Entrepreneur Spotlight: Janice Bryant Howroyd

I get really upset with myself when I learn about someone today I wished I would have known 10 years earlier.

Let me tell you about Janice Bryant Howroyd (or who I’m now calling JHow).

She’s from Tarboro, North Carolina and went to school at North Carolina A&T (AGGIE PRIDE!).

She started her business The ActOne Group in 1978 out of a small office in Beverly Hills.

She employs over 2,600 people across 19 countries.

She is the first African-American woman to own and operate a company that makes more than $1 billion (with ‘B’) a year.

Pretty cool stuff right?

I’m reading her book, “Acting Up: Winning in Business and Life Using Down-Home Wisdom” and it is full of gems.

Two quotes I’ll leave you with today are:

For me, it’s not just the journey but the sharing of it all that makes the journey complete.

Life is so much better if you bring your loved ones along for the ride. Sometimes seeing a new experience through their eyes makes everything more vibrant. Plus you’ll have someone to help you remember the experience over the years.

She describes the term “Acting Up” as:

Stepping out of the expected or normal behavior to achieve a goal by your own predetermined actions that don’t follow the rules.

Chart your own path and always bet on yourself. Don’t let others’ expectations or limited imagination block your path or limit your growth.

By the way, these quotes are from the introduction. There’s still so much to unpack in this book.

You can also view one of her interviews here to learn more about her.