Inc. Magazine Announces The Top 10 Black Entrepreneurs

Jarrett Pumphrey, CEO

ClearCorrect
Houston

No. 17
2010 Revenue: $8.7 million
Three-Year Growth: 8,625%

Jarrett Pumphrey (pictured bottom middle) grew up in Houston Texas, where his father managed a successful practice. Pumphrey channeled his father’s business acumen into his own venture, ClearCorrect, which makes an alternative to braces. “It’s no surprise my brothers and I are all as driven as we are; you just can’t grow up in an environment like that, with parents like that, without some of it rubbing off,” he says.

Andrew Harold, Jr., CEO
A. Harold and Associates
Jacksonville, Fl.

No. 36
2010 Revenue: $10.9 million
Three-Year Growth: 5,509%

Andy Harold, Jr. grew up as an “Army Brat” in Norfolk, Virginia, where he says his grandfather worked as the first African American plumber. Harold founded his eponymous firm, which specializes in providing technology, education, engineering, and training support services to federal, state, and local governments, with one simple guiding philosophy: “No is not an option–and a complete belief that I can get the job done or solve a problem.”

Janice Adams, CEO

JMA Solutions
Washington, D.C.

No. 45
2010 Revenue: $6.6 million
Three-Year Growth: 4,317%

Janice Adams (pictured second from the right) always daydreamed in geography class about traveling to the places she studied. When she was 27, she joined the Air Force, and lived out her dream. After 24 years of service and world travel, she founded JMA Solutions, a consulting firm that contracts with the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s also where her daughter—and granddaughter—both work. “I want to leave a legacy for my grandchildren and great grandchildren,” she says.

Fatimah Moody, CEO

LinkVisum Consulting Group
McLean, Virginia

No. 193
2010 Revenue: $10.0 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,566%

Fatimah Moody (on the right holding the bag) was born and raised in Queens, New York, where her parents owned and operated a few restaurants in the area. After over a decade working in corporate banking and consulting, Moody decided to launch her own LinkVisum Consulting Group, satisfying an entrepreneurial itch passed down from her parents. “Once I launched the business, a lot of the conversations I had with my parents were about them,” she says. “They became my guide for the ups and downs.”

Charles Sanders, CEO
Urban Lending Solutions
Pittsburgh

No. 205
2010 Revenue: $127.3 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,529%

Charles Sanders, a former NFL pro, grew up in an all black community in Pittsburg where his father owned a trucking company. After his NFL career, Sanders launched Urban Lending Solutions, a real estate firm, in his home town. “I remember how proud I was that my dad provided jobs and resources for the entire community,” he says. “He was the go-to-guy. I always wanted to be that guy for my community.”

Philip Walker, CEO

Network Solutions Provider
El Segundo, Ca.

No. 297
2010 Revenue: $2.6 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,102%

Phillip Walker grew up in Warren, Ohio, which he describes as a “very old school blue collar town.” His mother relocated the family to California when Walker was about nine, which was instrumental to his career in technology. As the CEO of Network Solutions Provider, a telecommunications provider, Walker is passionate about his employees’ success. “We always talk about a vision,” he says. “It’s seeing the vision, seeing the goal, and helping my team get there.”

Leah Brown, CEO
A10 Clinical Solutions
Cary, N.C.

No. 328
2010 Revenue: $19.7 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,011%

Leah Brown tells the story of her maternal great-grandfather, Allen “Papa” Carney, a free African-American man who had 18 children and insisted his sons become entrepreneurs. “I didn’t know until recently that I came from a long lineage of entrepreneurs until my family history was explored, but it helped me understand where my entrepreneurial drive comes from,” says Brown, who founded A10 Clinical Solutions, a clinical research firm.

Bo Menkiti, CEO
The Menkiti Group
Washington, D.C.

No. 337
2010 Revenue: $5.2 million
Three-Year Growth: 988%

Bo Menkiti was born and raised in Boston, but would make family trips to Nigeria, where his father was born. After graduating from Harvard to launch The Menkiti Group, a real estate firm, Menkiti would come to rely on many of his childhood experiences to help growth his business. “Much of my childhood experience was about learning how to exist in different world,” he says. “Organizations that can handle a variety of perspectives are in a better position to adapt.”

Major Baisden, CEO

Iris Data Services
Olathe, Kansas

No. 362
2010 Revenue: $9.6 million
Three-Year Growth: 940%

Major Baisden has always been an overachiever. The Sacramento-native enrolled in Berkley at 16, and, after transferring to UC Davis, graduated just three years later with a degree in philosophy. During school, he worked 35-hour workweeks, which helped pay for the cost of tuition. Though Baisden never went to school for business, he says his philosophy degree has paid off when he launched Iris Data Services, a provider of electronic discovery services. “I’m constantly using the logic skills I learned in school in my business,” he says.

Jean Orelien, CEO

SciMetrika
Durham, N.C.

No. 371
2010 Revenue: $10.9 million
Three-Year Growth: 921%

Jean Orelien was born in Haiti, moved to Guadeloupe when he was 10, and left for the U.S. after high school. His family struggled financially, which only motivated Orelien to study and work harder. Orelien says that he has faced many challenges being a minority CEO, but it has only honed his strive for perfection. “Being part of a minority ethnic group, I have always believed that it is not enough to be good,” says the founder of SciMetrika. “If you bring skills or attributes that are exceptional, you will not be denied a seat at the table.”

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