How Casey Richardson is bringing access to information, community and capital to Black female entrepreneurs

Find out the ways Casey Richardson used her experience of tech financing to establish BLAZE Group and empower a group of Black women entrepreneurs.

Two and a half year back, the world of Ariel Richardson was completely different. She was a resident of California's Bay Area and worked for Bank of America, structuring large-scale loans to tech companies. However, she discovered that she was the sole Black female on the team. In all the ten years of being in finance, she didn't receive any funds given to a Black business.

"It showed me that, not only was the wisdom not getting there and the wisdom wasn't reaching my community," Casey recalls.

Then, in October of 2020 Casey made the decision to alter her mind.

With her extensive experience working in tech financing and business and finance, she made the decision to leave working a 9-to-5 and start her own organization called the BLAZE Group -- Building Leaders and Accepting No Excuses with the goal of providing knowledge, mentorship as well as a network to the traditionally underserved communities comprised of Black female business owners.

In 2023, BLAZE Group is a business that BLAZE Group offers online courses via the Blaze Knowledge Academy, group coaching courses and an online community called the application, in-person retreats as well as a semi-annual virtual summit, and proprietary research carried out by Casey along with her international team.

How did she do it within just two years? It was a result of offering tools that address specific needs that are not being met, deliberate development of audiences, and selecting the appropriate equipment and the right team.

From finance expert in corporate to revolutionary entrepreneur

Prior to making the leap to entrepreneurship full-time, Casey was a finance specialist in structuring billion-dollar loan agreements for companies in the field of technology. Her knowledge of the latest advances in technology, however, she also saw disparity between her colleagues and the companies they were funding. "I was the sole Black female among the team. This taught the world that I was educated, my experience along with my life experiences were not a part of my community."

Black females make up the fastest-growing category of entrepreneurs in the United States -- but just 3 percent of them have "mature" enterprises while the vast majority of entrepreneurs themselves fund startup capital. There's a significant gap regarding the level of financing as well as other sources available to Black women entrepreneurs when contrasted to their counterparts in the white male market.

In the summer of 2020, Casey participated in demonstrations to protest police violence. The sense of community she experienced as well as the courage she felt was not evident in the routine of her work. "I was more motivated to protest that I have ever felt during all my years working in the business of sexiness," she says. "I was rubbing shoulders with the people who were bold enough and brave enough to take decisions that have a real a bearing in the global arena."

By October, she had agreed to the end of the road for the finance department at the firm - not because of her having achieved success and had been not, however, because she was successful it was because of her success. What else could she utilize her knowledge? What else could she do? utilize her experience in technology and finance in order to help fellow Black women succeed?

"I'm extremely comfortable inside these walls. But, I'd put cash in my pocket every day, thinking that I'd fill more of the world. So I quit."

Her job was cut, she moved to Africa and began building BLAZE Group, a location-independent firm that allows Black women from all over the world to do similar things.

BLAZE Grupo is targeting entrepreneurs during their first three years of business building which Casey calls"the "entrepreneurial stage."

"BLAZE helps clients understand how they can manage their business in a way that keeps the company going. This is done with technology-enabled solutions. We are one of them," she adds.

In order to serve this audience, Casey had to build authentic relationships with them.

What are some of the primary reasons to create an email list of your own (and what is the most effective way to begin)

Casey was aware that she was planning to develop an online business training course of the highest quality right from the beginning -- but it was crucial to create an online following prior to the time she could launch her first product.

Casey wanted to ensure that she didn't make this mistake after the launch of the first BLAZE product. Therefore, she embarked on the first steps to create an audience with a specific objective in mind. That would be to build an email database.

What makes email users better than people who use social networks? "I knew I wanted to establish and keep my connections to myself," explains Casey.

"On Instagram, you don't have the right to control the relationship. There's no way to know the email address of their account is, or if their handle changes it is best to have a clue about what their current handle is," Casey says.

"I wanted to own relationships , and get in front of them often in order to establish brand awareness and self-confidence."

Inquiring about her existing networks

15 minute discovery call to her targeted segment of clients

1. Contacting her current contacts

There's a lot of advice available on how to increase your followers, but most creators believe that their first customers will be people who have never heard of their site via social media. If you design the procedure entirely from scratch, you're missing out on a huge potential source of support this includes your friends and family!

Casey addressed every person in her circle informing them that she would be starting a newsletter about business and asked for their permission to sign for the newsletter.

"I began by going through the most recent texts, Instagram DMs, Twitter Facebook... I set a timer and then did as many of them as I could within five minute intervals" she says.

A lot of family and friends have taken Casey and her idea as she started to create an email database that could be in place until her launch.

2. 15-minute discovery phone calls to the intended audience

One of the most effective ways to make connections with people whom you meet is to speak with them.

Casey shared a post on her the social networks, revealing that she'd created an online course to help Black women understand business management. "If I can talk to you for fifteen minutes , or ask any questions please contact me," she added.

The woman was aware of the fact that those who called with her were her target group: Black women interested in business ventures.

Instead of debating the course's content, or even marketing her own, Casey asked questions like, "What keeps you up until late? What's your greatest fear? In a year's time, what do you would like to be?" The opportunity was used to make women feel appreciated and respected. Also, she realized that was the most important issue to address during her class material.

"Just creating the space feel safe is a big element that can make the impact."

"By the conclusion of many of these phone calls, customers asked, "Can I purchase the program right now? What will I have to buy?" Casey remembers. The course was at the beginning of the development stage of the course, but she gathered the email addresses of participants and promised to inform them on when it would be launched.

After the course was completed the course was promoted to the email list she created by using two methods. "There was already this enthusiasm among those who had signed up. They were all set to join."

What did it mean? 80% of the women she talked to during the initial call turned into customers.

Over two years later, Casey still offers free meetings with her customers to help them understand her sales and marketing processes. For potential clients who have concerns about the Blaze Business Intensive and would like to schedule a complimentary Perfect Fit call to talk with Casey.

"On average, it requires five follow-ups before closing a deal. It's my opinion that not enough business owners know this," Says Casey. "I use these calls to really close the deal."

Utilizing the correct equipment and the right people can assist Casey expand her company.

Today, BLAZE offers online courses and masterclasses and groups coaching programs as well as an on-line community. webinars, and the TablexTribe mobile app as well as an online conference every two years (a 2022 Webby Award honoree for the Best in Business and Finance), and exclusive research.

How is she able to handle all these things at such a high level of intention and passion?

Casey is putting together an international team which will help her expand different areas within her firm including:

Blogger and Content Marketer based in Nigeria

A junior consultant who has the base of London

Brand and production manager (her fiancé!) who grew the BLAZE group on Instagram by 1,300 people in May 2022 and more than 70,000 by the beginning of 2023.

A executive assistant who is from Kenya

A research analyst who publishes research paper in a variety of industries. She also helps BLAZE discover new clients for consulting.

Production assistant at an annual Semi-Annual Blaze Virtual Summit

She does not just recruit new employees. She also recruits equipment too.

"I employ tools that have a speed that is rapid," Casey laughs. "And I like that since it's because of the magnitude."

Revenue growth doesn't necessarily mean that your business is expanding, particularly if you're doing more work or spending on more to support that growth.

"The rise in revenue must not be your primary objective," explains Casey. "If you're increasing your costs in the same way that your revenue increases, your bottom line doesn't shift."

"Scale is the term used to describe when you're able to increase revenue, while your costs and time that you invest don't change significantly."

The previous experience with technology taught Casey that no-code tools are extremely powerful along with integrations and automations are. When she launched BLAZE Group, she leveraged the low-cost, no-code tools like Zapier to be sure that everything ran smoothly.

What Casey uses for her courses her online community, downloads and communities

" was the very initial program I used of to deliver services at scale," Casey shares.

These techniques allow Casey "more space to be focused on intentional things," such as the personal meetings she has with potential clients.

Casey developed her first digital product called the Blaze Business Intensive online class, which includes . It's self-paced, 6-week course that is focused upon "Business Building, Business Management and business Excellence for Today's Black Woman."

"It was entirely without code. It was actually created by me back when we were running 14-day trial tests," Casey remembers. "I designed the entire course in this period before I began selling it after the trial expired so I could be immediately successful."

(Want to be able to follow in the footsteps of Casey's great success? Sign up for the no-cost plan for all the duration it takes to have your course content installed, and then upgrade when you're ready to market.)

The course is part the Blaze Knowledge Academy and includes a variety of business learning resources Casey developed on her site. The Academy hosts:

Numerous entrepreneurship masterclasses. Many of which she gives at no cost

Her online community is referred to as"the Blaze Women's Network is home to more than 7,000 members

"People have the option of becoming a member of"the Blaze Women's Network absolutely free," Casey explains. Virtual coworking is what we provide along with hosting webinars and then that funnels users to the paid-for courses."

Alongside introducing clients to useful products, the Casey's Community provides members a friendly and supportive area to meet fellow founders.

"It was the norm that content was the king of the hill. However it is now changing to the idea that "community is King. Many are looking for community-centric applications... as well as the ones that aren't perceived as spam appear to be genuine."

The experience she had with this tool has offered Casey the guidelines for what to consider in deciding on a zero-code creator software. "You have a very flexible system that's allowed me to do some end-to-end solutions on your platform," Casey explains. "And I've utilized the exact scorecard to evaluate tools as I'm trying to improve the platform."

"It truly is an amazing idea to put in place strategies to alter the course of the planet in methods that are cost-effective and readily accessible to people that are disadvantaged today."

Do not try to accomplish everything all at once

In all the achievements Casey achieved in the span of just two years as the CEO of BLAZE and BLAZE the BLAZE brand, her advice to new creators might come as an unexpected surprise: try to do less in the beginning, at the very least, when getting into the game.

"Keep your primary goal in mind that is what's most important" she asserts. The Hustle culture helps entrepreneurs who are just starting out to realize that there is never enough tasks to complete or the content to be created. But Casey advises all creators to keep in mind "There's just one limit on the things you can do regardless of how great you are."

"You don't have to be able to master everything from the beginning It's going be extremely, very hard to get everything perfect at the same time when you're just beginning."

It is suggested to start by making a first signature offer before building up upon that. "I initially started with the Blaze Intensive, my first course, and that is still my signature course. Entrepreneurs must figure out the uniqueness of their offering to include, and what they would like to be known for, prior to introducing a variety of other services."

There's plenty to consider initially: your message and target audience, technologies such as marketing, customer service. What happens when you've finished the work? There's the possibility to do so much more.

"I am confident that we are able to do a million amazing things. In 200 years, maybe. Because Blaze remains present. It doesn't have to take place today."

We're thrilled to be an the integral element of the Casey story and we're excited to see what's next for Casey and the BLAZE Group -- this year, 200 years from now , and every day in between.

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