We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Corrinne GRAHAM recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Corrinne, looking forward to hearing all your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The idea to start my company, venture out on my own. This idea came about when I was in my corporate management accounting role and while in college and in my 30’s. I am only 29! At this time, there was an economic downturn…through my lens; it was not really a downturn. It was just that some individuals were not able to see what other opportunities were available for job opportunities or scale to scale business or even start a new one. You see, for me, being in college allowed me to observe industries and see data points that show what we should be prepared and ready for. I saw C-Suite, managers and teachers working in restaurants such as McDonald’s, going into retail or other low-income fields than they were used to because they had not learned how to pivot or leverage their transferable skills. There was a growing need for tech learning and training. This shift began and many/some did not pay attention to it. I left one corporate role to the next and still feel unfulfilled. Entrepreneurship was not something I aspired to although I have been doing so since the age of five was my first attempt when I told my dad I would sing for him, if he gave me fifty cents (Jamaican money) for candy I wanted to make. I would sell plums from home at times in primary school. I would ask my mom to show me how to make some items that I liked, and I thought were popular with others. They were, and the few folks supported. I would give the money to my mom and the items I sold at primary school would go towards purchasing lunch for the two siblings that followed me; I am one of five. They would spend their lunch money on snacks at break time; lol. I think I also stopped selling at Primary school before the 5th grade; I think I had other things on or in mind…Preteen I supposed started to kick in. One of my childhood dreams/goals was to one day own an Air B & B and from my corporate job and run an entity that would provide job opportunities for families and friends in need so that I could earn an income when times were tough. The dream was not to be an entrepreneur in that sense but to be a socially responsible person and help create pathways and opportunities for others.

So, one day at my last corporate job while speaking to one of doctoral committee members, I remember sharing with him my observation that there were lots of opportunities that were available, and I didn’t know why they couldn’t see this or even navigate what was happening. He remarked, “Corrinne, don’t you know the job of PhD is to create economic empowerment.” Of course, I knew this; however, this felt like a lightning bolt moment. And so, I started to think about what the company could do/offer as services and so I set out on the trip of building out a marketing plan to show me all the possibilities. I tested my business model with NGOs and other places such as SCORE and SBDC. Then the networking very hard piece kicked in.

One last thing that pushed me to entrepreneurship is that I was burned out and being burned with no room for growth/advancement and maxed out very quickly with the mundane tasks etc. I am a social entrepreneur. My company’s tagline is “Transforming Visions and Guiding Possibilities and that’s what I do with any company, individual or teams that work with be it training, as speaker, project and program manager or general consulting, community engagement, research & development, commercialization etc.

Dr. Corrinne, 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 will try and make a long story short and sweet. While in college and throughout my college years…there are few to get PhD work completed; and throughout my earlier corporate career pathways, I noticed a few trends during those times. One was that there (that I noticed), were tremendous opportunities to start a business and grow/scale a business and I wondered why businesses were not doing better. Another was the need for a retrained workforce and increased need for more workforce as well as a specialized workforce and wondered why mid-level managers were out of jobs, teachers and others were out jobs and had to re-enter the work market at lower income levels, starting over again. I also noticed the growth of corporate social responsibility and sustainability (CSR) as well the lack of socially responsible corporate citizens. I completed my PhD, and it was conferred in 2012. My Dissertation “Discovering Profitability in the Context of Cultural Diversity.”

So, one day while on lunch break at my last corporate job, I was having a conversation with one of my committee members and I was sharing with him what I mentioned before; I couldn’t understand why folks couldn’t see the opportunities…I will say the “Possibilities!” He responded saying; “Corrinne, don’t you know it’s the job of PhD’s to create economic empowerment/Growth?” It is funny what some of the things we remember. This was one of them for me. It wasn’t a new sentiment or thought for me; it was something I knew and knew for fact. We can dive into that statement another time as I know it tickled some folks not funny or funny bone for discussion.

This started me thinking about what I could do to make a difference. Most importantly, that statement put front and center for me the fact that I was burnt out from corporate jobs and tired of making suggestions and requesting roles to help them before they failed on any numbers of areas, and they didn’t heed theses and so saw the results I predicted.

This also put front and center that I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur, even though I have always been an entrepreneur since I was five (5) asking my dad for fifty centers to buy candy and that I would sing for him so that he could give me the fifty cents. Or that during many days in primary school I would sell food items at school or in my community (my block of two roads? such as plums, asham (roasted cornmeal with brown sugar), coconut drops, serve-me-long (suck-suck) a beverage made with flavored syrup and lime and other things. I would ask my mom to show me how to make these things. Let me tell you. I DON’T Cook…even back then!!! One of the tag lines for one my T-shirt Line at Designs by Dr. G is “I am Allergic To Cooking!” and I wear it proudly; lol.

I wanted to be an entrepreneur; however, it was more for a social impact. I wanted to have a great corporate job and then own a small bed and breakfast that would be able to help my family and friends who may need a job. Fast forward and you will all my work and volunteerism are around helping others succeed in whatever way I can.

My company’s tagline is “Transforming Vision. Guiding the Possibilities.” That is what I do in every aspect of what I am hired to do because that is what my clients and communities want! I also taught corporate social responsibility and sustainability as an adjunct professor. I gave a TEDx talk on CSR: How to Make Common Sense Common Knowledge.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Starting a business isn’t for the faint of heart. During the formative years and very close to when I was working on my PhD, I started working on a marketing plan for what I thought would be a good business model and piloted the idea as was needed. It was a needed business model and still is however, business is always challenging to navigate when people/other businesses are “grandfathered in.” I started my company shortly after completing my PhD and I had purchased a home a few years earlier. A little after a year in the business going into the second year, I lost a small contract that I had. This happened a few days prior to the renewal of that contract. It wasn’t because I didn’t do a great job, but other folks did not like the impact I had made and was making them jealous and so gave it to their friend and so on. It was what it was, and the story continued. I had taken on a partner on another potential project to build out the income for the company which would bring in about $300k. Guess what, that didn’t fly. Turns out that this business partner had other intentions; a personal interest in me. You guessed it; he had to go. All the funds that I had somehow just went. All the hustle and gigging somehow wouldn’t add up and family and friends were not of much value in what was needed at that time. There were a few; less than a handful who would do whatever they could. So, I depleted all my savings and investments and lost our home. I was prepared to know this was a possibility at the beginning of starting my company but hoped it would not have happened. Turns out losing my home was another transformation in terms of my business growth and today I continue to lean into my faith and belief of what my social role is to be and what God has ordained my path to be! It’s exciting and rewarding but absolutely positively not easy!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

While going to college, I eventually started to invest in my company at the time 401k. It was my first corporate role in the USA. When I was in college and business major I observed many market trends and so in the 2000’s when the markets went hay wire…they always do; you just must manage it and work with your advisors. I had a portfolio that invested in Euro Markets primarily around energy and tech etc.…I’ll let you do a little thinking to see how the world paralleled then to now. My investments took very little losses while others lost so much money. I kept rolling over my funds for each company etc. and so eventually used some of the funds to purchase my first home (which I subsequently lost) and started my business with some left over. I also funded my company from my salary. My company never infringed on my corporate work or time and so to build my company; I had to leave corporate and then hustled, gigged and grind to run a lean and profitable company still in its infancy of growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.grahamconsultingandresearch.com
• Instagram: designsbydrg
• Facebook: GICaRInc
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gicar
• Twitter: DrCorrinneGraha
• Youtube: DRGKEOS

Image Credits
All pics/images have been previously consented to.