Female Founders: Carlena J Evans of Kidsplosion USA On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be a self-starter and self-reliant. Others will not see nor understand your vision. However, others will eventually catch on if you do the work and stay the course.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Carlena J. Evans M.Ed
Carlena J. Evans M.Ed. is a philanthropist, business owner and mother with a passion to enable children to DISCOVER, DEVELOP and DISPLAY their gifts and talents. She founded Kidsplosion to give back to underprovided communities and allow children to reach their fullest potential. Carlena is also the daughter of late actor/writer Mike Evans and the intellectual property owner of 70’s hit series Good Times.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
It began with Communication/Strong English skills. I have always been very good at articulating myself. My skills caught the attention of a college professor who asked me to tutor incoming first-year students in writing. Soon after, I was teaching high school (all before obtaining my bachelor’s degree.) While in grad school for education, the concept that later became Kidsplosion came to me in a dream. It was AMAZING. I could mix my business and entertainment talents into one definitive cause. I decided to pursue the calling I saw. My education and strength in communicating gave me the proper foundation to push the cause I am so passionate about.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
There are more stories than I can count.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My only mistakes were listening to others and not adhering to my expertise and intuition. Those mistakes weren’t funny but costly. Fortunately, I’ve learned!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m grateful for a loyal team who have worked with me for several years, particularly my summer camp family. In addition, I have several teachers and educators who return each year.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
Unreasonable fear and intimidation. Women hold back because they think they can’t do something but in actuality, they CAN! It’s kind of like teenagers wearing sweatshirts in the summer. (Still trying to figure this one out!???) They wear sweatshirts because they think it’s “cool,” but it’s HOT…
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the governmet, to help overcome those obstacles?
Be a self-starter and self-reliant. Others will not see nor understand your vision. However, others will eventually catch on if you do the work and stay the course.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder, but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
A woman’s touch is needed in everything. Women are often detail oriented, more socially cautious, and do things with care. Every business (regardless of field) requires all of the above.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
OMG, so many people believe that a FOUNDER/CEO is so cool and comes with unlimited money and power. But in actuality, we are the ultimate volunteers! We work whether there is profit or not. We have no paid holidays, no weekends off, etc. Every CEO earns that title with blood, sweat, and tears.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Everyone is not built to be a Founder. There is a lot of personal strength, resilience, and persistence needed.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Listen to your intuition
- The sacrifices are constant
- Your success will hurt others, not for any literal reason, but jealousy is very real.
- Despite the work and sacrifice, it is worth it.
- Your impact (on children, women, families, etc.) is not able to be measured
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Absolutely! My personal reward IS GIVING. I continue to do extensive work throughout Africa and in other high-need areas. Visit www.kidsplosionusa.com to learn more
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Well… I’d enable youth to Discover, Develop, and Display their gifts and talents, then create platforms for their abilities to be shared and united globally. I would call it KIDSPLOSION!
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Magic Johnson! It is scientifically impossible for us to sit down and not get back up without making money! Our minds together would be insanely ingenious. I have massive respect for all he has done in business!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Carlena J Evans of Kidsplosion USA On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.