One of the biggest opportunities for folks who want to make an impact through entrepreneurship is to tackle things that Corporate America has gotten wrong and so we’ve asked some of the best and brightest in the community to share examples of what Corporate America is getting wrong in their industries.

Cierrina Rice

I have worked in human resources management for over 11 years in various industries including aerospace and defense, retail, and BPO customer service. Though the industries are vastly different, I have consistently seen the mistake of human capital mismanagement. Employees are often undervalued and underappreciated due to many companies placing their central focus on revenues and their return on investment (ROI), not realizing that intellectual capital (i.e talent) is also essential to business success. Read more>>

michelle destefano

The health care industry has been fascinating for me. It appears that we move 10 steps forward and then tep steps backward even though we have some of the most dedicated professionals that an industry could ever imagine. Read more>>

Latesha Isbell Howard

Economic equity is a concept that most of us struggle with, especially in Corporate America. We equate superficial supplier diversity goals with equity. The average corporation spends a token 10% of their total budget with diverse suppliers (minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, and LGBTQ-owned). This statistic is even more dismal when you consider what percentage of these dollars are spent with black-owned businesses (according to McKinsey & Company, Fortune 500 companies spend about 2% annually on minority owned suppliers). Read more>>

Scott Smith

I do a considerable amount of work in the acoustic design of buildings. These projects range from high-rise mixed-use residential buildings to motion picture and recording studios. My tasks include, but aren’t limited to, mitigating environmental noise in buildings near high intensity noise sources such as airports, designing custom partitions and floor systems for privacy, to isolating vibration of machines near critical rooms. These designs translate to added project costs that were often not anticipated during budgeting. Read more>>

Ciara Torres

I started off being introduced to the pet grooming world when I applied and got a job at a well known corporate pet store. I started off as a bather – we were responsible for bathing dogs, doing nail trims, and keeping the salon clean. I remember loving the job right away… but man, was it absolutely overwhelming. Read more>>

Charnae Ware

I believe that Corporate America in the marketing world has a lot of gaps to fill when it comes to inclusiveness and diversity. Diversity is not just about having different races and ethnicity. It is about including all cultural opinions and expertise along with allowing those to have a role regardless of their age. I think that sometimes Millennials or Gen Z thinkers often do not have a voice in these larger corporations because they are looked at as lack of tenure or experience. I think a marketing career is one of those exceptions to years of experience and is focused more on the actual experience and knowledge of the subject. Read more>>

Matt Fussell

The titans in my industry study the markets and pursue projects with the greatest earning potential. While that makes sense and follows business fundamentals, I have a different approach. General Green Manufacturing, GGM for short, caters to the underserved markets that the big companies often overlook. Our competitive advantage is that we are small and agile enough to take on projects where the earning potential of that niche may be too small for the big companies, but ample for us. Read more>>