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Presence, Purpose, and the Boardroom Reset · Black Business Live Podcast

• 0:04
  Tolu Akindunni: Welcome to the Black Business Live Podcast. We are here to amplify black culture, innovation, and excellence. And we are so pleased to be here at the onset of season two of our podcast, and we are putting a nod towards the Women's History Month celebrations with the theme Leading the Change, Women Shaping a Sustainable Future. And in the studio today, I've got a woman that truly embodies all that. She has been a sales executive.
• 0:34
  She has been the executive director of Dress for Success Dallas. She is now currently the chapter president of the National Association of Women Business Owners in the Dallas chapter Fort Worth. But that's not all. Lady is really she's really leading the change. She is the president, CEO, and founder of the Black Charity Boardroom.
• 0:59
  She's also the CEO of the Confident Woman, the Confident with a k, and she's known for a special cat catwalk, which we'll be talking about very soon and and she has also recently launched a book. So join me to welcome the incomparable, Ms. Karen KJ Johnson.
• 1:20
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Tolu, thank you so much. It is truly an honor and privilege to be with you today. I think them accolades is probably a little bit much, but we're gonna we're gonna embrace it. You're gonna embrace it.
• 1:32
  Tolu Akindunni: Honestly, the one that I've been I've been so excited to have you on the podcast because, like I said, what you truly embody, and it's not just about being a visionary leader, yes, you can be a visionary leader, but you are also a leader who is driving change and impact in multiple directions and dimensions, thank you for just being part of our season two of the podcast.
• 1:56
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Yes, well thanks again for having me. Glad to be here.
• 1:59
  Tolu Akindunni: Yeah, and you're looking very glammed up, Oh my. Very glammed up, poised and positioned. Yes. Yeah! And I can see right behind you, you've got your Book
• 2:10
  Tell us, how has that been?
• 2:11
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: My goodness, let me tell you, has just been a journey and I absolutely love it. And so many times, right, when you start to start this process of writing a book, you know nerves come up, right, because it's like wait a minute, like somebody really is gonna be reading this book, right, you hope. And it was actually like a two year journey, you know, I would pick it up, begin writing it, then I would put it down, right, and start doing other things. And it was last October, you know, God said, are you gonna finish what I told you to do, right? And I said, oh my goodness, let me get back to it.
• 2:51
  And so I did and you know, I'm just super excited to write because the book is not about us becoming woman, it's really about owning who we already are, who God created us to be. Yes. And so the framework in the book is warrior, overcomer, masterpiece, anointed, noble queen. So it's helping you to realize, right, and you've heard this before, right, it's already in you, but we don't really embrace that and we truly don't own it and so I wrote the book to really help us understand, you are everything you need, you're already poised and positioned for your purpose because I believe that each one of us comes here with a purpose and many times we struggle, to figure out what that is because we believe it should be difficult, it should be complicated, we had to go to school for it, we had to write, and it's none of that. Because your purpose, right, is at the end of the day, you're using your gifts and your talents and your gifts and talents come to you easy, right?
• 3:59
  And it's really about, really when you look at it overall, it's really about just helping people, right, really get back to Christ. At the end of the day, everything we do, right, is really to get people back to Christ.
• 4:15
  Tolu Akindunni: Absolutely and the bible talks about us being made in the image and the likeness Absolutely. Of So being poised and positioned truly is just helping you to be poised to the likeness and the image of who you are, who
• 4:26
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Exactly, you're born to And what happens is that society, cultures, our family culture, religious beliefs, maybe in how they teach some things, right, can really lead you down a path of you truly not owning who you are, right, because we're so busy, right, I even, and I have a signature talk, right, that is entitled Who Do You Think You Are, right, and in that I talk about how as little girls, right, we were taught that little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice and so when you think about that, it's being agreeable, right, it's being sweet, but there's no emphasis on our spice.
• 5:12
  Tolu Akindunni: Yes, that's Right?
• 5:13
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: So then when you speak up for yourself, people are like, oh wait. Wait, wait a minute.
• 5:18
  Tolu Akindunni: She's aggressive. Right, yeah. They say something like that, oh yeah, oh she's so fiesty,
• 5:22
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Exactly,but you forgot I was made of sugar and spice. And spice. Right and so many times, right, we double down on who we are, right, society says women shouldn't be doing A and women shouldn't be doing B, right, and those type things, but really you're not owning who you truly are, so we suppress a lot of things, we learn to navigate right according to what makes other people comfortable, right, and you truly do not feel good and authentic about who you are, right, because we end up compartmentalizing, right, you're one way at work, you're one way at home, you're one way in the park, right, but no, you need to own all of who you are, right, in all the spaces, right? And I tell you to occupy the space.
• 6:13
  Tolu Akindunni: Yes, yes, indeed. And I've been doing a lot of reading and just talking to people generally on that topic, it's just bringing your whole self. I know that's like a cliche word in the business world, bring your whole What does it mean to bring your whole self to work? It's bringing your whole self even when your hair is not done correctly, even when your child has been wailing and making you late for work, even when the husband is, like, you know, on your face. It's the whole self and being able to embrace that in a very unique way is quite important.
• 6:43
  So, I'm gonna move very quickly because there's a number of things that I really want to dig into you. First of all, let's start from your sales background, okay? Because you've been in sales for many decades, you've trained sales people, you kind of Absolutely. And you still teach sales till I do. Now, sales in itself, it brings a certain type of urgency, right?
• 7:06
  Because, you know, you wanna, it's revenue driven and you have a goal, right? But I'm twisting it a little bit because I wanted to talk about your Black Charity Boardroom and let's look at that through the lens of a sales professional trying to influence the way leadership steers organizations in a non profit environment, especially when there is a mission and a cause. Absolutely. So, tell us a little bit about that.
• 7:34
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Yeah, so I love this question, right, because many times people try to figure out, girl you was a sales executive, right, you was training folks, you was teaching leaders, and how are you doing board governance? Yeah, yeah, That doesn't quite make sense, but it does, right, when you really think about it and it's one of the things that I taught salespeople, right, at the end of the day, if sales does not bring in the revenue, the organization what, ceased to exist, right. A lot of times operations thinks that it's them, right, but I remind them, right, operations can't do what they do until sales brings in, right, the revenue. And so when you think about that, that's a performance, right, they are always needing to perform. It is accountability, right, in alignment with to execute the strategy.
• 8:26
  Absolutely. And when you think about boards, boards is that same level, right, but just at a higher level, right. So usually they establish that strategy, right. And so what I've done is that I've been a part of non profit boards for over twenty years as well And so what I saw is that when a board may be not fully in their governsing role, right, can actually weaken or strengthen the strategy, right. So what I learned is through all of that is in helping the sales executives, right, understand the importance of accountability and performance because at the end of the day they are executing the strategy that the board gave.
• 9:15
  Yep. Right, you understand what I'm saying? And so any time that the board is not in alignment, right, and fully not understanding what ops is doing, right, that can erode the mission. So I, and I really got an opportunity right in the nonprofit sector because what a lot of people don't understand, Tolu, is that nonprofit boards are different from for profit boards, right, and here's the deal, many for profit boards are paid to be on the board, alright, the for profit organization makes money, so they don't have to worry about that. So they can easily kind of help the senior leadership right in that strategy, in that growth, in scale, alright and truly stay in the governed seat.
• 10:05
  In the non profit world, the board in approving the strategy has to also financially support So the many times they are not paid and they also have to use their network to help fund the very strategy that they approved. But what I've seen in our black led non profits is that many times the board is a working board and what do I mean by that? They should be governsing and doing operations but many times when you have a working board, they move strictly into operations and governsing is not happening, accountability is not happening, we're very reactive right to what we need to do and I usually try to share with them, guys I need you to understand this, you can't be poor helping the poor.
• 11:04
  Tolu Akindunni: Yes, that's God blessed us to be a blessing, right? You're blessed to be a blessing, you cannot be poor.
• 11:11
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Right, you know, and you're trying to, you know, you're trying to make an impact in the community, right, and so how can you do, because think about this too, right, if you're on a board that is a working board, let's think about what's happening, okay. So you're trying to, right, work on the mission, but you also have a job. Yeah. Or you have a business, you have a family, right, you have yourself you have to take care of, so when you think about that, there's just really not enough of you to go around. Oh yeah.
• 11:41
  Right, because you need a paid staff, you see what I'm saying, who can really focus in on the organization every single day just like you would at a regular job, And so that really becomes a challenge, so many of them stay in the survival mode. And I'll tell you this Tolu, right, and speaking just being transparent, being open and honest, right, because I also think that that's missing. You know, many times in our culture, right, we get a title and we think we all of that, that's it, right? So oh, I am the board chair, oh, I am the vice chair. Tell you what.
• 12:21
  Yes, you what, yes. And then don't want to, because you have to then sit down, right, take a step back and say, are we truly moving the mission forward? Are we really moving the organization forward? There are many boards that I have worked with, they don't even have performance reviews of the CEO. How do you determine whether they're adhering to the admission and growing the organization, right?
• 12:52
  You have, they're not even doing performance review of themselves, right? So many times it's just we're doing the same most same, we're being very reactive, right, to what we're doing so five years down the road, ten years down the road, you look at it and you still have the same 10 members, right, you still got the same two sponsors, right, and you haven't helped any more people than you helped last year, right, that's survival mode. In fact I wrote an article the other day that really talked about, oh it looks good, on the outside looking in, oh it looks like they are really making a difference. But if you was to shine a spotlight on the inside you'll see the erosion because what ends up happening, board members become burnout. We burned out and then Right, when you're a working board, oh my goodness because you're trying to put on all this and here's another thing, we believe putting on events brings in revenue.
• 13:49
  Yeah. Many times, putting on events helps you to break even. Even,
• 13:53
  Tolu Akindunni: and yeah, no, you're unpacking so much and, you know, because what you're referring to is not just for non profits, it's for even any organisation, but especially for non profits because you have a mission.
• 14:06
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Right.
• 14:07
  Tolu Akindunni: And if you're mission focused, you need to feel the mission, is exactly But what you're at the same time, you also need to evaluate that mission from time to time and rethink your strategy to the second Not to change or pivot all the time, but there are times where you've got to look at your performance, look at the data, look at the analytics, at the concrete bits of information, then make strategic decisions based on what the evidence tells you and drive that to move the organization forward. And the distinction between a working board or a board whose role is for strategy and direction and those who are operational and executing. I think that's very important because when we talk about shaping a sustainable future, the word there is sustainable. Absolutely. To be sustainable, you've got to realize where you sit in that spectrum.
• 14:58
  Are you driving, shaping, strategizing, governing, or are you doing? Right? You gotta figure out where it is because if you cannot do GOAT, you will burn out. You will burn out. And that's exactly what you're saying.
• 15:12
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Yeah, exactly. So, that's, you know, I love the work that I'm doing because many of them, right, are starting to like, oh wait, I hadn't thought about it like that. Yeah. You know, and many times too and I'll put this out here, we have not received the proper board training. Right.
• 15:29
  To really understand, right? There's three main duties that board members have, duty of care, duty of loyalty, duty of obedience, right? And so what does that mean? Duty of care is making sure that when you receive the financial report and any documents right, that you are reviewing them, you understand the bylaws, right? You come prepared to the board meetings to truly ask questions because you have to make sure that you understand this duty of care, Yes.
• 15:58
  Duty of obedience is not just doing what the board church say, but it's really about making sure the bylaws are adhered to and that you adhere to the state laws, right, so that you get in no legal trouble, right, you also have to understand duty of loyalty, right, so what is duty of loyalty? You have to ensure that there's no conflict of interest. So as a board member, you cannot be in the position, right, trying to get business for yourself, right, or trying to benefit you professionally, right, that's not what it's about. It's about always putting the organization first so when you're making decisions, why you have to be sure, right, that there's no conflict of interest. And I tell board members all the time, if you introduce an organization to write the nonprofit because you wanna do work with them and maybe you do know them, it's just that when it's time to vote, you have to excuse yourself from the vote, right, and that's okay, you know what I'm saying, because you make sure, you don't want anybody to come back and say, well did they do that because of the relationship there?
• 17:06
  Like you don't want anybody to ever question why decisions was made. So you just excuse yourself from the vote, right? And if you presented a good case, the board will vote and guess what, the And person will get the if not, guess what, that's okay too, right. So it's just understanding, right, those main duties, right, and ensuring that, you know, there's funds available, right, because again you have to pay the staff, you have to make sure if you're in a suite, you've got to pay rent, there are things that operationally has to be paid, but at the same time you need funds for programs for the people that you truly are trying to make a difference for in their lives.
• 17:45
  Tolu Akindunni: Oh my god, KJ, you've unpacked so much, so much because, you know, as you know, I was the chapter president for NABO DFW and I also supported several non profits as well, so you're just like pouring out the things that I would love to share. But thank you for bringing this to our platform. Yes. We have, like I said, in our community, people are mission focused. The mission is not a problem.
• 18:07
  That's alright. The people is not a problem. It's actually the head on the pyramid, getting that strategy right. Absolutely. That is where the problem sometimes is, not all the time,
• 18:18
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: but sometimes.
• 18:18
  Tolu Akindunni: Right. Yeah. And so, let's talk about your journey. Okay. Because, you know, you and then, when we look at you, when we hear about KJ, you're, you know, you you embody the confident woman, right?
• 18:30
  I remember when whenever we wanna take a photo with you, you're like, no, no, no, you do not see that. You don't bow, that on you, stack up straight in your, you know, in your in your full aura. Yes. Yes. But your journey has not always been.
• 18:43
  No. Right? You've had ups and downs, you've had twists
• 18:47
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: and turns. Tell us about that. Yeah. Know what, and I love that, right, because that's who, right, has caused me to be who I am today, right, is the ups and downs and so I want everybody to know, right, that the hills and valleys that you go through is okay because you're gonna get a testimony right as a result because at the end of the day, what do I tell you right as part of woman? You're a warrior and you're an overcomer right?
• 19:12
  So you're gonna get through, right, and it's tough right now, so if you can just change your perspective, right, and really think about what lesson, right, am I getting out of this, what testimony am I gonna be able to share. But you know when I think about, you know, when I first started working, I worked at the United States Postal Service, right, why? Because my mom worked there. She was like, all of you are going to work at the post office, right, you don't need no degrees, you make great money, you know, was all of that. And I remember I came out of high school, you know, a year early and my high school principal wanted me to stay in for that fourth year because he thought I would make a great educator, right?
• 19:56
  And so, you know, I went to go share that and my mom was like, no, you coming out.
• 20:02
  Tolu Akindunni: You're going to the post office, thank you.
• 20:04
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: I was so devastated, I was like, Oh my God, right? But it was because, right, I learned later why she was really, she was only sharing with me what she knew. So she thought that they would come up with a reason as to why I couldn't graduate. So she was like, no, you're gonna get out, right? And you're gonna get a great job because you're gonna break the post office because I had already taken the test, right, so she knew that I would get on right with the post office.
• 20:33
  So you know I dealt with that, I got married at a young age, know, and I have a son, oh my god goodness, he's 40 years old. Oh my He will be 40 he's in forty August, right? But you know, and I've worked for major corporations, right, like I said I did sales training and I think it was really when I was doing sales training that, you know, I found myself really helping the sales person, right, to really own who they are. You don't have to fake and shake to make a deal, right? Because I teach in sales that S A L E S simply means serving active leads with extraordinary service.
• 21:14
  Tolu Akindunni: I like that.
• 21:15
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Right? So you're not going after them and making them spend their money for something they don't need, the very product that you have is gonna help them, right, really be able to do what is it that they need and that's how you approach it, right? So you don't have to be afraid, right, feeling like, oh I'm tricking somebody.
• 21:35
  Tolu Akindunni: Yeah, well I'm good enough, what gives me the right to say this? Exactly. It's like you're embracing what you have.
• 21:42
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Right and usually one of the issues that salespeople have, right, is asking for the money, right? And many times that's the case because they're thinking about their own pockets. They may not have it. They may not have it. Right?
• 21:54
  But they're selling. Oh, that's true. Yeah. So they usually not ask, but you got to ask for the deal, right? Ask for the deal, that's gonna, that will line your pocket.
• 22:02
  Absolutely, absolutely. So I remember an experience that I had when I was teaching in corporate America, I remember this Caucasian man was in my class and he came in, you know, arms folded and he said he had been to just many sales class and there was absolutely nothing that I could teach him and I said okay, I mean you know that's alright, I said so maybe you can help me right as I teach the so class this week I'm gonna get you involved. Sales training was a week and by that Thursday he approached me right after class and he said, KJ I just want you to know, you are amazing at what you do, I thought I wouldn't learn anything, but I was so wrong and to this day, right, he is still my little cheerleader. Right, and so it was from all of these experiences, right, that I was like, you know what, I'm not doing anything any different, like I didn't have to go to school to learn to teach, teaching is a gift I And had, while I thought little of it, I thought I needed education, I thought I needed certifications and let me help you today, not saying anything is wrong with neither one of them, if you got education, if you got certifications, you know what I'm saying?
• 23:29
  I'm just telling those that don't have education and don't have certification, I want you to, you ain't got to have it, right? Because your gift is gonna make room for you.
• 23:39
  Tolu Akindunni: It's going to make room for you.
• 23:41
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Yes. Right? You just got to be sure that you're walking in it. So when I think about that, that's really just where everything was coming from. I remember, you know, one of my classmates telling me, Girl, you always leave, you always wanna get in front and Look, I was the choir director for the church at 15 years old Oh.
• 24:00
  Tolu Akindunni: For the adult choir. And oh my god. How did you manage that? Look.
• 24:04
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: I was excited because I got to tell wrong people what to do. Oh my god. So, Tolu, so when I just think about, you know, my experience, right, you know, did I have some struggles? Yes, I mentioned I had gotten married, right, had, you know, went through a divorce, raising my son, you know, by myself, you know, but I never felt like I was in a bad place. Now I will tell you this, and this is an interesting story, unfortunately, right, I went through spousal abuse and I never claimed it because I was like, oh no, that's not what it was like, I didn't get beat up every day.
• 24:42
  I didn't get beat up every other day, right? I didn't get beat up once a week, like so I didn't accept that, right? But it was, I really was abused because unfortunately, right, I was married twice and both of them actually have put their hands on me, right? You're looking at someone has gone through spousal abuse but again I wasn't claiming it, right, because I wasn't gonna let that define who I am because me being hit wasn't me doing something that I should have been doing or not doing, that was on them. And it took me time, right, to really learn that, I didn't learn it immediately, right.
• 25:25
  So for some of you that are out there, you're going through and you thinking, you know, oh my God, why am I here, don't worry about any of that, right, you'll get the lesson later, right, and be okay with that, you know, so I've gone through things, look I have lost a job, I have technically been homeless, so when you say technically, KJ what does technically Technically mean, yeah. Right, I didn't actually live on the streets but I didn't have a home, right, I moved in with my mom initially. When I moved in with her I had to move in with her because look, I got laid off, right, I took my severance package and Tolu this is so crazy, I acted like I didn't even need to work,
• 26:13
  Tolu Akindunni: I was just chilling at the house. Oh, yeah. I'm spending money, you know, just having a good old time. And girl, I looked up and one day, I didn't have rent to pay. I didn't have the rent money to pay.
• 26:26
  Well, what? Apartments don't play.
• 26:28
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: You gonna get put out. You're be kicked out. Right? And so I've gone through that. Right?
• 26:34
  But again, I was like, I'm not homeless. You're you're homeless. Mhmm. Because you got to go live with your mama. You got to meet.
• 26:41
  Right? But later, you know, even through that, it was a blessing. Right? I ended up staying with my mom for ten years and I remember telling her, mom, I'm gonna go. Girl, I'm too grown to be living with you.
• 26:54
  I got to move around. She was like, Girl, you ain't got to be going nowhere, da da da da, you know. And, you know, my mom was 29 years, right, older than me. She had me when she was 29 years and, you know, unfortunately, right, my mom's been gone about a year, so I lost her. Me and my sisters, right, we lost her last January and I thank God because I was there, right, to care for her, you know, toward the end.
• 27:26
  I remember, you know, she was just one day I thought she was fine. Yeah. Right? And next, her health deteriorated and I think about had had I still been living in my own place, we wouldn't have known that because my dad passed twenty five years ago and who would have been there, you know, with her. So it was truly a blessing.
• 27:59
  Yeah. You know, in that. So when I tell you, you know, I've been through some stuff and I want everybody to know we all go through. We all go through stuff. We all go through and during that time, and just like I'm emotional now, you know, there are days I'm fine, but then there are times I'm not and guess what, it's It's okay.
• 28:20
  It's okay, right and I think that's so important for people to know that when you deal with heartache and pain, it's okay. You know, you see the confident woman always out here motivating, encouraging but I have my moments too. But I also know what my purpose is. So when it's time to come do a talk and tell you who do you think you are and I'm a tell you who you are, I'm Absolutely, hearing the right? And so I think that truly makes a difference because so many times we just see the perfect individual, right and guess what, we have scars, we all have scars and I think your scars, right, are there to tell the story, to help that next person, right, who may be struggling to know that it's okay, right, and to use them, thank you, right, to use them, right, to be able to help the next person.
• 29:24
  Absolutely. So, you know, have I, you know, gone through? Absolutely, absolutely. But I wouldn't change a thing.
• 29:32
  Tolu Akindunni: You wouldn't change a thing. So, you've just unpacked so much, you've unpacked marriage, children, grief, sales, career progression, abuse, choir, music, which is a good part of our being as black people. But at the end of the day, you are still poised and positioned. So, I'm gonna wrap up with my last question. Yes.
• 29:59
  And you know what that's gonna be about, right? The KJ catwalk. Yes. Because that catwalk transforms, doesn't it? It does.
• 30:10
  I've seen people stand at the beginning, you know, strut around a little bit, you're like, no, no, no, no, that's not how to do it. And it has transformed me. Yeah. Tell me about one person, tell us.
• 30:23
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: You know what, it's just so interesting, there's a lady who's, you know, she was an army, you know, she's a veteran and you know, she's gone through abuse too to where she's crippled, right? And I remember she was looking for a job, know, she was trying to find a job and was struggling. And she's a beautiful, beautiful young lady. And at the time I was actually, you know, executive director at a nonprofit and right outside of my office was this long hallway and I converted it to the KJ Catwalk. So when the young ladies would get dressed, right, because they've never seen themselves in a suit, know, like that, but I told them that technically, you know, yeah you want your resume to look good but if you don't walk in confident like you can really do the job, your resume is not gonna matter, right?
• 31:22
  So it was really about helping them to boost their confidence right through their presence. Yes. Right, and I want every woman to know that you have presence. When you enter a room, you need to own it because guess what, you do. You do.
• 31:40
  You own the room, right. So you know, I just look, did the song, it was Whitney Houston's I'm Every Woman, right? And so they would, you know, get dressed and I would turn on the music and they would walk down the hall. And so then when I'm in photos, or a group picture or something like that is being taken, women have the tendency to squat down, right, because they're like, well wait a minute, somebody behind me needs to be seen. But I always tell them if you got a great photographer, right, the photographer is going to orchestrate where you need to stand.
• 32:16
  You own your height, right, stop shrinking down and I really believe in doing that is why we shrink ourselves when we walk in rooms, we really don't wanna seen, right, or we go hide over here. No, embrace and own all of your brilliance, own your height, stand up straight and tall, because you are the queen and you need to walk like you own it.
• 32:43
  Tolu Akindunni: Absolutely. This is so, so, so, so, so heartwarming. And to all the ladies out there, it's Women's History Month, we have come we've circled back. We've set up a big boys and position, and we've circled back to that. But you are the queen.
• 32:57
  And to the fathers of girls as well. Your precious girls are the queens and and honestly, you've touched them so much today and I wanna thank you because you've been vulnerable with us. Thank you for being honest and for sharing your story in the truth of it, I mean, the authenticity of it for our community. We have been blown away and we suddenly want to blow you away. The third piece is from our community, so we have a little gift for you here.
• 33:28
  Uh-huh. And it's on behalf of the business owners who are in the grind
• 33:32
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Yes.
• 33:32
  Tolu Akindunni: Building from the grind up I love it. To you.
• 33:35
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Aw. Thank you. Yes. Should I open now? You can open if you want to.
• 33:40
  There's a couple
• 33:41
  Tolu Akindunni: of things there. There's a t shirt.
• 33:44
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Oh, my god. What does it say?
• 33:45
  Tolu Akindunni: If this is from a business called I love you BLK. Oh, this is so nice. So it's all about embracing the color of our skin and using that in the narratives. So Oh, I love that. So it says, it's the BLK part for me.
• 34:05
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Oh, this is perfect. So
• 34:07
  Tolu Akindunni: you can wear that boldly and authentically.
• 34:10
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Yes, I am.
• 34:11
  Tolu Akindunni: And then we've got a little purse as well, a handcrafted purse. So that's so that's the purse and that is hand beaded from scratch from a Nigerian business owner, so that's coming all the way from Africa. It's so pretty. I hate to open, like You can can pull it out from the top. Oh.
• 34:32
  So, yeah. Oh, you can do Yeah. Exactly. Intentionally opened. KJ, open it right.
• 34:37
  Open it right. So that's because you you because it we know you're a lady of glitz and glam. So that's from Folly's Accessories.
• 34:45
  And it's all handmade and beaded one by one. So you can carry that with with that. And we've got a couple of vouchers we can share
• 34:53
  with you. And it has a touch of purple,
• 34:55
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: ladies, because y'all know that that is definitely queen quality right Exactly.
• 34:59
  Tolu Akindunni: That's why we got it for you. So how can we help you? What can we do? What would you like our community to know?
• 35:11
  Karen "KJ" Johnson: Well look, I just released a book called Poised and Positioned for Purpose. And if you would, I'm telling you, you are going to enjoy the book. So you can go to Amazon and make that purchase or you can purchase directly from me because I'll autograph it for you. But again, it's not about you becoming, it's about you remembering who you already are. So I would absolutely love that.
• 35:39
  Tolu Akindunni: Thank you so much, thank you KJ, appreciate it. You're welcome. Remember who you are. Remember the child of whom you are. Remember who you are created for.
• 35:47
  Remember your purpose , And remember your mission. Thank you once again. This is Tolu, the host of the Black Business Live Podcast. We amplify our stories proudly, loudly, and authentically.
• 36:00
  Thank you for joining us today.