VisionPledge, a for purpose/nonprofit organization, might have started as a learning process for two entrepreneurs, but in their journey, the two young women founders also created an answer that plagues every new businessperson: ‘Where and how do I start?’

Like many millennial entrepreneurs, both co-founders of VisionPledge, Ghanaian-American Aishah Alassan, the president, and lawyer Lisa Fennell, the vice president, have a special sensitivity to the obstacles that face their age group. This is especially true for people of color that are often underserved. It was at this point that Alassan and Fennell made the choice to become a “source” for other entrepreneurs.

Fennell describes VisionPledge as:

“A crowdfunding site for millennials to help them raise capital for their entrepreneurial endeavors. But it also encompasses a holistic aspect of entrepreneurship. Not only do we help millennials tap into capital that’s necessary for them, but we really try to help them get in the right frame of mind to do business but also provide tips for them for all of the different steps along the way that you need to know to lift your business off the ground.”

This description barely touches on everything that these two women are accomplishing. They have become teachers, mentors, confidantes and partners to many that are hungry for the information and support.
Even coming up with the name for their nonprofit was astounding — it was one of three names manifested in a dream of Alassan’s.

A strange turn of events

Both Alassan and Fennell began with the assumption that the highest priority for millennials was to pay off student debt, but after reading the poll results from their first event, they found that attendees were more interested in getting their own businesses started. Pivoting the direction of their focus, they changed up to get answers to the burning questions and launched VisionPledge with a focus on crowdfunding as a first level.

Alassan explains part of their mission statement for other millennial entrepreneurs when she says, “We are trying to fill that gap….the mindset first, the resources, [and] the perks, all in one platform.”

Sharing and caring

Alassan and Fennell moved through their own challenges of starting VisionPledge. With a goal geared toward underrepresented millennial entrepreneurs from different backgrounds, they make sure programs in mindset, crowdfunding, and how to create a structured business are part of their offerings to counteract the lack of contacts and experience.

Millennials may not have the years of business experience to establish a large network to rely on. When the co-founders took the advice of a friend and successful entrepreneur that said ‘Start with your immediate network,’ it prompted them to recognize that networks can be in all forms, including family and friends. This can quickly boost morale and confidence.

One of the critical pieces of their platform includes sharing the emotional aspect of how entrepreneurship creates personal change, too. Fennell says, “I think, for me, it might have been to embrace the unknown and to kind of embrace the turbulence of it all.”

For Alassan, VisionPledge changed her in ways that she didn’t expect. She says, “I think the key thing that I’ve done that has grounded me is meditation and self-development…so I’m really excited to help people who are not clear on their vision.”

Sponsorships, Workshops and the Future

VisionPledge is adding sponsorships and speakers that help motivate their audience to start new businesses from a place of focus and support. For example, Life Coach Brittany Josephina held a visualization exercise at their first event at Microsoft and author and TV Host Abiola Abrams, VisionPledge’s self-development community partner, will conduct a webinar to help entrepreneurs ‘manifest” their vision.

That’s what the founders of VisionPledge did for themselves. They didn’t wait for their business to become 100% ready, but they launched themselves along with other entrepreneurs on a platform they owned. Fennell says, “We want to serve as an example to other visionaries so they have an idea of what a crowdfunding campaign should look like.” In doing it this way, VisionPledge will not only be the place for minority entrepreneurs to raise funds together but be part of the story, too.

Check out VisionPledge founders in a “spitfire” challenge answering fun questions that give you a glimpse into their thoughts about some hot topics. To follow their crowdfunding campaign go here.

Maryann Reid is the Digital Managing Editor at Black Enterprise and author of several books published by St Martins Press. Follow her Maryann Reid.

What These Ladies Do To Your Vision Brings In The Cash was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Recently, the Kapor Center for Social Impact, Devlabs, and the City of Oakland announced the launch of a new initiative to support Oakland-based tech entrepreneurs. The initiative was created as a web of service providers and resources to reduce the barriers to entrepreneurship for underserved and underrepresented entrepreneurs in Oakland.

Black Enterprise caught up with Lili Gangas, Chief Technology Community Officer at the Kapor Center for Social Impact to tell us all about the new Oakland Startup Network initiative. “The goal is to bring in a lot of the other ecosystem players in Oakland that are focused on increasing the number of underrepresented entrepreneurs,” says, Gangas.

So what exactly will the network do? The goal is to provide a number of resources, including boot camps, workshops, Startup Weekends, technical instruction, meetups, founders’ roundtables, and accelerator introductions for local tech entrepreneurs. It aims to increase the number and success rate of tech startups launched in Oakland by women and people of color, providing a significant opportunity to augment access to social and financial capital.

“We want to make sure that we are bringing in a vetted network of high-quality service providers, entrepreneurs, and investors; people who have the credibility and the experience to really provide the necessary mentorship resources, access, and funding,” said Gangas.

The Network received a grant totaling $420,000 from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. This grant was specifically awarded to fund select organizations that help female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color achieve higher rates of success. It was one of a dozen nonprofit entrepreneur support efforts selected by the Kauffman Foundation from over 375 applicants across the nation.

The intention is to establish Oakland as a model for diverse entrepreneurship and create replicable programming for other communities.
For more information on the Oakland Startup Network, visit oaklandstartup.net.

Sequoia Blodgett is the Technology Editor for Black Enterprise, Silicon Valley. She is also the founder of 7AM, a lifestyle, media platform, focused on personal development, guided by informed, pop culture. Follow her Sequoia Blodgett.

Kapor Center Helps Launch Startup Network was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We typically cover African Americans in business but for this, I had to make an exception. As an avid supporter of the African American community, I will grant Gary Vaynerchuk aka Gary Vee, the “black card,” a right of passage, if you will, because I MUST shine some light on this individual.

About two weeks ago, I had no idea who Gary Vee was but, his name kept unexpectedly popping up in the bulk of my conversations. I was doing an Instagram Live for Black Enterprise and a question was asked about marketing. A young woman asked, “Have you checked out Gary Vee?”

Having been the first time I heard his name, I really didn’t pay it too much attention.

Next, I was hanging out at a friend’s house. The time was etching up around midnight and suddenly, he was inclined to play Gary Vee’s videos on his 60-inch flat screen. OK.

About 10 hours later, I was on a conference call with Black Enterprise and you guessed it, our Social Media Manager spewed it out again! What was going on?

Lastly, we were doing a Facebook Live for BE The Code and wham, right in the comments section, there it was! It was like his ghost of Christmas present was haunting me.
Enough is enough! Whoooooo is Gary Vee?!

So I looked him up.

As for his Twitter description, it states, Family 1st! but after that- CEO of @Vaynermedia. Investor in Twitter, Uber, Venmo. Creator of a lot of video content on FB & YT. Hustler & @NYJets fan.

I’m intrigued.

So I set… and set… and set. I binge-watched his videos for three days straight. It started with one-minute clips and then it moved on to playlists and then, I found myself watching entire half hour episodes, but, in two to three-hour increments.

Now, I know Gary Vee would frown upon this because he is all about taking action, but my curiosity had quickly turned into an obsession.
So I asked myself, was this healthy? F–k yeah! Because now I’m taking action and sharing him with you!

I’ve learned so much! I found myself on a call yesterday with my boss, legit quoting Gary Vee’s advice. “Everything’s about leverage. Either you go and do it from scratch and build something that gives you leverage or you do something that brings disproportionate value to other people. It’s all leverage.”

I think Gary Vee has so much knowledge to bring to this community, and the world, as a whole. If you aren’t familiar, which you may already be, according to his Klout score, I’d suggest you definitely get on board.

Sequoia Blodgett is the Tech Editor for Silicon Valley at Black Enterprise magazine. Follow her at Sequoia Blodgett.

I Have a Gary Vaynerchuk Obsession and You Should, Too! was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

President Trump’s rallies tend to have a, well, carnival-like atmosphere. At his latest rally in Florida, among the lively bunches wearing #MAGA (Make America Great Again) gear, many noticed several black people holding signs displaying “BlacksForTrump2020.com.”

These few black faces in a sea of white can often be seen front and center at these rallies on video, right behind Trump — almost serving as a backdrop.

Social media abounds with accusations that these are people put in place by the Trump camp. Others claim they are paid to give the impression that Trump has a multicultural following. The Huffington Post even called BlacksforTrump2020, “Trump’s latest con.”

So, just what is BlacksforTrump2020.com?

For starters, it’s an actual website. A WHOIS lookup on that domain name shows the site is registered to “Domains by Proxy, LLC.” A website owner’s personal information is masked when a site is registered through Domains by Proxy.

The Washington Post revealed that purchasing anonymous domain names increased for both Republicans and Democrats during the 2012 election.

The article points out that since many of these domain owners’ details are anonymous, it’s unclear whether actual politicians are buying them. Or, if squatters buy them in presidential campaign years with hopes of selling them for big bucks.

The self-professed owner of BlacksforTrump2020.com is not seeking anonymity at all.

Florida-based Maurice Symonette says he is the owner of BlacksforTrump2020.com as well as other political sites. In a phone interview with Black Enterprise, Symonette dismisses the notion that he is paid by the Trump camp.

“Not even 32 cents,” he insists. “The fact is I wouldn’t even take any money because you are not going to call me a sellout. From Bush to Allen West to anyone I assisted we did it on our dime.”

He says he gets right behind Trump on camera with the signs so people can see the website, go to it, and understand why he is an ardent Trump supporter.

“I put my website on [the signs] because they are calling this man a racist and I don’t want to be holding a sign and look like some Uncle Tom sellout without explaining my position,” he says.

He also says he doesn’t use the Domain by Proxy registrar for anonymity. “I’m out here in the open.”

Symonette, a former member of the black separatist sect, Yahweh ben Yahweh, cites his main reasons for supporting Trump as taxes and the rollback of regulations. He often uses biblical references to underscore his viewpoints.

“The most beautiful thing [about Trump] is ‘give me my money’,” says Symonette. He considers any taxes over 10% as “slavery” and wonders, “how can you have the nerve to charge more than God?”

He also supports Trump’s rollback of Dodd-Frank regulations. Symonette makes the dubious claim, “All these regulations that keep you from getting money — when Bush did it [rolled back business and financial regulations] you saw black men with these $3 million houses.” Symonette also supports Trump’s wall, citing what he says is scripture from Isaiah; “Build me a wall great and high and all nations say please come let us help you. So if God said to build the wall…”

When asked if he has ever met Trump face-to-face Symonette says he has not but he has shaken hands with the president.

Still, Symonette seems to be a known figure among conservatives. In 2012, then-Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum invited Symonette to his rally in Coral Springs. His YouTube channel attracts hundreds of comments and views, with many white conservatives enthusiastically in agreement with him.

Samara Lynn is the Tech Editor at Black Enterprise magazine. Follow her at @samaralynn.

The Black Man Behind BlacksforTrump2020 was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We start with Trump; a new study from the Society for Human Resource Management reveals a hurdle to overcome in diversifying Silicon Valley; no more black shooting targets; and more.

SHRM: ‘ ‘Brogrammer’ Attitude May Hinder Technology Diversity’

The Society for Human Resource Management cites a study on 1,000 tech workers as the basis for finding that a pervasive “brogramming” culture in technology is what is keeping people of color and women on the outskirts. This culture is described as “frat-boy”-ish; “jet set, skirt-chasing, bottle-popping,” white dudes. SHRM says this study and others referred to in the article provide that to diversify tech, “culture and attitude need to be addressed.”

Twitter Loses It over First Black Bachelorette

ABC’s The Bachelorette announced its first-ever black “bachelorette,” Rachel Lindsay. The fact that this is the first black woman to appear is bad enough, as Entity Mag notes, “considering Rachel is African-American and the show, in its 33 seasons, has never had a black lead,” but her casting, of course, brought out the racists across the internet. People accused ABC of “filling a quota” and many sounded off on Lindsay’s level of attractiveness.

Trump Insults Black Woman Journalist, Social Media has Thunderous Response

Trump’s press conference last week was bombastic and filled with inaccuracies. There was also a moment of racism witnessed by the TV audience in real time — and responded to across social media by thousands. See the social media outcry after the president insulted a veteran political journalist during his press conference.

San Diego Police Target African American Children for Unlawful DNA Collection

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on a very disturbing practice by San Diego law enforcement: “According to the ACLU’s complaint, on March 30, 2016, police officers stopped five African American minors as they were walking through a park in southeast San Diego. There was no legal basis for the stop. As an officer admitted at a hearing in June 2016, they stopped the boys simply because they were black and wearing blue on what the officers believed to be a gang “holiday.”

Website Calls for Ending the Use of Silhouetted Targets on Shooting Ranges

#NoMoreBlackTargets.com launched a petition to end the use of silhouetted targets on shooting ranges, suggesting the dark color of the targets creates “unconscious bias.”

Samara Lynn is the Tech Editor At Black Enterprise magazine. Follow her at @samaralynn.

A Week In Tech Racism was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Marlon Nichols is the definition of a hustler. After being turned down by his now business partner, Troy Carter, his tenacity and conviction led him to become one of the founding members and the general partner of the thematic VC fund, Cross Culture Ventures.

That’s exactly what Nichols wants to see in any entrepreneur he decides to fund. He sat down with BE The Code and gave it to us straight, no chaser.

“Do you have to have tenacity, fortitude, a certain level of scrappiness, and most importantly, hustle?” asked Nichols. “Are you ready to make those hard decisions like fire you best friend that you started this company with?”

In addition to those character traits, he looks for founders who have personal and professional backgrounds that directly connect to their product. “What’s the unique experience that you have that makes you uniquely qualified?” asks Nichols. This not only gives the founder a competitive advantage but also fuels his or her passion for sticking it out when things get hard — because they will get hard.

Nichols certainly practices what he preaches. During business school, he almost flunked out because he was hit with an ailment that would have caused most of us to throw in the towel and live out our presumed last days on the beaches of Tahiti. Instead of giving up, he took the class again, on top of a full load. Did I also mention he was running a VC fund simultaneously? Now that’s the definition of #Hustle.

To learn more about Nichols story, watch the clip below or tune in to Episode 4 of BE The Code on iTunes or SoundCloud and be sure to subscribe for more inspiration.

Sequoia Blodgett is the Technology Editor for Black Enterprise, Silicon Valley. She is also the founder of 7AM, a lifestyle, media platform, focused on personal development, guided by informed, pop culture.

Hustlers Make the Best Entrepreneurs was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

E-commerce is a vast market. It’s driven primarily by three types of online transactions: digital banking; buying and selling digital goods; and buying and selling physical goods.

The market is predicted to grow from $4.9 trillion in 2015, to just over $8 trillion by 2020. Adding to those figured are massive online events, like Cyber Monday, which generated $40 billion in online sales in the U.S. this holiday season.

Clearly, it’s good to be in the e-commerce business. However, as with other tech sectors, the e-commerce business is largely profiting white men; they are the ones at the head of most successful e-commerce ventures.

This is why FSAstore.com, a New York City-based e-commerce site, is currently creating buzz. The site is unique in that it lets users shop for FSA healthcare products online. FSA (Flexible Spending Accounts) are employer-based programs that allow consumers to set aside tax-free dollars to purchase medical products and services.

Customers can show for over four thousand products without having to guess which ones can or can’t be used with FSA dollars because on the site, all products fall under FSA eligibility. Products are wide in range and include simple items such as bandages and baby thermometers to more urgent care needs including blood glucose monitors and smart pill reminder devices.

In addition to being a unique e-commerce site, Founder Jeremy Miller has also made building a diverse team a high priority. Just under half of all employees are women; 21% are Asian; 13% are Hispanic; and 11% are African American.

On building a diverse company, Miller says, “You begin with diversity. Here, in New York, we have a large and very diverse pool to choose from.”

He then outlines a series of steps to increase diversity and keep it on track:

1. Grow organically.
2. Find people to fit the need.
3. Assign people to work across teams.
4. Promote from within.
5. Build on that diversity with referrals.

FSAStore.com was named 156th on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, which is a list of fastest growing high-tech companies proving diversity works.

Samara Lynn is the Tech Editor at Black Enterprise. Follow her at @samaralynn.

This May Be the Most Diverse E-Commerce Company Ever was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

While much of the focus of the 59th Annual Grammy’s was on Beyoncé’s incredible performance (made even more awe-inspiring with a belly heavy with twins); accolades were given to other black performers in various musical categories.

Many of these performers, who won or were nominated in the R&B, Hip-Hop, and rap genres, have not only been acknowledged as talents by the music industry but are also savvy tech innovators. The entertainers listed here are involved in the tech industry as well as the music industry in a variety of ways.

Chance the Rapper:

Winning the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album with his third mixtape Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper has used his technology prowess to completely disrupt the Grammy’s long-standing tradition of not nominating streamed music. Born Chancellor Johnathan Bennett, Chance the Rapper released the acclaimed Coloring Book exclusively on Apple Music. It became the first release to chart through internet streaming. The success of the album prompted the Grammy organization to change its nomination policy with regard to online, streamed content.

Lil Wayne:

Featured on nominated Best Rap Song, “”No Problem” Lil Wayne also has ventured into technology. He’s launched several websites including Weezy and Weezy Thanx You, a site he used while in prison to stay in contact with his fans. He’s an enthusiastic early adopter of virtual reality. He went into a partnership with Hulu to create a virtual reality narrative series, On Stage.

Kanye West:

No matter your opinion of the volatile artist, he commands social media. Kanye West has one of the most followed Twitter accounts in the world and does not hesitate to use Twitter to directly ask Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for $1 billion to fund his “ideas.” West also released his much-hyped “The Life of Pablo,” exclusively on Jay-Z’s streaming service, Tidal. He appears on “Famous,” a song that was nominated for this year’s Best Rap Song.

De La Soul:

De La Soul used technology to release their latest album, nominated for Best Rap Album, “And the Anonymous Nobody.” The group, which had its height of fame in the ’90s, funded the album via Kickstarter, raising over $600,000.

DJ Khaled

DK Khaled, whose “Major Key” was nominated for Best Rap Album is a social media master just like Kanye. His big tech claim to fame is his use of Snapchat. His snaps have become legendary, detailing his advice for success in life. Newsweek called DJ Khaled, “the millennial generation’s foremost prophet of noxiously empty optimism,” and his snaps are estimated to average 2 million views each.

Samara is the Tech Editor at Black Enterprise magazine. Follow her at @samaralynn.

These 2017 Grammy Winners Are Also Tech Innovators was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It seems that no matter where you go as a person of color, White supremacy may follow. It was true growing up among violence in Oakland. It was true when I started my freshman year at Yale. It was even true when I arrived in Ghana, a country where I wasn’t in the racial minority, for a semester abroad. Here we are in 2017, and still, racism and race-based oppression are all too present.

As a nation, we have gone from having our first Black president to electing Donald Trump, a man endorsed by the KKK. In the weeks following Election Day, myriad examples of harassment and hate speech emerged.

Take, for example, the recent incident at the University of Pennsylvania (Trump’s alma mater), when Black freshman students were added to a group chat complete with a calendar of “daily lynchings” and a photo of Black people hanging from a tree.

This is all the more reason I think it’s important to raise awareness about what is happening, spark conversations about what’s needed to move forward, and help create spaces where people from all backgrounds can feel supported and safe. Now I’m handing the keyboard over to my friend Dwight Haggard, a University of Kentucky student I studied abroad with this fall. During our program in Ghana, I watched as he came face to face with a White University of Vermont student who refused to stop using the N-word (and that’s just the beginning). Here’s his story:

Before college, there were very few instances in which I encountered White people. As a student at a majority-Black high school, I really only interacted with people who looked like me. So, when I arrived at the University of Kentucky, which is less than eight percent Black, I suddenly felt like I was required to represent all people of color. I worked hard not to upset anyone around me and to be conscious of all my speech patterns, actions, and inabilities. I believed my behavior was not only a reflection of me, but of my entire race.

When I decided to study abroad in Ghana, I was officially setting off to research the effects of the transatlantic slave trade on the local community and to compare the current social and economic differences between Ghana and the United States. Unofficially, though, I was eager to go somewhere where others looked liked me — somewhere that didn’t require me to constantly think about how I was representing my race.

Upon my arrival in Ghana, I got to know both the Ghanaian students and other exchange students from different parts of the U.S. People seemed genuinely nice and helpful. As I’d hoped, I felt better represented. I didn’t have a spotlight on me at all times. I was comfortable in my own skin.

*That is, until an encounter with another exchange student, a woman from the University of Vermont, who reminded me that you can go halfway across the world without escaping racism’s reach.

I was hanging out in a dorm room with some friends when one woman excused herself to use the washroom. She returned moments later visibly distraught and explained that, while in the washroom, a fellow student — a White woman — had called her the N-word. The aggressor was obviously extremely intoxicated (her boyfriend was helping her bathe because she couldn’t do it alone), and when our friend asked her a simple question about some shampoo that was sitting out , she replied, “What’s up, [N-word]?” Completely taken aback, our friend turned around and left.

I’d seen this couple around campus. We only ever said hello in passing, but I’d had enough indirect interactions with them to understand that they expressed no remorse for the offensive things they did and said. Once the boyfriend held a traditional African mask to his face and chased his girlfriend around while screaming gibberish. Everyone around them understood how culturally insensitive this was, but they seemed either not to realize or not to care.

So when we heard the couple leaving the washroom, my friend, the victim, went into the hall and calmly told the woman never to call her the N-word again. This prompted the woman to do quite the opposite; she began repeatedly saying the N-word, even going so far as to say, “If you wanna fight me, [N-word], you can fight me.” That’s when I stepped in, the situation escalated, and this woman spat in my face — twice.

Words can’t describe how it felt to be spat on and repeatedly called racial slurs.I have encountered racism and been called many derogatory terms in my time, but being spat on twice seriously affected my mental and emotional state, especially since I’d moved all the way to Africa to better understand the historical foundation of racial inequality.

The next day, another friend overheard the couple talking about the incident and even managed to record a portion of what the man said. On tape, he called me a “monkey” and threatened to have me killed by the mafia. I’d reported the incident the night before, but after this, I followed up only to learn the report hadn’t even been filed yet. I persisted and requested that the university expel the couple for threatening me and making racist comments. After a week-and-a-half-long investigation, during which I watched them both parade around the hall as if they had done nothing wrong, they were only relocated to different residential quarters.

I felt defeated and disrespected. Then, I received a letter from the University of Ghana demanding that I apologize to the woman and her boyfriend for my actions (in my anger, I had dumped a garbage can in the woman’s room and used some derogatory terms of my own) despite the fact that neither party had apologized to me. I refused, writing the following to university officials: “To ask me to apologize to a White woman after she writes me off as another ‘[N-word]’ is even more demeaning to me as a Black man in Ghana. … Her actions and those of her boyfriend the day after the incident (she paraded around bragging that she spat in my face and her boyfriend threatened to kill me and called me a monkey) reassured me that they understood exactly what they did — and that they still have no remorse for acting in such an uncivil and disrespectful manner.” I never received a response.

When I first came to Ghana, I expected that my fellow students would respect the accomplishments of its Black leaders. After all, Ghana only gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1957; to see a country develop as much as it has in just 60 years is a true testament to what Africans can accomplish when they stand up against foreign rule. That’s why I was so shocked when I experienced a level of racism even greater than that which I encountered back home in the U.S., where Black people are regularly oppressed by the White majority. I traveled 10,000 miles to Africa and spent nearly $15,000 in expenses to be spat on by a White woman. It’s taken a long time for the anger I felt to diminish, especially since the university would not take the incident seriously.

For me, this incident affirmed that White supremacy is alive and well. It refueled my desire to fight against racism, so that future generations don’t have to suffer through to the same discrimination and disrespect my brothers and sisters of color have experienced throughout history. Together we will stand and fight back peacefully against the tyranny of oppression.

This article originally appeared on The Well, Jopwell’s editorial hub. It is by TKTK. Jopwell is a Black Enterprise content partner.

I Found Racism In A Country That’s 98% Black was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

You’ve probably heard all the theories before: it’s best to leave a job after three years; never leave before two years; four years is the minimum if you don’t want to look flighty; only leave a job if you have another.

Now, hear this: none of the above answers matter. The timing for leaving a job is much more personal than an arbitrary time limit. It all depends on your internal clock. If you pay close enough attention to yourself, you’ll know exactly when it’s time to leave and when you can stay just a little while longer.

Below are four self-checks that will help you decide when the time may be right:

You’ve Learned All You Can

If you know all there is to know about what you’re doing and it doesn’t seem as if any new challenges or opportunities to learn will be added to your plate in the near future, this may be your time to make a move.

What you don’t want is to grow bored and complacent. Your work ethic and livelihood can deplete when there is a lack of stimulation.

You’ve Done All You Can

This is a bit different than learning all you can because doing all you can implies not that you’re unstimulated, but that your wings have grown too big for your job’s cage. If you’ve switched departments, taken on new responsibilities, stepped into a new position, worked with various colleagues, completed special projects, attended all of the events, and heard it all before, you’re done there. Move forward.

Your Eyes Are Set Elsewhere

Not only your eyes, but also your actions. If you’re working toward other goals that seem to be coming to fruition and you’re pretty certain that dedicating more time to these goals could mean success, you know what you need to do.

If you can swing juggling your current job with chasing your dreams, go for it. If your dreams are calling for you to give them your undivided attention, who are you not to answer?

The Spirit Moves You

There is no other surefire way to know when it’s time to leave your job that is more trustworthy than your gut. Regardless of what makes sense, what you’ve accomplished, how stimulated you are, or if you have a plan for what’s next, your gut will rarely, if ever, lead you astray when deciding whether to stay or go. Your real job is to listen to your gut, to trust where it’s guiding you, and to take heed. It won’t let you down.

No set amount of time, no rules, just you. What will you decide? Better yet, when?

Safon Floyd is the Careers Editor at Black Enterprise magazine. Follow her at @accordingtofon.

This is When It’s Time to Leave Your Job was originally published in BE Pulse on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.