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.

Lela Luster

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, particularly with the current strikes going on in the entertainment industry, this is something very important to talk about. I think the main thing corporate America gets wrong about the entertainment industry, when it comes to film and television, is that as much as the “money men” want to make this profession completely about the bottom line, at its core – the writing, the acting, the creation of a project, is what it’s about. This has been true since the beginning of the film industry. That idea changed towards the late 1920’s, when it was seen that film wasn’t going to be a fleeting thing, as so many thought it would be. I am often reminded of a quote from the documentary, The Story of Film, an Odyssey: “the money men don’t know the secrets of the human heart, or the brilliance of the medium of film…” and that’s so true. Capitalism has made creativity harder to explore. It has made the idea of paying a writer or an actor a living wage “disturbing,” and “kooky.” Read more>>

Raye Cole

The industry that I am in falls under the category of creative arts and marketing. I believe that corporate america gets a few things wrong. In a lot of ways, corportae america only can see things in “black or white.” Usually, coperate america’s focus is more on the financial and structural side of things. Where as artists, it is our jobs to add style, creativity, and flavor to whatever projects that we are assigned. Creativity is not something that is just black and white. Some people that only can see in black and white come off as dismmissive when dealing with creatives. Sometimes the business mind only wants to see and enjoy the finished product. They typically don’t care about the creative process. They also take credit for creatives creations. This can be done intentionally or uintentionally. Read more>>

Zach Christy

Throughout my career I have been able to do work for some really large companies and organizations and it seems like while everyone is good-intentioned, by the time a piece is delivered, it has touched too many hands and too many people have had a say. And because of that, the messaging becomes watered down and the content is often forgettable. A lot of times agencies or companies hire creative people, but because of red-tape or in many cases, egos, they do not let the creatives actually do what they were hired to do. I am not saying that creatives are not the only people who have good ideas, but I do think sometimes the best ideas get pushed down because the people who were hired to create the ideas aren’t the final decision maker. Read more>>

Asia Dore

If you’ve ever searched for information about branding, you’ve inevitably found hundreds of articles that claim you should build your brand like massive corporations such as Apple, McDonalds, and Nike did. And that makes sense in theory – clearly these companies are successful! But in reality, branding your small business by emulating a multi-billion dollar corporation is the biggest branding mistake you can make as an entrepreneur. Read more>>

Richard Corns

The insurance industry, agents and the corporate call centers fundamentally forget what our responsibilities or fiduciary duties are when it comes to people and their insurance needs. Insurance serves as the fundamental financial foundation for all of our clients and or customers. When a company or an agent does not educate clients with valuable knowledge pertaining to each product, clients are left focused on the wrong aspects of the decision-making process when selecting a company or agent. Our industry spends so much of its time focused on the cost of products rather than how the product will react when it matters most. By educating every client, we empower them to select based on what their overall needs are. By approaching every client with the same goal in mind, we prepare those individuals for both the short and long term and assist them in achieving their life vision.  Read more>>

Erin Goodwin

I was having coffee with a friend the other day, and she asked me what is one thing she could do to move closer to a healthier lifestyle. My response was very simple. Buy local. I say this because the products that are made local, for customers that are local, tend to have less preservatives , come in eco friendly packaging and have overall better quality. When you mass produce a product you need to store it in a warehouse for an undisclosed amount of time. So you need to plan accordingly with a strong preservative that may or may not react to sensitive skin. When you buy local you’ll find you can obtain amazing quality products with premium basic ingredients. Read more>>

Matt Crane

One of the common issues I’ve witnessed in Corporate America when it comes to graphic design is when leaders without a design background start micro-managing designers. A typical scenario finds a group of designers working on a deliverable, perhaps with some art direction from a qualified leader on their team or project. After coming to a consensus on the deliverable, it gets passed up the org chart to higher levels of leadership for review. Many times these leaders are not in their positions because they have a creative background or understand design. Read more>>

Andrew Lorenti

I believe that Corporate America in real estate is not good for anyone. Big real estate companies usually only care about the incoming cash flow via buying and selling houses. They usually instruct or have incentives for realtors to sell a certain amount so that they can get bonus or perks. This creates a cycle where realtors are only looking for the sales and not worrying about the customer. Realtors should be about helping the customer find and achieve their aspirations when it comes to buying or selling a home. There are multiple national and state government programs that can help an individual buy a home that I find most realtors don’t want to talk about either because they don’t know about it, or are so focused on the sale that they don’t want to use them since they require some time and effort. Read more>>

Val’Elizia Powell

I’ve heard corporate America believes nail technician, estheticians and other beauty professionals aren’t real jobs. In fact it is, and it gives me more time to be a mother, a sister and a business owner. I was corporate America, living paycheck to paycheck. I’ve literally had more financial freedom as a owner/operator than when I was in corporate America. Read more>>