Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Te’Jal Cartwright. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Te’Jal , thanks for joining us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

Growing up, I was always interested in having my own talk show. Now that I look back I think the 90’s was a heavy influence. Seeing Oprah, Maury, Rikki Lake, and Montell have conversations with people about things that mattered always opened my mind to new things as a child. This was before talk shows became maternity tests. When I was 25 I finally had the courage to start my own talk show called What’s the Biz with TJ. I was inspired by a short series that I created with my full-time job but WTB with TJ was about highlighting Black owned businesses in our community. I had been working to be intentional about where I spent my money and I absolutely loved this Black owned thrift store in my neighborhood. Over time, I realized that some people didn’t know that it existed which was really appalling to me. I took my camera into her store and interviewed her and the rest was history. I would reach out to people in the community to interview them and I saw how much everyone appreciated getting to learn more about these iconic business owners. I think I was just really tired of living a life that didn’t match my soul. I had a job at a local university but it didn’t completely fulfill me. After the first season, I took a second job so that I could afford a team of people and I went to a business incubator to learn how to earn money from the show. We are now in our fourth season and bringing in more revenue than ever.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

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Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I had the craziest experience when I was 19.

The summer after my freshman year in college, it was Thursday and I was looking for a good throwback picture. I found one of myself. I was about 8 months old wearing my cross colored 90’s style one piece. I had the biggest snaggle tooth smile and was sitting on the lap of my big brother. This was the perfect picture to post. One click later and a throwback Thursday hashtag, It was out for the world to see.

Later that day, I got a message from a high school friend. He saw my picture and wanted me to call him right away. I copied the number he provided in our messages and gave him a call…

“Hello?”
“Hi D! This is Te’Jal. What’s up! It’s been a long time.”
“Yea…uh..hey I just wanted to tell you that your parents aren’t your parents.”

I stopped for a moment.
“What?” I said.

He proceeded to tell me how his mother had put a baby girl up for adoption and how he just knew in his heart that I was that same baby. He knew in his heart that I was his sister.

It had been about 4 years since we spoke or even saw each other. We were cool in high school but we weren’t that cool. He and a friend of mine had dated but I didn’t know him beyond that. I finally checked back in just to hear him mention a DNA test.

“Maybe we can get a DNA test this Sunday, ya know. Just to see.” he suggested.

I agreed. I didn’t think much of his theory and I wanted to put his mind at ease. “I’m open to whatever you want to do” I said, “I just want you to find your sister!”

Over the course of the week I would have some really weird experiences. I texted my mom to tell her about the experience and didn’t get a response, I told my dad what was going on and he made a nervous joke about it. At one point I showed pictures of D’s mother to my friends and their jaws dropped.

“Te’Jal. This looks just like you!”

After all of this, I got really annoyed. I just wanted to take the DNA and make all of this go away. The last straw was on Friday when a man sent me a message on Facebook.

“Hi Te’Jal. My name is Austin. I’m your stepdad. I want to reach and apologize that you had to find out you were adopted this way. If you have any questions, you can reach out to me or your mom and we can talk about…”

The direct message said more but I was too flustered to read the rest. I was tired of the nonsense. I went to my dad’s room and told him what was going on. I told him I was getting upset and that I needed his support because was feeling a little weird about being reached out to by a grown man.

“Dad, if I’m not adopted, I need you to tell this man to leave me alone.”

My dad paused…”you’re adopted”

I was in shock.

This moment was interesting. I really learned that you can process life in multiple ways. I could have either been upset and frustrated about not knowing or I could think about how cool something like this was. I chose the ladder. I couldn’t believe how I found out I was adopted and I couldn’t believe I never knew. It didn’t bother me that I didn’t know. I got it. It’s hard to share that news especially when life doesn’t go as planned. There were other things that frustrated me about our family unit but finding out I was adopted was not one of them. I’ve always seen the brighter side of life while striving for brighter. I think life is such a beautiful thing if your perspective allows it to be.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I’m so happy about this question because it encompasses my most recent experience.

I think in order to manage your team, you have to pick to be apart of a team that has the same vibe and same core values. What is your style of working? How do you communicate? What are your expectations? These questions are some of the most important things to ask before working with any team. Do you have the same core values?

I would also say it’s important create a space where people can be their most authentic selves. Any time I am apart of a team or managing one, it’s always important that people are in roles that they desire. I listen to people’s goals/desires and try to create opportunities for people to thrive in those spaces. Creating this space of freedom maintains morale.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tejaljarrae.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tejaljarrae/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tejaljarrae
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB58nl7cCceJ4rYeXVP-7-Q

Image Credits
Jena Perry