Local Organization Helped Entrepreneurs Scale Their Businesses Through A Community Partnership

Dr. Tchicaya Robertson is the owner of Tribe Insights. Photo provided by Tribe Insights.
Dr. Tchicaya Robertson is the owner of Tribe Insights. Photo provided by Tribe Insights.

Local Organization Helped Entrepreneurs Scale Their Businesses Through A Community Partnership

By Tia Carol Jones

Dr. Tchicaya Robertson founded Tribe Insights in 2023 because she saw that people in the community needed support when they were upscaling their businesses as part of their entrepreneurship journey. Robertson said as an entrepreneur herself, helping other entrepreneurs is a passion of hers. She believes that because of the political climate and environment, it is necessary for the Black community to be more independent. She said entrepreneurship is one way for people to be more independent and not depend on corporate America. Robertson left corporate America in 2023, and it led her to create Tribe Insights.

Robertson said her goal with Tribe Insights is to create a community where entrepreneurs are self-sufficient and have the tools they need, with someone who is familiar with the process of starting and scaling a business. Tribe is also an outlet for Robertson’s professional consulting.

The Launchpad Entrepreneur Academy is where Robertson said Tribe really engages with and has a positive impact on the community. The program started in 2024 as a partnership with the Village of Matteson and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Through that program, participants can take the Kauffman curriculum free of charge. The program is aimed at entrepreneurs that are less than two years old and have less than $250,000 in revenue annually.

During the program, participants hear from professional speakers who are experts. There were two cohorts of the program and there were about 12 graduates and $15,000 were awarded to first, second and third place winners of both cohorts. While the partnership has ended, Robertson is gearing up to facilitate the program elsewhere. They are recruiting for their next course, which will begin in January. They are excited about being able to serve more people, which is important to Robertson, who said the program was too important to let die.

Robertson said the feedback Launchpad received from its participants was largely positive. The winner of the first cohort, Jasmine Ball, learned a different way to approach her business. She operates a brick-and-mortar location and was taught how to be more strategic and to think differently about her business, specifically how to protect her business. Robertson said coming into the program, Ball had already protected her brand identity but there was a shift in where her business was protected. She said one of the big things that participants learned was how to do things more efficiently.

The deadline for applications for the January cohort is Dec. 15th, to register and pay. There is an early bird registration fee of $450 if people register by Nov. 15th. Participants will have two classes per week for 10 weeks. Robertson said by the end of the 10 weeks, participants will have everything they need to put together a business plan.

For more information about Tribe Insights, visit www.tribeinsights.org.


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