My name is ProfessorTAB; otherwise known as the “accidental social-preneur
of technology training” (I’ll share more
about that in a later post). I am a former
resident of the New York City Housing Development and that is where it all
began! Little did I know that I was
about to embark on a journey that would become my career and life’s mission!
As I previously stated, it
all began one hot evening during the summer of 1992. There I was sitting
in one of the local (Far Rockaway, Queens) community center classrooms preparing for my entrepreneurship
class. The instructor and owner of the program, Mr. K., began the class every evening
with a motivational phrase that we would repeat at the beginning and at the end of the class.
The energy in the class was very high even though there were few people in
attendance. This was a shock to me due to the fact that many of the
neighborhood residents often complained about the lack of educational resources
available in the community center. Classes were two hours long and we
always had some type of homework to complete before the next class. Six
weeks later I received my entrepreneurship certificate after completing and
submitting my very first business plan; it must have been a total of 10 pages
long (double-spaced). The business concept I created included typing resumes, school
papers, and creating desktop publishing materials for local businesses.
For the first time I felt truly empowered to take control of my life, while
embracing my new career path as an entrepreneur. Working at the local
supermarket was no longer the goal, even though I managed to become one of the
youngest assistant grocery managers there in less than a 2-year period.
Mr. K.
hired me as one of his assistants where I handled all of his company’s computer
and graphical responsibilities. Graduation from the program also
bonded me with the gentleman that was passing out the flyers in front of the
community center; his name was Mr. J. He worked for New York City Housing
Authority (NYCHA) and also accepted me as his mentee. His mentorship was
instrumental in exposing me to the youth entrepreneurship movement within NYCHA
and New York City in general.
My first
experience as a presenter happened in 1993 at a city-wide youth conference
sponsored by Youth Force, a youth-based organization that promoted youth
empowerment in New York City. I remember being nervous, even with Mr. K.
in the room with me, because of the 40 screaming and restless young adults.
Our workshop was about entrepreneurship and we discussed ideas on how they
could start their own businesses. The young adults were very excited and
truly embraced the concept of starting their own candy store or t-shirt
business. I remember feeling my confidence growing after getting that
workshop under my belt, but now I had to prepare for the big arena.
Within a few months I was heading down to Baltimore, Maryland to be a
co-presenter at the First National Youth Entrepreneur Symposium. I was so
excited with the opportunity to travel outside of New York City for my first
business trip and to be a part of a growing phenomenon that was exploding all
throughout the country – youth entrepreneurship.
During this same time
period, New York City experienced significant changes within its inner-city
communities such as new educational and technology-based programs (something
other than the typical sports-based programs). This seemed to be the
direct result of NYC having its first and only African-American major, the Honorable
David N. Dinkins (1990-1993). Inner-city communities were growing
with a buzz about youth entrepreneurship and business ownership. The concept of
“grassroots” pride and empowerment was growing at a rapid rate and I had my
grandmother to be thankful for she instilled in me early on in my life such
values and now I had a platform on which to grow.
