Doctors in the Field of Entrepreneurship

In Our Words

We've got some special guests today for our listeners. Two doctors join us on this episode to discuss their experience in the realm of entrepreneurship. This is going to be something remarkable.

Dr. Monique Liston and Dr. Kadihjia Kelly, both black doctors and entrepreneurs, are interviewed by host Rajon Hall about their triumphs, hardships, strategies, as well as their networking and effective methods as Black entrepreneurs in Wisconsin.

Highlights:

05:16 Being the only black therapist in the community was very hard for me, because at the end of the day, those numbers climb up in our community. And so that was really a challenge for me with prioritizing that.

5:52 Realizing that it's very easy for people to exploit black women's intellectual labor, folks who want to claim it, say it's theirs, use it with their own spin on it, and just forget any race, the black women. Then, on an organizational level, these organizations want to hire you, use your work, and then erase you from ever contributing to it and expecting you to be quiet because they paid you a wage.

22:59 But I do think that it's important to network. I do think that in order for your business to get noticed, you have to do that networking, you have to make sure you're navigating it in a way that not only invites folks in but also challenges folks. Capability, helping a black owned business, which is really important.

41:54 It really truly is not about the money. It really is about just making sure that I'm serving my community in a way that doesn't jeopardize their mental health because it's very hard out here. Just the whiteness is always showing up. And so I just think at the end of the day, it's about self preservation for me.

42:34 Have a business plan, plain and simple. Even if you don't use it, and you're not going to the bank for it, have a business plan. So that you have an agenda of what you want to do and how you're going to operate and who you want to serve.

Contacts:

Rajon Hall, MSW - Podcast Host and Real Estate Agent

Instagram: @BigDreamsRealty

Monique Liston - Founder, Joyful Militant and Chief Strategist at Ubuntu Research and Evaluation (Milwaukee). Powered by a collective of unapologetic Black women, femmes, and non-binary people working as transdisciplinary strategist committed to resistance against anti-blackness.

• Website Link: https://www.ubunturesearch.com/

Kadihjia Kelly - Licensed professional counselor and owner of Stars counseling (Appleton) Kadihjia has been working in the field of counseling since 2018. Dr. Kelly’s expertise is working with self-Identified Black/African American clients focusing on Critical Race Theory and Racial Fatigue.

• Website Link: https://www.starscounseling.com/