Sistahs In Business Expo Founder Says Conference Aims To Empower Female Entrepreneurs

Source: Courtesy of Sistahs in Business Expo / Sistahs in Business Expo

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The founder of a nation’s only multicultural business expo specifically targeting women of color said although women of color are the largest demographic of entrepreneurs, they are also the lowest earning.

Aisha Taylor Issah said that black women were excelling in health and beauty, finance – even with dog grooming businesses, but needed more support to help them grow their net worth.

“Women of color are the fastest growing entrepreneurs in the country, but the least earning,” Issah said. “So we’re trying to close that gap and create a space where these businesses can grow.”

Issah said barriers like a lack of access to capital and investors and consumers not actively supporting black-owned businesses are barriers to minority women getting and staying in business.

“It’s having people realize that they need to support businesses owned by women of color as a first option and not as a last resort,” Issah said.

Now in its second year, the Sistah’s in Business Expo is a daylong conference offering networking and panels on entrepreneurship and growing your business.

Issah said she got the idea for the expo while trying to get her own business – a career consulting firm – off the ground. She said that she wanted to get exposure and network at different conferences and workshops, but didn’t have the vendor fees to attend, which sometimes ran into the thousands.

“I wanted to create an opportunity where small businesses could network and create exposure and was affordable,” Issah said.

“Sistah’s In Business Expo” kicks this Saturday, April 13 in Newark, NJ before heading to Philadelphia, Columbia, SC and Atlanta.