Exclusive Interview with Karwanna D.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Karwanna D.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
My name is Karwanna D. I grew up in the inner city of San Francisco in a single-parent household. My mother had 7 kids, so off the top that should tell you that growing up was a bit of a struggle. She was a hard worker and literally worked long hours to make ends meet and to provide for us. We did have all of the basics, but anything extra… like those name brand shoes and clothes… for 7 kids.. was not gonna happen. I grew up in a community where there was a lot of blight, poverty, drugs, and gang violence was starting to rise. At an early age, I knew that I didn’t want to become a product of my environment and I refused to be a statistic. So for me, that meant I had to work twice as hard because I knew that education was going to be my way out. I became a 1st gen college grad and I landed my 1st real career job at SBC where I was one of the top paid black women at my age in the US. That was history. 10 years later I decided to venture out on my own simply because I was missing all the important 1st moments as a new mom. Entrepreneurship was my way to conquer that. It was important to me to never miss another moment with my babies.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
Of course, success is not something that happened right away for me. It took years of growth and personal development for me to get where I am today. I struggled for years trying to figure out entrepreneurship and how to make it really work. I had no money, bad credit, and absolutely no guide on how to do it the right way. So everything I learned, I learned by trial and error. I call it failing forward. One of the biggest challenges I had to overcome was believing in myself enough to know that I was worthy of being a successful entrepreneur. Because my business didn’t look anything like success. All I had was a business license and an EIN. That’s it. That’s all I knew. I didn’t know anything about a business plan or the business foundation, business credit, or any of the things that I now know makes a business work. I shoe-stringed my way into business, and every chance I had, I would add and re-invest into myself and my business. And as a young black woman in America who had no role models to look up to, it was extremely hard to market services and to get regular paying customers. That was a real task and at times, it made me feel like I was really just playing and that my business wasn’t real. But all of these things made me who I am today. I’m grateful for it all.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
Today, I’ve not only figured out all of the things I struggled with during the early years of my business, but I’ve created a blueprint for other women and minority business owners like me to follow. Now I know how to help someone build the right foundation for their business so that it’s fundable, lucrative, and is positioned for long-term success. I’ve also learned what many successful businesses have kept a secret for years… and that’s how they are able to have consistent sustainable income and have the ability to grow their small business into a big business… and that big secret was Government Contracting and Corporate Contracts. These are large 5, 6, and 7 figure contracts that have been set aside specifically for women and minority small business owners, disabled vets, native Americans, and LGBTQ business owners. This is what changed my life! Because of Government Contracts, I now have the dream business that I’ve always wanted and it gives me the time freedom to help other business owners learn how to do this. I’m very passionate about helping others and since I didn’t have that for myself, I decided it was me who was going to step up and share with people the one thing that can help them truly build, grow and nurture a successful business journey as an entrepreneur. That’s what She’s Got Goals is. It’s a way for me to empower, educate, inspire and uplift other women and minority small business owners.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
The best piece of advice I can give to anyone who desires to find success in their life whether it’s in business or any other area of their life is…. you can be anything in this world that you want to be. You can accomplish anything in life that you want to accomplish. In order to do that, there are some clear things that you have to understand.
1. You have to know exactly what it is that you want to do and write it down. I can attest that magic happens when you write your vision for your life and make it plain. It’s scripture. There’s so many vision boards and goals that I’ve written that I can look back and see that I’ve accomplished it. For some things, I’ve accomplished them multiple times.
2. Never take no for an answer. You have to believe in yourself more than anybody else and when you’re told it’s impossible, you need to have an unshakable spirit that you can make it happen and be determined to prove anybody wrong.
3. Consistency is key. No matter how many times you get it wrong, you must dust yourself off and try again because the next time may be the one time you get it right, and that’s all it takes to be successful. You’re either going to design your life and be proactive about it or live life by default. I chose to design the life I want and that’s what I did.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Success is different for everybody. If you decide you’re going to wake up every day and do 20 minutes of cardio before your day begins and you commit to doing that, that’s a level of success because you reached your goal. For me, I wanted to never miss an important moment for my kids and that’s why I took the leap of faith to leave a well-paying job to start an amazing, better-paying business of my own. I wanted to have the ability to go to the store and not worry about the price tag. I wanted to be able to travel anywhere in the world I wanted without trying to figure out how I’m going to pay for my trip. I wanted to be able to help my family when they really need me the most. I’m just a girl from the hood who dreamed that I would somehow, someday help change the world and that’s what I do every single day when I’m helping small business owners build real legacy and when I’m teaching them how to leverage their business as a wealth-building vehicle and how to believe beyond what they see is possible for them. I’ve done and I’m doing all of that so that’s what success means to me: To live my dreams and to empower people and do it in a way that leaves a lasting impression.
What’s next for you?
I’ve helped several hundreds of women and minority small business owners grow their business with government contracts. The next step for me is to help several thousands and to do that on an even larger scale and a larger platform. I want to speak at conferences, do Ted Talks and I definitely want to expand my reach through the power of media and build my team so that there’s more people like me out there who genuinely want to help others reach their goals as a small business owner.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more.
To learn more about Government Contracts for Small Businesses visit QualifyforGovernmentContracts.com
For speaking engagement, media, or press visit YourGovConCoach.com
