The Color of Money:
Inspiring Minority Entrepreneurs

ã Valerie Young

Published by Fortune magazine, FSB magazine is aimed at the small  business owner. The December-January cover story is titled The New  Color of Money. The magazine features some very inspiring minority  entrepreneurs, whom, the cover page boasts, are creating companies  faster than anyone and changing the American Dream.  

You’ll read fascinating stories about people like Pat Winans who started  her own brokerage firm with just $5,000, Samia El-Badry who started a  consulting business to study minorities, especially other Arab-  Americans like herself, Winnebago tribe member Lance Morgan who is  making a real difference on his Nebraska reservation, and many more.  

But the story I found most intriguing was that of Sheeras Hasan, an  ethnic Pakastani who was raised in England. A few years ago the guy  came to the U.S. with no money, no contacts, and no filmmaking  experience and today regularly hobnobs with the likes of Jennifer  Lopez, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Steven Spielburg. Hasan is the  host of Tinseltown, a show that reaches 500 million people in 80  countries including India, Iran, and elsewhere in the Middle East.   

How did he do it? Go read the article to get all the fun and fascinating  details… like how he changed the name of his parent’s London  restaurant to Tinseltown, set up an office in what once was a bathroom  at the restaurant, put down a red carpet for inspiration, got the idea for  Tinseltown TV while in his former bathroom-office, has never been to  Pakistan or India, and doesn’t speak a work of Hindi.  

The real point though is the guy spotted a niche – promoting  Hollywood productions to an underserved market (after all India’s  thriving movie industry is nicknamed Bollywood) and then did  something about it. (If you missed the article in the last newsletter on  hot trends, markets, and businesses for entrepreneurs you can find it in  the  newsletter archives at http://ChangingCourse.com/archives.htm)  

One of the best ways to actually become an entrepreneur is to start  reading about entrepreneurs. Hasan and all of the small business  owners featured in the FSB story are a wonderful place to start.  Check it out before the next issue comes out at  http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness.   

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About the Author

"Turning Interests Into Income" expert Valerie Young abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie has spoken on the topic of How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television.

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