Tunisha Brown discusses the value black women bring to entrepreneurship, emphasizing the role of the home and community in shaping their abilities. She shares her business experience and highlights the importance of effective workload management. Tunisha expresses interest in artificial intelligence and growing her brand, IMPACT Magazine. Consistency and trust-building are credited with her success. She chose Utah as her location due to support from individuals and organizations. Tunisha is excited about her projects and the IMPACT she continues to make.
What value do you think black women bring to the table and how can we continue to lift their voices and showcase their talents?
Black women bring so much to the table because we are inundated with everything, number one, we're black women, so we have the opportunity of not only having a family at home where we take care of not just ourselves, but we take care of our siblings, our children, our aunts, and uncles. The home really shapes who we are to the outside world and that's how we're able to do what we do because at home, we are all of those things that encompass what a home should be. A lot of times, we are taught integrity, morals, and being loyal. When we do go out into the world and face so many things, black women exude those things. When we grow into things of entrepreneurship, we are really putting out what we have within, we're only doing what we know.
We know how to build community. We know how to be great people to each other. We know how to support one another. We understand our skill set and our people, so we have to be entrepreneurs. We have to go out and make that extra money or make more money in order to take care of our families.
How have you been able to utilize the skills that you have learned in your past roles in business administration to help you in your current roles?
For nine years, I worked at Merrill Lynch and when I was hired, I started as an HR advisor. I was later promoted to a recruiting coordinator. With the promotion came a great deal of responsibility in which Merrill Lynch hired 50,000 people a year. I was the coordinator for five recruiters and they were all top level executives. I was doing all of the background checks, all of the backend logistics to get people hired. One day I'm sitting at my desk and I just felt overwhelmed. I went to my supervisor and said, “I'm overwhelmed. I don't think I could do this, it’s too much for me.” Everything came at one time and she said, in which she proceeded to show me a journal. My supervisor said, “What you have to do is create a system that works for you.”
My supervisor said, “I put down everything that I need to do and I prioritize it. Then I get folders and I put everything in, a blueprint to prioritize my day and time management.” I still use that system to this day. People wonder, how am I able to do 50 million things all at one time? It is because of that system that I've been doing this for 16 years. The system is how I've been able to do so many things with myself and my team. When people come, they feel so great and they love what they get because it is efficient and everything starts on time. Ever since I started this system, one of my most important beliefs is to always start on time. There are just certain things where I have to bring about excellence and it's only through this system.
When you first came into the film & entertainment industry, what were some issues that you were facing and how did you combat those?
The biggest problem for me was working in survival mode. I wasn't working in a mode of thriving. What I mean by survivor mode, I was a single mom, I found the niche of something that worked within my magazine and also planning events. I said to myself I'm going to focus on the events and I'll let the magazine just be the magazine. What I know now is, and this is what I would tell everyone, you cannot do anything in survival mode. That is the biggest lesson for me because decisions are made in haste and you’re not looking out for what is the best outcome. I paid so much attention to the events because the events were making money, even though the magazine would have made way much more money had I put the same effort and energy into it. I didn't make great decisions because of that. I took my eye off of the magazine and focused on the events. The events grew and the magazine grew at a slow and steady pace. I like to tell people about entrepreneurship is to keep the main thing, the main thing and not to make decisions in survival mode.
What have been some of the biggest trends in business that you have seen that you've been kind of keeping your eye on trends?
A.I (Artificial Intelligence) is one of the things that I am focusing on with this new technology because it's so exciting and there are so many things that can be done through A.I. I can see so many facets of A.I, it could be from writing, all the way to art. I believe instead of many people being in fear of A.I, if they get to understand the functionality of it, they will get to understand that it can be good and it has some traits where everything could go wrong. If we hone it, if we learn from A.I and get to an understanding of it, it could be very beneficial in the long run.
As far as marketers, they can utilize it, not just for ideas but for thoughts. It can put together a strategy or can put together some wording in your voice. You don’t want A.I to take control of you, you want to take control of A.I. Use your own authentic voice and allow it to help you with whatever you need.
Where do you see your brand in the magazine going in terms of business opportunities and the IMPACT that you can make within the community?
What I know for sure is we're going to continue to move forward. We're gonna continue to put out content for TV, the first series is our podcast television show, “In The Moment With Tunisha.” We're just going to enhance what we are already doing and move forward. Two years ago, we weren't even thinking about A.I., but now we're here and everyone has to visit it and adjust to that. What I'm gonna do is enhance exactly what I'm doing. Take the events, take the TV show, and do greater things with the magazine and to start highlighting more things far as fashion and more in depth stories of people and beauty with everything these things encompass.
Which particular skills, whether they're soft skills or business related, have played a role in your selection as the recipient of women who empower Citibank's women to watch in 2021 in addition to other awards?
Consistency. I've been consistent for the past 16 years to black people's stories, to empower and encourage and educate. Consistency leads to greater things that build trust, people trust that this is who I am and this is what my magazine entails. That is the way that people have been able to pay attention to the brand, pay attention to me and also say you've been doing such a great job for these past 16 years. Here's the coveted African-American Chamber of Commerce Award, here is the Women Who Empower Award, in addition to CitiBank. It's consistent.
What is the most promising aspect of having a business in Utah?
I knew Utah would be good for my business when I spoke to William Marks of Facebook about a networking mixer regarding a partnership with Meta and they came on board. I knew that there would be a niche of people who would gravitate to what I'm doing. Partners such as Strong and Hanni, Buckner, and Meta. They have been consistent partners with me to put my message forward. When William Marks said let me support you, I knew Utah would be a good state for me to come and bring the magazine, along with showcasing the amazing people of Utah. All of the stories of the black women from Utah who are changing the game. We are telling their stories in depth and working together as one. I'm excited to showcase stories and continue to move that forward.