The BGV Alumni Insider's Guide: 30+ Books & Podcasts Behind Over $1M in Collective Revenue
- Frantzces Lys
- 6 minutes ago
- 10 min read
The Secret Behind BGV's Success Stories
When we sat down with 15+ Black Girl Ventures pitch competition winners (a sample group who've collectively generated over $1M in revenue) we asked them: What do you actually read and listen to?
Their answers surprised us.
Sure, there were business books. But there was also poetry. True crime podcasts. Spiritual texts. Even meditation apps.
What we discovered wasn't just a reading list. It was a blueprint for building businesses that survive and thrive against all odds.
This isn't your typical entrepreneur resource guide. These recommendations come from women who've pitched their way to victory while receiving only 0.2% of venture funding.
From boundaries that protect your energy to podcasts that sharpen strategic thinking, here's the diverse mix of content that actually shapes BGV success.
The Complete List: 17 Books That Sustained the BGV Alumni
Here's every book recommendation from our interviews, organized by what they actually do for your business.
Business & Leadership Foundation (6 Books)
The practical skills that keep you moving forward
Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Founder:Â Orleatha Smith, Sip Herbals
Business Challenge:Â Navigating problematic vendor relationships and maintaining company integrity during supply chain disruptions.
What It Did:Â Provided framework for making difficult business decisions when their co-packer tripled rates and demanded immediate payment, helping maintain focus on customer commitments while transitioning to new manufacturing partners.
Result:Â These boundary skills helped her grow Sip Herbals to serve over 600,000 cups and build a customer base of 22,000+ people, all while maintaining her integrity and vision.
Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
Founder:Â Orleatha Smith, Sip Herbals
Business Challenge:Â In a funding landscape where Black women receive only 0.2% of venture capital, communication becomes a survival skill.
Orleatha learned that authentic connection with customers who see themselves as part of the community is more valuable than traditional investor pitches.
What It Did:Â Enhanced communication skills for building authentic customer relationships and navigating complex business partnerships.
Result:Â Enhanced communication skills enabled Orleatha to build authentic customer relationships and navigate complex business partnerships. The result: a loyal customer base of 22,000+ people who became brand champions, plus a strong collaborative relationship with business partner Kelly.
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Founder:Â Tara Levy, Liberated Arts Movement
Business Challenge:Â Building a movement requires service-first leadership.
Tara learned that "my work is not just about me" when a high school student asked to intern with her organization, revealing the larger purpose beyond her personal goals.
What It Did:Â This leadership approach helped her successfully pitch at BGV, secure partnerships with organizations like the Chicago Urban League, and run fully funded programming that serves underrepresented communities.
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
Founder:Â Corie Amos, The Spice Theory
Business Challenge:Â As a physician launching a spice company to address heart disease in Black communities, Corie needed courage to bet on herself.
The book reinforced her belief in taking calculated risks and saying yes to opportunities that align with your mission.
What It Did:Â This "yes" mentality helped her transition from stable physician income to full-time entrepreneurship, launching The Spice Theory as a tribute to her grandmother who died from heart disease.
The Everyday Hero Manifesto by Robin Sharma
Founder:Â Dana Wilson, CHIP
Business Challenge:Â After 15+ years as the only Black woman in financial services, Dana needed strategies for maintaining positivity while fighting systemic exclusion and building a platform to connect Black and Latinx communities with financial professionals.
What It Did:Â "Once you can just put that belief in yourself and truly step fully into all that confidence, it's game-changing. It changes the way you think about your business. It changes the way you scale your business."
Called to Speak Lead & Impact by Wendi Blum & Patricia Wooster
Founder:Â Trudy Armand, HER-MINE
Business Challenge:Â Finding your voice in male-dominated business spaces while building a subscription wellness box company that supports other women entrepreneurs. The book provided frameworks for authentic leadership and public speaking.
What It Did:Â Helped secure B2B partnerships and corporate collaborations, including opportunities to pitch to major companies like Apple.
Inner Foundation & Spirituality (4 Books)
The grounding that sustains you through uncertainty
The Bible
Business Challenge:Â Â Lisa explains: "It's the only book that speaks to every role I play. Mother, entrepreneur, woman, leader."
As a Black woman building a tech company in the male-dominated automotive industry, she needed grounding that transcended business advice.
What It Did:Â Â Biblical principles guide Lisa's decision-making process while building Features First Auto, which has trained over 4,000 corporate drivers.
Her favorite verse, Proverbs 21:5 ("The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty"), keeps her focused on steady progress. For Jasmine, spiritual grounding provided persistence through multiple business pivots and funding challenges with ParentCo.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Founder:Â Rosita Lawrence, Earth By RoRo
Business Challenge:Â Staying present during the chaos of entrepreneurship, especially when bootstrapping a skincare business focused on mature women of color, an underserved market that required patience and persistence.
What It Did:Â Helped navigate major business pivots, recover from financial setbacks, and maintain focus on long-term vision despite daily challenges and setbacks.
The Power Within Me by Annice E Fisher
Founder:Â Tara Levy, Liberated Arts Movement
Business Challenge:Â Reconnecting with authentic purpose after facing multiple job rejections. "I took it as a sign that maybe I should be creating my own role", the book helped her trust that inner voice.
What It Did:Â This self-discovery work sparked the creation of Liberated Arts Movement, leading to partnerships and fully funded programming that serves communities through art and creativity.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Founder:Â Halima Hubbard, Bath Notes
Business Challenge:Â As a founder who created Bath Notes after struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety, Halima found Maya Angelou's story of overcoming trauma through self-expression deeply resonant. "I felt very alone... It was just my time for peace."
What It Did:Â Angelou's resilience narrative helped Halima transform her own healing journey into a business that serves others dealing with stress and mental health challenges, breaking generational patterns around mental health awareness.
Creative Expression & Identity (4 Books)
The inspiration that unlocks innovation
Love by Bell Hooks
Founder:Â Brittany, Butter'd Bodycare
Business Challenge:Â Building authentic brand in oversaturated beauty market.
What It Did:Â Maintained integrity while scaling, created community sharing transformation stories.
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
Founder:Â Rhonda Daniels, Natural Radiant Life.
Business Challenge:Â Â Stories of resilience and reinvention after major life setbacks. After being laid off from what she thought was her dream job, Rhonda needed perspectives on how setbacks can become setups for something greater.
What It Did:Â The themes of perseverance helped her navigate Natural Radiant Life through a challenging three-month rebranding process, trademark disputes, and positioning the company for retail expansion.
Tupac A Rose That Grew From Concrete
Why it's essential:Â As an educator turned entrepreneur helping students become published authors, Star connects deeply with Tupac's message of rising above circumstances. "Like 64% of students cannot read at proficiency level, but every student has a story worth telling."
Real impact:Â This poetry collection reinforces her mission at SerenelyStar Publishing, where she's helped 37 students develop manuscripts and guided students to graduation and college scholarships. "I measure success through the mastery of students elevating themselves in their lives."
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
Why it's essential:Â Unlocking creative problem-solving for innovative products. Building a multi-unit trolley system for hair stylists required sustained creativity and belief in an original vision that others didn't initially understand.
Real impact:Â Sustained her through 6+ years of product development, patent processes, and manufacturing challenges. The creative practices helped her maintain faith in her vision when facing repeated rejections and funding challenges.
Financial Mindset & Systems Thinking (3 Books)
The frameworks that shift your relationship with resources
Money Does Grow on Trees by Esra Banguoglu Ogut
Founder:Â Rosita Lawrence, Earth By RoRo
Business Challenge:Â Shifting mindset about money and abundance in business. Moving from scarcity thinking that was keeping her stuck to abundance thinking that enabled strategic growth and calculated risks.
What It Did:Â Helped transition from emotional decision-making around money to strategic business growth planning, enabling her to make calculated investments in product development and marketing.
Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution by Elie Mystal
Founder:Â Kenyatta Forbes, Trading Races
Business Challenge:Â Understanding legal frameworks that shape racial dynamics in America.
As the creator of a card game designed to facilitate difficult conversations about race and Black culture, deep constitutional knowledge strengthens the educational impact.
What It Did:Â Strengthened her ability to create educational content that's both accessible and legally informed.
Trading Races has been featured on Vice News and helps people navigate complex racial conversations in educational settings.
Real by Carol Cujec
Founder:Â Corie Amos, The Spice Theory
Business Challenge:Â Staying authentic while building in competitive markets. Building a business while working as a physician and raising young children required staying grounded in authenticity rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
What It Did:Â Â Helped her maintain focus on her core mission of creating low-sodium spice blends for Black and Brown communities, rather than diluting her vision to chase broader markets or trends.
The BGV Podcast Rotation: 11+ Shows That Shape Success
While books provide deep foundations, podcasts offer real-time insights and ongoing motivation. Here's what BGV winners listen to and why it matters for building resilient businesses.
Mental Health as Business Foundation
Because your mental state directly impacts your business performance
The most-mentioned resource across interviews.
Why it's critical: Multiple founders credit this show with helping them rebuild after complicated partnerships, navigate imposter syndrome, and maintain resilience.
Who swears by it: Orleatha (Sip Herbals), Corie (The Spice Theory), Dana (CHIP)
Why they matter:Â Address unique stressors Black women entrepreneurs face, providing frameworks for processing systemic barriers.
Business Strategy & Funding Intelligence
Learning from those who understand the 0.2% funding reality
Who uses it:Â Dana Wilson, CHIP
Learning fundraising strategies from investors who understand the unique challenges facing women of color entrepreneurs.
Who uses it:Â Corie (The Spice Theory)
Practical business advice tailored to women building while balancing multiple responsibilities.
Cultural Intelligence & Strategic Thinking
Staying current while sharpening analytical skills
Who uses it:Â Kenyatta Forbes, Trading Races
"The 2011 Kanye is very different from the 2022 Kanye," says Kenyatta. Staying current with cultural conversations keeps educational content relevant.
Who uses it: Rhonda Daniels, Natural Radiant Life, Kenyatta Forbes, Trading Races
Why true crime matters for entrepreneurs: These shows develop analytical thinking and attention to detail. Critical skills for investigating market opportunities and assessing business partnerships.
Complete Podcast Library:
Mel Robbins (motivation/mindset)
Small Doses with Amanda Seales (cultural commentary)
WorkLife with Adam Grant (organizational psychology)
The Shade Room (cultural trends, not a podcast))
Revolution Ramblings hosted by Amber Khan (activism/social change)
Trials to Triumphs hosted by Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins (overcoming challenges)
I Survivor (resilience stories)
Joe Budden (cultural analysis)
The Sakita Method (business strategy)
4 Success Themes Among BGV Alumni
After analyzing all these recommendations, a clear pattern emerged. Four core principles kept showing up, and here's how they work together to create sustainable success:
Theme 1: Boundaries as Business Strategy
"You can't pour from an empty cup."
The Foundation:Â Personal boundaries directly impact business decisions and long-term sustainability.
Key Resource:Â Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Real Example:Â Orleatha Smith (Sip Herbals)Â used boundary-setting frameworks to navigate a major supply chain crisis.
Theme 2: Communication as Competitive Advantage
"When you get 0.2% of VC funding, every conversation counts."
The Foundation:Â Authentic relationships become your lifeline when traditional funding isn't available.
Key Resource:Â Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
Real Example:Â Multiple BGV winners built partnerships and community support through strategic relationship-building rather than relying on investor pitch decks.
Theme 3: Cultural Intelligence as Market Insight
"Your identity is your insight and your competitive advantage."
The Foundation:Â Understanding your community's needs creates products that serve with authenticity.
Key Resource:Â I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Real Example:Â Halima (Bath Notes)Â transformed personal postpartum struggles into a business serving others with mental health challenges.
Theme 4: Strategic Creativity
"Business problems require both analytical thinking and creative solutions."
The Foundation:Â Innovation comes from balancing strategic thinking with artistic expression.
Key Resource:Â Multiple creative works and strategic business books.
Real Example:Â Khadijah (Davis Beauty Solutions)Â sustained 6+ years of product development when building her patented multi-unit trolley system for hair stylists.
The BGV Alumni Secret: It's About Integration, Not Just Information
These entrepreneurs don't just consume content, they apply it strategically. Lisa Bailey uses Proverbs 21:5 as her operational philosophy for steady growth, while Dana Wilson transforms therapy insights into empathy-driven business strategy.
The difference: They ask themselves how each resource applies to their specific challenges, what actions they can take immediately, and how to share insights with their entrepreneurial community.
Here's What Happens Next
These aren't just 30+ random recommendations. They're the proven foundation for building businesses that thrive against all odds.
The Black Girl Ventures entrepreneurs who shared these resources have shown us something important: when you invest in your complete development (mental, spiritual, creative, strategic) alongside your business skills, you create something unstoppable.
Ready to start building like a powerhouse BGV Alumni?
Your First Move:Â
Save this guide - Bookmark it for when you need it Pick one book - Which speaks to your biggest challenge right now?Â
Choose 3 podcasts - Start with Therapy for Black Girls, Your First Million, and one that makes you curious.Â
Tell us your choice - Tag @blackgirlventures and share which resource you're starting with.Â
Join the community - Apply for upcoming pitch competitions and connect at BGV Connect.
Explore More Founder Stories:
Here's the truth: Every BGV alumni started exactly where you are now. The difference? They created a learning library to guide them.
Now you can begin creating yours too with this helpful guide.
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