🌄10 Years of Venture Capital: A Journey Through Mountains & Valleys.

Reflecting on my recent 13-mile hike with the Rogue Women Fund and Rogue Venture Partner teams, as an African, I find myself asking: If I had known how long the journey would take, the number of miles, the altitude, and the challenges ahead, would I still have embarked on this adventure?  Same questions go for my career in venture capital.

Ten years ago, while interviewing entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors for my digital series I of Africa, I discovered the role venture capital plays in fueling innovation and entrepreneurship on the African continent. At the time, I was a fashion model and creative entrepreneur working in NYC. I was ready for the next chapter of my professional life - I decided on a career in venture capital. I reached out to several VCs, in NYC, to intern—for free, I might add—but I was rejected because I didn’t have the “right school or a traditional background.” Thanks to my long career in modeling, rejection was something I was used to and had a relationship with. Also, my mom always told my siblings and I to remember that rejection is redirection.

To get that “traditional background”, I applied to business school. Given that I was a woman of a particular age and wanted a top program, I chose Kellogg School of Management’s Executive MBA program. After graduating, I transitioned into an operating role at a digital health startup. When I was laid off, I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to work as an investor and head of platform for the venture arm of the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

After just eight months, I decided to resign and move back home to the East Coast. Unfortunately for me, this was summer of 2022—an extremely challenging time in venture capital, as many know. Over the next 18 months, I networked with LPs, GPs, investors, founders, and various VC ecosystems builders. Eventually, I started as a fellow at Rogue Women Fund and transitioned to a principal role.

I’ve helped founders build businesses from scratch, invested in disruptive ideas, and navigated challenges in spaces where I wasn’t always expected or welcomed. There were moments of triumph—like seeing entrepreneurs I believed in succeed—and others when the path felt too rocky to continue.

Recently, while talking to my dad about the journey and his life, he started singing "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music, one of my family’s favorite movie growing up:

Climb ev’ry mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow ev’ry byway,
Every path you know.

Climb ev’ry mountain,
Ford ev’ry stream,
Follow ev’ry rainbow
Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need all the love you can give
Ev’ry day of your life for as long as you live.

Climb ev’ry mountain,
Ford ev’ry stream,
Follow ev’ry rainbow

Till you find your dream.

These words capture the essence of my post college career. Through every peak and valley, I’ve learned that persistence, rejection, resilience, authenticity, advocacy, support from loved ones, creativity, and purpose are the real compasses. What the mountaintop moments teach you is incredible—but the valleys? They’re where resilience grows. Valleys! Oh yes! These are the plateaus you encounter along the mountain tops as you climb from one height to another. They are the moments that shape your character—where frustration meets determination, and that determination transforms into higher thoughts and greater goals. These stretches—whether they last a year, two years, or even longer—can feel like you're going in circles. But they’re some of the most important moments because they reveal who you really are and what you're truly made of. #Thugtears

Thank you to everyone—my family, friends, classmates, professors, founders, investors, BLCK VC community, mentors, and dreamers—who’ve walked beside me, cheered me on, and reminded me why I started this climb. Your support has been the wind beneath my wings—yes, lyrics from Bette Midler’s song from Beaches, another family favorite.

As I celebrate a year at Rogue Women Fund, I want to thank Caroline Lewis, Adam Stoll, and Tom Sperry for their support.

My mother instilled two guiding principles into my siblings and I: To whom much is given, much is expected and Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

To answer my question above: Yes, without a doubt, I would do it again. It was been a grueling, hard, and challenging one, but I hope that my presence and the impact of work reshape the venture capital landscape.

As I pay homage to who I was ten years ago and lean into faith and the vision of my future self, here’s to the next decade of pushing boundaries, championing innovation, and embracing every terrain this adventure brings.

Thank you for reading - I would love to connect with founders, GPs, LPs, and VC Ecosystem builders. Special thanks to Tom Sperry for the pictures!

#VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #Resilience #Innovation #10YearsAndCounting