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

Hi Amara, what do you want your legacy to be?
I want my legacy to be grounded in my courage to be free and joyful. As a Black woman in America, my freedom and joy is one I must demand myself because the system does not want that for me. However, I believe that it’s my birthright. We all deserve that.

I want people to remember I was courageous enough to say “my birthright is to be free and joyful” and actually do it. I have spent the last year living abroad, living a nontraditional lifestyle as an entrepreneur, and trusting my intuition when I don’t even understand where it is leading me. I do this because I want to feel happy every day. I deserve to feel a deep sense of joy in my soul and freedom in my heart. I want other people to feel their birthright is joy and freedom. I do that by modeling how to be scared and courageous at the same time. There are a lot of tears (both happy and fearful) on my journey because I’m traveling an uncharted path. But a happy one.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My story involves a lot of courage, failure, resilience, and trusting my intuition. I believe I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life. I have an internal hustle and tenacity that I possess that I can only attribute to being a Black woman. There is something that I inherited that is greater than me. I lean into that power and strength. Entrepreneurship is about the constant evolution of self and being comfortable with a nonlinear path.

I started my professional career as a Chemical Engineer. It was a great experience because I built upon a lot of my natural skills such as data analysis, strategic thinking, and solution development. However, my intuition was telling me “sis this ain’t it.” I wanted more mission-driven work and a greater purpose for my work.

I followed my intuition and became a high school math teacher which seemed idiotic at the time. I had massive student loan debt and went from the possibility of a $70,000+ salary post-graduation to getting paid $35,000. But I had to trust myself.

At the time, nothing could have been harder than obtaining my engineering degree – Organic Chemistry will have your brain totally burnt out within 10 minutes. However, being a high school math teacher at a low-income school was extremely difficult. It was not the kids. It was the fact these children had been totally mistreated and underserved by the educational system that was the most challenging. They had no faith in themselves because the system had totally failed them since they were Black and Brown and low-income. I worked tirelessly for my students because they deserved amazing math instruction. Their futures and potential drove me to wake up at 5:30 am every day for 4 years to create a healthy place for them to love and grow. Now financially I was struggling and I missed my family.

I decided to move back to New York. I began working at an educational nonprofit where we helped students get to and through college. I loved this role but the oppression I received from the organizational leaders forced me to find something else. I became an educational consultant coaching math teachers throughout the New York City public school system. This is where my nontraditional lifestyle began. I was a per diem employee with no health benefits or perks of being a full-time employee. I was financially in one of the best places of my life but I was not satisfied. While I developed leadership skills and my facilitation skills were becoming flawless, I missed working directly with students.

I began tutoring in the evenings. One of my clients was a Black family from Harlem attending a private school in Manhattan. The school was paying me $100/hour to tutor scholarship students. I had five clients at that school and two clients where the parents paid me the same as the school. However, I also had parents paying me out of pocket who I charged half that price. I realized it was a huge inequity that low to middle-income parents faced. They did not have the financial ability to give their children the supplemental academic support their children needed. This is how my first business, Math without Limits was born. The goal was to create a math intervention program that works directly with the school site to provide support to struggling learners. I had some successes working with a charter school in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, once the pandemic happened, working directly with schools became extremely challenging as they navigated online learning.

As I leaned into myself, I heard my intuition say “sis this ain’t it” again and I decided my first business would need to close. It was extremely hard to do but sometimes the ending of one thing can be the beginning of the next thing. I started my current business, Amara B Solutions in March 2021. The title came from my ability to create solutions with ease. The business has been through a lot of evolution within a year. I began by focusing on helping online business coaches with their community engagement. However, I realized I was helping the coaches with more operations and strategies. I pivoted the focus on supporting online service providers with their client workflows but that wasn’t working. I got zero traction. My intuition said, “sis this ain’t it.” I was pretty lost at this point because I wasn’t sure what to do but I wasn’t giving up on myself.

I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to attend a mastermind conference hosted by Robert Hartwell, Susan Hyatt, and Rachel Rodgers called The Most. This was a huge turning point for me. I was in the room with other women entrepreneurs who had made 7 figures in their business and I was there. I haven’t made that yet but there is a reason I was there. So I leaned in.

Over the past 3 months since that conference, I have pivoted my business again. I have realized that my strengths intersect in a very unique way. I have a data-driven strategy mind that understands people and culture. I know how to create safe and healthy environments where people learn, grow, and thrive. I utilize a data-driven framework to do this which makes me unique. I have a rare skill set because I can blend my logical data-driven mind to create solutions that are people-centered and support culture.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned in this journey is believing in yourself comes from within. I’ve done a lot of self-work to unlearn a lot of my childhood trauma to really understand that I’m worthy of amazing things. And while the current moment may not always match what’s coming, I know something amazing is coming because I deserve it. I’m worthy of amazing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For me, people and places and food are my favorite things. When I’m with the people I love, I want to eat, talk and laugh in the sunshine.

I am a huge foodie which people laugh at because I’m also a plant-based eater. Plant-based eaters are foodies too! We are going eat at all my favorite places- Origin for vegan pancakes, smoothie bowls, and desserts, One Happy Bowl for fresh fruit popsicles and vegan pastechi, Eduardos Hideaway for vegan tacos and loaded fries, O’Neil’s for local Caribbean cuisine, and Kamini’s Kitchen for fungi fries and roti.

We are going to all the beaches possible but definitely Baby Beach and Rodgers Beach.

We will spend a day in nature at the Natural Park.

Evenings we can watch the sunset on Mangel Halo beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

To my ancestors and my family of origin – Thank you for the resilience and same kick-ass genetics.

To my chosen family – I’m so grateful to have friends who love me, show up for me during hard times, and root for my successes. I couldn’t do this without you all.

To my partner – I’m grateful for the memories we continue to create and the love we cultivate daily. You have become a light in my life. Thank you for always believing in me.

To my therapists and healers – Thank you for helping me unlearn my trauma, step into my light, shine from within, and prioritize myself.

To my Shmillies – Thank you for being the community I need in this entrepreneurial journey.

To Robert, Susan and Rachel – Thank you for the scholarship. The Most changed my life more than you know.

To Angela Carter – My new Aries sister for recommending me for this opportunity.

To every no I’ve gotten – Thank you for helping me learn how to have a MEAN bounce back and continue to believe in myself.

Website: http://www.amarabsolutions.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amarabsolutions/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amara-brown-04855114/

Image Credits
Robert Hartwell, Susan Hyatt, me, Rachel Rodgers (last picture with The Most background) Gerald Dalmasi – Boy with me

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.