We had the good fortune of connecting with Eboneé Woodfork & Alexis Caldwell and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Eboneé Woodfork & Alexis Caldwell, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We started Rich Auntie Energy at the beginning of the pandemic because we noticed a need in our lives. We needed a declaration of joy, an affirmation and a reaffirmation for ourselves during a time when it felt like the world was ending. Rich Auntie Energy was originally a gift to ourselves. A gift that encouraged us to stand firm in who we are & to be proud of being the single, childless, and successful women in our families despite how society tells us to feel about our station in life. We made an impulsive decision to share this gift..this affirmation with the world. It was just our luck that thousands of other women needed this affirmation as well.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Executive Recruiting & Software Development are our respective professional careers. We are Black women born & raised on the Southside of Chicago. We both went to college & followed the path that was etched for us to have traditional success.
Our journey’s weren’t easy as we don’t believe many black woman inherently have a life of ease but we are creating that life for ourselves. Rich Auntie Energy, RAE, has been a major stepping stone in our creating a life and journey of ease. RAE has been an affirmation of the life we’ve managed to manifest in spite of all that life has thrown our way. Alexis is a Black Woman in Tech. She is and continues to be the outlier to every rule that has ever been set about black women from the Southside of Chicago. Eboneé is a Black Woman in Executive Recruiting who uses her sociology background & lived experience to spread awareness about the lack of equity in the workplace for Black Women. The women of RAE continue to succeed and overcome in spite of because their journey’s didn’t allow room for anything but success. Failure has never had a byline in our destiny.
We want the world to know that the aunties of the culture deserve to be held up in the light of goodness for their impact, love & guidance of the next generation. We want the world to know and to celebrate the single, childless, successful Rich Auntie’s of our culture instead of trying to force them to fit into society’s narrow view of what a successful woman should look like. We want the world to know that the Rich Auntie’s in your life deserve to be recognized for more than the functions of their uterus or their relation to a man. We want the world to respect & uplift the women who don’t get the hallmark section or a holiday that’s widely celebrated. We want the world to see & hear the Rich Auntie’s of the world. Rich Auntie Energy is an echo chamber for these women.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If we had to plan an itinerary for a visit to Chicago we’d share a mix of “traditional” tourists spots & local haunts that are worth the trip!
Brunch Restaurants: Batter and Berries, Truth Italian Restaurant (Black Owned), Chicago Chicken and Waffles (Black Owned)
Dinner Restaurants: Soul’e (Black Owned), Provare (Black Owned), Kitchen + Kocktails (Black Owned), Trulucks
Activities: Sky Deck, Architecture Boat Tour (Summer Only!), Navy Pier, Bulls Game, Visit Cloud Gate aka The Bean, The Color Factory, 360 Chicago, Shopping on the Magnificent Mile!
Happy Hour/Cocktails: Ceres, Raised Rooftop Bar, City Winery Heated Dome, CloudBar at 360 CHICAGO
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?
We would love to S/O all the Rich Aunties! The women that no one brags about. The women that don’t get a Hallmark section. The women whose contributions to the mental, emotional and spiritual growth of the next generation go unnoticed. We want to uplift this community of women, the aunties, who don’t get their flowers when they are so severely overdue.
Website: https://richauntieenergy.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richauntieenergy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/richauntienergy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richauntieenergy/
Image Credits
Rich Auntie Energy LLC