We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nazeera Dawood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nazeera, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for Vendorship was born out of a personal frustration that turned into a lifelong mission.
When I was working in government, I was responsible for releasing RFPs ; Requests for Proposals to invite businesses to bid on projects. But what surprised me was how few responses I received. Out of curiosity, I began calling companies directly and asking, “Why didn’t you respond?”

Their answers stunned me.
They said things like, “We don’t know how to do business with the government,” or “It’s too complicated,” or “We can’t afford a full-time team just to handle compliance.” That moment changed everything for me.

I realized there was a massive gap between government buyers who genuinely wanted to engage small and diverse businesses and the entrepreneurs who wanted those opportunities but didn’t know how to navigate the system. It wasn’t about lack of capability. It was about lack of clarity.

That’s when I knew I had to bust the myths.
I wanted to show that doing business with government isn’t impossible; it’s a process that can be learned, managed, and scaled. So, I made one of the boldest decisions of my life: I resigned from my government position and founded Vendorship Inc.

Vendorship was built to be that missing bridge, helping companies understand government procurement, get certified, respond to RFPs, and grow confidently in public sector contracting. I knew it would work because I had seen the problem from both sides.

What excites me most is watching small and minority-owned firms transform going from feeling locked out to winning million-dollar government contracts. Every success story reminds me why I started: to make government contracting accessible, equitable, and human.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Dr. Nazeera Dawood, Founder and CEO of Vendorship Inc., a company built to help businesses access, navigate, and thrive in the world of government contracting.

My professional journey began in medicine as a practicing physician and public health, where I spent years serving communities and managing public programs. That experience gave me a deep understanding of how government systems work , and also where they often fail to connect with the people and businesses they’re meant to serve.

During my time in government operations, administration, I was responsible for issuing RFPs, Requests for Proposals. What surprised me was how few responses came in. When I personally reached out to small businesses to ask why they hadn’t applied, their answers stopped me in my tracks: “We don’t know how to do business with the government.”

That was a pivotal moment. I realized it wasn’t a lack of talent or capability holding these entrepreneurs back, it was a lack of access and understanding. There were too many myths and too much intimidation around public-sector contracting. I felt strongly that someone needed to bridge that gap, to “translate” the government process in a way that businesses could understand and benefit from.

So, when I left my government position, Vendorship Inc. was born, with one mission: to make government contracting accessible, equitable, and sustainable.

At Vendorship, we don’t see ourselves as consultants; we see ourselves as partners in our clients’ growth. Our team works as an extension of each business, guiding them through every step of the procurement journey, from identifying opportunities to preparing winning proposals, obtaining certifications, building capability libraries, and ensuring contract readiness.

We specialize in helping IT staffing, technology, healthcare, and professional services companies diversify and expand into government sectors, local, state, and federal. Our clients have gone on to win multi-million-dollar contracts and form long-term partnerships with public agencies across the country.

What sets Vendorship apart is our insider perspective. I have seen the process from both sides of the table. We understand the government’s expectations and the entrepreneur’s challenges. That dual insight allows us to simplify complexity and humanize the procurement process.

What I am most proud of is not just the contracts won, but the confidence restored in our clients, many of whom once thought government work was out of reach. Vendorship is not just about business growth; it’s about empowerment, representation, and legacy.

At its core, Vendorship is a reminder that every small business deserves a seat at the table; and we are here to make sure they get there.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My biggest career pivot came when I chose to step away from medicine and public health; a field I had trained and worked in for years to build something completely different: a company that empowers small businesses to work with government.

For much of my early career, I was guided by one goal, to serve communities and improve systems. As a physician and later a public-health professional working inside government, I was focused on improving outcomes for people. But over time, I began to see a deeper pattern: real, sustainable impact often depends on how well government partners with business.

That realization came sharply into focus when I was releasing RFPs and saw so few responses from local or minority-owned companies. Their reason was consistent: “We don’t know how to do business with government.” That moment challenged everything I knew about impact. I realized that if I truly wanted to serve communities, I needed to empower the businesses that serve them.

So I pivoted. I resigned from my government position; a comfortable, stable path and launched Vendorship Inc. It was a leap of faith and a complete career reinvention. Instead of serving patients, I began serving entrepreneurs. Instead of writing policy, I started writing strategy.

And like any true pivot, it came with risk. I had to learn the language of business, build a new network, and earn the trust of clients in an entirely new arena. But the mission never changed, it just evolved. I went from healing individuals to helping small businesses grow, create jobs, and strengthen local economies.

That pivot taught me that purpose doesn’t always change; sometimes it just takes on a new form. For me, medicine gave me empathy, public service gave me perspective, and entrepreneurship gave me the platform to combine both for lasting impact.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

From Negative Cents to New Beginnings

There was a time, not long after I founded Vendorship Inc., when everything felt like it was collapsing. It was the Fourth of July weekend , a time when the world was celebrating freedom but I felt trapped in a cage of my own struggle.

My personal bank account was negative 39 cents, and my business account was negative 19 cents. I remember staring at those red numbers on my phone screen, feeling the air leave my lungs. I couldn’t even afford groceries for my daughters that weekend. I told them, “We’ll eat whatever’s left in the fridge.” That sentence still echoes in my mind.

Those early years of Vendorship were brutal. I had drained my retirement savings trying to build something that didn’t yet exist, a bridge between small businesses and government opportunities. I felt alone, isolated, and misunderstood. I wasn’t talking to my family, and I didn’t have a network I could lean on. I spent that entire weekend in bed, questioning everything; my decisions, my worth, my purpose.

But on Monday morning, something shifted. I got up and made a choice: I will not give up.
I realized that success isn’t born from comfort; it’s built from the moments when you have every reason to quit and still choose to stand up.

From that day forward, I stopped focusing on survival and started building to thrive. I restructured Vendorship, reached out to new partners, and doubled down on my purpose, helping other entrepreneurs find clarity and confidence in a world that often shuts them out.

Today, as Vendorship continues to grow, every milestone reminds me of that July weekend. The shame, the struggle, the decision to rise, it’s all part of our foundation. I carry that memory not as pain, but as proof: you can build something extraordinary even from less than zero.

What I learned and continue to learn is simple but powerful:

Positivity in hard times opens the door to new beginnings.

Belief in your vision is stronger than any balance sheet.

Resilience and humility are the quiet forces that build lasting success.

Vendorship stands today not because everything went right but because when everything went wrong, I chose to keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vendorship.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vendorshipinc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vendorship/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendorshipinc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Vendorship
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCgnpSOM59LgsuN9a4VG1sTg