Most people think freedom starts with a document. America Newton proved it starts with a decision. In the 1870s, a formerly enslaved Black woman packed up her young daughter and went west into the California mountains — not for a man, not for a family legacy, but to build one. She landed near a rough gold-mining town called Julian, where the streets were dust, the power belonged to white men, and nothing about the environment was designed for her survival, let alone her success. While most people clung to what felt familiar, America did something wilder: she built infrastructure. She opened a laundry that kept miners and townspeople in clean clothes — in a camp where hygiene, order, and basic dignity depended on women’s unpaid labor. Her business didn’t sit on the sidelines of the town; it helped hold the town together. And then she did the part everybody forgets to mention: America Newton claimed land. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Records remember her as a homesteader whose name became tied to local property and landmarks in the Julian area — a Black woman, formerly enslaved, now associated with acres in her own right in the California backcountry. Her presence and personality were so strong that the community talked about her for decades after. Welcome to Day 16 of Deleted History: Black women they prayed you’d never learn about. America didn’t ask, “Will they accept me?” She asked, “What do they need that I can own?” She turned a hostile environment into a hungry market, a service into essential infrastructure, and risk into land. If you’re a Black woman expert sitting in an industry that wasn’t built for you, America’s blueprint is simple: Stop waiting for perfect conditions. Find the underserved market everyone else is scared of. Build the thing they can’t function without — and tie your name to assets, not just effort. I’m Ashley Kirkwood — over $11M in sales, two-time Inc. 5000 CEO, and in the 2% of Black women-owned businesses with full-time W‑2 employees and millions in annual revenue.

Pricing problems are rarely about math.They’re about mindset. We unpacked: • Why experts undercharge • How value perception is formed • A framework for high-value pricing 👇 What belief about pricing are you letting go of?

Objections aren’t personal.They’re information. This session covered:• Why “no” isn’t the end of the conversation• How to respond without shrinking• The mindset shift that turns resistance into opportunity 👇 What objection do you now see differently?

I am so excited to have been invited to speak by my friend and celebrity chef Crystal Blanchette Topic: Energy and Hormone Balance Program; my topic Metabolic Fire: Supporting Thyroid and Adrenals