Meet Perla Humphrey | Tech Startup Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Perla Humphrey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Perla, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I grew up watching other family members pursue entrepreneurial ventures. My mother started her 1st venture as a hair stylist who would go to the homes of her clients to do their hair. Her next venture was selling home-cooked Southern meals to General Motors employees during their lunch breaks. She sold meals from the back of a van she had purchased from earnings as a hair stylist. She later expanded the menu to include candy and snacks sold to neighborhood children. Then, there was the record shop, a multi-purpose brick-and-motar business where she sold vinyl records and continued to style hair. In today’s terms, my mother was a 3X founder.

My father owned a construction company and employed my brothers and an uncle on my mother’s side.

My eldest sister has owned a real estate business for more years than I’ve been alive.

The idea of starting my own business was in my DNA. It was inevitable. I am certain that to have done otherwise would be a regret in my senior years.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
For most of my adult life, I’ve owned some sort of business, starting off with micro-small businesses, ranging from styling hair in college, publishing children books teaching African-American history, toowning a brick-and-mortar clothing boutique, and owning an indie film company. There were also several business ideas I had but never pursued.

Now, I am the founder of 2 tech startups, one which offers a conversational AI voicbot to businesses, I co-founded with my millennial son. The second, a web-based estate planning software tool, was founded after losing my sister during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were certainly challenges along the way with each business. I often wonder where the earlier businesses would be today had I stuck with them for more than a couple of years. That leads me to a lesson I learned that I would love to share with other business owners, especially those just starting out: give the business the time it needs to succeed and plan for a 2-3 year period of slow growth. As long as the business is growing and gaining more customers, albeit slowly, then that’s a good indicator that you’re selling something that others are willing to buy.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that if you are going into business with someone else, it will save you time and frustration to first make absolute certain that you are on the same page for the future direction of the business. For example, if one founder wants to build an MVP and seek investors only to eventually exit but the other founder wants to build a legacy for future generations, then there will be challenges if a compromise is not reached before the differences split you apart.

As I’m building businesses I am finding ways to give back to communities in need. But I still have a lot of work to do to make this a reality. I have to be remembered as a servant, one who gave tirelessly to improve the lives of others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a bit of a home body, so I tend to enjoy small, intimate gatherings with family and close friends. If I were to plan a week’s itinerary for a visiting friend, it would look something like this: dinner and drinks at Pappadeaux’s, a walk up Stone Mountain, a visit to Lake Lanier, a visit to Savannah, and a dinner party at my home.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
God willing, my story is not yet over. It is a journey of roads I am yet to travel, sprinkled with breadcrumbs of love, encouragement, and wisdom to lead me to my place of purpose.

I have been blessed in many ways. Reflecting on the vast number of people who have contributed to who I am, it’s too many to name individually. So I will name those whose impact on my life was not only for a season, but who have greatly helped to mold me into the person I am today.

First and foremost, I give a shoutout to my parents for teaching me the value of family and hard work, especially my mother who taught me the importance of giving back to the community. Without a solid foundation of family love and support, my journey and outcome would likely be much different than it is.

Having raised 12 children while running businesses, my parents never lost sight of their responsibility as parents. My mother was the nucleus of the family, the glue that kept us together no matter how hard it got. My father was full of rage, struggling to express love to his children but he kept us safe. My parents had staying power that taught me the importance of family. Regardless of how tumultuous home life was, they both continued to work hard to grow their businesses for the sake of the family. And, my mother made certain that the children attended church and were involved in community service.

Another shoutout goes to my other family members and close friends, who have provided spiritual mentorship, wisdom, and encouragement. Having such a large family and pool of friends has afforded me the opportunity for very special and close relationships with a variety of personalities and approaches to life. The combined lived experiences of this group continues to encourage and guide me on my entrepreneurial journey.

The last shoutout goes to my former employers, each of whom I have had mentors that took me under their wings to teach me about business operations at scale, and whom respected my contributions and insights.

As founders, we need cheerleaders to keep us motivated and to encourage us to keep moving, who can convince us that even failure is success because of what we’ll learn along the way. I’ve been blessed to have a tribe of cheerleaders leading me on.

Website: edifius.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perlahumphrey/