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In 1983, I published the first "how-to" money magazine in the country targeted to a Black audience. The publication was entitled, Financial Independence Money Management Magazine. Our aim was to break, usually complicated financial jargon, down into manageable concepts for every day working people to understand. Back then, we were the "Black" Money magazine. We also had a financial news radio show, "Financial Independence Radio", which aired on WHUR-FM in Washington, DC between 1983-1985.

As a publisher/editor, I have interviewed people like Melvin Van Peebles (Mario's daddy), Dick Gregory and the late Reginald Lewis. We were doing this before other Black magazines, like Ebony, Jet, Black Enterprise or Essence, focused any attention on personal finance or investing. Back then, their focus was on showing successful people after they got their money. They didn't show how they got their money or how you could invest and grow yours. We did. They were "coffee table" picture books of Black success. We wanted to be a work book or a "how-to" book. We met with much resistance from both leading Blacks of the day and the advertising agencies representing the major corporations.

We also wanted to disprove the views of corporate America and the advertising agency community at the time, that Black folk:

1. Didn't read, and; 2. Were not interested in their finances.

Today, of course, this sounds strange, but it was true back then. Now African Americans are a major market for corporate offerings in the financial services and every other consumer category.

At our height, the publication was distributed nationally on most major downtown office newsstands in 44 states and in 5 foreign countries. We reached a total circulation of around 100,000 and were distributed by the Hearst Corporation (Patty's daddy), who had the vision to take a chance on us.

As with any publication, advertising is its "life-blood" and although we fought a good fight for several years, we ended up closing the company for lack of ad revenue. People loved us, but it cost significant money to produce a magazine (this was before desktop publishing, everything was typeset). And as I said, we were met with very serious resistance and opposition from both leading Blacks of the day and the large ad agencies representing corporate America. (That's a whole story in and of itself)

In 1990, I started the D.E.A.L. Organization, (Determination, Effort, Attitude and Love) one of the first Black network marketing companies. The goal was to establish better distribution for Black products, helping them more easily reach their targeted consumer market. Our product line consisted of items from Black manufacturers, including: hair care, skin care, specialty foods, toys, games, ethnic items, clothing, household cleaning, auto care, health products, etc.

Our catalog contained over 200 items from 30 or more Black manufacturers. We were way ahead of our time and this was long before the advent of affiliate marketing on the Internet. At our height, we had over 35,000 distributors who worked both full-time and part-time offline from home.

As Chairman of the National Black Business Trade Association (NBBTA), and one of the coordinators for Black Expo USA events for ten years, I traveled quite a bit and have had the opportunity to speak in front of thousands of Black entrepreneurs around the country.

I have given entrepreneurial seminars, workshops and lectures in the top markets for African American audiences, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Memphis, Detroit, Birmingham, Richmond, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Oakland, Jacksonville, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Baltimore, and New Orleans. I even had an opportunity to speak before the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York.

I have been interviewed by the Washington Post, New York Daily News, New York Times, Amsterdam News, Afro American, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Houston Sun, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

My companies have also been mentioned in both Black Enterprise and Essence magazines. I have been on several local, national and international radio talk shows including BBC, Voice of America, WGCI, WWWD, KSOL, WWWW, WLIB and WHUR, WAMU, WYCB, WUST, WPFW, WOL (all in Washington, DC) on Cathy Hughes'(Radio One)show and television shows including Tony Brown's Journal, CNN, WGN, Fox News in DC and Bev Smith on BET. I have also maintained an Internet website and presence since 1994.

NBBTA.ORG is not my personal business. It is a trade association for thousands of successful Black businesses. I now serve as Chairman, but initially started as Executive Director, and devote most of my time in mentoring entrepreneurs and promoting "Black Business Awareness". In addition to my NBBTA activities, I run two separate companies, AVARAN Group (formerly LG Management Group - LGMG) and NBBTA.INFO and a social networking site, BlackBusinessSpace.com. My companies provide marketing and management consulting and services, small business coaching, financial services and entrepreneurial development to individuals and companies big and small. Black Business Space is rapidly becoming a destination of choice for serious-minded entrepreneurs, business owners, distributors, sales reps, authors, motivational speakers, and consumers.

Internationally, I helped establish the first International Black Business Summit 2000 in Nova Scotia, Canada with participants coming from Africa, Europe, the US and Canada. For years, I have conducted entrepreneurial workshops to groups near and far, some sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. In addition to generous funding, I am most appreciative of the grant given me for a scholarship to the Center for Creative Leadership in San Jose, CA. The information I gained has helped me over the years in fulfilling my purpose.

As a result of these efforts, I have learned quite a bit about myself, marketing, startup companies, the internet, publishing, financing, sponsorships, public speaking, making money, making mistakes, having faith, networking, and people. I have had the opportunity and good fortune to network with some of America's and the world's leading business owners, entrepreneurs, politicians, civil rights advocates, professional entertainers, athletes and scientific and social scientific minds and "unsung heroes", like Phillip Emeagwali, a father of the Internet and Dwight Mckee, founding "Operation Breadbasket" board member and an innovator in contemporary Gospel music.

I am currently working to build an organization of small office/home-office (SOHO), small office/digital office (SODO) and home-based entrepreneurs who will take full advantage of building their business ventures using the latest technology and techniques available on the Internet.

The Internet has changed the business world forever. NBBTA is seeking to make Black businesses "Internet-Ready".

I am just an ordinary man, seeking to best utilize my time making a difference in the world. I am and will always be a Black business advocate. Thank you for taking the time to read my page. I look forward to connecting with you as our paths meet.