Today I submitted my final pitch video and checked off the last remaining requirements for the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program. Graduation is still on the horizon, but I’m pausing here because this moment deserves to be acknowledged.
Completing the work—the action plan, the deep financial dive, the pitch strategy, the weekly assignments—required more from me than I expected. It required discipline, clarity, and a willingness to sit with the uncomfortable parts of growth. But it also gave me something that’s hard to get when you’re running a business day-to-day: space to think, evaluate, and refine.
Over the past few months I learned how important it is to stand firm in my value proposition. Not just what Sparkes Event Solutions does, but why it matters and how it creates measurable impact for the people we serve. I learned how the right financial structure supports—not restricts—a business. And I learned that process, creativity, and strategy can live in the same space when you’re intentional about how you build.
Most of all, I learned that clarity compounds.
Each week’s work strengthened the next.
Each assignment sharpened how I lead, plan, and deliver.
This isn’t my final recap—that will come once I cross the finish line at graduation. But today, I’m taking a breath to honor the commitment it took to get here and the doors this program continues to open.
Here’s to the next chapter, with more confidence, more discipline, and a whole lot more possibility.
Onward,
Ebony
