There is something powerful about walking into a room and realizing you can finally exhale.

You don't have to explain why representation matters. You don't have to spend half the conversation explaining a cultural reference, a business challenge, or an experience that would be immediately understood by someone who has lived something similar. You don't have to wonder whether the person across the table understands why certain opportunities can feel harder to access or why building a business can sometimes feel like you're carrying far more than a business plan.

You can simply sit down, introduce yourself, and get to work.

That room matters.

And at HolleyWood Consulting, we believe Black women entrepreneurs need more of them.

Not because Black women are incapable of succeeding in rooms that weren't designed with us in mind. Clearly, we are capable. We have been doing exactly that for generations.

But there is a difference between being able to survive in a room and being in a room where you can actually feel seen, understood, challenged, supported, and connected.

We think it's time we talked about that difference.

A Conference Made Me Think About Who We're Actually Building For

Recently, I attended a conference centered around women in business. On paper, that sounds like exactly the kind of room I should want to be in. Women talking about entrepreneurship, leadership, business growth, and success? Sign me up.

But there were seven speakers, and three of those speakers were white men.

Now, let me be clear because context matters.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning from a white man. We can learn from anybody who has something valuable to teach us. Business knowledge doesn't come with a particular complexion, and I'm not interested in pretending otherwise.

But I couldn't help asking myself a question:

If we're creating a conference specifically for women in business, why does the room still feel so familiar?

That question isn't an attack on those individual speakers. It's a question about intentionality.

Who are we putting on the stage? Whose experiences are being centered? Who gets to define what entrepreneurial success looks like? And when we're talking about women in business, are we actually making room for the different realities women experience?

Because "women" isn't one experience.

A white woman, a Black woman, an Asian woman, a Latina woman, a queer woman, a woman with a disability, a mother building a company, and a woman who is the first entrepreneur in her family may all walk into the same conference carrying completely different experiences.

We can absolutely learn from one another.

But sometimes you need a room where somebody doesn't have to explain the context before the conversation can begin.

That's what I'm talking about.

Representation Is About More Than Putting Somebody on the Flyer

We sometimes reduce representation to numbers.

How many women are speaking?

How many Black people are attending?

How many people of color are represented?

Those numbers matter, but representation should go deeper than a photograph or a diversity statistic.

A room can look diverse and still not feel inclusive.

You can put ten different types of people in a room and still have only one perspective driving the conversation.

For Black women entrepreneurs, that matters because our businesses are not being built in a vacuum.

We're navigating entrepreneurship through the intersection of race, gender, culture, family, economics, community expectations, and our individual circumstances. Those things don't disappear simply because we walk into a business conference.

Research supports the importance of networks and peer relationships in entrepreneurship. A 2025 study published in Small Business Economics found that women entrepreneurs often rely on peer support in environments where institutional support is limited, and importantly, the research also recognized women as active providers of support to other entrepreneurs—not simply recipients of it.

That distinction is important to me.

Because Black women don't just need people to help us.

We have a tremendous amount to offer one another.

We Are Not Short on Brilliant Black Women

Let's start there.

There are Black women building companies, launching products, creating agencies, opening brick-and-mortar businesses, developing technology, managing teams, creating intellectual property, buying commercial property, investing, consulting, manufacturing, designing, teaching, and creating businesses from the ground up.

The numbers are substantial.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest business-owner data, Black or African American-owned businesses accounted for approximately 4.4 million nonemployer businesses in 2023, representing 14.4% of all U.S. nonemployer businesses. Those businesses generated approximately $128.7 billion in receipts. Black-owned employer businesses numbered about 201,000 and generated approximately $249 billion in receipts.

So when we talk about creating stronger spaces for Black entrepreneurs, we're not talking about some tiny niche of people who have decided to "try entrepreneurship."

We're talking about millions of businesses.

Millions of ideas.

Millions of dollars moving through our communities.

And behind those businesses are people who need information, relationships, resources, support, and opportunities to grow.

The question isn't whether the talent exists.

The talent is already here.

The question is whether we're building enough infrastructure around it.

Sometimes What We Need Is Not Another Tutorial

Here's where HolleyWood Consulting has a somewhat unpopular opinion.

The internet has made information incredibly accessible.

You can find a YouTube video explaining how to build a Shopify store. You can search Google for how to write a business plan. You can find a TikTok explaining how to create an email campaign. You can ask an AI tool to give you 50 content ideas before you've finished your coffee.

We have information coming at us from every direction.

So when an entrepreneur says, "I need help," the answer shouldn't always be:

"Here, watch this video."

Sometimes they need to talk.

Sometimes they need context.

Sometimes they need somebody to say, "I've done this before, and here's what I wish somebody had told me."

There's a difference between knowing information and understanding how to apply it to your actual life and business.

That's where relationships become valuable.

You can Google "how to raise your prices," but Google doesn't know that you're afraid you'll lose your three biggest clients.

You can search "how to hire your first employee," but a blog post doesn't know that you're struggling with the idea of giving up control after building everything yourself.

You can watch a video about marketing, but that video doesn't know that you're selling a product to a completely different audience than the person teaching the strategy.

Context matters.

And sometimes context comes from conversation.

We Need Places Where We Can Tell the Truth

Entrepreneurship has become very polished online.

Everybody is scaling.

Everybody is booked.

Everybody is hitting six figures.

Everybody has a morning routine that apparently begins at 4:30 a.m. and includes journaling, meditation, Pilates, green juice, and closing three deals before breakfast.

Meanwhile, some of us are sitting at our desks thinking:

"Girl, I don't even know what I'm doing today."

And that's okay.

Business is not always pretty.

Sometimes sales are slow.

Sometimes the strategy you thought was brilliant doesn't work.

Sometimes you hire the wrong person.

Sometimes you spend money you shouldn't have spent.

Sometimes you realize you have outgrown your original business model.

Sometimes you are successful on paper and still exhausted.

Sometimes you need to admit that you don't know something.

A healthy entrepreneurial space should make it possible to say those things without feeling like you've failed.

Research on female-only business networks has found that women can seek out these spaces specifically because they want connection with like-minded people and environments where they feel safe, supported, and understood.

That doesn't mean everybody in the room needs to agree with you.

It means you should be able to be honest enough to learn.

Let's Talk About the "Crab in the Barrel" Conversation

Now let's get into the part that may make somebody clutch their pearls.

There is a perception of gatekeeping within Black professional and entrepreneurial spaces. There are also real experiences of competition, scarcity, mistrust, and the "crab in the barrel" mentality.

We don't have to pretend those things don't exist.

Sometimes people are afraid to share information because they think somebody else will become competition.

Sometimes entrepreneurs won't make introductions because they're worried about losing a client.

Sometimes people hold onto resources as if there is only one seat at the table.

And sometimes we have been taught—directly or indirectly—that if we want to get ahead, we need to get ahead before somebody else does.

But I think we have to challenge that thinking.

Because there is a difference between protecting your intellectual property and hoarding basic information.

There is a difference between having healthy competition and treating every other entrepreneur like a threat.

And there is a difference between knowing the value of your expertise and believing that you have to hide everything you know in order to stay valuable.

At HolleyWood Consulting, we believe there is room for all three things: competition, collaboration, and community.

You can be good at what you do and still tell somebody else how you figured something out.

You can refer a customer to another business and still have a profitable company.

You can teach somebody something without giving away your entire business model.

And you can celebrate another woman's success without questioning your own.

Sharing Information Doesn't Mean Giving Away Your Business

This is something we feel strongly about at HolleyWood Consulting.

We are a business.

We charge for our expertise.

We charge for our time.

We charge for strategy, implementation, design, development, marketing, optimization, and the years of experience that allow us to look at a problem and know where to start.

We believe professional expertise has value.

But we also don't believe that every basic piece of information needs to be locked behind a paywall.

If someone asks us what makes a good homepage, we're going to tell them.

If somebody wants to know why their website isn't converting, we're happy to give them some things to consider.

If an entrepreneur asks us what SEO actually does, we're not going to respond with, "Book a $1,500 consultation to find out."

Because let's be honest: some of this information is readily available.

And we're not interested in pretending it isn't.

Our value comes from being able to take information and turn it into strategy, implementation, and results.

That's a much higher level of service.

Information Isn't Transformation

This is also why we're cautious about the way business education is sold online.

There are excellent courses out there. There are phenomenal educators. We are not anti-course.

But we do question the idea that paying $1,500 for a course automatically means you've received a $1,500 transformation.

If you spend $1,500 on a course, watch 27 hours of videos, download 14 worksheets, and finish with the same question you started with—"Okay, but how do I actually do this for MY business?"—then you bought information.

And information has value.

But information and implementation are not the same thing.

Sometimes the entrepreneur doesn't need another PDF.

They need somebody to look at their actual business and say, "Here's what I would do first."

They need to understand why a strategy makes sense for them, what doesn't apply to them, and what they should prioritize with the resources they actually have.

That is where consulting and strategic support come in.

And honestly, that's why we believe education and paid services can coexist.

Teach people what you know. Charge when you're doing the work with them.

There is room for both.

Safe Does Not Mean Soft

When we talk about safe entrepreneurial spaces, we don't mean spaces where everybody gets a participation trophy.

We don't mean spaces where nobody can disagree.

We don't mean spaces where everybody tells you your idea is amazing even when it clearly needs work.

That's not community.

That's just expensive cheerleading.

A safe space should actually make it easier to have honest conversations.

You should be able to say, "I think your pricing is too low," without somebody taking it as an attack.

You should be able to say, "That business model doesn't seem sustainable," without trying to tear someone down.

You should be able to admit that you're struggling without being embarrassed.

And you should be able to receive feedback without feeling like someone is rooting against you.

We need spaces where honesty and love can exist in the same conversation.

Because sometimes love sounds like, "Girl, I think you need to raise that price."

And sometimes love sounds like, "You are doing way too much. You need help."

And sometimes love sounds like, "That idea is good, but I don't think you're ready to spend $20,000 on it yet."

That's the kind of conversation you can have when there is trust.

Networking Is Not the Same as Building Relationships

We've all been to the networking event.

You walk into a room, someone hands you a name tag, everybody exchanges business cards, and somebody says, "We should definitely connect!"

Then you go home with 37 business cards and never speak to 35 of those people again.

Technically, you networked.

But did you build relationships?

Probably not.

Relationship building takes time.

It happens when you sit down with somebody over dinner and actually learn about their business. It happens when someone remembers what you told them six months ago and checks in. It happens when you hear about an opportunity and immediately think, "I know somebody who would be perfect for this."

That is a network.

Not a contact list.

Research on Black women entrepreneurs has also highlighted the importance of actively seeking networks and communities where women feel belonging, while showing that those relationships can provide access to advice, resources, and opportunities.

And that makes sense.

The best business relationships aren't always the people who can immediately buy something from you.

Sometimes they're the person who knows the person who needs you.

Sometimes they're the person who has already made the mistake you're about to make.

Sometimes they're the person who will tell you the truth when everybody else is telling you what you want to hear.

That's valuable.

What If We Created More Rooms Around the Table?

This is the part that excites us.

What would happen if we stopped thinking about entrepreneurial events as massive rooms filled with hundreds of people and started thinking about smaller, more intentional spaces?

Imagine a founder dinner with twelve women.

Not twelve people trying to sell each other something.

Twelve women sitting around a table talking honestly about business.

What are you building?

What's working?

What's not?

Where are you stuck?

What have you learned?

What do you need?

What can you offer?

Now imagine doing that over a weekend retreat.

Or a business planning day.

Or a small-group mastermind.

Or even a trip where the itinerary includes education, networking, experiences, and time to actually get to know one another.

That's the kind of entrepreneurial community we're interested in exploring.

Not another event where you take a picture in front of a step-and-repeat and leave with a tote bag full of flyers.

We want something people remember because the relationships lasted.

We Need Entrepreneurial Spaces, Not Just Entrepreneurial Events

There's a difference.

An event has a start time and an end time.

A community continues.

A good entrepreneurial space can become a place where you return when you have a question, an opportunity, a problem, or something worth celebrating.

Maybe you meet someone at a founder dinner and six months later you're collaborating.

Maybe someone refers you a client.

Maybe you connect with a mentor.

Maybe you find a vendor.

Maybe you discover a business partner.

Maybe you simply find somebody who understands what you're going through.

And yes, sometimes the most valuable thing that comes out of a business gathering is a relationship that doesn't immediately produce revenue.

That's okay.

Not every relationship has to be monetized.

Some relationships are valuable because they make you a better entrepreneur.

We Don't Have to Build Alone to Prove We Can

There is a lot of pride in the entrepreneurial world around doing everything yourself.

"I built this from nothing."

"I figured it out on my own."

"I didn't have anybody."

We understand that pride.

But I don't think doing everything alone should be the goal.

Sometimes doing everything alone is resilience.

Sometimes it's necessity.

And sometimes it's simply exhaustion that we've learned to call independence.

There is nothing impressive about spending six months figuring out something that someone in your network could have helped you understand in an afternoon.

There is nothing noble about burning yourself out because you were afraid to ask for help.

And you don't get extra points because you made every mistake without anybody warning you first.

We can still be strong women and let people help us.

In fact, knowing when to ask for help is often part of becoming a stronger business owner.

The Village Doesn't Build the Business For You

Let's be clear about something else.

Community isn't a replacement for work.

Nobody is coming to build your business for you.

You still have to execute.

You still have to make decisions.

You still have to learn.

You still have to take risks.

You still have to be accountable when something doesn't work.

But imagine doing all of that while having people around you who understand the journey.

People who can challenge you.

People who can celebrate you.

People who can refer you.

People who can tell you when you're making a bad decision.

People who can say, "I've been there."

That's not weakness.

That's infrastructure.

Black Women Don't Need Another Room Where We Have to Prove We Belong

We already know how to prove ourselves.

We've been doing that.

What we need more of are rooms where we can put some of that energy toward building.

We need rooms where Black women can be ambitious without being labeled intimidating.

We need rooms where asking questions doesn't make us look inexperienced.

We need rooms where success doesn't require us to pretend we have everything figured out.

We need rooms where we can talk about money, marketing, hiring, leadership, burnout, visibility, access, family, confidence, and growth without having to reduce the conversation to a motivational quote.

We need rooms where we can learn from women who are five steps ahead of us and share with women who are five steps behind us.

Because everybody knows something.

And everybody is still learning something.

Maybe We Should Stop Waiting for Someone Else to Build the Room

This is where I think the conversation gets really interesting.

Maybe the answer isn't waiting for another organization to create the perfect conference.

Maybe it isn't waiting for someone to invite us to the right table.

Maybe we should build more of our own tables.

Not because we don't want to sit at anyone else's.

Not because we think everyone outside our community has nothing to teach us.

And definitely not because we believe Black women should only work with Black women.

That's not the message.

The message is that intentional spaces have value.

There is room for broader entrepreneurial communities, industry-specific communities, women-only communities, Black women-focused communities, LGBTQ+ entrepreneur communities, local founder groups, and everything in between.

Different rooms serve different purposes.

And we should be intentional about creating the rooms we wish existed.

What Would Your Ideal Entrepreneurial Space Look Like?

This is something we're genuinely thinking about at HolleyWood Consulting.

Maybe it's a founder dinner with twelve women.

Maybe it's a weekend retreat where we spend the morning working on our businesses and the afternoon actually enjoying ourselves.

Maybe it's a trip where we're learning, networking, eating good food, experiencing something new, and making relationships that continue long after we get home.

Maybe it's a small business mastermind where everybody brings one problem to the table and everybody leaves with ideas.

Maybe it's a workshop where you can ask the questions you were too embarrassed to ask in a room full of 300 people.

Maybe it's simply a community where women know that when they say, "I'm stuck," somebody is going to say, "Okay. Let's talk about it."

We don't know exactly what it will look like yet.

And honestly?

We don't think we should decide without asking the women we're trying to serve.

So We're Starting With a Conversation

At HolleyWood Consulting, we believe business education should be accessible, practical, and honest.

We believe expertise should be paid for, but basic knowledge shouldn't be unnecessarily gatekept.

We believe entrepreneurs deserve professional services when they need strategy and implementation, but they also deserve communities where they can learn from one another.

We believe competition doesn't have to eliminate collaboration.

We believe another woman's success doesn't take anything away from ours.

And we believe Black women entrepreneurs deserve spaces where they can build relationships that extend beyond a single networking event.

The latest Census data shows just how significant Black entrepreneurship already is in this country. The opportunity now is not simply to count the businesses. It's to think about the ecosystems that help those businesses survive, grow, hire, collaborate, and create lasting wealth.

That's a conversation worth having.

The Room Matters

The room matters because the people in it matter.

The conversation matters because the context matters.

The relationships matter because entrepreneurship was never meant to be an entirely solitary pursuit.

We can teach each other.

We can refer each other.

We can collaborate.

We can challenge each other.

We can celebrate each other.

We can compete without becoming enemies.

We can charge for our expertise without hiding everything we know.

And we can build businesses that are profitable while still believing in community.

At HolleyWood Consulting, that's the kind of entrepreneurial ecosystem we want to see more of.

Not another room where everybody is performing success.

A room where people can actually build it.

A room where we can pull up a chair, bring the real questions, share what we know, learn what we don't, and leave better than we arrived.

Maybe that's the room we need.

And maybe, instead of waiting for someone else to build it, we should build it ourselves.

We Want to Hear From You

If you could design the perfect entrepreneurial space for Black women, what would it look like?

Would you want founder dinners, retreats, business trips, masterminds, workshops, coworking days, intimate networking events, or something completely different?

Join the HolleyWood Consulting newsletter and stay connected as we continue this conversation.

We're not just interested in building an audience.

We're interested in building community.

And if we're going to build the room, we want you to have a seat at the table.