Terrie Simmons, the visionary CEO and founder of the Chicago based Strategic Exceptions Professional Consulting INC, is a beacon of empowerment, wielding her superpowers of ingenuity and authenticity to create transformative outcomes. Her consulting firm, supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, passionately advocates for minority business enterprises (MBEs), securing over $50 million in grants and fostering a staggering $170 million in gross revenue.
Simmons’ unwavering authenticity propels her mission to serve underserved communities, bridge economic disparities, and inspire others. Her role as the Founder of the Lewis Simmons Foundation is instrumental in closing the health and wealth gap in marginalized communities.
She passionately advocates for women of color in leadership roles, emphasizing that their values and vision, not just titles, define leadership. Her gratitude extends to her entrepreneurial grandmother and mother, who instilled in her the value of vision, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Simmons is more than a “Dream Maker”; she is a force of change, lighting the way for underserved communities and fostering the superpowers within us all.
Rolling out recognized Simmons as a Sisters with Superpowers Honoree – Chicago Edition, on Thursday October 26, 2023 at The Gwen Hotel. We spoke more with her about her superpowers, career highlights and so much more.
Briefly describe your responsibilities and why you selected your career?
I am responsible for the oversight and day-to-day operations of my consulting firm where we focus on 1) business development, 2) community development and 3) leadership development. I operate one of the 40 business centers that are funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Commerce through the Minority Business Development Agency.
We promote the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises (MBEs) through business development and capacity building. We help our clients secure capital, access new markets, compete for contracts, and make strategic partners and business moves. We serve MBEs that are owned or controlled by African-American, Hispanic-American, American Asian and Pacific Islander, Native American, Asian Indian American, and Hasidic Jewish American.
In the community development space, I am the Founder of Lewis Simmons Foundation. We help to close the health and wealth gap in underserved communities, particularly the incarcerated who face labor market barriers. We serve as an intermediary that organizes and works with employers, second-chance citizens, government agencies, and other organizations to create and connect people to good jobs by developing trust and a base of knowledge about its organizations and businesses, as well as available public and private business growth, job readiness, and professional development resources. Between 2019 and 2023, the program hosted seven hiring events and helped 250 second-chance citizens gain employment.
I do the work I do because I love making others’ dreams come true, bringing their ideas to action and ultimately creating long-term sustainable outcomes. I am committed to showing that underserved communities matter. I am focused on helping them get their fair share and closing parity gaps in our communities so we can have greater economic impact and a higher quality of life, hire from the community and thereby heal the community.
As a Black woman, what do you consider your superpower to be? My Superpowers are ingenuity and authenticity. As a GROAFITS girl (pronounced – grow fits), raised on a farm in the south, I know how to take nothing and make a difference – or as ingenuity is defined “come up with creative solutions to problems”. I am unapologetically ME. I am a free spirit and I don’t like labels or boxes. I identified early on a few things about me
- What I stand for: I don’t tolerate negative energy or negative conversations
- Who I serve and who made me (God): Later on in life I learned what my insecurities were and my purpose in life. I am an introvert who was forced to understand how to operate as an extravert to serve my purpose. I have to serve people so you can’t serve people without conversations, inspiring and encouraging and that requires much communication.
My ingenuity is constantly put to the test as I work tirelessly to do my part in closing parity gaps in our underserved communities and make economic impact so the underrepresented can get our share and show that we matter.
Why is it important for women of color to work in leadership roles and decision-making capacities?
The beauty of leadership lies in the fact that a person does not need a formal title to prove that they are leaders. All a title does is provide you with the potential to lead, but it does not make you a leader. People follow leaders because of their values, vision, purpose, and inspiration. When women of color are in leadership roles this puts them in a position to make impactful decisions, such as helping other women and diverse candidates to increase their knowledge, secure opportunities and grow; meaning hiring, and being intentional about selecting diverse candidates and placing younger women in positions where they can take on roles with more challenging and lucrative opportunities. I try to lead with that in mind, knowing that my purpose in life is to serve and help others who don’t know how or are unable to help themselves.
Why is it important for more experienced Black women to reach back and help younger women of color?
When more experienced Black women reach back and help younger women of color, it opens younger women of color’s eyes to greater possibilities and gives them access to more opportunities and larger networks. Which in turn gives them a chance to redefine the stereotypical labels that women of color have been forced to wear. The mentorship of older women helps to get these younger women into rooms they wouldn’t have had access to on their own. This creates a domino effect because when more women are at higher levels with more resources it allows us to make a greater impact in our communities and break glass ceilings and reach down and help even more women. It creates a continuous and long term effect when each woman reaches down and helps one.
Share three career highlights.
Career Highlight #1: I worked for Commonwealth Edison, the largest electric distribution company in the Midwest for over 27 years. While there, I led, designed, executed and trained all employees at the first new business call center. I led, designed the strategy, execution and implementation on an innovative initiative that drove operational efficiencies in their 6,000+ fleet that led to annual cost savings of over $15M annually. This solution maintains continuous savings today!
Career Highlight #2: In 2016, three other women and I approached the CEO of Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) to discuss the need for resources to support women in the Chicago Collar counties of Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall and Cook. The team put our resources and brains together and out of the collaboration, the Women’s Business Center (WBC) Aurora, Illinois was founded and created under my leadership. In 2021, I received a federal grant to establish and run the Illinois Minority Business Development Agency (IL MBDA) Business Center, an economic accelerator for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) throughout the state.
Career Highlight #3 and proudest achievement: In one of my early jobs as a frontline supervisor, I had many successes. However, when my manager left, I gained a new manager who wasn’t pleased with any of the endeavors that I undertook no matter how well the outcomes. Eventually, he relocated me to a region that required me to drive 1.5 hours to get to work and where no one looked like me. It was one of my most uncomfortable situations, at first. However, I realized that I had to maximize on the opportunity and used it to leverage getting the experience and network required to gain a better and more advanced opportunity. This experience taught me to leverage and utilize the resources I have as opportunities. It taught me that I can suck on lemons or add a little sugar and make some lemonade too. I also learned the importance of not being stuck in a moment: take what you can from the moment and build on it. As a result of adversity I used it to chart a growth plan for my career which has led eventually to where I am now, being a successful entrepreneur, helping other women to take charge of their life and career. And for that I am very proud.
Life is ever-changing. These types of situations are growing stones for the many adversities we face in life.
If you could thank any Black woman for her contributions to history and society, who would it be and why?
I would thank my grandmother and mom, who were both successful entrepreneurs. In the early 1950s, grandma purchased 80+ acres of land in Alabama. She had a vision to create generational legacies even though she wasn’t good at reading or writing. She started small as a sharecropper, raising and selling turkeys. Eventually she bought cows. She was a community leader, lender, and employer of many in the community.
After my grandma died, my mom worked the land and started her own businesses: making and repairing clothing and washing and styling women’s hair, cleaning service and executive assistant services. She showed her five daughters the value of entrepreneurship and leadership. This is what started me on my “Dream-Making” journey.
