We were lucky to catch up with Anita Pierce recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Eleven3seven5 is my entry point on this earth, its actually my date of birth; my purpose that I am to share with the world. It began as an event management company that has developed into a business consultancy. We are dedicated to forging a powerful and intentional connections between business success and social impact.

Anita, 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?

I am a Brownsville Brooklyn, NY native, mother to a beautiful brown soul who began this entrepreneurial journey 9 years ago. I have over 20 years of combined experience in Finance, strategy, and management ( Corporate and Non-profit) My genesis into this work, began after I was downsized from my employer after returning to work after maternity leave. I did not have aspirations of entrepreneurship. However, I believe the universe, and my child required that I figure something out to earn a living. I became active in my community, by participating in community stakeholder groups, which led to me being selected to serve on the local Community board. During that time, I curated a number of community activities such as, meet the candidate forums, career fair, MWBE symposiums. It was at the MWBE symposium where I discovered business opportunities to work with the government as a serviced based business. After learning what I needed to do, I put it all into action and now I am a certified business within the state of New York. Through our work, we have successfully secured contracts in the areas of training, facilitation, leadership development, project management, community engagement and providing technical assistance to small businesses.

I am deeply focused on closing the educational gap for small businesses, part of our menu of services we provide individual and group coaching and events that help to nurture business success. When I began my business, working directly with a business advisor was necessary and critical to my overall success. Thus, I am providing this as a service for all business owners to shorten their gap of business knowledge. In addition to the coaching services, we curate monthly educational events on various topics that support business development. We host our annual full circle business brunch where attendees are able to leave the space with information on wellness, managing business collaborations, understanding capital needs and securing accountability groups that will help them grow to the next level.

Currently, I serve as a Business Advisor with the Brooklyn, Women’s Center out of East New York Brooklyn, Business Development Lead for a community based organization in Brownsville, and as a SCORE Mentor out of NYC. I am consider an O.G ( original guardian) for many businesses and community base organizations. I often lend my voice as a speaker on topics that include navigating the government contracting space, being a parent and entrepreneur, expanding your wealth footprint through entrepreneurship, mentorship and financial wellness.

Our daily goal is to connect clients to the business resources that they need. I am joyful when a client has successful outcomes when they have executed on their learnings. Within our practice, we provide strategies to secure government contracts. We consistently remind them that the government contracting industry and its a journey. Depending on which level of government that you are targeting, it can take up to a year after certification to secure a contract. When they win, its a happy moment for the client and our team. Then we continue the process of working with them after the contract is secured providing them the tools they need to successfully complete the project.

We consistently remind all that we serve about the importance of failing as a part of the journey

Fun fact: I speak fluent brooklyn and I went skydiving twice in one day…

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I used capital from savings and from my severance package to help to fund my business. I understood in establishing my business that I required to have personal and business separated so I funded the business from personal account and documented the transaction to support the start up funding process. Once I was registered within the state of NY, I created a menu of services and began to generate revenue.

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

I was eager to use my MWBE certification so I would attend a number of workshops to learn and connect with other businesses. I recall attending a virtual meeting with a few other MWBE’s and introducing myself to someone who had business similarities, and had experience in the space of government contracting. I recall, reaching out to the business owner and trusting that we would be able to collaborate on a few opportunities. My experience was very negative with this business owner, This experience taught me a few things; First lesson believe in yourself. I was told to change the name of my business as no one would buy from me. – This person was very wrong and I have successfully secured contracts. Second lesson, always, always shoot your shot. This means for me, seizing the opportunities as they come to you. Yes, being prepared is always necessary, and yet sometimes placing your name in the hat allows for you to have an chance to win. Final thought regarding this, You are as dope as you believe that you are.. Learn the difference between haters, and constructive feedback.
Be consistent in working on your craft, Your efforts will obey..

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eleven3seven5.com
• Instagram: eleven3seven5
• Youtube: Eleven3seven5

Image Credits
Stillwell photography, Kimazing Photos