What exactly is it Casey Richardson is bringing access to the community, information, along with the capital Black female entrepreneurs

Jan 20, 2023

Learn how Casey Richardson used her experience in the field of tech-related financing to establish BLAZE Group and empower a group comprised members of Black Female entrepreneurs.

Two and a half years ago, Richardson's world was totally and entirely different. She was a resident of the California's Bay Area and worked for Bank of America, structuring huge-scale loans to tech firms. It was discovered that she wasn't the sole Black female on the team in the entire 10 years being employed as a finance professional, she did not have money allotted to any Black company.

"It showed me that not just was the information being disseminated to the public, however the message was not being shared with my local community," Casey recalls.

The month of October, 2020 Casey changed her mind.

After her extensive experience working in the field of tech financing and business, she made the decision to take a break from her 9-to-5 work and set up the BLAZE Group -- Building leaders and accepting No Excuses to help, educate, and a community for those who have been neglected by the community of Black women who are entrepreneurs.

In 2023, we're getting close: BLAZE Group offers online training courses via the Blaze Knowledge Academy, group coaching and an online community the application, individual retreats as well as two-yearly summits, as well as proprietary research led by Casey and her international team.

What could she achieve in only two years? This was due to providing services to meet the demand that is not being met, a deliberate creation of audience, as well as selecting the appropriate strategies and individuals.

From corporate finance specialist to an entrepreneur who can make a difference

Before becoming a full-time business owner, Casey worked as a finance expert in the process of making billion-dollar loans for tech companies. Always ahead of the curve in technological advances. She was, however, aware of the distinctions between her coworkers and the organizations they worked for. "I was the sole Black female participant on the group. This was an indication of how educated and my expertise as well as my personal experience did not exist in my local communities."

Black women constitute the most successful group of entrepreneurs across the United States -- but less than 3 percent own "mature" firms, and the majority of entrepreneurs are self-funded with startups capital. This gap is massive in the funding and resources that are readily available for Black female entrepreneurs, they are compared to white male entrepreneurs.

In the summer of year 2020 Casey participated in the demonstrations that protested against police brutality. Casey felt a sense of belonging and morale that was missing from her job. "I found myself more motivated to protest more than I have ever felt throughout my life amid these flings," she says. "I enjoyed meeting people who were brave and courageous enough to take choices that have an actual influence in our world."

In October, at the close of her job was over with her job in finance on a corporate scale, but she was not a success because of it but due to the result that it. What else is she able to use her talent for? What else can she be able to do? use her knowledge of financial technology and advancements to assist others Black women succeed?

"I'm entirely at peace in these four walls. However, I'd wager the money of my life in the hope that I'll be able to occupy greater space. So I quit."

She took off from work and moved to Africa in order to establish BLAZE Group, a location-independent firm that is helping Black women all over the globe to achieve the similar thing.

BLAZE Grup targets entrepreneurs specifically for the first three years of development in the "entrepreneurial stage," which Casey describes as the "entrepreneurial stage."

"BLAZE exists to really help users understand how to run their companies in a way that keeps the company going. We do this by offering technology-based solutions, which is the reason we're one of them," she tells us.

In order to reach out to this particular group of people, Casey had to build good relations with them.

What are the reasons to build your own email lists (and where to begin)

Casey had the vision to design an online business training course of the highest quality immediately -- however, it was essential to establish an public audience before she even launched her first course.

Casey was not keen for this to occur with the release of the initial BLAZE product. Therefore, she started the first steps to create an audience. She set the goal that consisted of establishing an email-list.

Why do people choose email subscribers over social media followers? "I knew I needed to maintain and build my personal connections," explains Casey.

"On Instagram, you don't control the relationship with your pal. You're not sure the email address of their friend and the handle they use. If their handle changes, then you must know which is the handle's name. new handle," Casey says.

"I want to establish relationships , and reach them on a regular basis to build brand recognition and trust."

Contacting her contacts currently

15 minutes discovery is the time to find her target audience

1. Looking for her contact information at present.

There's plenty of information online regarding how you can increase your following, and many creators are of the belief that their first clients are people who have never seen them on social media. If you're creating for your first time and have no followers, you're without a huge source of assistance from relatives as well as friends!

Casey reached out to everyone who was in her network to inform everyone that she's planning to start an Entrepreneurship newsletter. She wanted to know if anyone wants to sign up.

"I started by going through my most recent texts, Instagram DMs, Twitter and Facebook... I put a timer on then I sent the most I could in five minute segments," she describes.

Many family and friends were awed by Casey as a model for her service. She started to create a strong email list in preparation for her launch.

2. 15 minute discovery calls to her group of customers

One of the most effective ways to get acquainted with the individuals whom you meet is to have a conversation with them.

Casey posted a message in Facebook on Monday. She announced that she had created an online class that will assist Black women understand the world of business. "If you'd like me to speak with you for fifteen minutes, and you have questions, let me know," she added.

She knew that the people who had a telephone conversation to her would be her main group of people: Black women with an interest in business.

Instead of discussing the course's content or even marketing her own course, Casey asked questions like, "What keeps you up all midnight? What's your most feared fear? If you only had just one year, what you want to be?" The time was used to make women feel valued and appreciated. After that, she knew what was the top aspect to focus on within her content.

"Just being able to create space and make people feel comfortable is a crucial part of magic."

"By the time they had completed the vast majority of these phone calls, they were asking, "Can I buy the program right now? What do need to buy?" Casey recalls. The course was at its development stage. It was in the process of being created and she was gathering the addresses of the people who had signed up, and she promised that she would inform them of the moment it was released.

When the class was completed She tweeted the course to her mailing list that she created using the two methods. "There already was this expectation that was ingrained in everyone who registered. They were eager to sign up."

What happened to her? A majority of the women she talked to on her first chat became customers.

Over the last 2 years Casey has continued to provide free calls to discover customers as part of her sales processes. If prospective customers have concerns concerning the Business Intensive, they may schedule an appointment for an absolutely free telephone contact with Casey.

"On the average, it takes five follow-ups in order to close an agreement. The majority of entrepreneurs recognize the fact that this is true," Says Casey. "I make these calls in order in order to sell the product."

Utilizing the correct equipment and the right people can help Casey develop her business

It is currently offering, BLAZE is offering online training and masterclasses and group coaching programmes and an online forum. webcasts and the TablexTribe app for mobile phones and the biannual conference online (a 2022 Webby Awards winner for being the best in Finance, Business and Finance), and proprietary research.

How do they deal with this all while displaying so much heart and dedication?

Casey has established an international team to aid her in developing different aspects of her company, such as:

Blogger and Content Marketer based in Nigeria

A junior consultant with an office in London

Producer and brand manager (her boyfriend!) who grew the BLAZE group on Instagram to 1,300 active users by May 2022 and over 70,000 at the time of its launch in 2023.

An executive assistant who is from Kenya

A researcher analyst who writes research paper in a variety of fields. He helps BLAZE identify new clients via providing consulting

A production assistant to the annual Blaze Virtual Summit

The strategy she has developed isn't only about hiring people to join the team , but also hiring tools too.

"I employ tools at a speed," Casey laughs. "And I love it , because there's some the dimensions."

A rise in revenues doesn't necessarily mean your business has expanded, particularly if you're working harder or investing more money to help support this expansion.

"The increase in revenue should not be the primary goal," explains Casey. "If you are able to increase your expenses with the same pace that the revenue is growing, your financials don't change."

"Scale is the time when you're in a position to grow revenue while the cost and time you're paying for aren't changed."

The experience gained in the tech industry has shown Casey how powerful no-code tools  and how effective automation and integration are. As part of the development of BLAZE Group, she leveraged the low-cost, no-code tools including Zapier to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

How Casey makes use of her classes, Downloads, Community, as well as Community

" was the first application I was required to employ to sell services on a large scale" Casey shares.

These strategies give Casey "more space to finish the things she is thinking about" for example, the one-on one meetings she makes with potential clients.

Casey developed her first product digital, which she dubbed The Blaze Business extensive Online course. It contains . Self-paced, six-week program that includes "Business Development, Business Management as well as the business quality required for a prosperous Black Woman."

"It was built using no codes. I developed it during the time I was conducting the free 14-day trial," Casey remembers. "I designed the whole course within that timeframe, and I then started selling it once the trial was over so I could make quickly profitably."

(Want to replicate Casey's success? Start a free trial and spend the time to have the materials for your course installed, then upgrade when you're ready start selling.)

This course is part of The Blaze Knowledge Academy that is a collection of instructional resources that businesses Casey created on her website. The Academy also serves as the headquarters of:

There are a lot of entrepreneurial masterclasses. Many of which are offered at no cost

The online community she has created, referred to as the Blaze Women's Network is home to more than seven hundred members

"People can choose to joining The Blaze Women's Network absolutely free," Casey explains. Virtual coworking is what we offer, and I conduct webinars and then funnel people into courses which are paid for."

Along with introducing customers to useful products and solutions, Casey's Community provides members with an open and welcoming area to network with fellow founders.

"It was once believed that the content of a website was primary significant thing. However, the times have changed, and now 'community is the supreme factor.' Today, the market is flooded by community-based apps... and as ones that aren't perceived as spam. These are legitimate."

The outcomes of her use of it have given Casey an outline of factors to be looking for in deciding on a program for creating code-free. "You can easily adapt your system, which has allowed me to develop end-to end solutions from within the software," Casey explains. "And I've employed the exact scorecard when evaluating the program to see at ways I can enhance this."

"It really is beautiful to have solutions available that change the world in solutions that are inexpensive and accessible to poor in the present."

Try not to try to complete everything at the same time

In all the achievements Casey has accomplished within only two years of being the CEO of BLAZE BLAZE the company, her tips for new creators may be surprising: strive to be less, at most, by the time you get into the game.

"Keep the primary thing in the forefront of your mind. That is what you should have been doing" She recommends. The culture of Hustle informs entrepreneurs that are only beginning their journey to realize that there's insufficient time to finish their work or produce a lot of their content. Yet, Casey is a reminder to fellow creators "There's nothing that limits what you can accomplish regardless of how gifted you might be."

"You aren't required to master all of it out of the box. Also, it's very, very difficult to master multiple tasks at once as you're only beginning."

She recommends starting by signing a contract before building up on that. "I began with a Blaze Intensive, my first course. This is the main course I attended. Entrepreneurs should spend time figuring what their core services will be based on what they want to be known in the market before adding a range of additional items."

There are a lot of things to consider in the beginning: the message you want to send and the target market, the marketing process and the customer's satisfaction. When you've got it down? This opens up the doors for a lot more.

"I believe we've got the capacity to accomplish numerous tasks. Perhaps in the next 200 years. As long as Blaze remains present. However, that shouldn't have to happen today."

We're honored to play a integral part of the history of Casey We're eager to see what's next for Casey and the BLAZE Group This year, 200 years further in the future and in the years between.

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