Sibling rivalry may be on its last leg, at least in these economic times.
Over the past few months I’ve bumped into several stories of sisters launching businesses together, and with great success.
Although these women have different professional pursuits, they all have a few things in common: a). the maturity to overcome a clash of ideas; b). a determination to succeed; and c) a desire to keep the sisterly bond intact.
Sci-Fi Sisters: Kyra & Kozi Kyles
Kyra is an editor and her sister Kozi is a marketing manager for an entertainment company.
Kyra and Kozi Kyles have launched a hilarious webisode, Human Resources, a sci-fi comedy where employees have vanished from the office, and everyone suspects that layoffs are to blame. In reality, the culprit is far more sinister than the heartless CEO.
“We wrote it up as a film and just walked away from it,” Kyra says. “But when things started getting really bad in the economy, we decided to revisit it and adapted it as a web series.”
The two used puppets because given the job market, suffering puppets are funnier than suffering people in a workplace setting.
The Kyles sisters also funded the webisodes on their own. “We did this independently,” Kozi states. “It’s totally funded by two sisters.”
And because they have so much skin in the game, they are not about to let differences of opinion come between them. “When we would get into arguments about the film, we still lived together — in an open loft — so it was pretty hard to get away from the tumultuous moments,” Kozi laughs. “But we worked it out.”
Sisters on the Speaker Circuit: Pamela and Agape Redwood
Pamela and Agape Redwood founded the Signature Media Group (SMG) Speakers, a full-service operation that provides promotion, marketing, engagement booking and also event planning services for its A-list clientele.
Their client roster includes Anderson Cooper, Nikki Giovanni and Nia Long just to name a few.
Big sister Pamela began her career as a talent manager that represented broadcast news professionals; Agape, who studied journalism, worked on the talent side at an agency that represented such news celebrities.
Says Agape, “It’s very unique how we tied into each other and I think it’s a blessing from God.”
Double the Influence
Even twins are getting in on the sister/entrepreneur bandwagon, and finding success.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alums, Nichelle (red cardigan) and Nicole (blue cardigan) Nichols launched the hot online glossy, Young Mogul Nation, YMNation.com, designed to showcase inspirational stories to up-and-coming business people.
Explains Nicole (blue): “We want to spread the word that even though you might be on hard times or your life didn’t come together as you thought it might, you can come up with that one idea, expand on it, and really have the life you were always looking to have.”
Working with a twin is tough at times, especially when you also live together, Nicole explains.
“You live together you work together, and with most people you can just slam the phone and say, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore,’ and just quit. With your sister, it’s more of a bond…you’re going to see her at night, so you have to make it work.”
Nichelle agrees, but adds, “The best part of it, she knows what I’m feeling or thinking at the same time and …so it just makes things a little bit easier when we’re working together.”
How inspiring!
Now it’s your turn…have you ever launched a business with your sibling? Do tell!
xoxo,
Zondra
Filed under: Achievement, Entrepreneurship, Family, Girl Talk, Sisters
Tags: @sixbrownchicks, African American sisters, Agape Redwood, Business trend, entrepreneurs, Human Resources Webisodes, Kozi Kyles, Kyra Kyles, Nichelle Nichols, Nicole Nicols, Pamela Redwood, SMG Speakers, SMGTalk.com, YMNation.com, zondra hughes
