As the Founder, President and CEO of the National Entrepreneurs Association, Dr. ZaLonya Allen has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years. As a professional speaker and corporate trainer specializing in leadership and entrepreneurship, she has delivered hundreds of talks for organizations throughout the country and coaches professionals in a variety of industries.
Dr. Allen has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteerism from President Joseph Biden.
With Bachelor’s and Doctorate degrees in Psychology, Dr. Allen teaches that there is a distinctive mindset that differentiates the successful entrepreneur.
The National Entrepreneurs Association focuses on creating quality networking experiences both virtually and in-person, so that entrepreneurs can connect with peers and professionals, locally and nationally, who can help them achieve their goals.
NEA events are well attended by serious entrepreneurs and resource providers who have a genuine interest in collaborating.
With the support of Comerica Bank, the organization has been able to offer a nine-week Entrepreneur Bootcamp and Certification Program that has graduated more than 300 entrepreneurs nationwide.
To spotlight her impact on entrepreneurial business growth, Dr. Allen discusses her passion, the value of entrepreneurship training, and why Black Business Month is so important.
One of the things that stood, and is encountered in some other areas, is the psychology of entrepreneurship and business. Can you speak to how you use that in your work?
Dr. Allen: I teach that our school system is set up to train people to go and work for someone else, so they don’t train you in the skills to work for yourself. And once you’ve developed a subconscious program to work for someone else through our school system, and then you decide I want to start my own business, it’s hard to break out of those old patterns and that all mindset. I believe that is the reason so many entrepreneurs fail is because they’re trying to run a business using an employee mindset. So, I just train in the characteristics and traits of an entrepreneur.
As it relates to the NEA, what inspired you to this work?
Dr. Allen: It came from my struggles. I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 20 years, and I started in professional speaking and training. Building a website and saying you’re a speaker and a trainer was not that difficult, and people book you. But then I started a brick-and-mortar, which involved more in terms of understanding the legal aspects of hiring an employee. I realized there was a lot that I didn’t know, and the resources that were available in the community at the time were not fulfilling my needs.
So, I put together an event called the Entrepreneurs Forum, where I could bring experts together to talk about how to start and grow a business the right way. From that came the Entrepreneurs Association. Because there was so much information, we realized we needed to meet regularly. We started having monthly meetings, and then we do two conferences, two training conferences every year, one in the spring and one in addition to a nine-week boot camp, which we offer three times a year. That’s the training program that we partner with Comerica on.
When one thinks of entrepreneurship, one thinks of somebody who’s on day one, just starting. But you have offered training to businesses, including small ones that have been in existence for a while, who may need additional support, new technologies, or access to capital. Sometimes we forget about them. Thoughts?
Dr. Allen: Business is constantly evolving, and especially technology. Some entrepreneurs come to us like a refresher or to make sure they’re staying current with what’s going on in business because the rules of the game are constantly changing in funding. Changes like when the pandemic happened, all of these companies and the government started offering funding to for profit businesses, which was unheard of at one time. There was a time when you had to be a nonprofit to get financing, but because so many companies were failing—because of the shutdown—the corporations and the federal government realized that we needed a boost. They started creating all these programs to help businesses get funding, but they can’t take advantage of that if they don’t know about it.
Can you talk about the importance of Black Business Month and what Black-owned businesses contribute to American society?
Dr. Allen: It’s important because more African Americans need to know that they can start their businesses and control their financial future, rather than working for someone else, which is at-will employment. And also, I’ve been hearing so much about the elimination of the middle class and that eventually there will be two classes, the rich and the poor. It’s important for Black-owned businesses to gain financial independence from that old system and then be able to reach back and help each other by hiring people that look like us from our community.
Lastly, can you share how your partnership with Comerica helps make some of these ventures possible.
Dr. Allen: Yes, our partnership with Comerica has been a game changer because many entrepreneurs who take our boot camp, for example, couldn’t afford to pay the full value of the bootcamp. We value it at $3,000, but thanks to the grant we receive from the Comerica Charitable Foundation, we offer it to them for a $100 application fee. We get people who would otherwise not have access to the experts and information that they get from our bootcamp.
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