Kimberly Minor
Today, I had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Mrs. Kimberly Minor. As an entrepreneur, business woman, mentor, mother and leader, Mrs. Minor is the embodiment of a modern day renaissance woman.She has held many high positions in companies such as David's Bridal and L Brands. However her biggest accomplishment is starting her own company, Bumbershoot. Her story that has made her such a successful woman today, continues to inspire young women with big dreams.
"The only empowerment I've ever had, I've had to do myself....."
As a woman of color, Kimberly Minor faced discrimination not only for her gender but also her race
I grew up in a neighborhood where my parents had to sue in order to buy our house. We were the first black family in the neighborhood. I went to schools where I was part of 2% or less people of color. I remember one time they brought in the talented and gifted and every year when I got the standardized test I was always in the top one percentile. But I saw that everyone in my class had a day when they were being tested and I was like, I'm not being tested. [My parents] had to go to the school district and even then they still rigged it. It was all a mess. That was like the eighties , now fast forward we're in the two thousands and you still have to fight to get that power, whether you're a person of color or a woman.
Mrs. Minor brought up why our society thinks women are now equal to men and why they believe women empowerment has been achieved. It's because we see a select few major celebrities rising up and doing big things, however there is still a majority of the population of women that are being discriminated. Which is why Kimberly Minor does what she does....
That brings me to why I'm doing what I'm doing. I've had a great career, a great life, a great education, but I have the power in me to keep pushing forward, and hopefully that's what I'm teaching [my sons] that as a woman, it's not all laid out for us. When you go out in the world you need to deal with everyone based on who they are not what they are. It's just so important that [women] are seen and heard. I've been in situations where I've been marginalized or made assumptions about as soon I walk in the room. So that's just a little background on why this is so important to me.
And so Mrs. Minor had something she was passionate about and she went for it...
When I was growing up there was always things I wanted to do. I was creative, I had written screenplays, and my parents were like "Uh....no. Stop saying silly stuff you're not going to do that." And I was like no I'm going to be Oprah! I want to know about the world, I want to tell stories! So I started interviewing and recording tapes......
Of course, there were many instances where she faced obstacles and criticism from her family, men, and others....
My aunt said "yeah her career is interesting she travels the world. " and she's like "you know she could have been a doctor, we thought she was going to be a doctor. And now she makes dresses"
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I went to my advisor and said here's my resume and my tapes and he wanted to take me out to dinner. He wanted to know what ethnicity I was because I looked so "exotic."
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I was pregnant with my second child. I was overseas and traveling around and I was at this business dinner. And the president of the company says "what kind of mother are you? You're pregnant and your overseas here at the business meeting" and I said "say that again so I can get it crystal clear so that when I call my attorney later,I don't misquote what you said, so say it again"
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Even after she started her company, she received criticism, however Mrs. Minor continued to embrace the idea of personal entrepreneurship
The question I get asked now is, "so you build content? So you run a media company? After 25 years in this career you decide to start a new one and you started a media company? You couldn't have picked something easier?" Why wouldn't [I] want to put effort into something that matters to me? There's a lot of things that are easier, but is it easier when you get to the point in your life where you can't live with the decisions you have made because it's not what you wanted? How do you get back on that path of you? It's all about embracing and empowering yourself and I call that personal entrepreneurship.
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So what advice does she have for young women wanting to pursue their dreams in a man's world?
I try to make sure I have at least one person who is authentically there for me. It was my best friend and it has now become my husband. But there's only going to be one or two people in your life who are so about you that they're not afraid that if they tell you that something is not right that you are going to walk away. That's how you know they're a good person. And that way your ideas are going to get better. You just need to find that one person.