I Am Black Success®

As our 5th anniversary as a podcast approached on February 1st 2021, I made a decision to not quit on Trailblazers. FM, but instead I decided to shift. I shifted and committed to producing weekly video live streams and then it became 2-3x a week that I was streaming. In many ways though, my soul ached. I stopped the podcast that was going for 5 years, and at it’s peak, reaching some 15-20,000 down...

All anyone has to do is say the year and it can elicit an emotion. In a few words, this year has been everything from unpredictable, to traumatic, scary, exhausting and bizarre. But, there have been moments of joy as well, despite the pain. For those who are hurting, who need the hope that an opportunity to start over provides, debut author Zim Flores has some thoughts. Flores’ new book, Dare to B...

OUR FEATURED GUEST THIS WEEK: ZACH NUNN Based out of Houston, TX, Zach Nunn is a “Big 4” Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant and thought leader, with over 9 years of experience leading cultural and organizational transformation in a variety of industries. As the CEO and founder of Living Corporate, LLC , Zach amplifies and centers marginalized voices at work by interviewing Black and brown...

You've heard the advice to reach out to individual journalists …. but should we work to build rapport with journalists BEFORE we need them? I ask this and several other questions that I wanted more insights on in this conversation with the PR GURU, Pam Perry. OUR FEATURED GUEST: PAM PERRY Pam Perry is an award-winning communications professional. She teaches and mentors authors, speakers and...

It's time to open the doors for Black creatives in the fashion industry and provide them direct access to some of fashion's top leaders and vets. OUR GUEST: CHRISTOPHER BEVANS Christopher Bevans is a native of New York, who began his career apprenticing at a local tailoring house where he eventually became the owner at 19 years old. Christopher’s roots as an expert tailor developed into...

There are more amazing Black men and women, who aren't poor, aren't criminals, aren't threats to our society, than those who are. Yet, the media's representation of Black people paint a different picture. If we are to alter the media's distorted portrayal, we must among other things, increase the number of Black tv owners, producers, journalists and experts who are the cre...

Leading in purpose and with authenticity provides the strength, endurance, and desire to succeed in all areas of life. OUR GUEST: TRACY L. WILLIAMS, MS Tracy L. Williams is a nationally recognized leader committed to equity, social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion with expertise creating and executing strategies that uplift women and underserved populations through entrepreneurship, phila...

How is society being biased, specifically against the segment of citizens who count themselves among the formerly incarcerated? Bishop Darren Ferguson is a preacher, teacher, singer, motivational speaker and social activist. In this conversation, Bishop Ferguson shares his own experiences going from prison to the pulpit and beyond.  OUR GUEST: BISHOP DARREN FERGUSON Born and raised in the village...

Healthy manhood is the solution to ending all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination and can improve the mental and physical health for men and boys. OUR GUEST: TED BUNCH Ted Bunch is an educator, author, activist, and lecturer working to end all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls. Bunch is Chief Development Officer of A Call to Men and is internationally recog...

Whatever your focus - whether you’re a leader, a career professional or a business owner, you’ve got to have a base line code or model that you follow and live by. In today’s episode ALLAN HOUSTON and I discuss an unshakeable value system he’s developed for winning in life called FISLL. This acronym stands for Faith, Integrity, Sacrifice, Leadership and Legacy. OUR GUEST: ALLAN HOUSTON Allan Houst...

Desiree joins Stephen to discuss how to take care of yourself… know your limits… give yourself permission to not be ok… and seek the resources you need to be the best you. OUR GUEST: DESIREE S COLEMAN Desiree S. Coleman works to create equitable and empowering conditions for women & organizations. She is a consultant who has helped numerous groups redefine their diversity, equity & inclusi...

Inspired by the loss of her aunt, this Black physicist Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green is on a quest to cure cancer in a revolutionary new way. Dr. Green is one of the first African American women in the United States to earn a Ph. D. in physics, holds the distinction of being only the second African American woman and is the fourth African American to receive a Ph. D. in physics from the University of A...

You are a product of your choices, NOT a victim of your circumstances. Your biggest challenges can be transformed into the foundation for extraordinary personal growth. JT McCormick is the President and CEO of Scribe Media and a bestselling author of the book I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream JT’s story is truly enthralling. It gr...

Why is our mindset towards money so important? When should we start a business? When do you begin paying yourself as a business owner? Ash Cash is one of the nation’s top financial educators. He was dubbed as the Financial Motivator, and he uses a culturally responsive approach to teaching financial literacy. He is also a speaker, bestselling author of many books and the Founder & CEO of MindR...

We've decided to optimize the messaging for Trailblazers. FM to become a podcast focused on exploring successful Black entrepreneurs .  We will still feature the legendary creators, best-selling authors, and passionate leaders you have always enjoyed, but we are now able to truly double down and deliver even more targeted content for our self-driven entrepreneur community, so that whether you...

Dealing with an internal struggle? Are you mentally exhausted?  Needing some motivational #missionfuel to help you build your #mentalstrength so you can manage your emotions and thoughts with all that's going on? --  It’s been 252 days since I last published an episode and so much has happened since then. I knew that I needed to talk about some of what’s been happening with me in this ’time t...

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. The Word says there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” Ecclesiastes‬ chapter ‭3. ‭‭Blazer Nation ... for the past 4 years I’ve spoken and shared over 200 episodes with you. I’ve always been honest with you guys and right now I’m telling you the truth when I say that I am not in a great state of mind and I...

Do it before you’re ready!  The action to take is to take action! -- Please help us by SHARING this podcast with others. We believe that these inspiring stories are going to move other aspiring Black trailblazers to make significant changes that have generational impact for many others, both now and well into the future.  Blazer Nation, join our community at iamblacksuccess.com   And connect with...

In this episode, we’re going back to March of this year to hear from one of my all time fav episodes on this podcast with our friend and trailblazer, Mignon Francois of the Cupcake Collection, who found her acres of diamonds.  -- Please help us by SHARING this podcast with others. We believe that these inspiring stories are going to move other aspiring Black trailblazers to make significant change...

Today, I’m going to share a story with you that was originally told by the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia, Dr. Russell Herman Conwell. He told this story more than 6,000 times all around the world. This famous inspirational lecture, Acres of Diamonds, has inspired me in so many ways and I'd like to share it with you today. -- Please help us by SHARING this podcast with others. W...

Your vision wants to come to fruition for you just as much as you want to see it for yourself. But a lot of people forget to do the work. You can't just slap a picture up on the board. That's nice, but what are you going to do to get there? What are the steps that you're going to take? And a lot of it has to do with mindset over money. This week's feature is a throwback to Dece...

Today, I lift my head and I see this seed that I planted over 200 weeks ago. And I didn’t just plant it and leave it. No, I  watered, nurtured and cared for this podcast (my baby) each and every week. Not a Monday morning at 5am went by that I didn’t have an episode going live for you in nearly 4 years. And today, we celebrate yet another amazing milestone in episode 200. There are so many of you...

Many of you might be online, but your website or social media profile doesn't have the right visual and verbal identity. You aren't clarifying  your purpose and mission, and no one can really make sense of who you are, who you’re serving and what you’re serving. In today's episode, we discuss the 5 elements that helped me lay the right foundation for my podcast and personal brand to...

"Teachers are blown away because they'll give me the kids that say they hate math and I'm like, yeah, I'll take them. That's what I look for. And from there they'll do more work in my class the first day meeting me than they would have the entire semester. So this is really impactful." Our featured trailblazer is Marcus Blackwell . Marcus Blackwell is the CEO and...

Messaging is so important because it just makes it clear how you add value to your industry, and a lot of people just aren’t clear about that. Our featured trailblazer is Maya Elious . Maya Elious is a personal branding strategist that teaches experts how to position themselves as the go-to authority figure in their industry so they can confidently launch their signature offer. She’s helped hundre...