The ultra-successful businessmen at the National Black MBA Association’s Atlanta chapter’s “Millionaire Mindset” held the packed room spellbound as they armed aspiring proprietors with invaluable entrepreneurial advice.
The National Black MBA Association Atlanta chapter, host of this year’s National Black MBAA National Conference, facilitated the panel discussion featuring Cornell McBride, owner of McBride Research Laboratories Inc; Adam Walker, founder of Homestead Packing Solutions; and Mack Wilbourn, owner of Mack II Inc., Without actually enunciating it, the esteemed men elucidated the difference in developing a “millionaire mind-set” as opposed to, say, many athletes and lottery winners who gain and lose their millions within five years, as statistics tragically reveal.
“Don’t be afraid to fail big. You’re going to have to believe in yourself. You’re going to have to encourage yourself. Trust me, if it’s ordained by God, don’t even worry,” Walker said. “Believe me, you are going to need a personal board of directors, not a board of directors for your business, but you’re gonna need a personal one, to keep you on point, to keep you intact, to keep you focused on the goal ahead.”
McBride named two major keys to his success: “continuous learning” and “treating people the way I want to be treated myself.”
“One of the most important books I’ve ever read was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie,” he says. “How to deal with people is one of the most important thing you can do. You can have all the knowledge in the world and you can have all the skills in the world, but if you don’t know how to deal with people, chances are you’re not going to get people to work with you and no one is going to follow you. To me, relationships are important. What you do matters.”
After the session concluded, several NBMBAA members shared what they enjoyed most about the session:
Andrea Snorton, diversity and inclusion manager at Southern Company: “This panel gave me the opportunity to hear things that typically we don’t hear, in terms of where do you begin, what your plans need to be, how do you even ask for resources, how do you even approach the process of starting your own business, and how do you identify what area you want to go in. It was exciting for us to hear them share their stories.”
Elaina Livings, Marketing Manager for Kimberly-Clark International Divison: “Personally, it was inspirational for me. I believe I have the skill set and the intellect. I have the resources; I just need to know how to use them. … Professionally, it helped me learn strategies of how to be a successful millionaire, and that is to diversify.”
Mark Pabson, Positive Returns Inc: “The most profound thing I heard was when the gentlemen said ‘you need a personal board of directors.’ … It was a very good suggestion.”
–terry shropshire
