By Josephine Scalia

Recently an interactive workshop entitled “The Entrepreneurial Edge: Turn Ideas Into Action with Cynthia Pong, JD” was held in the Ruth S. Harley University Center to an eager crowd of Adelphi students, alumni, staff and community members looking for guidance on how to move one’s entrepreneurial ideas and career forward.

Cynthia Pong, JD is an award-winning executive coach and speaker known for her empowerment and advocacy for women of color in spaces from which they have been traditionally excluded. Pong is the founder and CEO of Embrace Change, an all-BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) coaching team that has shown to lead women of color to advance in their careers, break barriers and claim positions of power.

The workshop served as a space for participants to share experiences, ask for advice and meet new people. Pong said, “People need motivation to take a risk.” 

Attendees were asked to share what part-time hobby and/or business they were interested in expanding, with answers ranging from real estate, to starting a tutoring business, to photography to selling sports memorabilia. Pong said, “Everyone’s going to need side hustles” in this economic climate and suggests that these secondary pursuits could become businesses. 

Pong used her expertise to have participants pinpoint and brainstorm the foundations of their businesses, while also allowing for these ideas to be presented in a marketable way. In her book “Don’t Stay In Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color” which serves as part memoir, part workbook, Pong offers practical tools to help readers fulfill their goals of paving their own paths. Pong contends that one must identify the service or product being offered. From there, the ideal client and demographic must be named and reasons identified as to why they would need the service or product. 

After the workshop concluded, participants were invited to partake in light refreshments and encouraged to ask further questions, network and converse with their fellow entrepreneurs.  Adelphi junior and marketing major Isabella Mendez said of the event, “It actually made me think about what business I would want to start one day and ignited that spark.” 

For many, this workshop served as a launchpad for ideas. Sophomore economics major Shareve Blair said, “This event allowed me to open my eyes to new opportunities and think of new ideas.” 

For others, this experience has led to self-reflection and reevaluation about their overall goals. Community member Kadeesha Cox said, “I think it helped restart my motivation as to where I was with my business before this, and just kind of gave me some tools to move forward and ask those questions that I maybe haven’t asked myself in a while.”