Black women make up the strongest segment of entrepreneurs in America, representing 42 percent of new women-owned businesses in the country. Felicia Phillips, Ph.D., founder and CEO of the U.S. Business Women’s Network and MogulCon, a national conference for women, mentors Black women entrepreneurs and Black women in business.
MogulCon provides attendees with resources to help them build a sustainable strategy and accelerate the growth of themselves and their businesses. The next MogulCon will take place November 5-6, 2021 at the Whitley Hotel in Atlanta Georgia
“Some of the benefits that MogulCon attendees can take advantage of are our business matchmaker sessions where they can connect with government entities as well as corporations looking to connect with Black women-owned businesses as well as the opportunity for business coaching and image consulting,” says Phillips. “We also give attendees the opportunity to meet other successful entrepreneurs who are looking to connect and engage in order to expand their business opportunities.”
Master business strategist Phillips is also the CEO and owner of the Atlanta-based consulting firm, PPICW Inc., dedicated to helping small to medium-sized enterprises expand into domestic and international markets. The award-winning certified minority business enterprise (MBE) offers program and supplier development, training, and business and executive coaching.
Add to that The One Million Dreams Foundation for Black Women.
“The reason I founded both The One Million Dreams Foundation for Black Women and Girls, as well as MogulCon, is the same: To provide the necessary resources and relationships women need to grow their business and position themselves in the marketplace,” explains Phillips, author of “Converting Emails into Sales: Email Marketing Made Easy.”
“Black women are the fastest-growing demographic, yet their revenues are the least and have drastically declined since the pandemic. My mission is to help Black women gain access to the opportunities for diverse suppliers with corporations as well as government entities that are looking to procure the products and services they offer,” she adds.
As if MogulCon, PPICW, and her foundation were not enough of a commitment to female entrepreneurship, Phillips created the platform Black Belt Business Academy.
She explains, “The Black Belt Business Academy is a six-month mentoring and coaching program designed for entrepreneurs who want to accelerate their business growth and increase their profits through actionable steps. My team has combined over 70 years of experience to assist small business owners in developing their business goals and implementing a strategic plan that helps them see profitable results.”
Phillips herself comes from a family of entrepreneurs and followed in their footsteps to start her own professional journey.
“I had aspirations of becoming a business owner at the age of eight. Taking advice from my father, great-grandmother, and uncles, who were all profitable business owners, I began my entrepreneurial journey at the age of 19. I wanted to control my own destiny. They laid a solid foundation for me to be successful,” she shares.
“You will often hear me say ‘entrepreneurship is in my DNA’ because of them. By the time I was 20, I was blessed to have my first six-figure business, United Helping Hands, a durable medical equipment business that served terminally ill patients. Since that time I’ve owned several businesses and have hopefully inspired my children to do the same.”
Thanks to her experiences as an entrepreneur, Phillips can spot the mistakes many women business owners make.
“The top three mistakes female entrepreneurs make are: Not having a strategic plan; thinking they can do it all themselves; not having a budget for the business,” she says.
