17 Events and Conferences for Black Entrepreneurs in 2023 Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. It can feel isolating if you’re the only one in the room who looks like you. Meeting peers and mentors with a unique understanding of your lived experience and business roadblocks can help you connect the dots needed to grow your business and community. However, finding spaces for this kind of connection can be challenging for Black Americans. In this post, discover in-person and virtual events nationwide where Black entrepreneurs can strengthen relationships and build expertise. How to Prepare for Attending a Conference The United States Census Bureau reported almost 1.4 million self-employed Black people in September 2022, an 11.9% increase from August 2022. Attending conferences, trade shows, workshops, and webinars puts you in rooms with consumers and entrepreneurs who have advice, real-life examples, and funds that can shift the trajectory of your business or nonprofit organization. To prepare for attending a conference: Review the programming, decide which sessions to attend, and jot down a few questions you want to ask during Q&As or one-on-one meetings. Pack your business cards, a notepad, and pens. Choose outfits and shoes that make you feel comfortable and confident....

10 Events and Conferences for LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success. LGBTQ+ people often face higher rates of isolation and discrimination, meaning that this community can especially benefit from gatherings that foster support and connection. This is especially true for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and professionals, as finding opportunities to learn from people who share similar life experiences can be challenging. In this post, we’ve curated a list of annual events and conferences for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and professionals. Whether you’re seeking mentorship, training from experts, or just some old-fashioned socializing with like-minded business owners, these events are made for you. While most have already taken place for 2022, keep your eyes peeled for the 2023 dates. Events and Conferences for LGBTQ+ Professionals 1. Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit Despite the name, the annual Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit is inclusive of all techies, centering LGBTQ women, women of color, and non-binary leaders. The ninth summit was in October in San Francisco, with in-person and virtual options. Their summits feature networking and mentorship opportunities, career fairs, leaders and celebrity speeches, parties, and educational sessions. While much of the content is geared toward the tech world, many sessions focus on broader topics like leadership, diversity,...

5 Networking Tips for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Running your own business can be a great career choice for people living with long-term disability or health condition. This may relate, in part, to the increased flexibility around working hours that self-employment brings. Working for oneself can also promote a sense of being a master of one’s destiny and not having to contend with misconceptions and discriminatory attitudes from others that are often encountered while job hunting. For entrepreneurs of any background, business networking, be this receiving the support and advice of others, identifying collaborative opportunities, or expanding the customer base, remains an essential undertaking. Unfortunately, as in almost every other walk of life, networking is not without barriers for disabled entrepreneurs. In this post, we’ll discuss why networking can be a challenge and best practice approaches to networking that disabled entrepreneurs can put in place to stay on top of both the competition and their own health. Why can networking be a challenge for disabled entrepreneurs? As Bill Sahlman, a professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School explained in the online course Entrepreneurship Essentials: “All great companies — even those with iconic entrepreneurs — had many other people who were involved and, without whom, the company might not have made it so big.” Networking can be a challenge for disabled entrepreneurs for various reasons, ranging from needing to expend a great deal of time and effort performing in social scenarios when one’s energy is already compromised to facing unpredictable building...