What is it that Casey Richardson is bringing access to community, knowledge and capital to Black female entrepreneurs

Learn the ways Casey Richardson used her experience of tech financing to establish BLAZE Group and empower a community of Black women who are entrepreneurs.

A couple of two years ago, Ariel Richardson's world was different. She lived in California's Bay Area and worked for Bank of America, structuring massive loans for tech companies. She discovered that she was the only Black woman on the team -- and throughout her 10 years working as a finance professional, she didn't see funding given to any Black company.

"It showed me that not only was the knowledge not getting there, the capital wasn't reaching my community," Casey recalls.

In October 2020, Casey decided to change the way she did things.

Based on her experiences in the field of tech financing and business, she decided to quit the 9-to-5 grind and started BLAZE Group which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on building leaders and embracing zero Excuses -- to provide guidance, education and a community for the previously under-served communities of Black female entrepreneurs.

Then, 2023 is here: BLAZE Group offers online courses through the Blaze Knowledge Academy, group coaching and an online community the app, retreats in person, a semiannual virtual summit, as well as proprietary research that is led by Casey and her team of global experts.

How did she do it within just two years? A combination of providing services that address a particular, underserved need, intentional development of audiences, and selecting the best tools and people.

From corporate finance professional to an entrepreneur who can make a difference

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur full-time, Casey worked as a financial professional who arranged multibillion-dollar loan agreements for tech firms. It kept her on the cutting edge of technological advancements, but she also saw disparity between her colleagues and the businesses they were funding. "I was the sole Black female among the members of the team. This showed the world that I had a degree level, my expertise and my experience were not available in my communities."

Black women are the most successful group of entrepreneurs in the United States -- but only 3percent of them own "mature" enterprises, and the majority of entrepreneurs self-fund startup capital. There's a significant gap regarding the amount of funding and other resources that are available to Black entrepreneurs, compared with their white male counterparts.

As of the summer of 2000, Casey was a participant in protests against police violence. Casey found community and strength that she had not felt in her day-to-day work. "I felt more alive protesting more than I did in all of my years of making those sexually explicit deals," she says. "I was rubbing shoulders with the brave enough and brave enough to make decisions which actually matter."

At the end of October, she was done in the midst of the finance department at her company -but not in spite of the fact that she had been successful however, but because that it. What else could she utilize her expertise? What could she do to use her expertise in tech and finance to help fellow Black women be successful?

"I'm really good inside of the four walls. However, I'd be willing to place money in my own pocket any day to believe that I'd take over more of the planet. So I quit."

She left her job, relocated to Africa to start building BLAZE Group, a location-independent company that is empowering Black women from all over the world to achieve the identical thing.

BLAZE Group specifically targets entrepreneurs in their initial 3 years of building their business that Casey describes as"the "entrepreneurial stage."

"BLAZE helps people understand how to manage their businesses in ways that keep them around. This is done through tech-enabled solutions, being one of them," she says.

To reach out to this group, Casey had to build authentic relationships with them.

The reasons to build an email list (and how to start)

Casey knew that she wanted to design a high-end business online course right from the beginning -- but it was crucial to create an crowd before she could launch her first product.

Casey did not want this to occur with the release of the first BLAZE product. Thus, she approached her first activities to build an audience with a goal that was clear: to build an email list.

Why email subscribers over social media followers? "I was aware that I needed to establish personal relationships," explains Casey.

"On Instagram, you don't own the relationship. You're not sure what their email address is, and if their handle changes it's best to are aware of what their name of the new handle," Casey says.

"I was looking to establish relations and get in front of them regularly to create that brand recognition and build confidence."

Inquiring about her existing contacts

15 minute discovery calls with her target group of customers

1. Reaching out to her existing network

There's a lot of advice online on how you can increase your reach, but the majority of creators assume that their initial customers will be strangers who found them on social media. But when you start your audience from scratch, you're missing out on a huge potential source of support Friends and family!

Casey approached everyone who was in her circle to inform them know she was starting a newsletter about entrepreneurship and asked them to subscribe.

"I started by going through the most recent texts, Instagram DMs, Twitter, Facebook... I set the timer and made sure to send as many messages as I could within five minute intervals," she describes.

Many friends and family were able to take Casey up on the offer She began to build a solid email list leading into her product's launch.

2. 15-minute discovery calls for her audience

The best method to meet the people you meet is to talk to them.

Casey posted on her social media accounts, revealing that she had created a course to help Black women better understand the business world. "If you would like me to talk with you for 15 minutes , and have questions, please let me know," she added.

She was aware that those who set up a call with her would be her ideal people: Black women interested in entrepreneurial endeavors.

Instead of chatting about course content or marketing the course, Casey asked questions like, "What keeps you up in the midnight? What is your biggest fear? Within a year, where you want to have to be?" She used the opportunity to help women feel seen and understood. Then, she learned what was most important to consider in her course material.

"Just holding space for that and helping them feel secure is a big component in the magic."

"By the time they had finished most of these calls, people asked, "Can I buy the course now?'" Casey remembers. The course was in the process of being developed. course, but she collected their email addresses , and said she'd notify them the day it was launched.

After the course was ready, she promoted it on the list of email subscribers she created with the two methods above. "There was already an anticipation among all those who had signed up. They were all set to join."

What did they find? 80percent of women she talked to in the initial call converted into customers.

Two years on, Casey still offers free discovery calls as part of her sales and marketing process. Should potential customers have any questions regarding this Blaze Business Intensive, they may schedule a complimentary Perfect Fit call to talk with Casey.

"On average, you need five follow-ups to close a deal. There aren't enough entrepreneurs who realize that," says Casey. "I make these calls to really close the deal."

How working with the right equipment and the right people can help Casey expand her company

Presently, BLAZE offers online courses and masterclasses as well as group coaching, an online community, webinars as well as the TablexTribe mobile application  as well as a semi-annual virtual conference (a 2022 Webby Award honoree for the Best in Business and Finance), and proprietary research.

How is she able to manage everything with so much intentionality and compassion?

Casey is putting together an international team that helps her scale different parts of her business, including:

Blogger and content marketer located in Nigeria

A junior consultant with a base in London

A production and brand manager (her fiancé!) who grew the BLAZE Group Instagram from 1,300 followers in May 2022 to 70,000+ at the start of 2023

An executive assistant in Kenya

A research analyst who publishes research papers across industries, helping BLAZE to find new clients for consulting

A production assistant to the semi-annual Blaze Virtual Summit

She does not just recruit individuals to join her team She also hires equipment also.

"I hire tools with a speed," Casey laughs. "And I love that because it's the size."

An increase in revenue doesn't always mean your business is growing, particularly if you're working harder or investing more funds for that increase.

"The increase in revenue should not be the primary goal," explains Casey. "If your costs are rising in the same way the revenue is growing the bottom line won't alter."

"Scale happens when you can increase revenue, and your costs and time spent do not change much."

Experience in the tech industry has taught Casey how powerful no-code tools, integrations, and automations can be. When she created BLAZE Group, she leveraged the low-cost and no-code options like and Zapier to make sure everything was running seamlessly.

What Casey uses for her courses Community, downloads, and community

" was the very first program I had to use for offering things at scale," Casey shares.

Instruments like these give Casey "more time to do important things" like the one-on-one meetings she makes with potential clients.

Casey developed her first online product, called the Blaze Business Intensive online course. It includes . It's a self-paced six-week course that focuses on "Business Building, Business Management and Business Excellence for the Modern Black Woman."

"It was completely non-code. It was actually designed by me back when was doing the 14-day trial for free," Casey remembers. "I created all of the course in this timeframe and then started selling it prior to the expiration date so I could be immediately successful."

(Want to follow in Casey's footsteps? Sign up for an initial free trial  and take the time you'll need to have your course material set up, then upgrade when you're ready to begin selling.)

This course is part of the Blaze Knowledge Academy  an assortment of educational resources for businesses Casey built on her site. The Academy also includes:

Numerous entrepreneurship masterclasses. Many of which she gives at no cost

Her online community, the Blaze Women's Network  has nearly 7,000 members

"People are able to join to the Blaze Women's Network absolutely free," Casey explains. We do virtual coworking sessions as well as host webinars which then lead users to the paid courses."

As well as introducing consumers to useful products, Casey's community gives members a friendly and supportive place to connect with other founders.

"It was once that "content was the most important thing,' However, things have changed to the notion that 'community is King. Many are looking for communities-focused programs... and the ones that aren't perceived as spam appear to be genuine."

The experience she had with the tool has provided Casey the guidelines for the qualities to be looking for in an application that doesn't require code. "You have an extremely flexible platform that has allowed me to do some end-to-end solutions right from the platform," she describes. "And I've taken that same scorecard when I assess the tools I use because I want them to expand to it."

"It truly is beautiful to use solutions like to change the world's entire environment in ways that are cost-effective and easily accessible to the people who are marginalized today."

Don't try to do everything simultaneously

In light of all that Casey has accomplished in just over two years as the CEO of BLAZE, her advice to new creators might come as a surprise: Do less -- at the very least, when getting started.

"Keep the main thing primary, which is what you should be doing," she suggests. The Hustle culture informs entrepreneurs who are just starting out that it's impossible to finish all the work or content produced. However, Casey encourages other creators to remember "There's only so much you can do regardless of how great you might be."

"You aren't required to master all of the things outta the box but it will be extremely, very difficult to master a variety of things simultaneously when you're only starting."

It is recommended to start with a signature offering and then build from there. "I began by taking an initial course called the Blaze Intensive, my first course, and that remains my favorite course. Entrepreneurs must figure out what their signature offering needs to be, what they want to be famous for, prior to adding a whole bunch of things."

There's plenty to consider initially: your message and target audience, marketing, technology, the customer's satisfaction. Once you've mastered it? You open up the potential for so much more.

"I am convinced that we have the capability to achieve millions of things. Perhaps in the next 200 years. Because Blaze is still around. But that doesn't need to take place today."

We're so glad to be a part of Casey's journey We can't get enough to see what's coming next for her as well as the BLAZE Group -- this year, 200 years down the road, and all the time between.