Every morning, Angela Yee talks it up on the nationally syndicated FM morning radio show “The Breakfast Club.” Behind the scenes, she’s building a business empire.
Yee, who was born to a Chinese father and a Montserratian mother, operates three brick-and-mortar businesses centering on wellness, nutrition, education and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Her businesses include a coffee shop called Coffee Uplifts People, which she co-owns with Tony Forte and LaRon Batchelor; a juice shop, Drink Fresh Juice, which she co-owns with Tony Forte; and a hair-care company, Private Label.
Yee says she has faced challenges as a Black female founder.
“It’s been hard because I still struggle with imposter syndrome. Sometimes I feel that I’m not smart enough or that I don’t belong in a certain room. Starting out in radio, I was looked at as a sidekick…I rebelled against that notion because I had so much to prove.
“Most of the jobs I’ve worked at, I was the only woman. When we’re live on ‘The Breakfast Club,’ I’m still the only woman in the room. I do the most work because I have to prove myself. If I were a man, I don’t think I’d be the same way. I feel that I have to be more prepared than anyone else, yet I still don’t get the same respect. I do all of this work just to be considered equal,” Yee said.
Yee added that she has found people don’t often take her seriously because she is a Black woman. “People think you’re only there to fill a quota, so they may not take you seriously.”
She shared that she has found support from other Black women.
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