David Banner CEO, A Banner Vision (ABV)
A Banner Vision (ABV) CEO, David Banner is an internationally recognized Grammy Award-winning music producer, recording artist, philanthropist, activist, and actor with over 26 films under his belt. The Mississippi native is an entrepreneur dedicated to preserving culture, economic empowerment and freedom of expression.
Clients including Pepsi, Gatorade, Paramount Pictures, Marvel, Capcom and Mercedes Benz have trusted ABV to produce captivating, culturally relevant, insightful content that engages audiences and builds brands. With a team of creative intellectuals and music producers that regularly work with today’s top music superstars, A Banner Vision brings this same level of expertise to its brand clients.
Banner’s outspoken point-of-view inspires, informs, and galvanizes audiences as is demonstrated in his numerous CNN appearances, social engagement and the over 10,000 subscribers to The David Banner Podcast, which is currently in production. Launching this year, The David Banner Podcast features bold and unapologetic conversations that will make you laugh, push your thinking, liberate your mind and move you to disrupt the status quo.
Collectively, ABV strives to deliver avant-garde creative direction, sound strategic insight and business intelligence that connects brands to movements, movements to culture and culture to community. Banner’s commitment to community, love for humanity and passion for justice are embodied in his foundation, Heal the Hood Inc., which provides clothing and other necessities to families during the holidays.
Having earned a Business Degree from Southern University (Baton Rouge) prior to embarking on his career in entertainment, Banner encourages under-served youth and creative minds to pursue professions “behind the scenes”. He leverages his affluence and influence to help leave the world in a better place than he found it.
Pepper Miller Recognized Black American Market Researcher, Author and Subject Matter Expert
Pepper Miller is a recognized market researcher, author, thought leader and Black American subject matter expert. Since 1995, Pepper has been helping Fortune 500 companies better understand and positively engage Black America so they can have loyal customers and a positive bottom line.
Some of these companies include: AARP, The Bravo Network, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Procter and Gamble, Unilever, St. Jude Research Children’s Research Hospital, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and more.
Pepper co-authored What’s Black About It? with the late Herb Kemp and authored Black Still Matters in Marketing, considered by many in the marketing industry to be the most important books on Black consumer cultural insights. Her third book, The Fundamentals of US: Revelations and Insights to Win the Loyalty of Black America will be released early next year.
By blending her experiences, passion and insights, Pepper is able to help audiences think differently about Black America, and how they should approach this audience professionally and personally.
It’s this ability that earned Pepper numerous awards for excellence in market research and opportunities to be a frequent blogger for Ad Age, Forbes and Marketing 2 Women.
Perry Marshall CEO, Perry S. Marshall & Associates
Perry Marshall is one of the most expensive business strategists in the world. He is endorsed in FORBES and INC Magazine and has authored eight books. At London’s Royal Society he announced the world’s largest science research challenge, the $10 million Evolution 2.0 Prize. His reinvention of the Pareto Principle is published in Harvard Business Review, and his Google book laid the foundations for the $100 billion Pay Per Click industry. He has a degree in Engineering and lives with his family in Chicago.
Lawrence Watkins President & COO, The Black Business School
Lawrence Watkins is the President & COO of The Black Business School, an online platform that helps African-Americans to obtain a culturally relevant, practical, and affordable education in all things wealth building. Over the past 6 years, he and his brother have grown the platform to generate 7+ figures yearly and serve over 130,000 students worldwide. Lawrence is also the co-founder of Black Experts Empire, a mastermind that helps professionals to reclaim their brains and to stop allowing others to make more money off of their minds than they do.
Previously, Lawrence was the co-founder & CEO of Great Black Speakers, the world’s largest speakers’ bureau dedicated to booking African-American speakers for live events. At its height, GBS roster expanded hundreds of speakers and booked hundreds of speaking engagements per year for them. In 2016, Lawrence decided to leave the United States with his wife to travel the world for over a year. Eventually, they settled down in Medellin, Colombia where they lived the expat lifestyle and both of their children were born.
Lawrence graduated in 2006 with a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Louisville and in 2010 with an MBA from Cornell University. He is a proud member of many civic & professional organizations including Traffic Sales & Profit, Young Entrepreneurship Council, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and Cornell University Alumni Association. In 2021, Lawrence and his family moved back to the USA and reside in Houston, TX.
Lamar Tyler Founder Traffic Sales and Profit
Using his motto “The Gatekeepers Are Gone,” Lamar has leveraged social media to move his online brands from small personal blogs to an international brand with over 650,000 social media fans and 55 thousand plus customers in all 50 states and 43 countries around the world.
Among the recognition received for his work, Lamar, along with wife Ronnie was named one of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, a list of the top 100 movers and shakers in the black community, finalists for Black Enterprise’s Family Business of the Year, finalists for Infusionsoft’s Small Business ICON award and winners of the ClickFunnels Two Comma Award.
Ronnie Tyler COO, Tyler New Media
Recognizing the need for positive images of black marriage in the media, Ronnie founded BlackandMarriedWithKids.com (BMWK) in 2007 along with husband Lamar. Over the last twelve years, she has grown the site from a personal blog shared by one couple to an international brand with over 600,000 social media fans.
Under the couple’s Tyler New Media company umbrella, Ronnie has co-produced seven films that deal with the challenges and triumphs of marriage in the black community. The couple was named one of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 in 2011 and 2012.
Prior to running BMWK, Ronnie spent 17 years with IBM as a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) managing projects with 30 million dollar budgets and up to 30 developers spread across 4 continents. She now uses her skills and expertise to manage 7-figure product launches and events for Tyler New Media, LLC.
Ronnie believes that, by default, every entrepreneur or small business owner is a project manager at some point in their business. Therefore, she has made it her mission to share project management best practices that will not only increase efficiency but profitability in your business.
Chanel Martin Founder of Beyond The Book Media
Chanel E. Martin, affectionately known as the Entrepreneur’s Publisher, is an award-winning technology founder and the founder of Beyond The Book Media. – Martin helps brands, write manuscripts in 21 days and publish niche books. Using her book writing formula, Chanel has taught thousands how to complete manuscripts in record time! Chanel is also the Co-Visionary of Kingdom Business Network – the largest Christian Entrepreneur Club on the Clubhouse App. Kingdom Business Network, also known as KBN, hosts 14 recurring rooms and reaches over 50K+ members nationwide! Chanel and her brands have been featured in national publications and broadcasts including The Real, BET, Black Enterprise, Essence, Ebony, Forbes, Yahoo, Business Insider, and more.
Dr. Anika Goodwin Founder of OpulenceMD Beauty
Anika S. Goodwin, MD, FACS is a board-certified ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) with subspecialty training in Oculofacial Plastic Surgery. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. She is better known as Doc McDiva due to her love for all things glam and sparkly. This, along with her love of lashes and naturally creative nature, were the inspiration behind creation of her beauty brand, OpulenceMD Beauty.
As an advocate of safe eye related beauty products, the words luxurious beauty with unwavering safety are more than just a tag line for OMDB. Dr. Goodwin is also passionate about ubiquitous access to high quality eye care. She serves as an advocate and thought leader in the ocular telehealth world in her pursuit to make preventable blindness a thing of the past. She marries the two initiatives by sponsoring a screening examination for someone who could not otherwise afford it with each sale of a double lash essentials kit from her beauty line.
John Lawson CEO, 3rd Power Outlet
As CEO of 3rd Power Outlet, an online retail clothing and accessories company founded by John, he has sold millions of dollars in ecommerce merchandise. He has achieved the status of Platinum eBay Power Seller, a top-rated Amazon Merchant and Small Business Influencer of the Year. He has facilitated more than 500,000 transactions online.
John an 3-time Amazon #1 best-selling author, entrepreneur and international speaker. John is also the Chief Marketer at ColderICE Media, an IBM Cognitive College adjunct professor and is celebrated as one of the Top 100 SMB Influencers and The 50 Most Influential in SMB Marketing. John has spoken to over 200,000 people worldwide on ecommerce and social media marketing.
Davonne Reaves Founder and Chief Hospitality Strategist - The Vonne Group
Davonne Reaves is the founder and chief hospitality strategist behind The Vonne Group. She is an award-winning hotel consultant, a hotel asset manager with over 14 years of experience in the lodging industry, and a published author.
Davonne’s diverse hospitality experience includes Blair Management Consultant Services (event management), Hyatt Regency Atlanta (hotel operations), Horwath HTL (hotel development consulting and feasibility studies), and CHMWarnick (asset management). During her time at Horwath HTL and CHMWarnick, she managed portfolios totaling over $1 billion in hotel assets.
Her signature system, The Pathway to Hotel Ownership Plan combines strategic partnerships with hotel experts to streamline a successful hotel acquisition process. Through her signature system, she’s educated over 3,000 people and has successfully helped turn individuals into hotel owners.
Ms. Reaves serves as an advisory board member for the Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality, is an associate member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants, a member of Urban Land Institute (ULI), and a co-founder of NextGen in Lodging.
Michelda Johnson President/CEO, Michelda Johnson Consulting Agency
Michelda Johnson is President/CEO of Michelda Johnson Consulting Agency a concierge consulting practice providing transformative business strategy, operations, marketing and done-for-you services to small business owners and entrepreneurs. We execute dreams and work with clients pinpointing appropriate actions that drive business results and maximize ROI.
The agency is a consultancy for organizations seeking entrance to franchising. We work with clients to move them through the twists and turns of the franchise world, assess probability of franchisor success, and create necessary duplicatable systems and structure for franchise growth & development.
With 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, strategy, and operations, Michelda has led executives through planning, development, and provided direction for Fortune 500 organizations bridging the gap between knowing and doing.
Michelda is former owner of Innovative HR Consulting that she sold to a major organization and the former owner of multi-unit Edible Arrangement stores that were sold to an HBCU.
She loves Jesus, golf, football, and coffee.
Victoria Lowe President, I Power, LLC
Victoria Lowe is a Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur and Business Strategy/ Life Coach who is dedicated to helping people live a life of significant and purpose. Her passion is to teach and inspire others to not accept anything less than living their dreams. She specializes in business strategies, growth, marketing/branding and profit execution for 6, 7 & 8 figure companies.
Victoria knows first-hand the disappointment of a painful divorce and a $20 Million corporate bankruptcy. Causing her to lose all personal assets and the $250 Million company she raised up out of her living room in five years, due to a seven-year partnership battle against a $15 Billion corporate giant.
As a single mother who lost it all, she learned how to get back up with perseverance and rebuild her empire. She has learned first how to win by pressing past fear and doubt and never ever quitting on her dreams.
Cassandra Cummings Founder of The Socks and Stilettos Society
Cassandra Cummings is the founder of The Stocks & Stilettos Society, an online community of more than 100,000 women investors. In the past few years, she has inspired women worldwide to invest more than $25MM in assets through her guidance.
The Queens of Capital Investment Mastermind and The Stock Success Circle, her premium online investment community are innovative ways in which she teaches and introduces women to stock market investing.
Ms. Cummings is a financial advisor and has provided investment, retirement and wealth-building strategies to women across the country for more than 15 years and has been featured in Black Enterprise, Business Insider, Essence, AfroTech and The Wall Street Journal. She has appeared as a speaker for Nat’l Coalition of 100 Black Women – Positive Steps program, Fearless Female Retreat and her signature event – The Stock Sistar Summit, among many others.
Her eBook, “Rich On Purpose”, a money mindset guide for women, helps to break down mental barriers and get over the guilt of wanting more financial success. Ms. Cummings is an Investment Adviser Representative and a Registered Investment Advisor, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California and holds a Certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from Cornell University.
Amelia Thomas Managing Partner, Empire Capital Ventures
Amelia Thomas is a small business planner and advisor who specializes in tax planning and advisory services for businesses. Amelia’s passions lie in assisting families with creating legacy building frameworks that will carry the family wealth forward for the next 200 years. She has a dedicated “money team” that includes attorneys, CPA’s and other qualified professionals to ensure that one, cohesive strategy is implemented to grow and protect her clients’ assets.
With over 15 years of experience, Amelia also earned a B.S. in Business Administration in Finance from Alabama State University and a M.S. in Financial Planning from Kansas State University. Last, she actively works to eliminate the “illusion of inclusion” regarding the use of minority businesses in local government and corporate contracting.
Candance Ledbetter Owner of CNBetter Media
Candace Ledbetter is a PR & Visibility Strategist and owner of CNBetter Media – a boutique public relations agency that helps people and brands shift from background noise to household names. Candace has served an impressive list of brands including ESPN, Fox Searchlight, Disney, Magnolia Pictures, Focus Features, Oxygen/Bravo, Paramount Pictures, Oprah Winfrey Network, REVOLT TV, Strength of Nature, the ESSENCE Festival the Pan African Film & Arts Festival, Red Stripe, Perspective Records, AMC Networks, The Zeus Network, Traffic Sales and Profit w/ Lamar Tyler as well as celebrity clients including Double Emmy Award-winning actor, GregAlan Williams; and Double Grammy / Double Oscar Award-winning Balladeer, Peabo Bryson!
Maleeka Hollaway Founder, The Official Maleeka Group
Maleeka T. Hollaway is an award-winning publicist and entrepreneur, obsessed with professional development, public relations and small business growth. The is the founder of The Official Maleeka Group (affectionately known as The OMG), a full-service public relations and brand communications agency. As her knowledge and expertise has influenced over major 25 brands, you can see her published articles (and her clients) in and on MSN, Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Good Men Project, Addicted 2 Success, Business Insider, Black Enterprise, and Essence. She has also worked with various companies, universities, and non-profit organizations in the areas of brand development, content creation, and public relations.
Her goal is to support SBOs and entrepreneurs to position themselves to grow sustainable businesses and brands.
Tiffini Gatlin CEO and Founder of Latched and Hooked Beauty
Tiffini Gatlin is an innovator with 15 years of experience in direct to consumer sales. Currently she is the CEO and Founder of Latched and Hooked Beauty.
Latched and Hooked Beauty has a scalp-first approach to textured hair care with a mission to diversify the hair extension space with high-performance synthetic hair fibers and clean formulas that don’t irritate or cause inflammation of the scalp. Latched and Hooked’s vision is to make beauty simple.
Tiffini holds a BA in Public Relations from Clark Atlanta University. She enjoys community service with her sorority Delta Sigma Theta and traveling with her four children and husband of 16 years.
Terry Foster Founder, Terry Foster Consulting
Terry Foster is the man behind helping hundreds of business owners fall back in love with their business by helping them scale their business via effective paid media buying strategies.
Since 2016, Terry’s agency Terry Foster Consulting has managed over $15 million dollars of ad spend resulting in over $75 million dollars of sales. Terry is most proud of helping 12 different businesses exceed $1 million dollars of sales in a calendar year.
Terry is most passionate about helping fellow entrepreneurs fall back in love with running their business. He has witnessed his proven paid ad strategies directly lead to businesses needing to hire more employees, being able to move into larger offices, and being able to now give back to their community.
These life-changing transformations are what keeps Terry hungry, focused, and determined to help as many entrepreneurs understand and leverage the power of paid media buying.
Brandy Woods-Smith TSP Live Emcee & CEO, Imagine Me Academy
Brandy Woods-Smith is a charismatic and passionate educator, entrepreneur, speaker, author and consultant. She is known as a thought leader, change agent, community developer and to many she is hailed the Millionaire Midwife.
After serving the public school system for 13 years, Woods opened Imagine Me Academy in 2013 and now has multiple locations.
In her quest to help other aspiring entrepreneurs achieve success, she founded Powerhouses United (PHU). PHU is a business incubator designed to give education, resources and profit producing strategies to businesses owners. The Childcare Millionaires Association is the fastest growing division of PHU helping hundreds of Childcare owners achieve optimal success.
Believe BIG! Expect BIG! Do BIG! is the mantra she lives by. Woods says, “Although BIG is not the most eloquent word, it gets the vision across clearly! With belief in my heart, the work of my hands, and the words in my mouth. I will accomplish what I am commissioned to do: Motivate! Educate! Produce!”