And so this is amazing for a person who was an actor and had gotten some roles, but who was relatively unknown to many people — has gotten this type of deal on a major platform after posting videos on social. And so the lesson that I’ve learned from Tabitha Brown is to keep making your content, keep making your content. It can be hard, right? Because you don’t see the likes, the follows, the shares, the engagement, the whatever, but Tabitha’s been able to amass this huge following and this huge brand.
And now all these amazing deals, even though she’s from a small town– a small town in North Carolina called Eden. She had to drop out of college. She had to take care of her sick mom. She got sick herself. And with her videos, she talks about these things and she teaches people how to be vegan. Her journey started, I think in 2017 or 2016, she had gotten sick. And so she started this journey of becoming vegan. And so night after night, she would start posting videos on Facebook and more and more people would start watching her videos on Facebook. She developed really like a cult like following and people loved her. Then she went viral. So she had some followers. She was doing good. Then she went viral for this video she posted eating a vegan BLT from Whole Foods, and she ended up getting the opportunity to collaborate with Whole Foods.
And from that, she just kept going and going and going that time that she went viral was in 2018. And as of the recording of this video it’s the middle of 2020. She created a Tik Tok account in March of 2020. And since that time in March of 2020, really at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, at the beginning of a lot of the anti-racist protests and the anti-racist movement that’s happening, she created a Tik Tok account to talk about going vegan. So don’t let anybody tell you that there’s a right or a wrong time to create your platform. She created a content platform at a time that was really, really tough. And now she’s signed to a great agency. She broadcasts her recipes and stuff live in collaboration with these amazing brands. And now she’s got a deal with Ellen DeGeneres. And those of you who follow Ellen or watch Ellen or know Ellen, Ellen is the queen of creating amazing content online.
And so I’m just excited for Tabitha Brown– that lesson about continuing to make your content is not one that is lost on me as a person who is diligently creating content and producing content, and sometimes getting really great results. Other times feeling like, you know, my, my stuff could be a little better or more people could like it or share it or follow it or whatever. So the lesson from Tabitha Brown is to keep making your content.
The second woman I want to highlight is a person I’ve been following, I think a decade– close to a decade, if not a decade. And her name is Rachel Rodgers. So Rachel Rodgers is a lawyer. She was an intellectual property lawyer, went to law school in the Northeast, I think in New York or New Jersey. And I learned about Rachel many years ago because she created a virtual law firm.
She was traveling, I think with her husband, maybe who was in the military or something like that. And she created a virtual law firm so that she could support her clients no matter where she was on the planet. And that was a really dope idea. Especially 10 years ago, the legal profession has been very, very traditional. And so the fact that somebody was creating a virtual law firm at a time when very few people were doing that, she was really a pioneer in the industry. And what she’s done since that time, since those virtual law firm days is figured out how to pivot figured out how to take her background as a lawyer and transitioned into being a business coach. She’s the CEO of Hello Seven, which is a business coaching firm focused on helping women entrepreneurs scale from six figures to seven figures. So hence the name, Hello Seven and Rachel is dope.
And one of the things I love about Rachel is she does not pull any punches. And so the lesson that I’ve learned from Rachel following and watching her all these years and actually buying her products, is to speak your truth. So Rachel has always spoken her truth. If you are on her email list, you know, she gets real with people about things that are happening in business, things that are happening in the world. And one of the things that happened recently this year in 2020 was, at the height of the anti-racist protests, Rachel went viral. So Rachel’s been doing this for years. Like I said, I learned about her. I think about 10 years ago.
Rachel went viral because she called out other business consultants, coaches, online entrepreneurs who want to take money from black people, but who were silencing the conversations black people wanted to have about Black Lives Matter, about anti-racist protests, particularly within Facebook groups and communities that these white business coaches and consultants and online entrepreneurs, online marketers had created. So in particular, there’s this content marketer, online marketer with a huge platform named Marie Forleo. I have bought Marie Forleo’s products. I respect her a lot. I think her work is incredible, but the impetus behind Rachel Rodgers’s video that went viral was Marie Forleo cutoff comments in a Facebook group where, where black people in particular and white allies and other allies wanted to talk about Black Lives Matter. And it was so frustrating in that moment because we had just seen George Floyd be murdered by police. We had just seen Breonna Taylor being killed in her home because of a no-knock warrant. And people wanted to talk about it.
And these are people who say, “I want to help you build an amazing business. I want to help you build an amazing life,” but they were asking their black supporters to separate those things and to keep quiet in their spaces about those things. So Rachel went viral, got hundreds of thousands of views on this video. And ultimately because of Rachel’s video– and there were some other people too, who were talking about these things– many of these online marketers, online coaches and consultants who sell thousands and thousands and thousands of people, very expensive products, changed course. They actually had to change the way in which they were thinking about and engaging with their black clients and their black members in their programs.
And so I just so respected this because it was really hard for Rachel Rodgers to do something like this because she’s in that world. These are colleagues. These are people who I assume she also follows and works with and collaborates with.
And if she doesn’t, she’s at least part of that same ecosystem. And it’s hard to call out the big names in your industry, right? And Rachel, I mean has a huge platform herself, but some of these folks have gigantic enormous machines that have been going for a really, really, really long time.
And so I’ve just been so impressed with Rachel and her willingness to do that, right? Like her willingness to say, you cannot treat people this way. If you’re going to take black dollars, you have to care about and support black issues. And that was just dope in and of itself.
And then Rachel took another step. She managed to pull together a very, very successful town hall. And in this town hall, she had partners from some other businesses, some other startup companies, some other entrepreneurs, she collaborated with a few people to create this event called Re-imagining Small Business.
And essentially what she asked small businesses to do is to sign an anti-racist pledge. And the anti-racist pledge has five different components, but essentially what the pledge asks people to do is say, we are not going to support white supremacy. We are going to be anti-racist. We are going to do things that support black people in particular. We are going to engage in anti-racist education, not just for ourselves, but for everybody who works with us. And there’s some other things in that anti-racist pledge, too.
And as of the time of this recording, thousands of businesses have signed that pledge. I think at least 25,000 small businesses have signed that pledge. And I’m just so excited to see Rachel doing that. And I also just saw, she’s got a new book deal. Her business just had its first million dollar month. She’s been signed by a top PR firm.
And she’s done that in a way where she remained authentic. She remained true to her voice. She remained committed to the things that she believed in, and that is so incredibly important to speak your truth. And so that’s the lesson that I’ve learned from Rachel Rodgers, speak your truth.
The third black woman entrepreneur I have to talk about, whose program has been really transformative in my life is a woman named Danielle Leslie. And the lesson that I’ve learned from Danielle Leslie is actually a Beyonce lyric. And that Beyonce lyric is “I dream it. I work hard. I grind, I own it.” And there is no better example of this than Danielle Leslie. She’s a black woman entrepreneur who I’ve been following for years whose product I purchased and at her heart, she’s an advisor. She’s like a guru of sorts. She’s a teacher.
She teaches people how to start their own online courses. And Danielle was one of the first people I saw who could actually teach people step by step, how to do the thing that they were selling. So a lot of online marketers, they tell you, they’re going to teach you something. You buy the thing and you look around like, is this thing that they claim was going to teach me step by step, how to do whatever it is I want to do it?? It oftentimes doesn’t work out that way. I just think Danielle is dope. And I think she’s a great educator and a great teacher because her program literally does what it says it’s going to do.
And she took her business, which is called Course from Scratch, or really the name of her program is Course from Scratch, her business might have another name. But she took her business from 0 to $10 million in four years with no venture capital and none of these other fundraising mechanisms.
This was just like blood, sweat, and tears, dollar for dollar, zero to $10 million in four years. That is incredible. And she actually, like Rachel, just tweeted that her business had a $1.1 Million month. This is in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of global unrest. And like I was saying about Tabitha Brown don’t let anybody tell you that there’s a wrong time to start a business. Could it be any worse time to have people unemployed, out of work, in the middle of a pandemic, so they can’t leave the house, global unrest, so they’re angry about racism. There couldn’t be a worse time, right? But these black women entrepreneurs, Danielle Leslie, Rachel Rodgers, Tabitha Brown, the other people that I’ll mention are showing us that it can happen, that it can be done. And I love also the fact about Danielle Leslie, that she’s transparent, right?
And for me, in 2015, when I lost my job, I found myself doing the same thing. I found myself taking like all the different steps, trying to figure things out and seeing Danielle’s trajectory and seeing her story has inspired me to keep going, and to dream hard, work, hard grind ’til I own it because I see somebody like Danielle doing the same thing. And so that’s the lesson from Danielle, dream it, work hard, grind until you own it. So she goes from having to move in with her mom to having million dollar months. And if that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what does right.
The fourth entrepreneur I want to mention is a woman named Dawn Dixon. And the lesson that I’ve learned, just following Dawn on Twitter, reading things about Dawn, is that you have to invest in yourself and your education. So Dawn is the CEO and founder of PopCom and she essentially provides software to make kiosks and vending machines more intelligent. And I think her company use data– uses data and data analytics to do that. So things like facial recognition, AI, blockchain, and I think she also owns a few patents for the actual machine. So not just the software, but the machine too. And with Dawn, she has raised millions of dollars, multiple millions of dollars for her company, using venture capital, angels, accelerators, pitch competitions. She was also the first woman to raise more than a million dollars through crowdfunding and secure token offerings. And so this is stuff you don’t even typically hear about black women participating in, but not only is Dawn doing it, she’s doing it in a way that is breaking records.
And the thing that is most fascinating to me about this is that she had no experience in this world at all in 2014. And so I was reading this article in Black Enterprise, and this is actually how I got interested in Dawn–and in her story– is that she went to a Black Enterprise Entrepreneur Summit in 2014 in Ohio.
And she said that, when she was, before she even got the conference, she looked at the agenda, tried to figure out what session she was going to. And she picked one about venture capital. She said, she didn’t even really know what venture capital was, but the title made her want to go to it. So at this stage, she knows nothing about raising money— or nothing about venture capital in particular. And she goes to this session and as a result, she decides to learn as much as she can about this type of business financing. So after the event, after this session, she goes up, she introduces herself to the speakers and she asks them like, “how do I learn more? How do I do this?” And they tell her, we’re having an event in New York and we’re going to teach people exactly how we’ve raised money. And she said, at that point, she had never met anyone black in tech until she met these two guys who were on the speaking dais is for this panel.
And when they told her having this event in New York, she figured she had to get there. And so she actually went, and that was the start of her entire journey of venture capital and figuring out how to raise money in this way for her business. So she had a background in marketing and business development, but learning about venture capital really seemed to be transformative for her in terms of how she was operating businesses. She’s founded four different businesses. She’s been featured in lots of major publications since then. And so that lesson of investing in yourself and your education is not lost on me.
Just because there are things you don’t know right now, doesn’t mean you can’t learn them. Even if you’re at home, there are virtual summits. There’s YouTube, there’s social media. And a lot of folks who’ve done these things are very, very transparent– well, some of them are very transparent on social about how they’ve gone about doing this, what their struggles are.
Dawn Dickson is one of those. Again, I don’t know her personally, but I follow her journey through social media. And it’s just amazing to see the things that she has accomplished and will continue to accomplish through her work. So I just love that. And just one other thing I would note about Dawn Dixon and her story in addition to being a tech CEO, she also is the co-founder of a plant-based vegan restaurant in Ohio because it’s what her passion is. And so I love that she’s been successful in tech, but also hasn’t forgotten what her passions are. And now that she’s successful in tech has expanded her portfolio in this way to support other ventures and to enter into other markets. So just so inspired by her and what she’s doing.
And the last two black women entrepreneurs who I want to talk about, been people who just watching them and seeing the things they’re doing. Like every time I see their posts on social media, particularly on Instagram, I take notes. Every time they offer sessions or workshops, I take notes. Every time I have an opportunity to support their work. I want to do that.
Now this next person, I’ve not enrolled in her program yet, but I plan to very soon. And her name is Teri Ijeoma. Teri Ijeoma is a financial coach, but not in the kind of traditional sense. She teaches people how to make a thousand dollars a day on the stock market. And that’s something that is appealing to me particularly right now, because we are living in historical times with respect to the stock market. It’s kind of like former crashes and the stock market, former bubbles.
A lot of people are predicting that we are in a bubble right now, and I want to learn how to take advantage of that. Stock market investing is not something I know a whole lot about. My dad actually is really into investing and day trading. And he’s been talking to me about this for a long time. And between him and Teri Ijeoma and her work, it just really has gotten me excited about figuring out this next stage of financial investing. And so from Teri’s work and from the things that she’s doing, the lesson that I’ve learned is that you can talk about God and business. Even if your business is something completely, apparently unrelated to “religion.” So Teri got her degree at MIT. She has a master’s in media and communications also from Dallas Theological Seminary. So she’s got the tech background and she also has the seminary background.
And she started out in education and working with nonprofits. And she started on the side learning about investing herself, and now she’s teaching other people how to do it. And what I’ve heard Teri say is that she was so successful with her side hustle of learning how to trade stocks and teaching other people how to do it, that she decided to quit her job. So in 2017, she wanted to quit her job, travel the world and start trading full time. And that’s exactly what she did. And in her first year she made a quarter of a million dollars and now she’s making millions and millions of dollars teaching people how to trade and how to invest. And she also partners with other organizations and other companies to empower people to achieve financial freedom.
So I came, I was first introduced to Teri Ijeoma through a virtual summit that I hosted with my business partner, Tonya Evans, and Teri was fire like everybody who I know who came to the virtual summit, people, I don’t know who came to the summit, who submitted comments, loved Teri’s remarks.
They were so inspired by her to start investing. And she’s just dope. She’s dynamic. Her work is solid. She has a lot of social proof. She’s showing people how to do this work every day.
And one of the things that really connected me to her message was that she openly talks about her faith, about God, about spirituality. And that’s something that I think some entrepreneurs don’t do because they’re worried about isolating people. They’re worried about maybe offending people who are agnostic or who are atheist or who believe in something else. But that component of her work really, really motivates me to continue to talk about my faith and talk about how God has just been amazing in my life and with my brand and with my business and how He wants me to do these things. And the first time I heard Teri do this, so I was introduced to her through the virtual summit, but I started subscribing to some of her work.
And she’s got this series right now called the Power of 1 Million series where she interviews people who have gotten 1 million of something, whether it’s 1 million followers, $1 million, 1 million clients, whatever. And so this series interviews a lot of the people who I mentioned, actually, I think Danielle Leslie has been on there, I think Rachel Rodgers has been on there. I actually think King Ashley Ann was on there too. But at any rate, I was watching the Power of 1 Million series once. And it was Teri being interviewed by, I think one of her employees maybe, and she was talking about God and she was talking about her favorite Bible verses. And I just loved that. I just thought that being able to teach people about money, but then also talk about God and connect God to her ability to teach people about money was inspirational. I thought it was something that I wish I saw more of.
I wish I could subscribe to more people who do these kinds of things, who show us that we can connect faith to success, to money in a way that feels authentic. That doesn’t feel like, I don’t know, like prosperity gospel, like televangelists who just want your money or whatever. I just think Teri does it in a really dope, authentic, engaging, and blessed way. And so the lesson I’ve learned from Teri is that you can talk about God, and talk about your business, and be about your business at the same time.
And now finally, the final black woman entrepreneur, who I have to shout out, is King Ashley Ann Jones. And the lesson that I’ve learned. And I was actually only introduced to King Ashley Ann through the Power of 1 Million series, and the lesson I’ve learned from King Ashley Ann is that authenticity is your super power.
So King Ashley Ann is from Arkansas. I follow her on Instagram. I love her authenticity. She is apparently from a very small town, maybe a few hundred people. And what I’ve learned about her in the few months that I’ve known her work, is that she doesn’t pull any punches. She is very authentic. She’s not trying to be somebody she’s not. And she teaches people every day. And she teaches people about how to make money online, how to create online businesses, how to take the basic skills they have and do whatever it is they want to do to, to create a career for themselves that fits within their life. And I just love it. I love the way she engages with her community. I love the fact that like, she’s not trying to be like a nine to five, like you gotta catch her at 3:00 PM.
She does midnight Lives and she gets hundreds or thousands of people on these midnight Live events. She recently taught a course about how to make $75,000 in three days that I participated in. And I just think she’s a marketing genius. And she breaks things down for people in a way that they can understand. So she’ll talk about like lace fronts. She’ll talk about how this business that she has is one of many businesses. She’s got an event planning business. She does all these different things and she teaches people marketing principles in a way that is relatable. Like she really breaks it down for folks.
And I’ve heard her say that the way to really create a successful online business is through targeted marketing. And I think she has just been brilliant at creating a targeted marketing strategy, particularly around her authenticity. So the lesson I’ve learned from her is that authenticity is our super power.
Like don’t be out here trying to be everybody else. Don’t be out here trying to look like the big names in your industry, but just be you and be okay with being, you. I’ve read an interview she did with Rolling Out where she was asked, how did you come up with the idea to help people make money with their basic skills? And one of the things she said was that, and I can’t remember exactly how she termed it, but essentially she said, she realized she was good at this because people just started coming to her, asking her for advice, like, how did you do this? How did you do this? How did you do this? And she realized that that time, that her voice had a value, that her advice had a value that she could create a business around teaching people how to use their skills, because that’s what she was doing.
And she makes these principles really, really relatable. And she’s not trying to look like everybody else or be like everybody else. She is doing it in a way that works for her. And if you like it, great, if you don’t like it, keep moving. She’s not making any apologies for who she is and the way that she teaches her principles. So King Ashley Ann is the last black woman, black woman I wanted to talk about. And again, the lesson I learned from her is that authenticity is your super power.
So if you have listened this far, you know that, I just think these women are dope. I think they’re doing amazing work. I think there’s a lot we can learn from them. The lessons that I have learned from, from all of these women. Let me just go over them again.
I hope you enjoyed these highlights and lessons as much as I enjoy following these amazing women and learning from them. I want to know who you follow. So come over to shontavia.com. Click on this particular podcast episode and drop a comment. Let me know who you’re following, who is motivating you, who is inspiring you.
And make sure you subscribe. If you’re listening to this in podcast form, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. If you’re watching on YouTube, make sure you subscribe to YouTube. I post content like this every week.
I love talking about business. I love talking about entrepreneurship, but I want to do it in a way that is relatable. This is why I wanted to do a whole show about black women entrepreneurs in 2020 right now, who are killing it because it looks hard and it feels hard.
We are living in this really weird time in American history and in global history and we need good success stories. We need good news. And all six of these women have provided great news, great motivation, great business inspiration for all of us. Thanks.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Shontavia Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to like, subscribe and leave a comment wherever you’re listening. You can find me on social media everywhere, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and wherever else @ShontaviaJEsq. You can also visit me at shontavia.com to find a transcript of this episode along with other show notes. While you’re there, please be sure to subscribe to my email newsletter.
The information shared in this podcast and through my other platforms is designed to educate you about business and entrepreneurship and I love to do this work. While I am a lawyer, though, the information I provide is not legal advice and does not create or constitute an attorney client relationship.
The Shontavia Show is a LVRG Incorporated original. The show is recorded on site in South Carolina and produced at Sit N Spin Studio in Greenville, South Carolina. Original music and sound design is by Matt Morgan and Daniel Gregory. Mixing and mastering is by Daniel Gregory and the video is by GVL Media.
