Blueprint in Our Braids: Escape Corporate Traps

Why is it that Black women, some with PhD degrees, are still pushed out of rooms they are more than qualified to be inside? Why is your Afro still seen as a risk instead of what it truly is, a statement of power, creativity, and strategy? So how long do we keep knocking on doors that were never designed to fully open for us? Maybe it is time to build our own rooms.In this debut episode of Build Our Own Rooms, Tiana Symmonds pulls up a chair and gets real about what it truly feels like to move through corporate spaces as a Black woman. She takes you back to her early career days, flipping through old photos and laughing through the truth of how much she once tried to shrink just to fit in. From pressed hair to pressed identities, she names what so many of us were taught about professionalism and the quiet cost that came with it.Tiana breaks down the real numbers behind promotions, unemployment, and why Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs yet still the most underfunded. Then she gets practical. She introduces the Funding Blueprint, a curated list of grants and funding opportunities created specifically for Black women entrepreneurs. She also shares the W-2 Freedom Season Scorecard, a simple diagnostic tool to help you know if you are truly ready to move from career to ownership.This episode is a reality check, and a bold invitation to stop waiting on rooms and start building your own. In This Episode[00:00:00] Welcome to Build Our Own Rooms and the drafting table[00:00:31] Corporate memory, hair politics, and code switching[00:01:26] The broken promise of degrees and “professionalism”[00:01:45] The 2024 McKenzie Report[00:02:30] The afro as resistance and proof of brilliance[00:02:45] Building our own homes instead of waiting for access[00:04:09] The rise of Black women entrepreneurs and the funding crisis[00:05:46] The revenue gap and why self funding is unsustainable[00:06:30] The Funding Blueprint[00:06:55] W-2 Freedom Season Scorecard[00:07:43] The community invitation and closing reflectionNotable Quotes[01:13] “We pressed our souls flat, just like we pressed our hair. Trying to fit into rooms that were never built for us.”[01:26] “I thought if I had the degrees,  the work ethic, and the perfect hair,  a seat at the table would be waiting for me.”[02:30] “In that corporate office,  they look at my Afro like it was defiance. But tell me the truth. For us, that Afro is a statement of existence.”[02:51] “When the landlord kicks us out, we build our own homes.”[06:30] “I created the funding blueprint. Stop using your grocery money to fund your dream.”Resources and LinksPodcastBuild Our Own RoomsTiana SymmondsWebsite - https://www.asktiana.online/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tosymmondsMentionedFunding Blueprint W-2 Freedom Season Scorecard©2025 AskTiana Solutions, LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction, alteration, translation, publication, or distribution, in any form, printed or electronic, is permitted without the express prior written consent of AskTiana Solutions, LLC.©2023 Positive Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction, alteration, translation, publication, or distribution, in any form, printed or electronic, is permitted without the express prior written consent of Positive Intelligence, LLC.POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE®, PQ®, CERTIFIED PQ COACH™, PQ COACH™, and P+ logo™ are trademarks of Positive Intelligence, LLC.DISCLAIMERS: The coach identified herein is an independent member of the PQ Coach program, and not an employee, agent, or representative of Positive Intelligence, LLC. The coaching program offered herein is independently owned and operated by the coach and is not affiliated with or endorsed or sponsored by Positive Intelligence, LLC. PROGRAM CONTENT AND MATERIAL DO NOT CONSTITUTE MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE AND ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL CARE, DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT OF ANY MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION.