We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Emelogu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s go back in time a bit – can you share a story of a time when you learned an important lesson during your education?
The most important lesson I learned in college is that….college was for me, but college isn’t for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my college experience for anything. But if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would do things a little bit differently. First, I wouldn’t listen the people who told me “Just go and get a college degree in anything, it doesn’t matter what you major in.” Though they thought they were helping me, they were giving me antiquated advice. That advice was pertinent to the college goer in the 70’s, 80’s or even the early 90’s.
The reality is it absolutely does matter what you get a college degree in. Certain degrees will bring a much higher return on your educational investment in yourself. I wish I had known that before I earned my bachelor’s degree in Sociology. And by the time I earned my master’s degree in Public Administration, I had already been teaching English IV for at least five years. For years I regretted not sticking with Computer Science or even Sports Management. Although I am super grateful for my experiences in college and my degrees, I would have taken a route that guaranteed a more financially sensible earning plan right out of college.
This has been important to my journey as a business owner because I no longer do anything that I feel would waste my time. The time we’re given now and what we do with it is imperative to our success in the future. Had I sought out more options after high school, besides college or the military, I would feel that I did more with the time I was given at an early age. It is a blessing to be alive during this time and to be able to share, and possibly help, anyone who may need encouragement in this area.
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?
My business meets the demands of many like-minded supporters and allies of Black owned businesses. “From May 25 to July 10, there have been more than 2,500,000 searches for Black-owned businesses on Yelp, compared to approximately 35,000 over the same time period last year — a 7,043% increase.”
Following the murders of Ahmaud Aubrey and George Floyd, I wanted to do more to support and show solidarity in uplifting the Black community. Outside of sharing posts on social media, I felt morally responsible to do more, therefore, I wanted to be more intentional about where I spent my dollars.
On July 4, 2020, I craved BBQ and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to patronize a Black owned business. I began searching for Black owned business directories in San Antonio, TX & found that we had two online directories dedicated to Black owned businesses. While these online directories were awesome, the sites proved to be hard to navigate along with inaccurate information for some businesses. I was super turned off by the representation of Black owned businesses in San Antonio. I took it personally. 45 minutes later, I found a BBQ spot located 5 minutes down the road from my house. Aside from being hangry, I knew the route to support for Black owned businesses needed to be much easier.
That day (after I got my BBQ, of course) I began designing a Black owned business directory app and I named it Circulate. The app has been published in Google Play since April 2021 and in the Apple Store since July 2021.
From July 4th 2020 to April 2021 I spent countless hours researching and vetting the businesses I would eventually manually enter into the app. Honestly, I thought only myself and maybe 10 other people would dig the app. Turns out, everyone loves it and there is a need for it especially here in San Antonio, TX.
In reaching out to several businesses to inform them of the existence of the app and that their businesses were listed in the app, I came across a very well-known Black owned business who specializes in web design. The owner was very well pleased with the app and decided to graciously donate the technology needed to upgrade the app to a Progressive Web App. In doing this, the new version will still have an option for Black owned businesses to live, as well as options for other minority owned businesses. Minority owned businesses will include, but won’t be limited to woman owned, veteran owned, Latino owned, and Asian owned businesses.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn everything I was taught about family and relationships. I heard a preacher say “know the difference between relatives and family…everyone you are related to by blood isn’t necessarily family,” and that really stuck with me. The people you are the closest to have access to hurt you the most.
I experienced neglect and betrayal from family members at a very early age and honestly, I don’t think my story is different from many others. I learned to guard my heart with a different type of zeal as I got older and this really helped me grow into a confident person. Also, my experiences as a child helped mold me into an awesome parent.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I am thankful for every challenge and obstacle that has come my way on this entrepreneurship journey. Each challenge has become a lesson learned and has made me a better entrepreneur and ultimately a better person. As a Black woman, it is challenging and daunting to jump into an industry dominated by white males. At first there were some internal conflicts about continuing to move forward in a space that can feel rather lonely. Being able to trust other tech founders and business owners that you may not have an instant culture connection with is uncomfortable at first but gets better over time. The reality is we won’t be successful if we only were open to people who look like us and share the same cultural background. I decided to challenge myself to become comfortable with being uncomfortable because comfort is the place where ideas and creativity go to die.
Contact Info:
- Website: circulateapp.io
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/circulateappsa/
- Twitter: @circulateappsa
- Other: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devex.circulateapp&hl=en_US&gl=US