Years ago, I discovered that I was the first Black woman tech founder from Virginia to raise over $1 million in venture capital and one of only a few to raise $10 million (as of 2024). For my venture, Time Study, securing runway has been pivotal to our growth. Today, our platform is used by employees in over 80 hospitals across the U.S., and we are continuing to expand. These are the highlights often celebrated on social media, but let me take you behind the scenes to the day of my very first pitch for venture funding.

Subtitled: “Learning How To Think Straight”

I think one of my father’s favorite phrases is “I can’t think straight.” For a long time, I dismissed it (rolled my eyes) until I became an adult with responsibilities, then I found myself saying it also. A recent example is the day of my first venture pitch, which occurred a few years ago. I walked toward an unknown building in an unfamiliar city to present my new tech startup to strangers for their investment. As I was standing on a corner in Midtown NYC, 10 minutes before my pitch, I received a call from my son’s school. When I answered, the principal stated, “He’s having a rough day. Someone needs to pick him up now.”

My mind was racing for a solution. I was eight hours from home, and my husband was in town, but away from his phone, in meetings. At this point, I’m standing in the entryway of the building, one hand wrestling with luggage (another long story) and the other on the phone coordinating pick up for my son. I’m doing this while watching the clock (I had less than 8 minutes to get checked in, on the elevator, and into a 40th-floor conference room). At the time, my son’s grandfather was our backup plan for these situations. I called him, coordinated an early pickup, then went on with my meeting. I think I walked into the conference room 30 seconds before the pitch began.

Here’s what else you need to know: Our journey with this particular school had been difficult, and we had already faced more than our fair share of misunderstandings. When I saw the school’s number on my phone, my heart skipped a beat. As a parent, I was obviously worried if he was okay. Also, as a Black mother of a Black son, I wondered if something had happened that could unfairly shape how others saw him. So after I received that call, I had very little time to respond, adjust & refocus.

As I began my pitch, my father’s words, ‘I can’t think straight,’ suddenly made perfect sense. Our thoughts are often disrupted by the countless distractions and emotions that make the linear, rational thinking we rely on feel almost impossible.

• busyness (too much to do),
• noise (literal noise, but also distractions),
• environmental noise (clutter),
• baggage (unresolved issues, regrets), and
• all of the unexpected events that life may offer.

For a woman who wears many hats as an engineer, entrepreneur, mom, advisor, and mentor, distractions are a constant part of life. My engineering training and systems thinking skills have become invaluable tools for staying organized and tackling life’s noise, confusion, and challenges. These skills help me approach even the toughest obstacles, including inequity, with clarity and purpose.

1. Stay prepared. Preparation is not just about organization; it is about being ready to adapt when things do not go as expected.
2. Expect variability and plan for it. Life is unpredictable, so building flexibility into your plans is key to staying resilient.
3. Refocus on what’s within your control. Redirecting your energy toward actionable steps keeps you grounded in the midst of chaos.

It truly takes a village.

“We can’t impose our will on a system. We can listen to what the system tells us, and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone.”
― Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer