In a world growing more economically diverse, where we witness an accession of the United States workforce leaving their employers to begin their own ventures, the velocity of Black entrepreneurship lags. A 2018 Project Diane report detailing the ‘State of Black Women Founders’ reported the number of United States-based startups founded by Black women was less than 4 percent, while only 35 percent of existing Black businesses were founded by women. Among that 35 percent was Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo, whose path to becoming an entrepreneur was borne out of necessity rather than prescribed desire.
By 2018, Dr. Uwemedimo was running the global health program at Cohen’s Children Medical Center in Queens, New York. She was an associate professor of pediatrics and occupational medicine at the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine in Hempstead, NY. She ran two research projects and volunteered with immigration advocacy. She mentions, “As a pediatrician, it’s hard not to be excited to see my patients, but I realized every time I entered my patient’s room, I was drained.” After deciding to take a break from her clinical duties, the toll of her years-long and numerous responsibilities finally caught up with her. “I remember it was at my daughter’s birthday that I started to feel dizzy and found it increasingly difficult to walk.” Shortly after, Dr. Uwemedimo was hospitalized with a cerebellar brain lesion and diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Uwemedimo’s story reflects a reality that many Black women experience, especially those in professional academic environments that self-select for the risk-averse. For many of these clinicians, a trajectory is neatly laid out: patients, teaching, research, and publishing evolve into a mantra that should lead to professional satisfaction but inevitably results in exhaustion. Dr. Uwemedimo adds, “I am definitely my father’s daughter. My dad worked for a company for 40 years with a pension. I intended to do the same in academia until I learned how to say no.” A cursory look at the 2020 viral hashtag #BlackInTheIvory reveals chronic stress, burnout, and the often unremunerated responsibility to lead diversity-related work among Black academics. It is unsurprising then to imagine the physical expense the devaluation of Black labor takes on the body.
“I had to go to physical rehab for four months to learn how to walk again, and during that time, I did a “life rehab.” I forced myself to reconsider what I was really meant to do. Ultimately, I realized I had a different purpose and discovered I wasn’t alone. After doing my research, I learned that people who work in medicine have higher rates of infertility and autoimmune disorders because the intersection of our stress and isolation creates a perfect storm that leaves us in suboptimal health. Once I started to share my journey, women kept coming to me and asking to work with me. Initially, I shared what I learned with these women informally. Still, it eventually grew into a coaching service, and I’ve had over 60 women in my paid program, a Facebook group of over 1500 women, and over 15,000 downloads on my podcast. I’ve been able to take these women from “this doesn’t feel right” to “I know my purpose” to recognizing the need to pivot, to potentially creating something on their own and helping them through the process.”
For potential women entrepreneurs across the United States, this “pivot” is one of the most challenging acts to master. In the latest Federal Reserve 2020 Small Business Credit Survey, 80.2% of white business owners could receive a percentage of the funding they requested from a bank. Only 60.9% of Black business owners had success securing similar financing. From the general discouragement in applying for loans, to the scrutiny lenders place on Black entrepreneurs, to the inexperience many Black professionals have in discovering ancillary funding opportunities, the journey of creating businesses that contribute to the health of Black communities is fraught with difficulty.
“Health” takes a literal meaning as the most popular category for Black businesses in 2020 is healthcare. “During my journey to recovery from multiple sclerosis, I was also in the process of founding Strong Children Wellness with my partners who were collectively frustrated, had already left academia, and asked me if I was coming along! As practitioners, we are indoctrinated into believing we can’t create our own practices, only add to existing structures. In fact, I took the idea of Strong Children Wellness to the institution I was affiliated with at the time, and they denied it. We had already invested so much time and energy into the project that we realized we were creating a space that did not exist but was necessary. So, we took the time to figure out the organization’s values, how to center the people on the margins, and how to think about novel ways to fund the practice. We incorporated value-based payment models and social impact investments rather than just taking out loans. As a black founder, I recognize the money exists, but many physicians are scared because they haven’t written a grant or learned the non-traditional ways to fund their practices and receive reimbursement! My company Melanin & Medicine highlights those educational and design gaps while returning the power to women healthcare practitioners. I want more black women running healthcare spaces and doing it on their own terms.
Learn more about Dr. Uwemedimo’s work: