Black Girl Magic is in full effect in the world of entrepreneurship. More women, particularly black women entrepreneurs, are taking the path to ownership, fully investing in themselves and future generations. If you’ve ever thought about being an entrepreneur, you’ll have the support of a sisterhood of women who are doing the same thing.

According to The 2017 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report commissioned by American Express, women’s entrepreneurship is growing at a fast pace. Women-owned businesses account for over one-third of all U.S. firms, resulting in an estimated 11.6 million firms in the United States as of January 2017. Leading the way in the entrepreneurship space are African American women. Women now own 30% of all businesses in the U.S., accounting for some 9.4 million firms. Additionally, African American women control 14% of these companies, or an estimated 1.3 million businesses.

“This is our time,” says Venus Opal Reese, CEO of Defy Impossible, Inc. and creator of the Black Woman Millionaire Tour. “Everything our ancestors have prayed for is at our fingertips. The social structures that have kept us in bondage have lessened.”

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Originally published by BlackEnterprise.com

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This wasn’t an ordinary event. It was an empowerment-focused summit that catered to the needs of the most powerful women and emerging leaders taking the reigns at America’s Fortune 500 companies.

Filled with a line-up of today’s leading women speakers such as Iyanla Vanzant, Tina Knowles, Susan Rice, and Donna Brazile, the conference discussions left many precious gems that will help more women move ahead in their personal and professional lives.

If you missed the conference in March, take note of these 3 things and make sure you are incorporating these tips into your success plan:

1.  Put Yourself First

This is easier said than done – especially if you are a high-achieving woman who is willing to do whatever it takes to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.

Michelle Gadsden-Williams, a corporate executive and author of CLIMB, gives her most heartfelt advice during the session titled, “Rise! Climbing Through Crisis”. After discovering that she was diagnosed with Lupus and trying to continue to climb the corporate ladder, she had to learn what it meant to put herself first or lose her life.

She recalled, “I risked my life and my health for my job. I was on call all the time. You think you are doing the right thing by going the extra mile. But the extra mile always cost me my life.”

“A career is great but if you don’t have your health, you have nothing,” she continued.

In order to get ahead, you have to be willing to put yourself first. You’ll have more to give to everyone around you if you fill your cup up first.

2. Be Willing to Negotiate

Pay equity is one of the biggest issues facing women in Corporate America. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, women make 83 cents for every $1 that a man makes in the workplace.

In the session sponsored by Accenture, “Enough is (NOT) Enough: Yes, We Can Close the Pay Gap!”, a panel of three prominent women discussed best practices for closing the pay gap.

“We treat women the way we pay women,” says Teresa Younger, President & CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

She continued, “We are a capitalist society. We place value in dollars.”

The panel emphasized that women have to be willing to negotiate when they first land the job and after every review.

Celebrity moderator Star Jones added, “You have to be willing to be your own advocate.”

3.  Believe You are Worthy

Leave the imposter syndrome side effects in 2017. It is not an accident that you reached the level of success that you have and that you’ve been granted the opportunities that you see. You must tell yourself that you deserve to be in every room you enter. Own your power and be willing to support others as they seek to enter the same room.

Iyanla Vanzant delivered the morning inspiration on the last day of the conference. She encouraged attendees to “get yourself congruent on the inside so your power will never be questioned on the outside.”

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