My AfroTech Experience
On Wednesday (11/16/2022) around 12:30ish pm, Morgan DeBaun - the Founder and CEO of Blavity Inc., announced that 5% of those that attended the 2022 AfroTech conference were founders of a company. I sat back and smiled. She was talking about me. I registered for the AfroTech conference very late with trepidation, questioning whether I should be in the room. Sometimes when you’re working on big ideas, as any big idea should…it can scare you. Working on my dream causes me to shake in my boots daily. It is Blavity Inc, the very existence of the brand that consistently shows me that I can make the impossible happen.
The conference was yet another reminder that I, Chara, can achieve anything I envision doing. Buying a ticket to this event was an investment in me and into the social innovation dream that I’m building to transform the next generation.
It wouldn’t surprise you to know that I set my schedule to make sure I attended sessions whereby founders sat and told their stories. While driving to Austin on that Sunday, I needed to practice my elevator speech. Not being prepared was not an option. I turned my music off and repeated my speech to inform anyone who I am and what I’m trying to do. If you’ve been following me, you know that we’re not on any image-based social media sites and many aren’t aware of what we’re trying to do. It feels like I’m filming a movie and we will show the trailer later when it's ready. (Interestingly… I actually am sort of doing that. But it’s a docu-series). In the car, every time I spoke my dream aloud, my nerves got stronger. It hit me more and more….we’re in the tech biz. Me? Yes, you Chara…keep going.
I made it to the conference center to register. It's hard still to this day to describe the atmosphere. From outside the convention center doors to inside the convention center I saw a crowd of BEAUTIFUL BLACK PEOPLE all interested in tech. The music was blasting, and the feeling was electric. I was surrounded by African-American like-minded dreamers, builders, tech innovators, engineers, investors, and thought leaders. It was a true vibe. The registration line was super long. When I finally reached the end of the line, I was behind a young lady. She was quiet and didn’t say much. There was no way I was going to stand in line and not talk. (if you know me, you know me).
“So, where are you traveling from?” I asked.
“Atlanta,” she said
“Oh! I just moved from Atlanta. I miss it.”
She seemed happy and relieved that I started the conversation first. She told me what she did for a living and that her company invested in her to come. And then she asked the question that I had been preparing for in the car. “What brought you here to the conference? What do you do?” I braced myself. She would be the first person to hear of my dream in the techy way that I see it. I looked at her, took a deep breath, and said….
“I have a corporation and we’re building a digital media platform that seeks to reduce and prevent body image issues amongst young girls. We’ve developed a framework that works. Currently, we’re piloting that framework through a documentary that shows girls transforming out of their body image issues. We’re going to take that same framework and infuse it into original digital media content such as movies, sitcoms, podcasts, documentaries, etc. Girls will, at the click of a button, start watching content that increases self-esteem and lowers body image issues, thus lowering suicidal ideations. Girls will watch content that teaches them to like, love, and accept themselves as is. The ultimate goal is to disrupt the beauty industry by creating an inner beauty industry.”
What came next shocked me; it wouldn’t be the last time that happened. Everyone I bumped into gave the exact same sentiments. Each day, I opened up and told someone, and their passion ignited my passion. But her words – being that she was the first person I met at the conference, brought me to tears. She looked at me in my eyes as almost if she knew I needed to hear her words clearly. She said, “I have two teen daughters. What you’re building, not what you are trying to build, is needed. YOU BELONG HERE! Embrace everything that this conference will give you because as a mother, we need you to build that dream.”
I will never forget that moment. The entire conference was validating and confirming …almost like a supernatural experience.
So can we talk about it? DAY 1 was everything!!!! ( I will only highlight a few sessions and a few people that I met at the end.)
I went to the session called Using Tech & Authenticity to Challenge and Change Norms. The founder of the Mentor Method, Jancie Omadeke, shared her unique story and confirmed for me that you can take your negative experiences, create change, and be true to who you are.
MY TAKE AWAY QUOTE: “I’m not arrogant, I’m accurate.” Shall I repeat that quote? Whew - what a word! Janice is now the first black woman in Austin, TX to achieve a venture-back tech exit. Her company was acquired by The Cru, a New York Basked professional training company. Her session was good. And shout out to the moderator, Latoya – the VP of Culture Diversity & Inclusion for Dell Technology. As the person asking the questions, her authenticity was felt, and it was obvious why she is the VP. She did that!
I went to another session called The Magical Intersection of Purpose, Equity, and Innovation. Toure Roberts was the speaker. OMG! Any doubt that I felt coming to the conference left when Toure started speaking. He confirmed for me why tech…why the innovation piece. His talk helped me see why I ignore those who say to me just write the curriculum from your book and get it into schools – shouldn’t that be enough? He said innovation is the ability to make changes to something that is established. The false narrative of beauty is a billion-dollar entity that is causing mental illnesses. This false narrative is truly established in all forms of media. But I want to change it. The innovation piece of a digital media platform introduces an inner beauty entity that is everlasting and it’s a way to make inner beauty (loving oneself as is) the cultural norm for the generations to come.
MY TAKE AWAY QUOTE: “Great things never happen from a place of a rush but from a place of peace. Balance that hustle mentality and trust that everything is working out.”
From there, I went to sessions where I was able to hear other founders such as Arlan Hamilton, Ryan Wilson, Aurara James, executives from the Mark Cuban company, and Mark Cuban himself. I’m pretty sure that the ENTIRE 5% of founders were in these sessions and it wasn’t our first time hearing of these names. Oh, we know, and we were grateful that they said yes to being in the room. One of my absolute favorite sessions was sponsored by Amazon, a session called #CultureRated Entertainment & Tech. Can you guess why? My brand is entertainment & tech…mixed with social impact. Ha! It was sooo good. The panel was superb and they all held such high titles. Once again, shout out to the moderator, Joshua Rodgers. He was so entertaining.
For the sake of not writing such a long blog, I won’t go into all the sessions, but I want to shout out two more individuals I met while at the conference and the joy of meeting them.
Have you ever met someone who you know is important, but they aren’t bragging? While waiting on the Founder’s reception to start, I met Wesley. He’s a big deal. As usual, the conversation starts off with “what city did you come from?” While getting to know each other, I learned of a mentorship program that he was starting. His career experiences, demeanor, and good moral character caused me to say…yeah, I want in! So, I signed up. I’m honored and excited to connect to his new program. He casually made mentioned to google him before I start the program so that I could be prepared and get all that's needed from the mentorship. Well, Sir. I googled you. Barack Obama follows you and the board that you sit on is on my vision board. I’m just saying…you’re a big deal in my eyes.
And then there was T.K. She has no idea how she shifted my mindset. While at the Founder reception, she wasn’t “afroteching” is what I like to say. AfroTeching - intentionally walking into the room to meet others for connections. (It’s encouraged if you go to the conference and it's necessary.) But I didn’t pick that up from Ms. T.K. We talked and I listened to her. I noticed how she moved. She never asked me where I was from, what I was working on, nothing like that. We just talked. I learned from her that when you simply get to know people for who they are and not what they do, you are more relaxed, comfortable, and chill. You connect faster. But as soon as you find out what they do, one person in the conversation can possibly become intimidated. She made me see that one day I will be sitting in front of billionaires with the vision that I have. Don’t be intimidated. Get to know the person first and the rest will come. I took that nugget from her, folded it, and stored it away in my heart. Later, when she learned of my project, her energetic response ignited a bigger fire in me. It was a moment. Our conversation will truly stick with me for life. Ms. T.K. has an established business and brand that is highly impressive. She was simply there to enjoy the vibe and the hard work that paid off in getting AfroTech to Austin, TX. She sits on the board of the Greater Austin Black Chamber. I can’t wait to make that call one day and say, “Hey T.K….I’m ready! I need ya!”
AfroTech was such a success for me. Building oneself can build the entire company. If you're reading this blog and you're going into the tech world, it's a MUST that you attend every single year. Buy the ticket. I didn't even touch on the Expo aspect. Salesforce, Nike, Amazon, PepsiCo, Apple, Doordahs, NBCUniversal, The Walk Disney Company, and more had their executives there recruiting black talent! If you like music, AfroTech had a full-on two-day concert ( but I had to get back to work). Next year I will stay for the music concerts. I was also inspired by the AFRTECH pitch competitions. Listen clearly Black America...after hearing what others are doing....yall, we gon be alright! The crowd was so impressed by one guy, we stopped him in the middle of his pitch and started clapping. I almost stood up and clapped. But that's me being a little too extra so I stayed seated. Hahaha!
Next year I'm taking a team member. That's my promise to myself. And one more thing, if you go next year in 2023, ladies hear me...Please, hear me. Don't make the mistake that I made which is... DON'T WEAR HEELS. Oh goodness. What was I thinking? Listen, you can be cute in your J’s or your Airforce Ones. I had to learn the hard way. Y'all ...Quick story – a chick who was also in heels stood by me. We were both playing it off like it was cool. I finally broke the ice. I said, “girl my feet hurt so bad that I can’t even make it to the parking lot to go get my tennis shoes.” She said, “Girl…you have no idea. I flew in from Cali and left all my flats and tennis shoes. I’m in so much pain right now.” We look around us, everyone had on tennis shoes. LOL! I hope my friend Ubered her way to a shoe store because I came ready on that second day. (Pic below)
Thank you AfroTech! See you soon.
