What is it that Casey Richardson is bringing access to community, knowledge and money in the direction of Black female entrepreneurs

Learn the ways Casey Richardson used her experience using tech-related funds to launch BLAZE Group and empower a group comprised of Black women entrepreneurs.

Just two years ago, the world was differently. Ariel Richardson was from the California's Bay Area and worked for Bank of America, structuring huge loans for tech firms. She also discovered herself to be the only Black female member of the team in all decade employed in finance, she could not get funding from anyone Black company.

"It made me realize that there wasn't only was there no way to getting there, the capital wasn't being distributed to my communities," Casey recalls.

In October 2020, Casey decided to change her ways of doing things.

In light of her experience within the realm of tech finance and business She decided to leave working 9-5, and created BLAZE Group. BLAZE Group"Building leaders and taking no excuses to offer guidance, training and support for the previously under-served group of Black women who are entrepreneurs.

In 2023, we're here: BLAZE Group offers online classes through the Blaze Knowledge Academy, group coaching programs, an online community called the app, retreats in person and a bi-annual summit, and proprietary research. All under the direction of Casey and her team of global experts.

How could she have done this in less than two years? A combination of providing solutions that meet an unmet need, a deliberate creation of audiences as well as identifying the best methods and people.

From corporate finance specialist to revolutionary entrepreneur

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur full-time, Casey was a finance professional who arranged multibillion-dollar loans to tech companies. Always on the cutting edge technology, however she saw a gap between her group and in the companies that they funded. "I was never the only Black female on the team." on the staff. I was able to see that my education levels, my experience and my experience were not readily available to my community."

Black females are the most successful category of entrepreneurs within the United States -- but only 3% have "mature" companies, while the majority of entrepreneurs self-fund startup capital. There's a major disparity in the funding and resources accessible to Black women entrepreneurs compared to the white male entrepreneurs.

As of the beginning of the summer of 2000 Casey was a participant in the demonstrations against police brutality. The community she felt and the strength she found that she had not felt at work. "I discovered that I was more motivated and involved in protests than I've felt all the years that I've worked on the sexy things," she says. "I discovered myself sharing a space with those who were bold enough and courageous to speak out in issues that are important."

In October, at the close of, she was done in the midst of working as a finance manager for a large company- not in spite of her success and was, but because of it. What else can she use her talent for? What could she do to use her expertise in financial and technological advancement to aid others Black women achieve their goals?

"I'm extremely comfortable inside the four walls. However, I'd put money in my own pocket any day to believe that I'd take over more of the earth. So I quit."

Her job was cut and she then moved to Africa to start creating BLAZE Group, a location-independent firm which allows Black women from all over the world to accomplish the same similar.

BLAZE The Group has a particular focus on entrepreneurs in the initial three years of establishing their company that Casey calls as"the "entrepreneurial phase."

"BLAZE helps clients understand how to manage their companies so that they can keep their company running. We do this by providing technology-enabled solutions. We're among them," she adds.

To serve this particular audience, Casey had to build real relationships with them.

The reasons to build the email lists (and the steps you need to take to get started)

Casey knew that she would like to design a high-end business online course from the jump and it was essential to find a target audience before she even launched her first course.

Casey wanted to ensure that this didn't occur with the release of BLAZE's very first product. Thus, she began the first steps to build an audience with a goal that was clear that was to create an email subscriber list.

What is the reason people select people who sign up to email over users on social networks? "I knew that I had to establish friendships with people I know," explains Casey.

"On Instagram, you don't own the relationship. There's no way to know that they have an email address for their account or when their handle changes You'll need to are aware of what their new handle is," Casey says.

"I wanted to build connections and be in front of them on a regular basis to build that image recognition and increase confidence."

Contacting her current contacts within her current

15 minutes discovery call with her intended public

1. Contacting her current contacts

There's plenty of information out there about how to increase your reach, and many creators think that their initial customers will include people who had not had the opportunity to visit their site through social media. If you create with your initial group of followers, you're missing out on the strongest source of support: Your relatives and friends!

Casey issued an email to all who was in her circle to let them know that she had started an entrepreneur newsletter and requested that they sign up.

"I began by looking through my recent text messages, Instagram DMs, Twitter and Facebook... I set the timer and ensured that I sent all the messages I could in 5-minute segments," she says.

Numerous family and friends have responded to Casey to the offer. started to create an email database that would continue to grow until the time of her launch.

2. 15 minutes discovery call to her public

One of the most effective methods to connect with the people you want to meet is to talk to them.

Casey posted a message on Facebook, where she announced that she'd created a course to aid Black women better understand the business environment. "If you would like me to speak to you for 15 minutes and you have any questions, inform me of it," she added.

The people who called to arrange a time with her are her ideal people: Black women interested in the business world.

Instead of discussing the course's content or selling herself, Casey asked questions like, "What keeps you up in the late at night? What is your biggest anxiety? Within a single year, where would you prefer to have been?" The teacher used this time to make the women feel appreciated and heard. In turn, she realized what was important to incorporate into the content of her classes.

"Just providing them with a helping hand and making them feel welcome is a major factor that makes the impact."

"By the time they had finished most of the conversations, students were asking "Can I purchase the course today?" Casey recalls. The course was in the process of being built. course but had already collected their email addresses and said she'd notify them that it will be accessible when it was launched.

Once the course was completed after which she promoted it on her list of email addresses that she created by using both methods previously mentioned. "There already was a keen anticipation from all of these people. They were ready to enroll."

What were they able to discover? Most of the women she talked to in those initial phone calls later changed to customers.

In the past 2 years of service, Casey continues to offer free consultations in her sales and marketing strategy. For potential clients who have concerns regarding Blaze Business Intensive, Blaze Business Intensive and Blaze Business Intensive, they are able to make an appointment for a free perfect fit call with Casey.

"On average, you'll need five follow-ups to close the deal. It's a shame that many business owners don't know this," claims Casey. "I make these calls to really close the deal."

Utilizing the correct resources and individuals can help Casey develop her business

Today, BLAZE offers online courses and masterclasses as well as group coaching programmes in addition to an internet-based community. webinars and the TablexTribe mobile app  as well as a biannual digital summit (a 2022 Webby Award honoree for Best in Business and Finance), and proprietary research.

What can she do to handle this all with so many care and attention?

Casey has put together an international team to help grow different aspects of her business, including:

A blogger and content marketer with a base in Nigeria

A junior consultant based in London

A brand and production manager (her fiancé!) who grew the BLAZE BLAZE Group Instagram from 1,300 followers in May 2022 to more than 70,000 by the beginning in 2023.

Executive Assistants from Kenya

An analyst in research who creates research papers across various industries. She assists BLAZE find new customers for its consulting services.

Production assistant to each Semi-annual Blaze Virtual Summit

Her approach isn't simply the hiring of people to join her group. She hires equipment as well.

"I hire tools with a quickness," Casey laughs. "And I like it because there's a lot of magnitude."

The growth in revenue does not necessarily mean your business is scaling, especially when you're in a position to work harder or spending more money for the growth.

"The growth in revenue should not be the main goal," explains Casey. "If you're increasing costs at the same time that your revenue increases the bottom line won't change."

"Scale happens when you can increase revenue, and the price and time your spend don't change significantly."

The experience she had as a technologist has shown Casey how powerful no-code tools such as automations, integrations, and integrations are. When she was creating BLAZE Group, she leveraged low- and no-code solutions like Zapier to ensure that everything was running smoothly.

What Casey utilizes for her classes Downloads, community and communities

" was the first app I ever used to provide items on a massive size" Casey shares.

Instruments like these give Casey "more the time she requires to concentrate on things she can control" such as the one-on-one meeting with clients who are interested in becoming clients.

Casey has created her very first online course,"the Blaze Business intensive online course , which includes . It's a self-paced, six-week curriculum focused on "Business Building, Business Management and Business Excellence to those who are a Modern Black Woman."

"It was totally non-code. It was actually developed back during the 14-day trial at no cost," Casey remembers. "I built the entire course within the timeframe, and I then began selling it well before the expiration date to be profitable."

(Want to be able to duplicate Casey's success? Sign up to receive a no-cost plan  and take your time to have your course material set up, then upgrade after you're ready for selling.)

The course is part of the Blaze Knowledge Academy  an educational collection sources for companies Casey created on her website. The Academy additionally contains:

Several entrepreneurship masterclasses, many of which are offered to participants for no cost.

Her internet-based community is known as the Blaze Women's Network boasts nearly 7,000 members.

"People are able to choose signing up to this Blaze Women's Network absolutely free," Casey explains. We host virtual meetings for coworking as well as host webinars which then guide participants to paid courses."

In addition to introducing customers to helpful products and services, the Casey's Community provides members with an amiable and welcoming place to meet other founders.

"It used to be that content was the reigning king of the hill. But now things are shifting towards the culture of community being the king. Many are looking for communities-focused programs... and those that don't appear to be spammy. are deemed to be legitimate."

Her experiences using it has given Casey some idea about features to look at in the software to create no-code. "You possess a very flexible platform that has allowed me to develop end-to end solutions from your tool," Casey explains. "And I've used exactly the same scorecard to evaluate the tools as I'm hoping to be able to scale using the platform."

"It truly is lovely to use solutions like to change the world with ways that are affordable and available to all who were marginalized previously."

Try not to complete all tasks simultaneously

In light of all that Casey has accomplished in just over two years as the CEO of BLAZE and her tips for new creators might come as an unwelcome surprise: make fewer mistakes in the beginning, at minimum, at the point you begin to play the game.

"Keep the most important things first this is exactly the thing you need to do," she advises. The Hustle culture encourages those just starting out that it's impossible to do everything or create content. However, Casey encourages other creators to "There's only one limit on what you can accomplish, no matter how amazing you might be."

"You shouldn't be obligated to perform everything out of the box, however it'll be extremely difficult to perfect multiple things all at the same time when you're just beginning."

It is recommended to start by choosing a specific course to build on it. "I began with the Blaze Intensive, my first course, and that remains my top choice of course. Entrepreneurs must figure out what their unique offer should be, their goals for being famous for, prior to adding various other options."

There's plenty to consider initially starting with your messaging, the audience you're targeting as well as your marketing technologies and customer service. What happens when you've finished this? The possibilities are open to explore a lot more.

"I believe we have the potential to accomplish a lot of things. Perhaps in the next 200 years. Because Blaze will still be around. It doesn't mean that it has been happening right now."

We're grateful for being a part of the story of Casey, and we are eager to find out what's next for her as well as for the BLAZE Group -- in the coming year, 200 years from now , as and in the years between.

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