After Reading Start With Yourself by Emma Grede, Read These Next
Business mogul Emma Grede has made quite a splash across social media after releasing her book Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life.
As the co-founder and CEO of Good American, a founding partner of SKIMS, and the co-founder of Safely and Off Season, Grede has more than enough business knowledge to give the girlies a blueprint that’s both easy to read and easy to follow, and that’s exactly what she did.
After leaving the “Girl Boss” meets “Boss Babe” era, the corporate and entrepreneur girlies are looking for a mentor to help guide them in the office or outside as they navigate being first-time business owners.
Start With Yourself felt like the answer to so many of the questions we’ve been asking. But it’s not the only blueprint.
There are so many Black women in business out here dropping gems, and we wanted to spotlight them too, because they have so much knowledge and wisdom to offer. These women know BALL!
So after you finish Start With Yourself, here are some more books to add to your reading list. I also included links to interviews we’ve done with some of the authors on our podcast.
The Next Little Black Book of Success: New Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood, and Rhonda Joy McLean
As “mentors in your pocket,” three successful Black women executives—Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood, and Rhonda Joy McLean—share their strategies for playing, and ultimately winning, the power game in corporate America.
This updated edition of their 2009 classic The Little Black Book of Success offers all corporate professionals—from college students to entry-level employees, senior executives to global leaders—across all industries advice to help them find success.
Covering topics like navigating unconscious biases and microaggressions, managing a global workforce, returning to the office after years of remote work, and the importance of self-care, this edition has been optimized for today’s culturally and politically complex world.
Anchored in the wisdom of experience—navigating their own transitions from high-powered corporate jobs to becoming entrepreneurs, authors, public speakers, and community leaders—Brown, Haygood, and McLean share all they have learned (and wish they had known), so future generations of professionals can benefit and flourish at work and beyond.
I Am Debra Lee: A Memoir by Debra Lee
Debra Lee has been the visionary responsible for elevating Black images and storytelling for decades with timeless television shows like The Game and Being Mary Jane.
Now she’s telling her own story, in a page-turner filled with electrifying behind-the-scenes stories that reveal how she went from a girl raised in the segregated South to leading the first Black company traded on the New York Stock Exchange—and how she juggled social responsibility while managing a company targeted towards the Black community.
Lee answers all of our questions about building an unapologetically Black enterprise as a Black woman. I Am Debra Lee addresses her personal struggles with motherhood and “having it all,” navigating reproductive choice, fertility, and #MeToo.
In this book, she opens the door for others to come after her, by sharing the truth behind her own inspiring story of power, perseverance, and success.
The Glory in Your Story: Activating a Fearless Faith to Change Your Life, Your Career, and the World by Monique Rodriguez
The Glory in Your Story dives deep into the power of fearless faith in achieving success in both personal and business life. As the founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, a multi-million-dollar hair and consumer products company, Monique Rodriguez, shares the story of how her trials led to triumphs in her family and business. As she relentlessly pursued her dreams, she discovered the guiding principles that will help readers find victory and fulfillment in pursuing their dreams.
Monique emphasizes the importance of perseverance through hard times and the strength of unyielding faith and persistence. Despite facing criticism and systemic barriers, she navigated entrepreneurship with grace and resilience, ultimately creating a successful, Black-owned business.
Read the full synopsis HERE.
From Dreams to Drive: Trust God’s Plan, Embrace Your Gifts, and Walk in Purpose by Taneshia Yerby
With faith as your guide, you’ll be empowered to overcome obstacles in both your personal and professional life. Taneshia teaches you how to overcome self-doubt and fear by focusing on God’s promises. With prayers, affirmations, and exercises to deepen your faith and trust in God’s plan, From Dreams to Drive offers clear and compelling advice, helping you keep your eyes on your goals and your faith strong.
Read the full synopsis HERE and LISTEN to our podcast episode HERE.
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
In Lead from the Outside, Stacey Abrams argues that knowing your own passion is the key to success, regardless of the scale or target. From launching a company, to starting a day care center for homeless teen moms, to running a successful political campaign, finding what you want to fight for is as critical as knowing how to turn thought into action.
Stacey uses her experience and hard-won insights to break down how ambition, fear, money, and failure function in leadership, while offering personal stories that illuminate practical strategies.
Stacey includes exercises to help you hone your skills and realize your aspirations. She discusses candidly what she has learned over the course of her impressive career: that differences in race, gender, and class are surmountable.
With direction and dedication, being in the minority actually provides unique and vital strength, which we can employ to rise to the top and make real change. Read the full synopsis HERE.
Rewrite Your Rules: The Journey to Success in Less Time with More Freedom by Morgan DeBaun
In her transformative book, Rewrite Your Rules, DeBaun delivers a powerful call to action: redefine the guiding principles of your life. This isn’t about minor adjustments; it’s about radically transforming what you believe is possible, challenging you to break free from societal expectations and design your own path.
In Rewrite Your Rules, DeBaun doesn’t just question the norms—she obliterates them. With the wisdom of a seasoned entrepreneur and the relatability of your most trusted friend, DeBaun offers a refreshing antidote to toxic hustle culture. Her powerful three-part framework will guide you to:
● Master Yourself: Uncover your true values, passions, and potential.
● Master Your Method: Align daily actions with your goals.
● Master Your Growth: Adapt continuously to life’s challenges and opportunities.
Read the full synopsis HERE.
What Do You Need?: How Women of Color Can Take Ownership of Their Careers to Accelerate Their Path to Success by Lauren Wesley Wilson
As founder and CEO of ColorComm Corporation, Lauren Wesley Wilson has been on the forefront of empowering women to become leaders and changemakers in business.
At age 25, Lauren founded ColorComm, which began as an informal networking luncheon series and has since evolved into a multimillion-dollar communications company.
Like any successful venture, your career needs a strategic plan; and that starts by determining where you want to go and what you need to get there. A fundamental piece of developing that vision is the crucial question that ColorComm has long-asked its community: What do you need?
In her groundbreaking book, Lauren reveals the unwritten rules that women of color need to know in order to succeed in the workplace. Drawing from her own career experiences, Lauren shares the playbook you’ll need to advance to the C-Suite.
The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table by Minda Harts
Most business books provide a one-size-fits-all approach to career advice that overlooks the unique barriers that women of color face. In The Memo, Minda Harts offers a much-needed career guide tailored specifically for women of color.
Drawing on knowledge gained from her past career as a fundraising consultant to top colleges across the country, Harts now brings her powerhouse entrepreneurial experience as CEO of The Memo to the page.
With wit and candor, she acknowledges “ugly truths” that keep women of color from having a seat at the table in corporate America.
Providing straight talk on how to navigate networking, office politics, and money, while showing how to make real change to the system, The Memo offers support and long-overdue advice on how women of color can succeed in their careers.
Lead to Win: How to Be a Powerful, Impactful, Influential Leader in Any Environment by Carla A. Harris
In this much-needed book, powerhouse Carla A. Harris examines the journey from individual contributor to leader. She targets the essential skills necessary to succeed, such as the importance of taking risks, creating a vision, and leveraging assets like relationships and partnerships.
At the heart of this book are the eight things you must be intentional about every day—authenticity, building trust, creating other leaders, clarity, diversity, innovation, inclusivity, and voice—qualities that you need to hone and manifest to become a powerful, impactful leader no matter where you work.
She also examines the key traits of being a transformational leader, focusing on the gaps she has seen in leadership that could impede or damage any leader’s effectiveness.
The Soul Instinct by Beatrice Dixon
Beatrice Dixon, cofounder and CEO of The Honey Pot Company, shares the powerful story of how trusting her dreams—and her inner voice—led her to build a groundbreaking wellness brand and transform her life.
The Honey Pot Company was born from a literal dream, in which Dixon’s late grandmother shared a recipe for an herbal remedy. When Dixon woke up, she went to her kitchen and formulated what would become the brand’s first product.
But Dixon’s story didn’t start—or stop—there. From being born prematurely without a nose or a forehead to navigating a scrappy adolescence, and pitching a vaginal wellness brand to rooms full of male investors, her journey has been anything but conventional.
Through it all, she relied on her “soul instinct” to guide her. Read the full synopsis HERE.
More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth
Throughout her life, Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way.
In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking journalist unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of an unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to finding herself on the frontlines of a modern movement for the next generation of change makers.
Welteroth moves beyond the headlines and highlight reels to share the profound lessons and struggles of being a barrier-breaker across so many intersections.
As a young boss and often the only Black woman in the room, she’s had enough of the world telling her—and all women—they’re not enough. As she learns to rely on herself by looking both inward and upward, we’re ultimately reminded that we’re more than enough.
Your Next Level Life: 7 Rules of Power, Confidence, and Opportunity for Black Women in America by Karen Arrington
If you’re feeling stuck or trapped by other people’s expectations of what you can achieve, it’s time to stop playing small and start redefining what success can mean for you. It’s time to get that upgrade.
Karen Arrington―founder of the Miss Black USA Pageant, creator of the Next Level Women’s Summit, and mentor to thousands of confident, successful young black women―is your guide to getting your next level life.
Leave a legacy of black excellence: With the seven simple rules, you’ll learn how to bring your career, income, and lifestyle to that next level.
Don’t settle for a life of invisibility and mediocrity. Set ambitious goals, reach for bigger opportunities, and know that you are brave enough to get what you deserve.
Read the full synopsis HERE.
Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace by Minda Harts
Minda Harts knows from years of experience as a highly sought-after workplace consultant how a lack of trust between colleagues, managers, and executive leaders is bad for business and our own professional well-being. That’s where the seven workplace trust languages come into play.
Earning trust is different for every one of us. Some respond well to verbal affirmations of their contributions, while others need visibility to see how business decisions are made.
By understanding the seven languages of trust—transparency, security, demonstration, feedback, acknowledgment, sensitivity, and follow-through—we can all learn to navigate conflict, be more productive, and communicate more effectively.
In Talk to Me Nice, you’ll learn what workplace trust languages work for you and how to show colleagues, managers, and direct reports that they are valued.
When we’re talking one another’s languages, we can rebuild a more equitable, sustainable, and profitable workplace that works for us all.
