This story is part of our Start. Build. Grow. series, a celebration of Black business.
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Boss Women Media founder Marty McDonald has always strategically used her platform to showcase the brilliance of Black women. Her annual business summit, Black Magic Reimagined, reconvened in person for the first time in three years just last week.
The event, which took place in Dallas, centered Black women entrepreneurs and included speakers KeKe Palmer, Pinky Cole and Nicole Lynn. The conference was a notable success and $100k was awarded to three Black women business founders at its conclusion.
In addition, McDonald announced the launch of her new podcast at Black Magic Reimagined entitled “The Audacity of Ambitious Women,” which is available on Spotify now. Her children’s apparel and book brand “Elle Olivia” officially launched Sunday in 400 Target stores nationwide, proving that the CEO is in her winning season.
“Elle Olivia,” McDonald tells The Root, is about Black girls having true representation and encourages them to dream big. “When we showcased the brand [at pop-up shops], everyone was so proud of seeing a character that their daughter could wear that looks like them. Some feedback that we’ve just received was ‘the product speaks to exactly my little girl.’
“The opportunities of where we show up and how we exist are still sparse, right?,” she asks. “So it’s important for us to continue to show up to create space.” McDonald believes that genuineness is the greatest currency Black women possess.
“We need Black women to continue to show up and be their authentic selves and to create space for them and others so that we will continue to be in spaces and places where we belong and deserve to be.”
It took a lot for McDonald to pave this unique and vital lane for herself. She left her marketing job back in 2018 to fully dedicate herself to Boss Women Media. It wasn’t so much a leap of faith as it was a conscious decision to bet on herself.
McDonald says the choice, however, was a difficult one to make and only could happen once she was outside of her comfort zone.
“It mentally took for someone to constantly not believe in me. It took for me to be challenged in a way that allowed me to feel imposter syndrome, to feel isolated, to feel like I didn’t belong. Because if I didn’t experience those feelings from the get go, then I wouldn’t know what the reward of feeling the complete opposite would be.
“Once I was able to hone in on what good enough looked like for me and what me belonging looked like through self-confidence and mindset shifting, then I was able to say ‘I am betting on myself and I believe in myself.’ I’m not allowing paralyzing fear to prevent me from being happy and having a career that I love and do work that’s making an impact—work that is changing the lives of others along with changing my own life.”
As a business owner, McDonald knows the pressure she faces is higher than her non-Black peers to achieve success. She reveals that being overly critical of herself comes with territory but has improved over the years. “You better believe I’ve struggled with perfectionism. When it comes to working with brands, I have to set clear expectations of what I say that I’m gonna deliver to them.
“Because I am a Black-owned business, the opportunities are either smaller to exist or the opportunities for impact seem like I have to make such huge jumps for companies to recognize what success looks like. So I don’t put myself in a box of everything has to be perfect based off of X, Y, and Z because it is not always gonna be right. But setting those clear expectations up front is how I’m able to deliver against that.”
Ultimately, McDonald understands her purpose is much bigger than her. “Boss Women Media is just a testament of the work and a testament to what we’re producing for women and how they need it,” she explains. “People are tired of just being empowered and not equipped.
“We are equipping women with other women who look and sound like them to be fierce and fearless to go after their careers or their business dreams.” McDonald also understands that Black women entrepreneurs are under attack, as demonstrated by Edward Blum’s ruthless quest to stop the Fearless Fund.
She says unity, not division, is more crucial than ever. “This is where we have to—as Black organizations—really take a stance together and not a space will we stand apart. We’re all targets from the laws that were put in place in 2020, in 2021 and no one is safe in doing this work alone. This is a moment in time when we cannot be afraid to use our voices to stand together.”
In such a volatile climate, McDonald remains dedicated to her journey and relies on community to uplift her during trying times. “For me personally, I know that I’m filled when I’m doing the work that I’ve laid in front of myself...it brings me a lot of joy. Being around people who fill me up, who are like-minded, who push me are all part of my self-care.
“It’s not just going to get my nails done or getting a pedicure or getting my hair done. It’s about what fills me inside, gives me purpose, drives me forward. And by me leaning into just that for self-care moments, I’m protecting myself, my mind, my body and my spirit.”
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