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Minding Their Own Business book
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Maria’s
Gee’s Gina’s Nadine’s Fona’s Spouse: Manley Business Associate: (Tape was destroyed) Friend: Ce Ce Son: Denzel Daughter: Chanel Best Friend: Betty Mentee/Son: Deva Business Partner: Allison Husband: Simon Son: Andy Daughter: Aida Former Spouse: Daniel Artist: Jona Book Editor: Denise Son: Samuel Daughter: Karen Friend/Business Associate: Andy Former Employee: Frank Friend: Alyssa Husband: Marcus Source: Author. Each of the businesswomen identified three people who they consid- ered the nearest and dearest members of their support system. The members identified by each of the women included friends, a spouse, business partners, children, a former boss, and employees. Gina, the caterer, chose a former boss, her two children, and her former husband. Gee, the florist, chose her closest friend, her former business partner, and a young man who she had embraced as a “son” since he was in his the businesswomen from trinidad 15 teens. Maria, the public relations officer, chose her husband and two business associates who she had done many public relations events with over the years. Fona, the book seller, chose a young woman who she groomed to work at the bookshop and prepared for her college entrance courses, a young man who once worked at the bookshop, and a business associate who was considered a major part of the commu- nity resource that helped to make her bookshop an important piece of the business network in their neighborhood. Nadine included her son, a business partner who had created images for several of her publica- tions, and the editor of her first self-published novel. Each of the members of the support group who agreed to speak with me about the businesswoman who recommended that I talk with them were asked similar questions. The prompts included questions like: (a) “Could you tell me a little bit about yourself so I know who I am talking with at this time in your journey on this planet just to catch me up ?” (b) “ Could you start by telling me how you came to know [the entrepreneur] … and [her business]?” (c) “Then tell me your reflections about this journey called [the business leader] … as a businesswoman in as much detail as you can.” (d) “ Are there any highlights that jump out to you on the journey ?” (e) “ When you think about the beginning, middle, and end of your journey with [her] as a businesswoman, what are the points that you would mark along those years that you were in a relationship with the [businesswoman]?” (f) “ If you had to choose an actress to represent [her], who would you choose and why would you choose that actress? … What about that actress would best represent [her]?” (g) “ And if a stranger walked into a room and they had to iden- tify [her], what would you tell them to look for? What would you ask them to pay attention to so that they could pick out [this lady] from the other people in that room?” (h) “ At the end of the imaginary conversa- tion with [her], what kinds of wishes would you send her off with into the bright future that you project?” And, finally, “ Any last thoughts or feelings about this journey … that you want to share with me?” The taped interviews were sent on audio cassettes, along with tran- scripts, to each of the fifteen people on this list. None of the business- women’s colleagues, family, or friends made changes on the transcripts 16 minding their own business or requested that any of their comments be removed before the final report was published. Integrity Measures The recommendations of Lincoln and Guba (1985) for data analysis include the use of triangulation, prolonged engagement, peer debrief- ing, member checks, and thick description. In this study, triangulation was achieved by the collection of the interviews with each of the five businesswomen; the reports about their work from e-mail correspon- dence with their family, friends, and colleagues; and the cross-refer- encing of information provided in the separate accounts of the florist, caterer, bookseller, writer, and public relations officer by people who comprised each woman’s support network. Prolonged engagement was conducted through the constant communication with each of the entrepreneurs beginning with Gina in 2002; Maria and Gee in 2003; Fona in 2005; and Nadine in 2008. Gina was documented in one educa- tion journal report and that publication became a touchstone for all our contacts when we spoke about her progress with her business plans. A video presentation that featured the patterns across the women’s inter- views was shared with the three of them since they were featured in the film, and then the video was shown at two education conferences in 2016. All the women were shown drafts of the chapters before the final versions were prepared for this book. In only one case was I required to change the description of one person who was recommended as a close member of the support network by a businesswoman. Peer debriefing began with each of the five women checking tran- scripts of the interviews for errors and places where more information would help to improve the answers to prompts. We made sure that the names of people and places were changed so that they could not be easily identified if the transcripts found their way into any outsider’s possession. This review process was also used before the three women presented in the edited video production “Minding Their Own Busi- ness” were invited to attend the conference where the production was screened in 2016. The video was an edited representation of the themes the businesswomen from trinidad 17 that were culled from all of the fifteen interviews. The themes included family, literacy rituals, the philosophy that the women espoused about running their business, and their future plans for the business. Member checks were done as the video tapes of the interviews with three of the women were reviewed and feedback was shared regarding their responses to the way they presented themselves and the use of the quotes selected for the final presentation. All five women got to read the five final chapters that described each of the entrepreneurs before the book went into production. There was no request for changes to the manuscript. Finally, thick description was completed in the writing that was done to present the background, formative experiences, and journey through the development of each business as described by the business owner. This story represents one of a collective picture that has been drawn to describe the line of inquiry that converges as a result of the immersion in the stories provided by the women (Yin, 1994). Videotaping allowed Gina, Gee, and Nadine to see the body lan- guage that accompanied their comments. In each case the participant was surprised that they provided such vivid details of their journey as new business owners. Using this video as a form of documentation provided an important link to audiences who were at conference pre- sentations where interaction was solicited after the viewing of the pre- sentation. Referencing transcripts and audio recordings to verify the choice of a quote under one of the five themes that was used to orga- nize the video helped the participants to understand the data analysis process. This protocol of referencing all the forms of documentation was used to establish the integrity of the story in the study and helped to develop trust between me and the participants. Data Analysis I read the transcripts of the audiotaped interviews, then created a pre- liminary coding rubric based on emerging themes. A process of constant comparison suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1990) was used to compile the findings and coordinate initial codes for each of the interviews. Then 18 minding their own business the interview transcripts for each woman and her network of friends and colleagues were reanalyzed to finalize categories, make changes if neces- sary, and choose the data titles that would represent the coded data. The data for the five women in business were presented under five themes that included philosophy, family, business, literacy rituals, and coming events. I paid close attention to the descriptions during the second review of the transcripts for these entrepreneurs (Taulbert & Schoengiger, 2010). These themes included choice, opportunity, action, knowledge, wealth, brand, community, and persistence. These components form the rubric that organizes the experiences of these successful entrepre- neurs, as told by the women and their support network, during the early years of their business ventures. Black Immigrant Women in Business Family is an important part of success in any effort that is made by an individual. This is particularly true for immigrant women who have found themselves trying to “make a way out of no way.” So many of the comments that the entrepreneurs made when asked about the strongest supports in their circle of associates pointed to their family members. These quotes highlight the importance of children and spouses in the life of these business models: Miss Nadine: There were a lot of late nights. And the reason I did that rather than taking my time during the days is because I am mom, I am wife and those things are vital to me. Without them I don’t think I could be all I am today. So I still needed to give them the time and still needed to give them me, to be there for them to read the books at night, to do their homework to spend time with my husband and find out how his day was and so when I walk in and say, oh you know what else on my day. It can’t be all about me. So I stretched my day. I did maybe to my own physical detriment, but I stretched my day so that there could be more of me for the people I adore and still be able to produce and to be kind of a publisher, editor, writer, photographer that I know I can be. the businesswomen from trinidad 19 Miss Gina: Okay [my children] are major parts of the journey. [My son] for his support, his vision. I had a vision but he had a vision too. He said to me the day I left my job, he said when I called him to tell him that this was the decision that I made before I went in a told them, well, it’s about time, those were the words that he used, and that’s it. Enough said, really. We had never discussed it before so it mean that he was thinking it feeling it and wondering why I took so long. The support over the years when we were doing the part time busi- ness because had no that journey been what it was I may not have had the confidence to have gone out 100% without knowing where it would lead. [My daughter] for her quietness because her support was there always but it was very quiet. [His] support was there in doing. It was a physical support, [her] support was an emotional one, a mental one. And it still is to this day. Miss Gee: Well, from growing up we all had to be garden conscious. We had to fix flow- ers every weekend for the house or for the garden. Everybody was involved. When I came to Jamaica, I thought maybe I should do a little course in flower arranging. I did this with Mrs. Lynn …. A lot of fun! After that, I lost my daughter Maureen and decided to go back ell into it for therapy. It really filled a void in my life which was wonderful and I am still in it. In the process of action research described by Mills (2014), he encourages teachers to do research in their classrooms and then take “action steps” in order to improve the learning conditions for their students. Such a prompt to action, to promoting positive change, comes to mind when I reflect on the reasons that these entrepreneurs stated when asked about the conditions that led to their venture into independent business own- ership. These comments by three of the women help us to take courage when we see the need for change in a situation and have the ability to contribute a positive effort on behalf of those who will be affected by our decision to be a part of the solution. The comments include: Gina: The revelation maybe [came] 6 or 7 years prior, the vision of this catering com- pany …. I knew that I didn’t want to be in the restaurant industry in this part 20 minding their own business of the world after having done some research, I knew that I did not want to go back to that, but I wanted to be back in the food industry, and has followed me all my life, the vision, the vision for where I am now was very clear in my mind long before the possibility of it was imagined. Fona: [My husband and I] were both in that time and space, where you don’t know what you are going to do next. The thing that we both knew, by then, was that book business. That was the good trade off, even though they could not afforded to pay me. The knowledge was invaluable and we decided to do what we were doing, right before that. And we got back into the book busi- ness and gave a whole new twist to it. That was pretty much how we got started. Maria: I decided to go for it. By the time I had done that, I was mentioning it to two other people. This was like November. By January I had three contracts! So, I pressed on! God has been good. The three contracts I had were fairly high pro- file contracts. I didn’t lose any faith because we live in a society where people never feel you leave a job that pays you well and gives you perks …. A man, a minister of government said to me …. “Nobody leaves income for if-come”. So there was that level of [negative energy] but I did phenomenally well. The women in this study remind me of the character Zeeshan in Elif Shafak’s novel, Honor (2012). While in prison for a crime that he did not commit, Zeeshan explains to his cell mate that there are four questions that God asks of us when we die and wake up. He tells the story so that his cell mate might come to understand the value of life and our need to do the best that we can with the limited time that we are given to live. These questions to our Higher Power, according to Zeeshan, include: How did you spend your time? Where did you get your money from? How did you spend your youth? And, finally, What did you do with the knowledge God gave you? Any of the five women in this study could easily answer these questions with a full description of the pos- itive contributions that they made to their families and communities. Further, these five entrepreneurs could attest to the fact that when they were in the throes of running their business an astute observer could the businesswomen from trinidad 21 say that they were a mirror image of another important character in Shafak’s novel. Like Jamila, each of the entrepreneurs could say about the intensity of her work in the business sphere that she could say that she “stepped outside of her body, becoming a conduit for an arcane energy that coursed through the universe, healing, mending, multiply- ing” (p. 173). The women, immigrants in a new land, could say with pride that they had transformed their chosen homes abroad as much as they had become reconstituted by it. References Becchetti, L., Caiazza, S., & Coviello, D. (2013). Financial education and investment attitudes in high school: Evidence from a randomized experiment. Applied Finan- Download 0.6 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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