Adrienne Graham, CEO and Founder

Stop worrying about the economy, what others think and other outside influences. They are NON-FACTORS. Empower yourself so that you can live your best professional or entrepreneurial life.

Sometimes in order to grow, you have to scrap everything down to the studs, and start over from a place of new beginnings. Then the REAL growing can being.

I give it to you straight with no chaser. I don’t accept excuses. I keep it real, honest, and raw. I help people get out of their own way so they can focus on growth and results. By the time clients come to me, they know they have no other options but to succeed.

Who am I? That’s a very good question. For years I’ve had the standard, corporate, stuffy template of a bio and you know, that’s just not who I am. But if you must have an actual bio, you can find that here. You can also download a copy of my one sheet.

So let me give you the real deal.

Yes, I’m a serial entrepreneur and full time CEO of TWO companies (and it’s exhausting!). But I’m just like you…well some of you. Above all else, I’m a Mom to a wonderful son in college trying to find his own way. I’ve always done my best to Empower him and give him the tools and life lessons to make his own way. Well at 20, he’s still trying to find his way and that’s OK. I’ve planted the seeds of success. They need time to grow and nurture. I know, I know, I don’t look like I have a 20 year old. But I do!

I’ve been a Recruiter and career maker the better part of 19 years, but I’ve been an entrepreneur in some way or fashion all my life. My grandparents were entrepreneurial and it skipped a generation to me. I’ve never been the type to work for someone else. Even when I did have a job (it pains me to even say that out loud), I deemed myself unemployable. I’d much rather be the person making things happen and growing a business instead of doing it for someone else. I’ve been a rule breaker for as long as I can remember (ask my Mom, I’m the reason her hair is gray). I’m that chick that will go in the exit door and out the entrance door. I started my first recruiting business with a word processor (right, I had NO computer then) and the yellow pages for the five boroughs of NYC. Talk about a renegade! It’s who I am. I made it work. I grew a successful boutique recruitment firm, only to shut it down in 2000 and move to Atlanta (after my near death experience in Orlando) to explore the possibilities.

While recruiting and career counseling is a passion for me, it’s not THE passion. Sure, I love the rush I get in helping people realize their career goals and making just the right match, it’s not all of who I am. I am the one who Empowers others, open their eyes to possibilities, so they can live their best professional and entrepreneurial lives.

I fell into Empower Me accidentally on purpose. My divine purpose is still unfolding so I can’t say I have all the answers just yet. But I enjoy finding them! God isn’t through with me yet. I originally started this company as a small Yahoo email group list for Black Women in 1998. Who knew it would develop into a much grander purpose? At the time, I had  just gotten out of the hospital. I’d gone into Thyroid Storm (get your thyroid checked regularly, please!) and coded….twice….almost dying, and ended up spending two months in the hospital, no business, no work, no anything. Just time to think about what I wanted with my second chance at life. When I started looking online for women just like me (Black/Latina, single Mom, business owner), I couldn’t find anything. So in true to form Adrienne fashion, I started my own!

Over the next few years, I would get frustrated with the formula. I had no formula, which is why I was frustrated. I learned that I had to stop being all things to everybody, and come to terms with the fact that not every thing is for every body, and neither was Empower Me. I also had to learn to remove the limits and expand my horizons. So I opened it up to all women regardless of ethnicity. That went well….for a hot minute. Then the formula started to not click so much again. I was back to square one. How do I get women to network authentically and interested in topics outside of gossip and celebrities?

So, in 2007 I decided to go back into the business of recruiting and formed Hues Consulting & Management Inc. Why not cash in on what I know, right? But something was still missing.

Hang on, don’t rush me. I’m getting there.

In 2008 I became restless. I couldn’t abandon Empower Me! but yet it wasn’t working. The networks were all wrong (people were not really networking). The online training institute was a failure. But something in me kept saying DO IT. So I had to take a hard look at everything and make a decision. If I wanted to be true to the message, the brand, I needed to understand what that was and revamp in a big way. My purpose for Empower Me! has always been to help others become empowered to keep growing and live the life, build the business, grow the career of their choice and be happy doing it. The problem was, I wasn’t living it. I wasn’t happy or fulfilled. And I clearly didn’t know how to help other people “get it”.

So I decided to tear it all down and get back to focusing on my core message (helping people grow their career or business in any economy, under any circumstance). I let God lead me to where I needed to be and what I needed to do. He hadn’t let me survive and overcome so much (growing up in the projects, single motherhood, almost dying (twice), losing my Dad, making money, losing money) to not have a purpose to it all.

Armed with a message and a purpose (and social media), I relaunched Empower Me! as a media, publishing and education company and released my first book on Networking. It grew from there. In 2009 I debuted my radio show Views From the Top on BlogTalkRadio and in 2010 it was selected a Top 100 Heavy Hitter Radio Show for Small Business by Small Business trends. I was on a roll and decided to take a page out of my role model Oprah Winfrey‘s book. I laid out a plan for my own media and publishing empire focusing on growth strategies to include a TV channel (well, on the Internet, but it’s still mines) and a magazine. The Empower Me! Magazine website debuted in 2010 and the first print issue (after many set backs, heartache and disappointment) will be available soon. The Internet TV channel will debut soon as well. Empower Me! Institute relaunched and is about to unveil a powerful new platform that will change the way adult learn on the go.

The message I took from Oprah was simple.  Own your message and create your own platform to share it. And that’s what I’m doing. Thanks for the inspiration Oprah!

I now consult with men and women on career and business growth strategies in addition to being a Recruiter, Publisher, Producer, Show Hostess, Author and Strategist. And I’m still a Mom! I was invited in 2010 to write for Forbes.com (and by the way, my article No, You Can’t Pick My Brain went viral! People are still talking about it. Keep a look out for the book!). In 2011, Harvard Business Review approached me about writing for them as well.

I truly love what I do. I get to help people not only shift their mindset, but also build the business or career they deserve and not let anyone or anything keep them from growing and moving to the next level. And I get to use this amazing media platform that I’ve created to help them overcome their obstacles to achieve their goals. It took a lot of years of prayer, tears, uncertainty, wrong moves, false hopes, hard work and most of all persistence and belief in myself and the message. To those I have helped, thank you for trusting in me and letting me learn with you along the way. To those who have and continue to believe in me, thank you for believing. And to those of you I haven’t met or helped, it’s never too late.

Don’t be confused by my story. I have a soft heart but a strong business mind. I’m determined to succeed and shake things up. My heart and mind are open and receptive to the possibilities out there. It’s up to me to follow my calling and continue taking each step even when it’s scary. I don’t allow limitations- self imposed or otherwise. And I know my value and my worth. Stick around. I plan to do some pretty amazing things.

Adrienne Graham
Proud Founder, CEO, Mom, Empowered Woman!

 

 

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