Founding Story: Prescott Solutions and My Why I founded Prescott Solutions in 2009, during a time when few believed a Black woman could thrive—let alone disrupt—the staffing and workforce development industry. Back then, diversity was a checkbox, not a commitment. And for a woman like me, born and raised in Denver and a proud graduate of Kent Denver Country Day School, every door I walked through came with an asterisk. To many white peers, I was “the exception.” I didn’t earn a spot—I was “let in.” My attendance at Brown University, an Ivy League institution, was questioned not on merit but on mistaken assumptions about affirmative action. Even when I graduated with honors, it wasn’t enough to silence the whispers: “She got lucky.” “They needed a Black girl.” “It’s DEI.” Let me be clear: Nothing I’ve built has come from luck. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps the same way those white men love to say they did— except I did it with a whole system trying to keep me out. I started this company with nothing but a vision, an old, borrowed laptop, and the unwavering belief that I could do more than survive—I could lead. I knew I wanted to create a company that would challenge how corporate America hires, trains, and thinks about talent. I didn’t want to just fill job slots. I wanted to build futures. I wanted to change the conversation from “Who’s qualified?” to “Who’s being seen?”
What I did have was tenacity, strategy, and a clear understanding of the value I brought. I studied the trends, I leaned into the tech sector before others even saw its potential, and I built this business from the ground up. Prescott Solutions began as a one-woman operation—and today, we are a growing national firm that partners with clients to source, train, and place top-tier talent in AI, cybersecurity, and emerging industries. We specialize in people, especially the ones you’re overlooking. Every early client win was a breakthrough. Every time I walked into a pitch meeting and walked out with a contract, I proved someone wrong. Every job we filled—especially for candidates who look like me—was a declaration: We belong here. We lead here. Prescott Solutions exists because no one handed me the seat at the table. So, I built the damn table. Legacy in Motion: My Daughter, My Mirror, My Motivation When my daughter graduated cum laude from American University this year, I sat in that auditorium flooded with emotions I didn’t quite have words for. There she was—confident, poised, unapologetically brilliant. A young Black woman at the top of her class, ready to enter the fields of business and finance not with hesitation, but with power. More importantly, she didn’t see business as a chokehold. She saw it as a path to power. Accepted into one of the nation’s top AI and business programs. No excuses. No explanations. She was President of Women in Business at the University, and she knew she belonged there. That, for me, was the real victory—not just the degree, but the confidence to lead without apology. It reminded me that everything I’ve built is not just for me. It’s for the generation that comes next and doesn’t have to start with the same doubts we carried.
And believe me, I wasn’t seen—not at first.
Investors didn’t take me seriously. Partners ghosted. Clients questioned whether a Black woman could deliver results. I was told—more than once—that my image didn’t “align with the expectations” for executive search. But I kept going. I had to. I didn’t have a cushion to fall back on. There were no legacy dollars, no boardroom introductions passed down from my father’s network.
33 The Acumen
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