My Story

My journey on the road started in the 3rd grade in Inglewood, California in a quest to feed a sweet tooth. With one of my little brothers as my "business partner", we started a recycling business. We lived on a street lined with apartment buildings and in those buildings were people with lots of empty glass bottles they were saving to exchange for cash on their next trip to the grocery store. My brother and I would collect the bottles from people who I guess admired our hustle – and exchange them at the store for candy money. From that point on we knew we had the power to generate cash on our own terms and throughout our childhood experimented with various creative and entrepreneurial endeavors.

In college as a business major, through a chance encounter with Black Enterprise magazine, I made the connection to entrepreneurship as an alternative career path and launched my first small business workshop connecting aspiring business owners to startup resources in Columbus, Ohio.

After college I secured a spot in the JP Morgan Chase Management Trainee program and developed skills and experience evaluating business loan applications, advising business owners, getting deals done and trust-based selling as a VP and Commercial Loan Officer. Working with a diverse array of small businesses and large institutions, I was exposed to numerous funding tools available to be leveraged beyond traditional bank loans. I was also well versed on what it took to get a financing or grant request approved – things that are rarely disclosed in your average funding playbook: relationships, knowing the numbers and the industry, selling skills and a deep belief in the client that you are representing.

My last years of working for someone else, I left banking and went to work for a 501(c)(3) based venture capital firm that was focused on economic development. In that role I helped diverse founders and non-profits secure capital – money, connections, knowledge and customers. Creativity and exploring alternative pathways to funding was essential, especially in working with underrepresented founders, so I learned to expand what it means to get a business funded. I also helped the organization I worked for secure over $24MM in funding.

Get The Bag was inspired by my experiences over the years working with thousands of small business owners and startup founders to secure much needed business funding, from loans, to grants, to free resources and equity investment. Personally witnessing their passion, conviction and hustle, while simultaneously working through the challenges and frustrations of securing funding for their venture.

I came to realize that there was a lot more work to do to help business owners know what they needed to know about the process of getting funded and no one was really doing a good job. There were also system issues that created added barriers to women and Black and Brown business owners – especially Black women.

Get The Bag was birthed in 2019 and launched in 2020 to close the funding information and access gap – provide more information and transparency on the process of getting funded and expand knowledge on the vast array of funding options available to business owners beyond loans, grants and venture capital while also having a little fun in doing so.