The Mentors We Carry: Lessons from Black Business Pioneers

Mentorship doesn’t always happen in person. Sometimes the most powerful mentors are the ones we’ve never met, the pioneers whose wisdom, principles, and example light the way forward. Black History Month may be over, but we still will praise those who came before us.

"I got my start by giving myself a start." - Madam C.J. Walker

We often hear about her strides in the hair care industry. She was America’s first self-made millionaire. She didn’t wait for perfect conditions or permission; she started with what she had. In the BGV community, many of our founders bootstrap, work multiple jobs, and use the savings they have to build their businesses in their living rooms and kitchens.

BGV Alum, Kendra Woolridge, founder of Janet & Jo, learned early on how hard it was to secure capital as a Black woman, especially since she didn’t have fundraising experience. She refused to let these barriers stop her. Janet & Jo is now a multi-award-winning cosmetic company with 13+ toxin-free nail lacquers featured in Allure, Marie Claire, and Ebony Magazine. 

Read more of Kendra’s story here.

“Keep going. No matter what.” - Reginald Lewis

Reginald Lewis became one of the wealthiest Black businessmen in America through strategic acquisitions. He built TLC Beatrice International into a $1.7 billion company. His success came from relentless preparation, discipline, and refusing to accept “no”. 

Every BGV founder who shows up to pitch practice, who rewrites their deck ten times, who knows their financials inside and out, who treats every investor meeting like it matters, they’re carrying Reginald Lewis’s torch. 

It's important to know your numbers, to do the work others won’t do. Knowing the inside and out of your business helps prepare you for when opportunity comes. 

BGV Alum, Sharita Humphrey, an economic development consultant and founder of Change In Motion, LLC, and EcoPower Source Inc., is known for turning insight into action. She helps businesses, individuals, and communities unlock access to funding, economic opportunity, and resilience. She carries Lewis’s torch because she believes empowering communities economically empowers their future.

“Create spaces where we can be our full selves.” - A’lelia Walker

A’lelia Walker turned her Harlem townhouse into a cultural salon during the Harlem Renaissance, creating a space where Black artists, intellectuals, and creatives could gather, collaborate, and thrive. 

Business isn’t just about profit; it's about creating spaces where people can show up authentically. Culture matters. Community matters. The rooms you build and who you invite into them shape everything. 

Omi Bell, founder and CEO of BGV, had this same vision. She turned her Southeast DC apartment into a space where other women pitched their business for the door fee, mimicking the old school rent parties where people helped each other stay in their homes. With this model, they helped them stay in business. Ten years later, BGV has helped over 5,000 businesses receive capital and hire over 5,148 people.

These pioneers may have lived decades or even centuries ago, but their wisdom is alive in every business we build, every pitch we give, every door we open for the founders coming behind us. We carry their mentorship in our strategy, their resilience in our persistence, their vision in our dreams. 

At BGV, we don’t just honor Black History Month; we live it. Every day. In every founder we support, every community we build, every door we open. So, although Black History Month is technically over, we continue to learn and push boundaries every day.

Because we are the answer to our ancestors' prayers. We are the seeds they planted. We are the future they fought for. 

And when we win? We carry them with us.

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