2016 Regions Riding Forward® Scholarship Essay Contest Winning Essay by Kourtney S.

 “It’s not enough to follow your dreams, we must chase them.” This is the motto of Teneshia Warner, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Egami Consulting Group. This quote is the theme of her life and her journey thus far. 

Teneshia Warner is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, and after graduation, she began working for IBM Global Services as a project manager. While working as a project manager for IBM, Mrs. Warner was obtaining her Master’s degree. In an assignment for graduate school, she was to write about her interests and the things that were driving her life decisions. In that assignment, she found out that working for IBM was not her passion. She quit her job and began volunteering her services for an opportunity to get experience to find out exactly what she was passionate about.

At a convention, Teneshia ran into Russell Simmons, an entertainment and business mogul. After much persistence, he allowed her to volunteer for some of his community outreach campaigns, and there she realized that it was her calling. Eventually, Russell wanted to hire her, but she told him to hire her company. Not having a company just quite yet, she began Egami Consulting Group, now an award-winning marketing company that helps brands connect with multicultural communities. Teneshia Warner has developed Egami Consulting Group from a dream to a now multi-million-dollar business, delivering groundbreaking work for brands such as Target, General Motors, My Black is Beautiful, and Verizon Wireless to name a few. 
I was introduced to Teneshia Warner by one of my peers, and after researching about Mrs. Warner, I took a chance and reached out to her. Even with her busy schedule, Mrs. Warner took the time out to have a phone meeting with me. Mrs. Warner gave me sound advice and encouragement to achieve my dreams and to never let anything get in the way of reaching them. Being that I am a Public Relations student, Mrs. Warner gave me insight about the industry, and has allowed me to add her to my professional network. In the field of communications and marketing, there are not many female, African American entrepreneurs. Mrs. Warner has inspired me to become an entrepreneur in the fields of public relations and marketing and create more diversity in the industry. I aspire to be like Teneshia Warner by continuing to follow my dreams, defying the odds, and one day being a successful, innovative professional in the communications and marketing fields.