This Best-Of episode spotlights founders who stopped waiting for permission and chose to build anyway.

These stories highlight what happens when creators are overlooked, underestimated, or even excluded from traditional systems. Instead of fitting into spaces that were not built for them, they created their own ecosystems rooted in ownership, culture, and authenticity.

You’ll hear how conviction, self-trust, and long-term vision fuel innovation. This compilation is for anyone building without validation, navigating cultural gatekeeping, or creating something new because what they needed did not exist.

KEY POINTS: 

301: The $15 Trillion Opportunity: Protecting Black Culture & Ownership | Lanny Smith, Tommy Johnson

302: The Unusual Pairing - Ingrid Best on Building Space for Black Women in Luxury & Wine

303: The Internet Was Built on Black Culture, Alphonzo Terrell Says It’s Time We Own It

304: The Future of Music is AI: How Black Creators Can Win the Next Creative Era

306: One Vision, One Weekend, 50,000 People: Michael Barclay on Scaling Essence Festival and Cultural Legacy

307: Tiffany "The Budgetnista" Aliche on Losing Everything to Find Yourself: Lessons After $300,000 in Debt

RESOURCES 

Felecia Hatcher

IG | @feleciahatcher

Black Ambition

IG | @blackambitionprize

So Ambitious is produced by EPYC Media