At the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture, the Soko Mrkt Stage was the ideal spot for budding entrepreneurs. Milan Harris of Milano Di Rouge and Lanny Smith of Actively Black, two brilliant brand founders, generously shared their insights on the key factors that drive startup success: changing your mindset, writing things down and delegating tasks.
Harris, a serial entrepreneur, emphasized the power of shifting your mindset on the journey to success. In order to propel her apparel company to its current heights, Harris revealed that she had to transform herself. “I had to become a totally different person. The old me would have never made it,” she said. By creating a vision board for her life, the 34-year-old has become the person she aspired to be and make the impact she desires to make. Harris urged everyone to create their own vision boards, align their steps accordingly, and execute their goals with purpose.
The Philadelphia native also advocated for writing down your goals before embarking on each day. Smith, a remarkable entrepreneur who launched his athliesure wear brand in 2021, also stressed the importance of writing your goals down. “Everything that I’ve been blessed to do, I wrote down first. And it’s amazing when you get to look back at what you wrote down and see those things that you accomplished,” said Smith. “But I would say part of my mindset that I’ve had to change as we’re scaling is learning how to delegate.”
Smith spoke of how his mother’s hustle and grind work ethic served as a inspiration, instilling in him the belief that he had to do everything himself. However, as he scaled his business, Smith recognized the necessity of trusting others to execute his vision. Delegating tasks allows him to avoid carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and prevent mental and emotional fatigue. “For me to continue to pour out into the people that I’m trying to serve, I’ve got to have a full cup as well.” The road to million-dollar success is not a solitary one; it is a collaborative dance of trust and empowerment.