{"id":491062,"date":"2022-09-07T19:51:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T16:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-wes-hall-is-betting-on-black-entrepreneurs\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T19:51:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T16:51:08","slug":"why-wes-hall-is-betting-on-black-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-wes-hall-is-betting-on-black-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why Wes Hall is betting on Black entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dfd3478e8c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dfd3478e8c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-wes-hall-is-betting-on-black-entrepreneurs\/#%E2%80%9CWhy_Wes_Hall_is_betting_on_Black_entrepreneurs%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Why Wes Hall is betting on Black entrepreneurs&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWhy_Wes_Hall_is_betting_on_Black_entrepreneurs%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Why Wes Hall is betting on Black entrepreneurs&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                                                                        Don\u2019t let the fancy suits fool you. For Wes Hall, the self-styled \u201cKing of Bay Street,\u201d and the first Black Dragon on CBC\u2019s <em>Dragons\u2019 Den<\/em>, the path to success has been hard-won. He grew up with his 14 siblings in a tin shack under the care of his grandmother in Jamaica, immigrating to Canada at 16. He then worked as a cleaner and a chicken catcher before breaking into Bay Street as a mailroom clerk. Later, Hall amassed his fortune by counselling companies contending with hostile takeovers as founder of the shareholder services firm Kingsdale Advisors. In his new memoir, <em>No Bootstraps When You\u2019re Barefoot<\/em> (out October 4), Hall details the experiences that shaped his journey to becoming one of the most influential forces in Toronto\u2019s Financial District.<\/p>\n<p>Among the Dragons, he\u2019s known as \u201cThe Fixer,\u201d and that nickname holds true in real life, too: In 2020, Hall founded BlackNorth Initiative, an organization that is working to dismantle anti-Black racism in the business world, inspired by the racial tension that plagued his early career. Now back in the Den for a second season, Hall shares his thoughts on the meaning of making it big, and the faith, family and fortitude that guided him through it all.\u00a0This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve said that Bootstraps isn\u2019t supposed to be like other typical how-I-made-it, instruction-manual memoirs. How so?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When you read those kinds of books, it\u2019s like, \u201cOkay, here\u2019s the step-by-step.\u201d There\u2019s nothing in my book that specifically shows readers how I became successful; it\u2019s about the struggles I went through. The things I experienced as a child defined the person that I became: the father, the husband, the philanthropist and the businessperson. Without those experiences, would I have started BlackNorth, an organization that helps other underserved people? Would I have been a good dad? Even though those times were painful, I learned some important lessons from them. The book is about taking chances and never feeling sorry for yourself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When did you realize you had made it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I was making Wes, the 2016 documentary about my life, and when I was writing this book. I saw all the pieces of my life put together and went, Man, this shouldn\u2019t have h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ened to me. I shouldn\u2019t be here.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1239976 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/WH_9309.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2941\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>What does \u201cmaking it\u201d mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When my wife and I started having kids, I remember that she would ask for more diapers, and I didn\u2019t have the money to buy them. Those were not comfortable conversations to have. Now, when I can stay in a five-star hotel and not have to worry about paying the bill at the end, that\u2019s comfortable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You write that success truly came for you when you started letting your faith shape your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I talk in the book about being a Jehovah\u2019s Witness, and knocking on people\u2019s doors. That gave me a thick skin. It also taught me that I have a calling that\u2019s bigger than just myself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do people ever open their door and say, \u201cWes Hall? What are you doing on my front porch?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I get a little bit of that. But Prince and Michael Jackson were Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses. So are the Williams sisters. Those people are way more recognizable than me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How have your life experiences shaped the way you approach contestants on Dragon\u2019s Den\u2014particularly Black contestants?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If all the Dragons look the same, they\u2019re not worrying about diversity. But once the Dragons look different from each other, people start to think that maybe the people in front of the panel should be just as diverse. I\u2019ve supported a number of BIPOC entrepreneurs, even outside of the show. One is a company called BIPOC Executive Search, which develops leadership in communities of colour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kevin O\u2019Leary was the adversarial pot-stirrer on the show. What\u2019s your Dragon schtick?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My thing is to support the underserved\u2014entrepreneurs who go to the traditional funding avenues to get capital and are essentially laughed out of the joint. A lot of the Dragons say to the contestants, \u201cYou\u2019re not an entrepreneur.\u201d If you have the guts to start a business, you may not be as successful as someone else, but you are an entrepreneur. I\u2019m not a mean Dragon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How have the racial dynamics of Bay Street changed since you started frequenting big boardrooms?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Change is very slow. I\u2019ve been on Bay Street for 30 years, and I think that people now might not get the kind of opportunity I got way back then.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s hard to believe that things are somehow worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Companies are now looking at resum\u00e9s very, very closely, and saying, \u201cWell, they went to this school, and they have these relationships and connections.\u201d We\u2019ve regressed a little bit. For Black entrepreneurs, there\u2019s still a lack of confidence among investors that we\u2019re capable of building businesses. When I started Kingsdale, I couldn\u2019t get anyone to get back to me, and the same attitude exists in the executive suites today. A lot of people just don\u2019t want to bet on us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve talked about the fact that Canadian companies typically don\u2019t collect race-based data. Why is that a problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A lot of companies say, \u201cWe\u2019re not going to collect it, because we don\u2019t want it to look like we\u2019re discriminating against somebody.\u201d But if you don\u2019t know the makeup of your organization, how else are you going to know whether you\u2019ve made progress? If, as a business owner, I\u2019m saying I would like to have a diverse organization, why wouldn\u2019t I want to collect statistics that will help me increase that diversity?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Has the Great Resignation reached Bay Street? Are people seeking more balance?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I see it, but I don\u2019t really think it has the same impact on Black and Indigenous people. If they finally get hired into the C-suite, they\u2019re unlikely to go to their bosses and demand that they be allowed to work from home. People of colour could really take advantage of this dislocation in the workforce by not making the same demands as people of privilege\u2014people who take their access to jobs for granted.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s been a long road, but you\u2019ve got the nice house, the nice car and a great family. Is there anything else that you would like more of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to do more philanthropy. There are communities in Canada that are in extreme poverty. I\u2019d also like to do more in Jamaica, in areas like the one I come from, where there are zero jobs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s stopping you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it\u2019s the time factor. Once you get to a certain level in business, you get pulled in so many different directions. People see the benefits of having you associate with what they\u2019re trying to do. You can\u2019t say yes to everyone. I\u2019d love to have more time for the things that I enjoy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does the King of Bay Street spend his off time?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the summer, I like to spend a month with family, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ling to parts of the world we haven\u2019t seen before. I read a few books and think about all the different business ideas I have, and how I can get started on them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can you give me an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Last time I had an idea that was really out of my comfort zone, I ended up owning the Harbor Club resort in Saint Lucia. I\u2019m still dealing with it, actually. I try not to let myself get so bored that I get into trouble.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This article appears in print in the October 2022 issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s <em>magazine. Buy the issue for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"c-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" href=\"https:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/products\/macleans-october-2022\" data-stringify-link=\"http:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/products\/copy-of-macleans-single-issue\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\" data-remove-tab-index=\"true\">$8.99<\/a>\u00a0or better yet, subscribe to the monthly print magazine for just\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.macleans.ca\/loc\/MME\/head_subscribe\">$29.99<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/products\/macleans-october-2022\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1239735 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Cover_October_DRE.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"391\" height=\"534\"\/><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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For Wes Hall, the self-styled \u201cKing of Bay Street,\u201d and the first Black Dragon on CBC\u2019s Dragons\u2019 Den, the path to success has been hard-won. He grew up with his 14 siblings in a tin shack under the care of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":491063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/WH_9391-e1662557263997-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67830,133021,133022,47746,95898,103541],"class_list":["post-491062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-anti-black-racism","tag-bay-street","tag-dragons-den","tag-entrepreneur","tag-memoir","tag-the-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}