What's it about Casey Richardson is bringing access to community, knowledge as well as the capital Black female entrepreneurs

Learn about the methods Casey Richardson used her experience in tech funding to found BLAZE Group and empower a group of Black women who run businesses.

About two and a half years back, the world of Richardson was different. She was a resident of Bay Area Bay Area and worked for Bank of America, structuring massive loans for tech companies. But she found that she was often the only Black female on the team -- and in over ten years of working in the finance department, she did not see funding given to any Black firm.

"It showed me that, not only did the information not get there, but that capital wasn't being allotted to my local communities," Casey recalls.

In October of 2020, Casey decided to change that.

In light of her experience in tech funding and business, she decided to leave the 9-to-5 grind and started the BLAZE Group which is a nonprofit organisation that is focused on building leaders and embracing zero Excuses in providing information, guidance, and community to the historically under-served communities of Black women entrepreneurs.

And 2023 is coming soon: BLAZE Group offers online classes through Blaze Knowledge Academy. Blaze Knowledge Academy, group coaching, an online community app with retreats on site, a semiannual virtual summit and exclusive research under the direction of Casey along with her global team of experts.

How could she have done it in just two years? A combination of providing instruments that meet an unmet need, a deliberate creation of the audience in addition to selecting the most appropriate equipment and the right team.

From corporate finance professional to game-changing entrepreneur

Prior to beginning her own business full-time, Casey was a finance expert, arranging multibillion-dollar loans for tech companies. This kept her up-to-date with technology advancements. However, she also saw disparity between her coworkers and the companies which they helped fund. "I was the sole Black female member of the group. This showed everyone that I was a professional at a higher of expertise, and my experience were unavailable within my own communities."

Black females make up the majority of entrepreneurs across the United States -- but just 3% of them are in possession of "mature" enterprises which is 61% of them self-fund the initial capital. There's a huge gap between the funding and resources available for Black female entrepreneurs as compared to their white male counterparts.

In the summer of 2020 Casey participated in demonstrations against police brutality. The community she felt and the energy she felt which she was not able to feel in everyday job. "I discovered that I was more motivated and engaged in protests that I had during all my years of doing those sexy transactions," she says. "I found myself rubbing shoulders with the people who were bold enough and courageous enough to take on issues that actually matter."

In October, at the close of the month the finance manager was with her work at the end of the road for the finance department at her company -- not regardless of how effective she was and was however, it was because it was it was due to her experience. What else could she utilize her knowledge? How could she use her knowledge of technology and finance to help others Black women be successful?

"I'm extremely good inside those four walls. But, I'm willing to gamble with my own self at any time and think I could take up even more space on earth. So I quit."

Then, after quitting her job, she relocated to Africa and began developing BLAZE Group, a location-independent business which empowers Black women across the globe to do the same.

Blaze The Group specifically targets entrepreneurs in their first three years of creating their business that Casey describes as the "entrepreneurial stage."

"BLAZE is here to help our clients to understand how they can manage their business in a way that keeps their businesses going. We do this by providing solutions that utilize technology which is why we're one of them." she says.

In order to serve this audience, Casey had to build authentic relationships with them.

What are the reasons that you need to establish an email list (and the best way to start)

Casey was aware that she would like to create a business-oriented online course right from the beginning, but it was essential to build an community prior to when she could launch her first product.

Casey was determined to make sure that this wouldn't happen with the debut of BLAZE's first product. So, she began her first activities to build an audience, with the goal that was clear : building an email database.

What makes email users better than the Facebook and Twitter users? "I knew I wanted to build as well as maintain my own connections," explains Casey.

"On Instagram, you don't have the right to manage the relationship. There's no way to know what their email address is or what their handle is, and if it is changed, make sure that you are aware about what their name of the new account is," Casey says.

"I would like to have a good relationship with people and get in front of them regularly to create the reputation I wanted and build confidence."

Inquiring about her existing networks

15 minute discovery calls to her target public

1. Inquiring about her current contacts within her current

There's an abundance of online information regarding ways to increase your audience, and many creators believe that their first clients would be those who've had no experience with them through social media. If you create your audience entirely from scratch You're missing out on a huge potential sources of help this includes your loved ones and family!

Casey addressed everyone in her circle of friends to inform them know she'd started an entrepreneurial newsletter. She invited them to join.

"I began by going through my recent text messages, Instagram DMs, Twitter and Facebook... I set a clock and went through all of them that I could within five minute intervals," she describes.

A lot of family and friends embraced Casey as a model and began to build an email database to continue until the time of the time of her debut.

2. 15-minute discovery calls with her target public

The most effective way to make connections with the people whom you meet is to speak with them.

Casey shared a post on Facebook, where she announced her plans to create a course to help Black women better understand the business world. "If you'd like for me to speak to you for 15 minutes to ask any questions, please let me be aware," she added.

She knew that people who called to set up meetings with her would be her ideal customers: Black women interested in the world of business.

Instead of chatting about course content or selling her own content, Casey was asking questions such as "What keep you awake at the night? What's your most feared anxiety? If you only had one year to live, where do you wanna have to be?" She used the opportunity to help women feel valued and appreciated. Also, she learned about which issues she should discuss in the course materials.

"Just making space and making them feel safe is one of the main components in the magic."

"By the conclusion of most of the calls, they asked "Can I get the course today? Do you have a discount for your course?" Casey remembers. She was still working on the course but already had the email addresses of participants and had assured them of that day the course was officially to be launched.

Once the course was complete after which she promoted it to the email list that she'd created using these two strategies. "There was already excitement from all. The crowd was eager to join."

The result? 80% of the women she talked to on those initial calls converted to customers.

In the past two years, Casey still offers free discovery calls in her marketing and sales process. Should potential customers have any questions about this Blaze Business Intensive, they may schedule an Free Fit call. A Fit call will be made with Casey.

"On average, you need five additional follow-ups in order to conclude an agreement. It's a shame that not many entrepreneurs realize that," says Casey. "I utilize these calls to close the deal."

The way that working with the best equipment and the right people can help Casey to grow her company

Presently, BLAZE offers online courses and masterclasses, as well as group coaching as well as an online forum. webinars as well as TablexTribe, the TablexTribe mobile application as well as biannual online gathering (a 2022 Webby Awards winner in the category of the Top in Business and Finance) as well as exclusive research.

How is she able to handle everything with such intention and love?

Casey has created an international team to help her scale different parts of her enterprise, which includes:

A content marketer and blogger in Nigeria

A junior consultant located in London

Brand and production management (her partner!) who grew the BLAZE group on Instagram from 1,300 followers in May 2022 and over 70,000 at the time of the launch of 2023

Executive assistants in Kenya

Research analyst, who writes research papers across industries, helping BLAZE discover new consulting clients

An assistant to the production team for the semiannual Blaze Virtual Summit

She doesn't just hire new employees She also hires equipment, too.

"I employ tools that have a quickness," Casey laughs. "And I love it due to it's the dimension."

The increase in your revenue does not necessarily mean your company has expanded, particularly if you're spending more effort or more money to achieve that growth.

"The rise in revenue must not be your main goal," explains Casey. "If you are experiencing rising costs in the same way that the revenue is increasing, then the bottom line doesn't change."

"Scale is when you're able to boost revenue but the cost and time that you invest barely change."

The experience gained in the technology industry provided Casey an understanding of how efficient no-code instruments along with integrations and automated processes are. When she created BLAZE Group, she leveraged the low-cost and no-code options like Zapier, to make sure that the system ran smoothly.

How Casey uses for her courses her community and downloads

" was the first app I used to offer services on a large size," Casey shares.

Techniques such as these allow Casey "more space to complete deliberate things" like, for instance, a individual meeting with potential clients.

Casey has created her very first digital item, the Blaze Business Intensive online coursethat includes . It's a self-paced, six-week class that focuses upon "Business Building, Business Management and the Business Excellence of the Contemporary Black Woman."

"It was totally uncoded. I built it in the free 14-day trial," Casey remembers. "I created the entire course within that window and then began to sell it just before that expired in order to profit immediately."

(Want to emulate Casey's successes? Sign up for the no-cost plan and take your time to have your course's content set up, and then upgrade when you're ready to start selling.)

This class forms part of the Blaze Knowledge Academy  which is a set of materials for business education Casey created on her website. The Academy additionally contains:

Numerous entrepreneurship masterclasses. The majority of these she provides to the students at free.

Her online community known as the Blaze Women's Network includes more than 7,000 members.

"People are able to join the Blaze Women's Network absolutely free," Casey explains. Virtual coworking is what we do, I host webinars, after which we funnel participants to paid-for courses."

In addition to introducing customers to useful items and services, Casey's Community provides members with an inviting and warm space to connect with other founders.

"It used to be content was the most important thing on the hill. However it is now shifts to "community is King. They are seeking applications that focus on the community... and communities that don't have a history of spam come across as genuine."

Her experience with the program has given Casey an idea of the qualities to be looking for in the tool that allows for the creation of code-free solutions. "You have an extremely adaptable system that has allowed me to create end-to-end solutions using your system," she describes. "And I've taken that similar scorecard when assessing the tools I'm using because I'd like for them to develop with the technology."

"It truly is gorgeous to use solutions that can impact the entire world with methods that are cost-effective and accessible to those who have been marginalized in the present."

Try not to tackle everything simultaneously

Given all of Casey's accomplishments within just two years of operating BLAZE Her advice for novice creators could come as a a surprise: Do little -- or at a minimum, at the time you get started.

"Keep the primary thing in mind, which is the most important aspect," she says. Hustle culture instructs the new entrepreneurs it's difficult to do everything or material that they've created. Yet, Casey reminds fellow creators "There's only what you have to do regardless of how skilled you are."

"You shouldn't be attempting to master everything from the beginning, and it's going to be extremely, very difficult to master a variety of things simultaneously in the beginning."

She suggests starting by offering a unique course, later building upon that. "I initially started my journey with Blaze Intensive, my first course. This is still my most-loved course. Entrepreneurs must figure out what their unique offering has to have, what they wish to be recognized in, and then add various other options."

There's a lot to take into consideration initially: your message and the target market, your technology, marketing, and the customer's satisfaction. Once you've mastered it? It opens the door to do so much more.

"I believe that we are able to accomplish millions of things. Perhaps in the next 200 years. Since Blaze will be there. This doesn't mean it has to happen today."

We're honored to be an integral part of Casey's story. We can't get enough to find out what's to come for Casey and BLAZE Group. BLAZE Group -- in this year, 200 years from now, and all the time between.

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