Nichelle McCall three years ago didn't know anything about software, or even how to convey a vision to techies. But today, she's among the 1 percent of African Americans nationwide who have been able to raise venture capital funds for a technology startup. Watch video
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Nichelle McCall left Cleveland for a fellowship opportunity in New York and Washington, D.C., and banked on returning home with a job at a nonprofit organization. Instead, she found herself unemployed.
McCall questioned her judgment when the organization where she was supposed to work simply said they decided to go in another direction. At 27, four years ago, she vowed to never again rely on one company for her livelihood. Like a lot of unemployed, she decided to turn a setback into a turning point. Instead of embracing the label "unemployed," she chose "consultant," basing it on her decade of experience working with nonprofits, entrepreneurs and college admissions.
It took a few months of hustling and lots of meetings to get her first client. The next client followed a couple months later. And in the next two years, she made more money than ever before. Still, she realized it's difficult to grow as a sole proprietor marketing - just yourself. That's when she decided she needed a product to sell - and no matter what, it had to tie into technology.
Three years ago, McCall didn't know anything about software, or even how to convey a vision to techies. Today, McCall, is among the 1 percent of African Americans nationwide who have been able to raise venture capital funds for a technology startup.
Women represent just 8 percent of venture-backed companies in the country, but for black women, the number shrinks dramatically to .2 percent. McCall has raised $500,000 in the last two years for her company, "Bold Guidance." It's a software company aimed at helping students through the college admissions process.
"I started out consulting, helping schools and nonprofits to create college-access programs. At the same time, I realized that I couldn't scale myself but, I could scale technology and I started doing research for my company," she said.
McCall credits business development program, "Bad Girl Ventures," and technology accelerator, FlashStarts, for helping her to start the business. She also worked with JumpStart Emerging Marketing Fund. It took a significant amount of time, and at one point, a few years ago, she found herself living off just $20,000 for nine months.
"I realized that in order to help more people, I needed to leverage technology. I also started looking into how I could create a product, because I realized that investors want to invest in a tangible product and as a consultant, that's something that I didn't have," she said.
McCall participated in lots of small pitch competitions and two formal investment opportunities - a rigorous process of outlining where the company was at that point and plans for the next five years.
McCall is quick to acknowledge that she fell into a lot of roles. Instead of pursuing a career in physical therapy, after obtaining a bachelor's degree in the field, she stayed in Cleveland to help take care of her grandmother who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and her uncle, who is autistic. She accepted a job in college admissions at her alma-mater, Baldwin Wallace University.
Looking back on her career, McCall said that's when the seed was planted for wanting to make a difference for underprivileged students.
"I was fortunate. I grew up in the Lee-Harvard area and my local high school was designated 'failing,' but my mother worked three jobs to send me to a college prep school, and I was well prepared for college," she said. "But many of my neighbors did not have access to those same resources and they have had very different outcomes in their lives."
Many never went to college, while others applied too close to graduation - much too late for scholarships and grants.
McCall marketed her first product to nonprofit organizations with outreach programs for high school students, offering a step-by-step guide for helping them with specific college applications. Earlier this year, the company shifted its focus, touting a new software product aimed at helping colleges with marketing for enrollment.
Was there a time when you questioned your decision to work for yourself with no safety net?
There's never been a time when I questioned whether entrepreneurship was right for me. What I learned is that a job is not secure. At any time someone can decide that they want to go in another direction or that your services are no longer needed. At least with entrepreneurship, even if something doesn't work out that I'm working on, I can always create something new.
Even the most successful companies need to perpetually remake themselves to keep from losing steam. Do you plan to explore any new markets in the upcoming year?
What we've learned by having our initial product out there and talking to schools, colleges, and students in the last two years, is that there's a bigger opportunity out there. Now we're trying to help colleges increase their enrollment by marketing the experiences of their current students to be the brand of their institutions.
Do you have a mentor or mentors?
I have mentors at both FlashStart and JumpStart Inc.. But the person who helped me with Bold Guidance, when it was just an idea was Sam Gerace. He's a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Veritix. His company basically does electronic ticketing for sports venues. I met him two years ago, when he became the chair of "Minds Matter." I was one of the founding executive team members who helped create programming for high school students to prepare them for college prep.
Do you have one piece of advice for someone considering reinventing?
Be confident in yourself -- all that you need, you already have. You've already overcome a lot of adversity in your life that has helped to get you to the point in life where you are. You have it in you to go to the next step. You may need some additional resources to help you along the way, but you can do it.
Similar to The Plain Dealer's former column called "My Biggest Mistake...and How I fixed it," I'm now interested in sharing what drives a person or company to make a drastic change that led to success. I am looking for Career-changers - from millennials to retirees- and companies, from start-ups to major corporations, who want to share their stories. The focus: people who have drastically switched careers in the past five years and businesses that have found new ways to survive in a changing and ever-evolving marketplace. If that sounds like you, please contact me, Marcia Pledger, at (216) 470-7324 or send an email to mpledger@plaind.com.