We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Gates-Golden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

**Why I Started Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy**

Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy was born out of both pain and purpose. I started Golden Key because I understood, firsthand, what it feels like to have potential but not access — to have a dream for a business but not the direction, the funding, or the support to bring it to life.

The idea came to me during one of the toughest seasons of my life. I was a single mother trying to rebuild from the ground up, balancing faith, family, and survival. I saw so many people in my own community — talented, creative, resilient — but stuck. They weren’t lacking ideas; they were lacking keys: **knowledge, resources, mentorship, and belief**. I realized that success wasn’t about unlocking just one door — it was about creating a **set of keys** that could open many.

That’s how the name *Golden Key* came to be — because everyone deserves access to the doors of opportunity, and sometimes all they need is someone to hand them the right key.

One moment that still stands out to me was when I met an aspiring business owner who said, “Dr. Golden, I just need somebody to show me how.” That conversation lit a fire in me. I knew I couldn’t just tell people to “follow their dreams” — I had to **build a place** where they could be trained, guided, and supported step by step.

Today, Golden Key is more than an academy — it’s a **movement of hope**. It’s a place where entrepreneurs can learn, heal, and grow. Every program, every partnership, and every success story is a reflection of the belief that our community can rise, *if we build together*.

So, when people ask me why I started Golden Key, I tell them:
I started it to turn pain into purpose, potential into progress, and dreams into destiny — *Doing Business the Golden Way.*

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.

I’m Dr. Nicole Gates-Golden, a woman of possibilities, purpose and power! A wife, mother, community builder, and serial entrepreneur with a heart for helping others see the gold within themselves. My journey into entrepreneurship didn’t start in a boardroom — it started on the ground, in the Raleigh neighborhood of Memphis, where I saw so many talented people with big dreams but limited access to the tools, training, and resources they needed to succeed.

I’ve always believed that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful ways to transform lives and communities. But for far too long, so many of us have been taught to work hard without being taught how to build wealth, ownership, and legacy. That’s what led me to start Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy (GKETA) — a hope-driven institution built to unlock doors of opportunity through education, access, and community support.

Golden Key offers a 12-week business training program centered around our “12 Keys to Business Success,” along with a vibrant ecosystem of spaces designed to help entrepreneurs do business the Golden way. We offer a Print Center, Innovation Brand Lab, Podcast & Content Studio, Co-Working Space, Zen Den Wellness Lounge, Ghost Kitchen, and an Event Center — all in one location, right here in Raleigh. We also run community programs like Golden’s Giveback and youth initiatives through The Golden Institute, teaching life skills, landscaping, and design.

What sets us apart is that we don’t just teach business — we nurture the whole entrepreneur. We blend practical business training with wellness, mentorship, and faith-based values, because I believe that true success is about alignment, not just achievement. We meet people where they are, from single parents trying to build a better life, to small business owners ready to scale, and we walk with them every step of the way.

I’m most proud of how our work has become a movement. Watching students launch their businesses, hire within the community, and return to pour into others — that’s the true reward. Golden Key isn’t just a program; it’s a bridge to a better future for families and neighborhoods that have long been overlooked.

If there’s one thing I want people to know about me and my brand, it’s that everything we do is rooted in faith, family, and community. We’re not just building businesses, we’re building legacies. Every door we open, every key we hand out, is a step toward transforming lives, one entrepreneur, one family, and one neighborhood at a time.

Because at Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy, we believe in Doing Business the Golden Way with heart, hope, and purpose.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

When I first met Charlie, there wasn’t a grand plan—just two purpose-driven souls whose paths crossed through our shared work and passion for transforming lives. From the very beginning, we were aligned in spirit. We both carried deep callings rooted in faith, service, and rebuilding our community from the inside out.

We started as friends—brainstorming, collaborating, helping each other with business ideas. I was laser-focused on my work and, honestly, wasn’t thinking about love. My daughters were grown, the twins had just finished their first year of college, and I had told God that the next man I’d marry would have to come with divine confirmation. Charlie was doing his own thing too—fully immersed in his purpose with the Golden Institute, working to restore hope among young men in Raleigh.

Somewhere between the late nights planning youth programs and our early conversations about faith and entrepreneurship, friendship began to blossom into something deeper. What caught my heart wasn’t just his drive or his vision—it was his sincerity, his peace, and his love for God. Charlie waited until all my girls were home before he told me how he felt. His patience spoke volumes. From there, God began confirming, every single day, that we were exactly where we were supposed to be—together.

Our love story grew the same way our work did—organically, purposefully, and under God’s direction. We learned that partnership isn’t about perfection but about complementing each other’s strengths. Where I dream and design, he builds and grounds. Where he plants and mentors, I nurture and organize. Together, we became a living example of what it means to “Do Business the Golden Way”—God’s way.

Today, that same foundation of faith, friendship, and service is what fuels both Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy and The Golden Institute. It’s more than business—it’s ministry through marketplace. Our marriage and mission are one: to restore hope, create opportunity, and remind others that when purpose meets partnership, everything we touch can truly turn Golden.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe my reputation was built on consistency, compassion, and credibility. I didn’t just show up to do business — I showed up to serve. Long before Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy officially launched, I had already spent years teaching entrepreneurship through organizations like ArtUp (Binghampton) and Frayser Connect, walking side-by-side with everyday dreamers who just needed guidance and a plan.

What truly set me apart was that I understood the struggle, not from a textbook, but from lived experience. As a divorced mom of four, entrepreneurship wasn’t optional; it was survival. That authenticity created trust. People knew that when I taught about resilience, strategy, or sustainable growth, it came from a real place.

Over time, that transparency, paired with excellence — became my brand. I built relationships, not just transactions. I delivered on promises. I treated every client, student, or partner the same way I want to be treated, a principle my husband and I call “Doing Business the Golden Way.”

Doing Business the GOLDEN Way means:
G — God-Fearing Leadership
O — Operate with Obedience
L — Love Through Service
D — Discipline and Diligence
E — Empower and Encourage
N — Nurture the Next Generation

That’s what people remember — not just what you do, but how you do it. I think my reputation grew because my work always had heart behind it. I’ve stayed consistent in my message, rooted in faith, family, and community. When people think of Golden Key or Golden Institute, they don’t just see programs, they see purpose, partnership, and proof that when you do business God’s way, everything you build turns Golden.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goldenentrepreneurs.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereal_goldenkey/?igsh=NmxybDExcTVyOWtt&utm_source=qr#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17ASbXb1wU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@golden_key8?_t=ZT-8zRtPfn28oo&_r=1

Image Credits

Photo Credit: Linda White