personal networks to the success of your business?
I do think networks are important, and right now I’m learning what networks I should tap into.
Why do you think more single/divorced and widowed women start more businesses than men in their respective categories, and does your theory match your own rationale for starting a business?
I think flexibility is a big piece. I also think women may have a broader vision than men because they have more career breaks. They exit their corporate roles (especially when becoming a mother) and it gives them the chance to create a new vision for their careers. I think sometimes you have to take yourself out of the corporate world to see the new vision. You can think independently outside of corporate America. In the corporate world, you are trained to think within the corporation. You’re not supposed to use your full capabilities. But when you remove yourself from that mentality, you can start seeing more opportunities and how to solve problems in an entrepreneurial way. Women have that advantage because of the career breaks.
What is your personal definition of success, and have you achieved it?
You have to define success in your own terms. My definition of success is to do interesting, high impact work, while also enjoying the other dimensions of my life. One piece of that life is being engaged in my children’s lives. Also, success to me is giving myself time for my relationship, my friends and being involved in my community, and taking care of my personal health. I have achieved that. I am doing very interesting high impact work and am fully engaged in all aspects of my life, so I have achieved my own personal definition of success.
What else hasn’t been asked that you feel passionately about sharing?
I feel really strongly about this: I want women to know that their gender does NOT have to hold them back. Whatever a woman wants to do, independent of her personal relationship status, or deciding to have kids, her choices should not hold her back. She must believe in herself and find the right environment to utilize her skills, and if that means she should be an entrepreneur, great. If she can find what she wants to be in corporate America, great. But as an entrepreneur, you create the corporate culture and decide when you work, who you hire, what types of people you will partner with, etc. and it is liberating to be able to create your environment, rather than trying to fit into a corporate structure and culture that already exits.
Tracey Brame
West Point Financing
Tracey Brame is an Indianapolis native from birth. At age 9, she declared she was going to a top 10 school, putting the Newsweek list under her bed. At age 18, she was accepted to every top ten school in the country. She settled into West Point because it felt closest to her Pentecostal upbringing. After leaving the Army, she created an IT recruiting firm, working almost exclusively for EMC2’s channel division. The downturn in IT during the early 2000s left Tracey looking for a new angle. In 2007, she started West Point Financing, a national equipment lease and financing firm. Her biggest deal to date is designing a $50 million vehicle lease program for the city of Indianapolis’ Department of Public Works, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Indianapolis Fire Department. She is in current contention for leasing agent for one of the state’s largest hospital systems. Her company is online at: www.westpointfinancing.com.
What advantages do you think you have as a solo business owner that married people don’t have?
I have to succeed. No one is standing behind me with a safety net in case things don’t work out.
What about disadvantages?
I don’t have a safety net. It’s a dual-edged sword. When I network, no one else in the room has vested interest in talking about my company except me.
Do you think business ownership has led you to remain single?
No. Once I get more experience under my belt, I will settle down.
What advice would you give another single woman who is thinking about starting a business?
Make sure you have the guts to do this. If you doubt that you have the resolve, you may lack it. There is no crying in baseball or ownership. Own your success, and own your failure.
Do you think there are advantages/disadvantages to being a single business owner? Do you think it is harder, or easier?
I do not think that it is either. You access your strengths. If you do not have a safety net, then make sure you have more liquidity than the next person.
How did you discover and access your own strengths?
I’ve always assessed what it takes for me to survive—a failed marriage, West Point, etc., throughout those situations I never lowered by lifestyle. Characteristics about me that prevent my failing are my strengths. One of them would be a belief that I can do what anyone else can do. If John can jump out of a plane and not die, I can do it too. If they survived and had the brains to walk away, I can too. I can do anything an above average person can do. I admit I can’t do what Michael Jordan can do, but I could if I worked hard at it.
I had a superior upbringing with my grandparents. It is amazing that people can get through this life and I marvel at how they do without having known my grandparents. I had a fantastic upbringing. It was a good foundation, so when I got to a place like West Point I could handle it because my grandfather was a preacher and had a lot of rules too. I broke some rules but I didn’t go bad—I basically assumed that rules were reasonable and unless it was being imposed on me because I’m black or female, I should follow them. Little things like that gave me strength so that even when I’m in a situation where there are no rules, I create rules to give myself order.
What about being a single WOMAN business owner?
Do you think it is easier, the same, or harder than being a single man starting a business?
I think those who have someone helping with the ancillary roles in life are at an advantage, male or female. The challenge with being black or female is that some Caucasians and men will test you in unnerving ways to tip you off your course. Of course, they do this to each other too. It is just part of the game. During half time and breaks, having a cheerleader squarely in your court has to be worth something.
What was the best training you received to prepare you as a business owner?
West Point taught me what the ‘man’s game board’ looks like. I am in a male dominated field where frankly African Americans tend not to tread. I think that my education and upbringing taught me to perform well when alone among strangers in the room.
What else, if anything, did your military training play a role in your entrepreneurial career path?
You can’t quit West
