WATCH: A Look Inside The ESSENCE Black Women In Business Event

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As part of the &quot;Black Women in...&quot; series, this prestigious event underscored ESSENCE&#039;s commitment to highlighting and applauding the monumental contributions of Black women pioneers.

Transcript

00:00That's what black women do for our communities and for our businesses.

00:09They stay in the pocket and make the play.

00:13I had to literally just knock down doors.

00:15I had to literally continue to ask and get my foot in there.

00:17And I started out with angel investing.

00:19And I said, I don't want to break my back and play another 10 years.

00:23Of course, I said this at like, I don't know, 30.

00:25And 10 years later, I was still playing.

00:28And I said to myself, you know what, I don't want to do that

00:30because I want to be able to, you know, live a nice life.

00:33I want to live like Rich.

00:41You know what I'm talking about.

00:43I think sometimes when you are starting a company,

00:45it is honestly one of the...

00:47Winning Wimbledon is a lot easier, let me tell you,

00:50because those girls were a lot easier to beat

00:55than some of these companies to start.

01:00Let me tell you, you have to have endurance.

01:03You have to be so strong to be able to be in starting companies.

01:07And that's what I tell the founders, that you can't just think about it,

01:11you know, as it's going to be a quick win.

01:13You have to really build yourself and to build that character.

01:15I'm truly honored just to be here.

01:17Thank you for having me.

01:18Thank you so, so much.

01:20And thank you all for all the support through the years

01:22because you don't know what it was like

01:24to be out there.

01:26And the only way I could tell Venus was winning

01:29because I would always play after her or vice versa,

01:32could be the silence.

01:34If no one clapped, I know that she won the point.

01:36So I really felt it when you guys say that

01:40you guys were winning with me because it wasn't easy.

01:48I've been fortunate throughout my career to get to do many extraordinary things.

01:51And so I won't kind of run through my resume.

01:54But one of the cool things I did get to do

01:56was be featured in Essence back in 2010.

02:01Oh my goodness, was that a showstopper.

02:03And I had gotten to do so many amazing things,

02:05you know, building stores and doing billion-dollar deals,

02:09all the things.

02:10But when I got the call that I had the opportunity

02:13to be featured in Essence, I was like, damn.

02:18Like, finally something my mama and my daddy and my uncles

02:22and my aunties and my cousins were going to be super excited about.

02:26And oh my goodness, were they.

02:28And there was this over-the-top photo shoot.

02:30I got to go to New York.

02:32But what was amazing as I was reflecting on that moment

02:35was that AC, who got the first award,

02:40and I were standing next to each other

02:43along with Melody Hobson on that spread.

02:46Yeah, yeah, isn't that something?

02:48And it was the business class feature over 14 years ago.

02:51And there we stood together.

02:53And here we stand together again tonight.

02:57When I started in the workplace,

02:59I started at Procter & Gamble where I retired after 25 years.

03:02You know, I was mimicking the suits,

03:05people who didn't look like me,

03:06thinking that that's what you were supposed to do.

03:08And then I had an aha moment a few years into that, say,

03:12realizing that by me mimicking the suits,

03:15it told everyone else they needed the suits to be successful.

03:18Y'all know what I mean by the suits, right?

03:21It was people who did not look like us.

03:24Not usually female, usually male,

03:26and certainly, you know, not of color and not black.

03:30And then I realized that I was selling out

03:33and I was not making my parents proud.

03:35It was not conscious, it was unconscious.

03:37And I made a conscious decision to make a change.

03:40And in that, it started first with the physical change.

03:43I grew out my perm and did the big chop.

03:46And I did that because I wanted to diversify the organization,

03:50but it made a difference for me.

03:52I got a pep to my step,

03:53and that's where my career and impact got unleashed

03:56because who we bring does not need to be filtered.

04:00We can bring our magic to the workplace.

04:02We all have a platform we can choose to make a big difference.

04:05And at Unilever, one of those, and Rich also talked about this,

04:09is leading one of our brands, Dove,

04:12seeing that today people are discriminated against.

04:16We are because of our hair.

04:18It is my privilege to be here with you all

04:21to honor Ingrid Saunders-Jones.

04:25Ingrid Saunders-Jones was a former senior vice president

04:29of Community Connections

04:31and chair of the Coca-Cola Foundation.

04:34She could not be here tonight,

04:36but I am honored once again to accept this award on her behalf

04:41and express her genuine appreciation for this recognition.

04:46Ms. Jones played a critical role in building a lasting legacy

04:51between our company and Essence nearly 30 years ago.

04:56Through the partnership she started,

04:58we have worked together to uplift, empower,

05:02and celebrate the role black women play in our communities.

05:06I am so humbled to accept this award on behalf of Dr. Marion Croak.

05:11I want to tell you a little bit about Marion.

05:13I hope you're as excited as I am about the global impact

05:18that Marion has had to the world and to each of us in this room.

05:23Marion is often referred to as Shuri in the Black Panther,

05:27in the tech industry.

05:29She is the leading developer

05:31behind voice over Internet protocol technology

05:35or voice over IP,

05:37and this is a technology, as Rashida said,

05:40that has revolutionized systems of global communication.

05:44She is the holder of over 200 patents,

05:50and she is incredible.

05:55She is also responsible for the text-to-vote technology

06:01that's used by hit shows like American Idol

06:04to pioneering systems which allow for seamless donations

06:08during humanitarian crises.

06:11Marion's impact is nothing short of inspiring.

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