We were lucky to catch up with Aleah Moore recently and have shared our conversation below.
Aleah , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Motivated to name my organization after my own life events. After graduating highschool, I took on my first career job in corporate finance. The beginning of my toxic workplace stories with male counterparts. Just 19 years old, I was met with so much resistance for being a capable and confident Woman. Seen as a major threat, I was slighted from raises, promotions, and interviews for new positions. I had sales revenues, leads, and assignments that I completed, credited to my male counterparts as if I didn’t even exist. I was fed up and opted for a career change. Leaving corporate finance I headed for a government job, I applied and got hired at DCFS. 5 months pregnant with my daughter and four months into my job my doctor requested that I go on bedrest. I immediately told my male supervisor. After completely ignoring my request he told me that I wasn’t guaranteed any position. I was appalled. Choosing bedrest at doctor’s orders, I applied for FMLA, but it was denied. The organization that is supposed to “protect families and children” had shut me out. 10 days before I birthed my baby girl and had been denied my leave they sent me a separation letter.
After that I chose to pursue Dentistry thinking it would suffice my wants. Yet again, I was faced with another male supervisor, with an all women staff. So insecure with himself the only way he felt superior was by belittling, demeaning, and taunting us. Fed up with this cycle of hostile workplace environments I started my journey to entrepreneurship in January of that year while still working there. By September the next year I was planning my departure. But before I could say I quit, he fired me. At that very moment I asked myself “why were you working so hard to prove yourself to these people anyway, prove it to yourself Aleah”.
Finding out I was pregnant with my son weeks later, I knew that it was God’s protection. I’ve been proving it to myself since that day and have never looked back.
To date, Women continue to be plagued by discrimination in the work place, online and even television, and in most instances they are silenced. A research study according to Healthline states “A male participant study showed that men were more willing to work with women who pretended to have less power than they possess.“ It’s a fine line where women can be successful without behaving in a less authoritative way and this is where I draw a new line.
Boss Women Matter is dedicated to the women who continue to rise above. Boss Women Matter is for the woman who turned her pain into purpose and her misfortunes into wins. Far too often the word Boss is associated with an individual who wants to dictate and control. My definition of a Boss Woman that Matters, is specific to the leaders who are empowering their communities, the healers spreading love in the midst of hate, the changemakers who stand completely in their power, the mothers raising babies, building legacies, and creating opportunity. To the women who are the light of inspiration for so many in the midst of darkness this is for You. Ignite the Boss in YOU!
Aleah , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Born and raised in the city’s south side of Chicago, at the very young age of 17, I became an emancipated minor. Maneuvering through my own traumas and aware of my upbringing, I vowed that I would be a better example for my siblings. This was the motivation that allowed me to push through. I enrolled in therapy, I got a job in my sophomore year of high school, the money I made helped pay for our bus fare to and from school, school supplies, and uniforms.
All this on top of being a star student. Every extracurricular program I could attend I was a part of, from National Honors Society, to One Goal, to Internships at the Top Fortune 500 companies, to being a piloting Ambassador for a Youth Program. Most would say I was headed for success.
Until I surprised everyone and chose not to go to college.
I knew but they didn’t that I had a bigger purpose. A bigger vision than what society forces us to believe is the dream we should be living. Many people will never understand why I chose this but I knew then my direction and I trusted myself. I am exactly where I should be. Looking back 3 years prior, I could not see further than the next 30 days. But now, I see the vision everyday, I feel it every time I wake up. My life’s purpose is clear.
This is why I created Boss Women Matter, BWM’s mission is to provide rising women in entrepreneurship with the proper tools and resources to build strong business foundations for success through one-on-one financial education, access to capital and entrepreneurial instructed mentoring.
My words of wisdom to those who are reading this today are to never let anyone who doesn’t understand your vision talk you out of it because God gave it to YOU and YOU only for a reason. If you love it, DO it. If nobody understands why, DO IT anyway. The only person who can walk your journey is You. Stop waiting for permission to get started and go get what’s yours.
If you’re a woman identifying founder who needs a mentor, be sure to visit www.bosswomenmatter.org for more information on how you can get involved.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2020, The Scalp Effect was launched. At a time where I should have been my happiest, everything came crashing down in my world, at least that’s what it felt like. Losing my job and having to pick those pieces up due to the fact it funded my 5-9. Having to face the pressure of carrying my son and raising my daughter while walking away from a 4 year relationship that no longer served me or who I was destined to become. Seeing my life in pieces was the hardest thing I have ever endured in my life. Then COVID happened and I couldn’t bear the weight any longer. I dug deep within myself and put my fear on the back burner. I tapped into my skill sets and shifted my focus to providing need based services. Businesses were being started everyday like wildfire. This is how Boss Women Matter and GFX Girl Studios was born. I literally remember being at my lowest in November 2020, I started posting my services walking in my purpose and made over 10k by January 2021. I say this to say sometimes our hardest pivots are rerouting us to our greatest destinies. Fast forward, all my businesses are flourishing, The Scalp Effect recently turned The Black Women’s Expo in Chicago into a Hair Show Down and Sold OUT. GFX Girl is adding its value to the world by helping businesses build their brand’s presence and identity through graphic design and Boss Women Matter is changing lives by helping WOC embark on their journey to entrepreneurship by building the right foundation for success. My test has become my testimony.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I believe the most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been my consistency and transparency with my audience. Sharing the importance of how to launch a business, upleveling your skill sets and expertise, understanding how to pivot and when, the importance of building traction, and when making money how to reinvest the profits for the long term, while marching to the beat of my own drum has allowed me to ultimately stand out. This is how I am able to attract and grow my clientele. Through my own experiences they are able to see the outcome of those decisions in real time, because all those things have been the stairs to my success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bosswomenmatter.org/
- Instagram: @aleahb_
- Linkedin: Aleah Moore
Image Credits
Secure the Look, Raelyn Purham, Credell Walls, Kelvin Boyd, Jamal Greene, Magnificient Beauty Bar, 5iveCrowns, TooReal Esthetics, Sculpted Dollz Studio, Chicago Carribean Carnival