{"id":13095,"date":"2025-06-16T13:18:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T13:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careersistas.com\/sistas\/?p=13095"},"modified":"2025-11-14T12:35:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T12:35:21","slug":"building-connections-and-seeking-inspiration-lessons-from-the-black-business-show-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careersistas.com\/sistas\/building-connections-and-seeking-inspiration-lessons-from-the-black-business-show-birmingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Connections and Seeking Inspiration:\u00a0 Lessons from the Black Business Show Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been just over three months since I left full time employment and the corporate world and started my portfolio career journey. My days have been busy working on my podcast (Stories by Career Sistas) finishing my book, (more to be revealed in the coming weeks) building the website and more. However, this weekend was one of those moments when I looked up from the laptop and decided to proactively spend some time seeking to be inspired, listening, and learning from other people\u2019s career stories.<\/p>

The place I chose to do so was to travel to the Midlands to attend the Birmingham edition of the Black Business Show. I was not disappointed. As always it always wonderful to surrounded by people of diverse backgrounds, people of colour, but as you might have guessed I was most inspired by the stories from the career women, the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the women changing the game.<\/p>

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Building connections<\/strong><\/h3>

As always, when I make the effort to visit a venue where diverse talent is at the centre of the experience I am reminded by how powerful everyone\u2019s unique story is. And I am not talking about the speakers yet, great though they are. I am talking about the people I met. Visitors to the event just like me. I met a young woman doing an apprenticeship, looking for connection as in her degree programme, in her day-to-day life she is \u201cthe only one\u201d.  I met a young woman of Latin American background on the verge of completing her PhD deciding which direction she saw her career moving in. There was a Black woman who asked a question in one of the sessions. But her question was more testimony than typical question, she had recovered from stage 4 cancer and yet was choosing to be there to pivot her career despite all the challenges that life had put in her way, she was the picture of resilience and strength. Many others were pursing or wanting to pursue side ventures including property, consulting, and coaching to name a few. They were also there to learn, connect and be inspired, just like me. And if that was not enough, I unexpectedly ran into a former colleague, someone that I hired and worked in my team over five years ago. Accordingly, it was also a place of re-connections.<\/p>

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Learning from the career journeys of others.<\/strong><\/h3>

While there were many excellent sessions, I will share a few of my favourite.<\/p>

The Moments that made them:  Female Founders share their unfiltered journey to success<\/strong><\/h4>
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This session was moderated by Monique Codjoe (HSBC), during which three female founders Scarlett Allen- Horton (Harper Fox Partners), Kameese Davis (Nylah\u2019s Naturals) and Sasha Ellese Gilbert (Nala\u2019s Baby) shared the unfiltered stories of their journeys, successes and turning point moments in their entrepreneurial journeys. Some of the standout moments for me were:<\/p>