How to Fund Your Business Growth with Kendra Bracken-Ferguson

Kendra is a truly exceptional Entreprenista who firmly believes that two brains are always better than one and more can be accomplished together than alone. As a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and podcast host of Business and The Beat, Kendra has focused her career on providing community and education for Black founders building lifestyle, beauty, and wellness businesses. As a pioneer in the digital media space, Kendra has been named one of Essence Magazines’ “17 Inspiring Black Executives Redefining the Face of Beauty” and is one of only 100 Black women to raise over 1 million dollars in venture funding.

Today, we have the honor of sitting down with Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, founder and CEO of BrainTrust, an all-encompassing ecosystem of mentorship, education, and community that also provides social media, influencer marketing, and brand development for Black Beauty and Wellness Founders. She shares with us the game-changing advice she received from Ralph Lauren’s Chief of Staff and her own advice for creating successful business partnerships. Kendra also shares advice for founders that are currently raising capital, the litmus test she uses when she starts a new business, and so much more!

“Success doesn’t mean that you have a billion-dollar company that you exit. There’s success in everything that we do every single day. And so we can’t get caught up in what success looks like for another company” – Kendra Bracken-Ferguson 

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, join the Entreprenista League today at entreprenista.com/join. We can’t wait to welcome you, support you, and be part of your business journey!

This week’s takeaways from Entreprenista:

• Kendra’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur (2:55) 
• Kendra’s biggest struggles in the early days of building her agency (8:20) 
• Kendra’s take on co-founder disagreements and deciding when to raise capital (11:31)  
• Working with a business coach (16:43) 
• Kendra breaks down her catalog of business ventures (20:25) 
• How Kendra keeps track of her business ideas (28:11)  
• Kendra’s craziest moments along her Entreprenista journey (29:52) 
• Kendra shares what to remember when selling your business (33:04) 
• Kendra’s vision for the future (38:16)
• Kendra’s advice for founders looking for funding or trying to raise capital (40:55) 
• Kendra shares her fund’s criteria for investing in companies (43:55)  
• Collaboration over competition as an Entreprenista (47:13 ) 

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “You don’t have to go and start something new you can create within what you already have. It’s just the wherewithal and the self-awareness to check yourself and then to make sure that it’s completing the circle of what you’ve created.” – Kendra Bracken-Ferguson
• “Don’t sell yourself short when it comes to financing your business “ – Kendra Bracken-Ferguson
• “The whole beauty of having co-founders, having been a solo founder, is you really can split the weight, but you have to communicate what that splits gonna look like. And you have to play to each of their strengths. And you constantly have to be in communication.”  – Kendra Bracken-Ferguson   
• “I have a network of so many people, where I’m like, this deal may not work for me, but here’s a deal for you. And that, to me, is just as exciting because no one funds can invest in every single thing or support every single person. And so the greater our network is, the more that we’re collaborating, the greater capital that can flow to businesses and diverse business owners.” – Kendra Bracken-Ferguson

Connect with Kendra:  

• BrainTrust Founder Studio – Linkedin
• BrainTrust LA  – Linkedin
• BrainTrust LA Instagram 
• Linkedin – Kendra  
• Instagram – Kendra

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level:

Join our Entreprenista League community of women founders! You’ll have access to a private community of like-minded Entreprenistas who are making an impact in business every day, special discounts on business products and solutions, exclusive content, private events, the opportunity to have your story featured on our website and social channels, and MORE!

Whether you’re looking to scale your existing business and want to make the right connections, or you’re thinking about finally taking the leap to launch your business, we’re here to give you access to a community of women who will celebrate your every step, and with whom you can share the candid reality of building a business from scratch.

Join the Entreprenista League today at entreprenista.com/join. We can’t wait to welcome you, support you, and be part of your business journey!

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