Joan Wright-Good is an award winning CEO, international speaker, author and personal and business leadership coach. In fact, she's a dynamic black female leader who not only looks like she’s got it going on but walks her talk. As a minister of gospel and strategic thinker, Wright-Good uses her brutal past as a tool to "empower women of all ages and culture to forgive others, forgive themselves and embrace the dominating force they were created to be."
PHOTO: Facebook
Behind every powerful woman is a motivational force pressing her to be greater than she was yesterday. For Wright-Good, that force is her faith in God. While speaking to Rolling Out, she considered "Godfidence" her superpower as a black woman. Her description of the word is "the ability to transform others through my light and confidence in God."
"I allow those who come in contact with me to become wealthier, happier and fulfilled," she said.
As a black woman leader, Wright-Good recognizes the strength in her unique skill set which allows her to not only make a living from what doing what she loves, but it also gives her the opportunity to act in intention while making a positive impact on the lives of others. She notes that corporate America is still catching on to the force of black women in business.
"In 2016, Forbes announced the 50 most powerful women in business which was 99 percent white, with only one sister represented. Ann-Marie Campbell ranked No. 18, as the EVP of the Home Depot’s U.S. stores. Yes, we talk about the Oprahs, the Maxine Walters, etc., however, the lack of Black women in top jobs stands out in corporate America," she began. "I believe since women are by nature nurturers, it makes us some of the best mentors, leaders and decision makers. To add to that, Black women are known for their survival skills and tenacity despite rejection which I believe is a perfect balance that makes us great leaders."
PHOTO: Joan Wright-Good
Wright-Good also spoke to the necessity for older women, especially black women, to reach back to help younger women.
"We learn from each other and learning produces growth. As women we share more likes than dislikes, our experiences create a common ground. Time, seasons and trends are the only lines of demarcation that separate us. As a matter of fact, there is a scripture in the Bible, Titus 2, which implores the older women to teach the younger women to be a woman of noble character. We become a stronger force when we apply the knowledge learned from those who’ve paved the way."
When building up and working with others, she views collaboration as the "mother of all successes" and competition as the "death of dreams and purposes." If a partner in her estimation does not embody the qualities of trust, loyalty and consistency, it is a no-go in her eyes. She also suggests when attempting to grow, people should break away from their safety nets.
"Nothing happens but stagnation in a comfort zone. In order to grow and achieve the success of any kind, we must take risks and one of the side effects of taking a leap and taking risks oftentimes is making mistakes. However, if we look for the dopeness in every situation we experience we will use our mistakes as learning lessons that will help us to win on our next attempt," Wright-Good said to Rolling Out.
Whenever we hear amazing mentors share their wisdom we can’t help but wonder who their mentors are or who they would call upon to be a mentor to them if given the chance. While Wright-Good shared she has amazing women mentors in her life, the mentor she would love to be able to gain would be Denzel Washington.
"I have long admired how dedicated he is to his faith, his passion and gift of acting, and his financial consistency. While we can never truly know someone by what we read or see on the surface there is a certain assurance about Denzel’s stability as a husband and father and how he supports a charity that is easily detectable by his fruit. Washington supports roughly 19 charities globally and continues to support education and youth philanthropic endeavors annually."
Through her turbulent past of sexual abuse, domestic abuse and homelessness, Wright-Good said if she were able to speak to her younger self and provide a word of encouragement this is what she would say:
"It’s ok baby girl wipe your tears, God will make you into the woman and mentor to others you wished you had for yourself."
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