Black Women Talk Tech

Teshelle Bumbry
Black Women Talk Tech Conference

So, throughout my time at BIC, I have had the opportunity to work a few pretty cool events, but the Black Women Talk Tech Conference DEFINITELY took the cake. The magic happened during Feb 27th - Mar 1 (although I only attended the last two days) was produced by Lauren Washington, CEO KeepUp, a cloud-based platform that uses social listening to help businesses create real-time, hyper-personalized ads, Esosa Ighodaro, president of COSIGN, a platform that allows users to earn money by turning their photos into digital storefronts; and Regina Gwynn, co-founder and CEO of TresseNoire Beauty, the leading on-location beauty booking app designed for women of color. 

The first woman that I heard speak was Julia Collins, co-founder of Zume Pizza, technology-enabled food company whose mission is to make healthy food fast and accessible to every single person on earth. I specifically remember her talking about the various struggles that she endured to get her company off the ground, all while being pregnant.  “Traveling back and forth 3 hours to tell investors why they should give me money for Zume with a baby in my belly AIN’T EASY!” I listened in awe as Julia spoke about her passion to provide healthy fast food to people and her plans to expand this past California in order to build a health community worldwide.

Next, I had the pleasure of hearing Tiffany Aliche, otherwise known as “The Budgetnista”. She gave a very insightful and extremely entertaining presentation on how one can successfully reach financial freedom with the proper budgeting tactics. Her energy, humor and ability to engage and relate to the crowd made me actually think twice about getting about a topic that I once considered “out of my league”. I often put off financial literacy and grant myself the excuse that “I’m still in school so I have time”, or “I’m only 25! I can be irresponsible with my money for a few more years!” However, Tiffany made financial freedom sound so simple, so attainable.. if only I could just.. budget! One thing that really resonated with me was when she spoke about the importance of knowing your worth and how she had learn this the hard way. When Tiffany first got her start, she was asked to speak on a panel, and when asked how much she charged, she said $6,000, for fear of not wanting to charge too much. Later, she found that a few men who spoke on that same panel received $10,000, so when she spoke with the director of the event, who was also a woman, the lady responded, “If you had told me that you charged $10,000, then you would have gotten that $10,000. You have to know and DEMAND your worth. You can’t expect others to do it for you.” This part of the conversation was the most important part to me, because understanding and demanding my worth is a constant battle for fear of rejection. Whether its applying for jobs and negotiating my salary, or staying firm to a certain price that I charge for a service, I’m never quite comfortable charging what I think I deserve, so often times, I tend to lowball myself. As I grow more comfortable with who I am and what I deserve in life, I will be sure to always demand my worth.

 However, aside from the insightful speakers and the delectable food, the vendors also contributed greatly to the conference. From jewelry designers, to black owned hair care companies, and to massage services to free Ginger Lemon Kevita (my absolute favorite!) each room was filled with amazing vendors that all gave away useful goodies. This was truly the cherry on top!


Although there were so many amazing speakers, I was responsible for the catering and making sure that everyone ate, so I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to actually listen to everyone. I missed out a some really GREAT women that I originally knew nothing about, but that are now on my radar as I aim to continue to follow their work and hopefully connect with them in the future. To be breathing the same air as SOOO MANY BLACK FEMALE FOUNDERS AND CEO’s, all working within the tech industry, was truly monumental. It opened my eyes to so many different possibilities and granted me the space to admire Black women even more than I knew was possible. I am not only grateful, but truly inspired to have been able to witness such a beautiful event.

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