Kendra Bracken-Ferguson joins Forbes Reporter Rosemarie Miller for this episode of New Money where they discuss strategies for fundraising, the leap into entrepreneurship, and the pros and cons of starting a business with co-founders.
0:00 Introduction
0:45 The Beauty Of Success: What Inspired Kendra To Become An Author?
1:53 Kendra's Background And Life Growing Up
4:34 Kendra's Inspirations In Entrepreneurship
9:13 How Long Does It Take To Become A Successful Entrepreneur?
10:00 The Fundraising Process Of BrainTrust And Building Community
16:21 How Do You Know You Should Start A Business With Someone? : Kendra Breaks Down The Pros and Cons
20:05 More On BrainTrust: What Keeps Kendra Growing And Going
23:37 How Does Kendra Bracken-Ferguson Manage Her Money?
28:52 Go To Advice For Starting Your Business
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Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
0:00 Introduction
0:45 The Beauty Of Success: What Inspired Kendra To Become An Author?
1:53 Kendra's Background And Life Growing Up
4:34 Kendra's Inspirations In Entrepreneurship
9:13 How Long Does It Take To Become A Successful Entrepreneur?
10:00 The Fundraising Process Of BrainTrust And Building Community
16:21 How Do You Know You Should Start A Business With Someone? : Kendra Breaks Down The Pros and Cons
20:05 More On BrainTrust: What Keeps Kendra Growing And Going
23:37 How Does Kendra Bracken-Ferguson Manage Her Money?
28:52 Go To Advice For Starting Your Business
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 There has to be a reality.
00:02 Not every person who starts a company
00:04 who's brilliant and has a great idea
00:06 is going to have a billion dollar exit.
00:08 That's just not the way of the world.
00:11 But what can happen is that you can have
00:13 a wildly successful company that provides for you,
00:17 that creates generational wealth
00:18 and generational inheritance.
00:20 And so I always say, let's look at
00:22 what's the best thing that could happen.
00:24 (upbeat music)
00:26 Hi everyone and welcome to New Money,
00:29 where we talk to movers and shakers about how they made it.
00:32 I'm your host, Rosemary Miller,
00:34 here with the CEO and founder of Braintrust,
00:37 Kendra Bracken Ferguson.
00:40 Thank you so much for joining me today, Kendra.
00:41 Oh my gosh, Rosemary, thank you for having me.
00:44 I so appreciate it.
00:45 Absolutely.
00:46 So Kendra, you recently wrote a book,
00:49 "The Beauty of Success."
00:51 What inspired you to write a book right now?
00:54 So it's funny because I was actually talking
00:56 to my mom about this.
00:57 When I was in college, I said, "I wanna write a book."
00:59 And my mom said, "How about you have a career,
01:03 "experience life a bit and write a book?"
01:06 And I feel like it was such a manifestation of that.
01:09 And it's funny because I host a podcast
01:12 called Business of the Beat,
01:14 and it's focused on BIPOC leaders
01:17 who are really starting, growing
01:18 and accelerating their businesses.
01:20 And my publisher was listening to the podcast and said,
01:23 "Oh my goodness, have you thought about doing a book?"
01:25 And I said, "Well, actually I have."
01:28 And it really was an opportunity to tell my story
01:32 as a three-time founder and all of the lessons
01:36 that I learned.
01:37 But then I also brought in 18 stories from my podcast.
01:40 And it was really this great moment to say,
01:43 "What have we learned as leaders
01:45 "and how can we share that with others?"
01:47 In a really fun, very much relatable way.
01:51 And that was the impetus for the book.
01:54 Well, I do wanna get into the book,
01:55 but first I wanna talk about you and your background.
01:58 Could you give me a brief overview of life growing up?
02:01 Who's Kendra?
02:02 (laughing)
02:03 You're like, "Who are you?"
02:05 I'll say this.
02:05 I was one of those people.
02:08 I lived by this mantra that I saw in "It's a Wonderful Life"
02:12 where George Bailey says,
02:13 "I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town
02:15 "off my feet and I'm gonna see the world."
02:17 And literally my whole childhood,
02:20 I traveled with my mom for her work.
02:23 She was a senior executive, started many companies.
02:25 And then I remember being in sixth grade
02:27 and the president was giving a speech
02:29 and someone handed him a piece of paper
02:31 and I said, "Who is that?"
02:33 And my mom said, "The press secretary."
02:34 And I said, "I wanna do that job.
02:37 "I wanna tell stories.
02:38 "I wanna be behind the scenes and make things happen."
02:41 And so I went to college, practiced PR,
02:45 worked at Fleischman Hillard,
02:46 one of the largest PR agencies,
02:48 became the youngest VP there,
02:49 was recruited to go to Ralph Lauren.
02:51 I was the first director of digital media.
02:53 So really this notion of being an entrepreneur,
02:56 being inside of a company starting things
02:58 was my trajectory.
03:00 And then I met my first business partner, Karen Rabinowitz,
03:03 and we started a company called
03:04 Digital Brand Architects in 2010.
03:07 That was really so revolutionary at the time.
03:09 It was one of the first agencies to manage bloggers.
03:12 So before Instagram, before Pinterest,
03:15 we were managing bloggers.
03:17 And it was during that time that we raised money
03:20 and I became part of the first group of black women
03:23 to raise more than a million dollars.
03:25 And we also had the opportunity
03:28 to really grow and scale that company.
03:30 And it was funny because in the midst of that,
03:33 I started realizing that I had a different alignment
03:36 in terms of where I saw myself, where my partners,
03:40 we actually brought in a third partner.
03:42 And I was sitting in my office and I said,
03:44 "What have I learned?"
03:46 And it was that I really love working with smart people,
03:49 but I also more than that, understood the notion of trust.
03:53 And so I wrote on my whiteboard,
03:55 "Brain Trust, smart people that you trust
03:58 to do what they say, say what they do."
04:00 And I think that's how we actually solve problems.
04:03 And so that kind of pivoted my career
04:06 and starting Brain Trust in 2015.
04:09 And then the evolution of that
04:11 into Brain Trust Founders Studio in October of 2021,
04:15 which is now the largest membership-based platform
04:19 for black founders of beauty and wellness companies.
04:21 And then we launched our Brain Trust Fund last year.
04:25 So it's been a really exciting journey
04:27 of what does it look like to be inside of a company
04:30 as an entrepreneur and then really expanding
04:32 and becoming an entrepreneur.
04:34 - That is quite a journey.
04:35 So back to your childhood,
04:38 were there any examples of entrepreneurs in your family
04:41 that you can remember?
04:43 - Well, it's so funny because I didn't realize it,
04:46 of course, at the time.
04:47 But through this journey, so my mom was always,
04:50 she was always a senior executive.
04:52 She led HR for the city,
04:55 but she also sold Mary Kay and she sold Jafra.
04:59 And we laugh about that now
05:01 because she had her own entrepreneurial spirit.
05:04 And it's funny because when she retired
05:07 and I was still coming of age,
05:09 I said to her, I was like,
05:10 "Oh, I'm gonna build you a website.
05:12 You're gonna do HR consulting."
05:13 And she said, "No, I'm actually gonna start
05:15 a jewelry business."
05:16 And she has had that business for 10 years.
05:19 She travels all over the world.
05:21 She finds jewelry pieces and she sells it.
05:24 And so she has her own P&L.
05:26 She has, and so it's so funny
05:28 because we've talked about being entrepreneurs together,
05:31 but how growing up she always was an entrepreneur
05:35 and then she was an entrepreneur.
05:37 - I think, could you explain what is an entrepreneur?
05:40 - I love that term.
05:40 You're like, girl, tell us.
05:42 So an entrepreneur is really someone
05:44 who is inside of a corporate structure,
05:46 who works for a company,
05:47 but is building something that they really believe in
05:50 or passionate about.
05:51 And so I liken it to when I was at Fleischman Hillard,
05:55 I helped build the digital practice group there.
05:57 I was so passionate about what does digital PR look like?
06:01 And I was in all the mommy blogs and forums.
06:03 And then at Ralph Lauren,
06:04 I was hired to be the first director of digital media.
06:08 And so I launched the brand across social,
06:10 did the first influencer campaigns.
06:12 So really building that within a corporate structure.
06:16 And I talk about the importance of being an entrepreneur
06:19 because that's what helps us as entrepreneurs
06:22 actually do more.
06:24 It's the people inside of the companies that see us
06:27 that wanna use the company's resources,
06:29 and even being here on this interview with you,
06:31 and say, I'm going to help pave a new path
06:35 or create something new.
06:37 - So back to you and mom, okay?
06:40 Mom is an entrepreneur.
06:41 Maybe she doesn't really see herself like that,
06:43 but mom is definitely an entrepreneur.
06:45 And you, did you ever realize at that point in your life
06:49 that you were going to be an entrepreneur
06:51 or were the people in your life always telling you,
06:55 okay, you gotta go get a job, you gotta go get a job?
06:57 - It's so funny because I did not.
06:59 I was literally, I wanna be the youngest VP.
07:02 I wanna be the president of a company.
07:05 My aspirations were climbing corporate.
07:08 Like I literally, everything I did
07:11 was this goal to build my resume.
07:12 And I enjoyed it.
07:13 I was the president of my sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho.
07:16 I was like, if I'm gonna do it, I have to be the president.
07:19 I was the senior editor
07:20 at the Black Cultural Center newsletter.
07:22 I was like, I wanna be the senior editor.
07:24 So everything was this notion of how do I build and build
07:29 so that professionally I can get to the highest
07:32 of the corporate structure?
07:33 Because that's what I saw, because my mom was the head
07:35 and I'd go to her office and she was leading the meetings.
07:38 And so that's what I knew.
07:40 And it really wasn't until I met Karen.
07:44 And I remember because I was at Ralph Lauren
07:47 and I texted her, she called and I said,
07:50 I have an idea to manage bloggers.
07:52 And she said, me too, I have a company name.
07:55 And I literally put up a website for us that day.
07:58 Sunday, the next day,
08:00 we got our husbands together for brunch.
08:02 Monday, we filed for an LLC.
08:04 And I went to David Lauren and Julie Berman and I said,
08:07 hey, I'm gonna start a company and manage bloggers.
08:09 And so it was this really interesting,
08:13 it was divine intention.
08:14 And it was this notion of I have this idea,
08:19 let me just start it.
08:20 But I think the interesting thing is that
08:22 like many entrepreneurs, I had responsibilities, right?
08:25 And so we had this great moment,
08:28 but I couldn't in that moment say,
08:30 and now I'm leaving and I'm gonna start this company.
08:32 So I continue to be very transparent.
08:35 But during the day I was running all the social
08:38 at Ralph Lauren and then at night,
08:40 we were working on our business.
08:42 We were meeting with the bloggers every Friday
08:44 saying we wanna manage you.
08:46 And so that's even one of the lessons
08:48 that I talk about as well.
08:49 We think about when do you pivot into something
08:52 that you truly believe in, right?
08:54 And so for me, and I say to entrepreneurs,
08:57 you really have to figure out that leap of faith
09:00 and when it's time.
09:01 And for us, it was about,
09:03 we have enough money to pay ourselves and an assistant
09:07 so that we could leave our full-time jobs
09:10 and really fulfill our entrepreneurial spirit.
09:13 - And how long did that take?
09:15 - It took about six to eight months.
09:18 And it was interesting because I was of the mindset
09:23 that we are gonna do this and we couldn't let the time pass.
09:26 I'm very much a jump off the bridge.
09:29 And I was also very much a realist
09:33 that we live in New York City on 14th Street.
09:36 My husband and I, and there are certain things
09:39 that I wanted to make sure were protected.
09:42 So we didn't have this five-year business plan,
09:45 but we knew we were in the moment.
09:47 And we made sure that we had almost like a safety net
09:51 of our careers to then be able to go out and pivot.
09:55 And then we were fortunate because we were able
09:57 to raise funds to then continue the journey of the business.
10:00 - So you were able to raise funds.
10:02 What did that fundraising process look like?
10:04 Because this was your first time fundraising.
10:05 - Yes.
10:06 (laughing)
10:07 And it's funny because now wearing my Venture Capitalist
10:11 hat and running a fund,
10:12 and actually it's in all seriousness,
10:16 it's really interesting because that experience
10:19 is what has molded me into the investor that I am today.
10:23 Because there were all these things that I did not know
10:26 when we went through that first investment process,
10:29 how to structure the right deal,
10:30 how to have the right lawyer for me outside of the company
10:34 to make sure that I was protected in my interest
10:36 as a founder, how much money do you raise
10:40 and the right money to raise?
10:41 And who do you raise money from?
10:42 And what does the board look like?
10:44 And how important is the board?
10:46 And so that process was very much us saying,
10:49 we have the right connections,
10:51 which is also something that I,
10:53 through Brain Trust Founders Studio, help founders.
10:55 'Cause getting the connections is hard, right?
10:58 We know the stats, less than 1% of black-founded companies,
11:01 in particular black women, receive funding.
11:03 And so I'm trying to think about what did I learn?
11:07 You need connections, you need resources,
11:09 you need the right structure to do the deal
11:12 through lawyers, legal management.
11:14 And then how do I bring that into my role
11:17 in terms of now investing into others?
11:20 And so I try and always think about that
11:23 as I'm talking to companies about investment,
11:25 because it does take time.
11:27 You're gonna get no's, that doesn't mean
11:29 that that no is against you personally
11:31 or that your business doesn't work.
11:33 But you really have to use that no to find your yeses,
11:38 because there will be yeses.
11:40 And for us, that's what we found in our first investors
11:43 and what I've been able to carry forward.
11:45 - So what tips do you have for fundraising?
11:48 - So it's interesting because I think the biggest thing
11:52 is you have to understand your company
11:54 and you have to understand your numbers
11:57 and you have to understand what you want out of it, right?
12:00 Because there has to be a reality.
12:04 Not every person who starts a company
12:06 who's brilliant and has a great idea
12:08 is going to have a billion dollar exit.
12:10 That's just not the way of the world.
12:13 But what can happen is that you can have
12:15 a wildly successful company that provides for you,
12:19 that creates generational wealth
12:20 and generational inheritance.
12:22 And so I always say, let's look at what's the best thing
12:25 that could happen, right?
12:26 In the book, I talk about the best thing
12:27 that you could ever imagine.
12:29 So what does that look like?
12:30 And then what does it look like
12:32 in terms of steps to get there?
12:33 How much do you really need
12:35 and what's gonna make you happy?
12:37 And I say to founders, if your intention
12:39 is to never sell your company,
12:41 then let's look at it differently, right?
12:43 But if your intention is to sell your company,
12:46 then there's different steps.
12:47 We need to look at our numbers.
12:49 We need to look at our EBITDA.
12:50 We need to look at our valuation.
12:51 We need to look at sustainability
12:53 in terms of how are we gonna continue
12:55 to drive that revenue year over year.
12:58 And you also have to make sure that you as a founder
13:02 are protected in terms of what you want, right?
13:04 Because the you and the brain that started a company
13:08 may not be the same you and the brain
13:11 that takes your company from 10 million
13:13 to 100 million to 500 million.
13:15 And so I always talk about what is it that you want?
13:18 Is it to be the chairman of the board?
13:20 So it comes down to know what you want,
13:23 understand the outcomes that you want for your company,
13:26 protect yourself from a legal perspective,
13:29 immediately determine who is your counsel
13:32 that's gonna help you structure the deal
13:34 in a way that's gonna support you.
13:36 And then you have to date.
13:38 Not all investors are created equal,
13:41 which was my experience.
13:42 And some investors will be great for you and others aren't.
13:46 But your investor relationship is so important
13:48 because you're in it for the long call.
13:50 We're not exiting businesses in two or three years.
13:53 It's a longer lifespan.
13:55 And so I really say to founders, interview the investors,
13:59 talk to other people who they're invested in.
14:01 Is this someone that you want at the helm
14:04 representing you and your company?
14:05 And it's okay on the other side to say no,
14:08 that this may not be the right investor for me,
14:11 but do your research, do your research
14:14 and make sure that it's the right person,
14:15 that they're investing in your space
14:17 in a way that's meaningful and that it's for the longterm.
14:21 - Well, Kendra, I imagine that this is what you know now.
14:23 (laughing)
14:25 I realized you did not always know that.
14:27 You didn't know this back then.
14:29 So back then, with what you knew,
14:31 how did you approach fundraising?
14:34 - So we were very much, let's go to our friends
14:38 and let's go to our network
14:40 and let's start talking to people.
14:42 And I do think it was a different time
14:46 in the sense that we were truly
14:48 one of the first agencies to do this.
14:50 And Digital Brand Architects has now since been acquired
14:54 by UTA, United Talent Artists Agency Management.
14:57 And so for us, we were literally in this moment of,
15:02 no one was talking about managing bloggers.
15:06 And so when we sat down and really thought about it,
15:08 there was a handful of people, other talent managers,
15:12 other agents who actually coached us.
15:14 And I'll never forget, one of the managers said,
15:17 "You guys are gonna win in the streets.
15:19 Do what you do, keep working hard."
15:21 We had a few of the large talent agencies
15:25 coming to us trying to take our talent.
15:27 And they were like, "You guys, you're the truth.
15:29 And you're genuinely connected
15:31 and you care about the talent so much.
15:33 So run your race, run your game."
15:36 And we didn't know to your point,
15:38 all the things about how to do that,
15:40 but we did know we had a good business concept.
15:43 And so every meeting that we had,
15:45 we stayed true to our core of,
15:48 if you look at the trajectory of talent,
15:50 the next big talent is gonna be bloggers.
15:53 And what has happened, a lot of the people
15:56 that we managed back then are now the big time bloggers
15:59 that have their own brands, their own companies,
16:01 multimillion dollar success.
16:03 So I'm like, it was the grace of God that we got through it.
16:06 But we did, we dated.
16:07 I remember there was one investor
16:10 and we were at this fancy dinner in Beverly Hills.
16:13 And we realized that that wasn't the right investor for us.
16:18 And so ultimately we were able to make the right decision.
16:22 - So with Digital Brand Architects,
16:24 I know you also had a co-founder.
16:26 Could you tell us some of the pros and cons
16:28 of starting a business with someone else?
16:31 - Oh, Rosemary.
16:33 So I actually talk about this in my new book,
16:36 Character and Allyship.
16:38 So the beautiful thing about my first co-founder
16:42 and my first business was that
16:44 we were so passionate about our idea.
16:47 We truly found a white space.
16:49 And the first time I said it,
16:51 she said it too, and we were aligned.
16:54 Over time, we added a third co-founder
16:57 and it changed the dynamics of the relationship.
17:00 And I think anytime you have two that becomes three,
17:03 there's always a new dynamic.
17:05 And ultimately, one of the reasons
17:08 that I really decided to leave
17:10 and really work on my new venture, Brain Trust,
17:13 was because of that dynamic.
17:15 And I realized throughout,
17:18 but I didn't quite understand it,
17:21 was that you can't be in business
17:24 just based upon a good idea that you have, right?
17:27 You spend so much time,
17:28 and so there has to be an alignment
17:30 in terms of integrity and in terms of values.
17:33 And everyone has a different sense, and that's fine.
17:36 But for me, I realized that that alignment wasn't there.
17:40 And it was really difficult
17:42 because when you build something and it's going well,
17:44 it's not as though we weren't having success.
17:48 And I really had to dig deep
17:50 and kind of figure out, is this the right relationship?
17:52 And one of my really good friends came over and said,
17:56 it's okay to leave something that you started.
17:59 It's okay to outgrow something.
18:02 Catherine Finney, I'll never forget that.
18:04 And it really gave me the courage to say,
18:06 this may not be the right relationship for me
18:09 as much as I love what we're doing.
18:11 And when I started Brain Trust, I was a solopreneur.
18:15 - I want to stop you right there.
18:16 You had that relationship, that conversation
18:18 with your friend, but you also had a conversation with God.
18:22 - Yes. - Soon after that.
18:23 Could you talk about that?
18:24 - Absolutely.
18:25 So I believe so deeply.
18:28 I am covered by God's grace.
18:30 I am protected.
18:32 And in everything that I do,
18:34 I don't necessarily believe in coincidence
18:36 because it's all divine.
18:38 Everything is divine in terms of when it happens
18:41 and how it happens.
18:42 And I remember being at this red light
18:46 and I had just moved to LA and I was just like,
18:49 what is happening?
18:50 And I felt as though God was like, I brought you this far,
18:54 I'm not gonna leave you.
18:55 And it was, I wouldn't bring you this far
18:57 so that you can fail.
18:59 Like, look at all of the amazing things that have happened.
19:02 And in that moment, I had so much faith
19:05 and I continue to have faith.
19:06 And I knew that no matter what was happening,
19:10 it was gonna be all right.
19:11 And my success was gonna continue
19:13 and I was gonna be able to move forward.
19:15 - I couldn't let you skip over that.
19:16 - Thank you.
19:17 (both laughing)
19:20 - What were you saying?
19:21 (both laughing)
19:23 - You're like, hold on.
19:24 And you know, it's interesting because I remember
19:29 just praying so deeply for protection.
19:33 And I think that whenever you're in a space
19:37 and especially professionally,
19:38 and you've created something,
19:40 that as much as we try and say
19:43 that we're not impacted by people's words, we can be.
19:46 And so, so much of it was, you know, guide me,
19:49 help me do the right thing.
19:51 I always wanna treat people right
19:53 and then protect me in whatever decisions I make
19:56 so that I will continue to support.
19:58 I'm here to be of service.
19:59 So as long as I can be of service to people,
20:01 then I feel like I have success
20:03 and that I'm accomplishing my goals.
20:05 - And you're definitely doing that now with Brain Trust.
20:08 So Brain Trust is all yours, right?
20:11 - So funny enough, Rosemary.
20:13 So when I started Brain Trust, I was a solopreneur.
20:16 And then as I expanded and created Brain Trust Founders Studio
20:20 and Brain Trust Fund,
20:22 I literally ran into a woman, Lisa Stone,
20:26 who I had known for 20 years, co-founder of BlogHer,
20:29 which is where we met.
20:31 And she said, "Kendra, I've been following your journey
20:34 "and I've really been focused on my own passion
20:37 "and my own pivot."
20:38 And I remember in 2015,
20:40 Lisa wrote Black Lives Matter on her LinkedIn.
20:43 And it was so paramount
20:45 because we had always been in community.
20:47 She had always been someone I leaned to.
20:49 But as we went fast forward to 2020
20:52 and we saw the deaths of George Floyd
20:54 and Black Lives Matter,
20:56 when I started Brain Trust Founders Studio,
20:58 it was to say, "I've been through so many different things.
21:02 "How can I create an ecosystem of resources
21:05 "for other black founders?"
21:06 And so it was an interesting moment of starting the company
21:10 and then that January, running into Lisa,
21:14 and she literally said, "How can I help?"
21:17 And I had talked to so many different people about the idea.
21:20 Some people said, "You're not in venture.
21:24 "You didn't work at one of the banks.
21:26 "Stick to what you know."
21:27 And she said, "Oh, capital?
21:30 "I know that.
21:31 "You wanna build a fund?"
21:32 And literally that weekend,
21:34 she wrote this plan for how we could take my vision
21:37 of ecosystems and capital and turn that into a fund.
21:41 And so I immediately invited her to join me as a co-founder.
21:45 And there's a lot happening
21:47 when we think about race and allyship.
21:49 And I went to several of my advisors and I said,
21:53 "I truly believe that in order to do this work,
21:56 "we have to not only have a brain trust,
21:58 "but we have to believe in the impact of allyship.
22:01 "And I would like to invite Lisa to join me."
22:03 And while the studio was designed for black founders
22:06 and with our fund,
22:07 you have to have at least one black co-founder,
22:10 I said, "I can't imagine doing this journey
22:12 "and this work without her."
22:14 And so I do have a co-founder.
22:17 And the interesting thing that I learned
22:19 from my first company is that,
22:21 and Lisa will tell you,
22:22 I put together this long questionnaire.
22:24 I love a questionnaire.
22:26 All in my book, there's worksheets and workbooks
22:29 and things to fill out.
22:30 So I put together this questionnaire
22:32 and it was all of the things that I learned.
22:35 Do you wanna be the face of the business?
22:38 What would cause you to not want
22:39 to be in the business anymore?
22:40 What are you passionate about?
22:42 Why are you doing this as a white woman
22:44 supporting a studio for black founders?
22:47 Why is that important to you?
22:48 Why does it matter?
22:50 And it was all of these different questions
22:52 that I realized I did not do that exercise
22:55 with my first co-founders.
22:57 And so that's why when we got into the long tail
23:00 of the work, we weren't aligned in certain things.
23:02 And so we both went through this exercise.
23:05 I brought in my long-term executive coach, Julie Flanders,
23:08 and I said, "I want this to work."
23:11 And in order for it to work, like any relationship,
23:13 you have to work on the relationship,
23:15 but you both have to be committed to what's important.
23:18 And so that has been the beauty of having a co-founder
23:22 in this iteration of what the Brain Trust has evolved
23:25 and transformed into.
23:27 - Well, Kendra, we are on new money,
23:29 so we do have to get into the money thing.
23:31 I wanna know, how did you learn
23:34 how to manage all of your money?
23:37 - Well, Rose Remy, I'm still trying.
23:41 It's really interesting because,
23:45 again, we talk about these lessons.
23:46 I have so many lessons of starting different entities.
23:51 How do you start an entity?
23:53 How do you structure it?
23:55 The difference between an LLC and pass-through cost.
23:58 And so I always say I'm constantly evolving.
24:02 I have set up my businesses.
24:03 They're different entities.
24:04 They have different cap tables,
24:06 meaning they have different ownership of them.
24:08 I'm the majority in all of them.
24:10 I also have my own personal consulting that I do
24:15 with people that requires money.
24:17 So there's a lot of different ways
24:20 that I think about money and that I think about capital.
24:23 And it really is, what is the social and human capital?
24:28 So everything that I do requires a brain trust.
24:30 It requires a team.
24:31 What does that look like?
24:32 How do I build that human capital around me
24:35 so that I can succeed?
24:36 To your point, what does the money look like?
24:38 And I am not a money person.
24:41 So I make sure that I have
24:43 different wealth management people, different legal.
24:46 I've had my same general counsel for years and years
24:49 so that I can make sure that I'm looking at
24:51 how is money flowing into the business,
24:53 how is money flowing out of the business,
24:55 and then I also have to live.
24:56 So luckily, I have worked with and built people
25:01 who can help me manage it on the day to day.
25:06 And then when I think about the fund,
25:08 we are a traditional venture fund,
25:10 and that is also where having a business partner
25:13 like Lisa comes into play.
25:15 She's raised money, she's worked in venture,
25:18 and so our ability to say we are going to raise money
25:22 so that we can invest it,
25:24 that does require a different level of wealth management
25:27 and understanding.
25:28 People say, "You've raised all this money,"
25:31 and I'm like, "That money is for investment.
25:34 "This money is for Kendra Bracken Ferguson."
25:36 And understanding the two, and I say to my founders,
25:40 you have to start with the money.
25:42 You have to look at the money.
25:43 You have to understand how taxes are gonna work,
25:46 how your entities are set up, what does a trust look like.
25:49 And one other thing that I'll say
25:51 is I was talking to a founder
25:52 who recently had a health scare,
25:54 a very serious health scare,
25:56 and she was saying, "We don't talk about,
25:59 "as entrepreneurs and 1099s, as it were,
26:03 "the notion of health insurance for ourselves,
26:06 "because if you are a sole proprietor
26:09 "or you're someone running your business
26:11 "and something happens for you,
26:12 "especially in the beauty industry,
26:15 "then it's hard for you to recover."
26:17 And so I'm saying to founders,
26:19 make sure that you have life insurance.
26:21 Make sure that you have your own insurance policies,
26:23 your own health insurance,
26:25 so that we can make sure that we're also protected.
26:28 Because as I was talking to founders,
26:30 I realized a lot of founders are not looking at that side
26:34 of what wealth management and money moves looks like.
26:37 - Well, on a much, much lighter note, Kendra.
26:41 - You're like, "Bring it down."
26:42 (laughing)
26:43 - What is the dumbest splurge you've made
26:48 since having money?
26:50 - Oh my goodness, the dumbest splurge
26:53 I have made since having money.
26:56 Well, is it a dumb splurge if you feel good about it?
26:59 (laughing)
27:00 Hey.
27:01 - Hey.
27:02 - No, I think, so I have a smart splurge and a dumb splurge
27:06 but I'm gonna start with my smart splurge first.
27:09 After 14 years of being in New York,
27:12 and we know what that's like,
27:14 my husband and I moved to LA and we bought our first house
27:17 and then we bought a second house
27:19 and I was just so proud of that.
27:22 And I think when we think about how hard we're working,
27:25 there's the splurges that we make that make you feel good.
27:27 I love eyelash extensions.
27:31 I pay lots of money for them.
27:34 Thank you, Integrity Lash and Tessany.
27:36 I think that they are so vital.
27:39 We could call them dumb,
27:40 but they really are the beauty of my success.
27:43 And then another thing that I, of course,
27:45 bought this really amazing jacket.
27:49 And I was so in the moment of it
27:52 and everyone was telling me to get it.
27:54 And it was one of those things where you love it,
27:55 but then you look at it and it's like,
27:57 huh, let me think about what I could have bought.
28:00 I could have invested in a WeFunder campaign.
28:03 I could have-
28:04 - Andrea, how much was the jacket?
28:06 - Well, do I have to say it?
28:08 - We have to know how much was this jacket.
28:10 - Well, people are gonna be like, it's not that much.
28:11 For me, it was a lot.
28:13 It was $3,500 and I felt like I had made it
28:18 until I was like, no,
28:19 you could have bought all these other things.
28:21 And now I would not do that because I use Rent the Runway.
28:26 But really, you know,
28:28 and there's nothing wrong with that, Rent the Runway.
28:31 And I do that and also I'm very fortunate.
28:34 Veronica Beard is a great partner.
28:36 They have just been phenomenal
28:39 and they're donating proceeds of sales for the book tour
28:42 to our Brain Trust Founders Studio.
28:44 So I have learned a lot by ways of how to dress myself
28:48 and how to spend my money wisely and invest.
28:52 - Well, Kendra, leave us with three tips
28:54 that you want entrepreneurs to know
28:57 when starting their business.
28:58 - So the first one is, and I kind of mentioned it,
29:02 but really be intentional and understand
29:04 if you are creating a business for profit or for passion.
29:07 And I know that it's cliche, but as a visionary founder,
29:11 I come up with companies all the time.
29:12 And that does not mean that this is a company.
29:15 This means that this is a passion.
29:17 So really be intentional about what are you creating?
29:20 Is there a white space?
29:21 Is there an opportunity to do something
29:23 that hasn't been done or to evolve something
29:25 that has been done and to be honest and to write it down.
29:29 I also tell founders, and I live by this mantra,
29:31 Carpe diem, seize the day.
29:34 We can wait our whole lives for something to be perfect
29:37 and there's no such thing.
29:38 So I always say, take that moment, take that risk,
29:41 because as I learned when I was leaving Ralph Lauren,
29:44 if it doesn't work, you can always go back.
29:46 You can always pivot.
29:48 You can always do something else,
29:50 but you have to make sure that you truly take that risk
29:54 and Carpe diem.
29:55 And then I always say, build a brain trust.
29:58 And I know that it sounds like,
30:00 oh, I'm gonna go and find someone to be my mentor.
30:04 It's so much greater than that.
30:06 And I was saying literally to my assistant today,
30:09 this entire tour, my career, the agency, the success
30:13 has been built on my brain trust.
30:15 I am here because I built a community of people
30:18 where we support each other.
30:21 And at any given moment, I know that whatever I need,
30:24 I'm gonna have someone that I can ask a question
30:27 that I can tap into.
30:28 And so I always say to founders,
30:30 make sure that you have found that
30:31 and that you have built that and that you nurture it.
30:35 The greatest gift is when we give to others
30:38 and that allows others to pour into us.
30:40 And so I think that if you can start with those things,
30:43 then the rest comes to play because your lawyer comes
30:46 because you've had a brain trust.
30:47 Your new idea comes because you've been intentional
30:50 about what's gonna drive you into success.
30:53 And then you have Carpe diem, you've seized the day
30:56 because you've taken the leap of faith to start it.
30:59 And I think that those are the most important things
31:01 to start with.
31:02 - Hey Kendra, you are such a light.
31:04 You are such a light.
31:05 I told my producers before you came in here.
31:08 So I know you have no problem
31:10 having a huge community around you.
31:12 - Thank you.
31:13 - Thank you so much for joining me today.
31:14 - Thank you.
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