It was homage to our ancestors. As we stood here recording the 2026 Black Women Sell Live commercial, all I could think was: We are making them proud. I couldn’t help but wonder… What would Madam C.J. Walker say about the 2 million+ Black women–owned businesses operating today? What would Maggie Lena Walker say about the $98.3 billion our companies generate? What would she say about the fact that we’ve more than doubled our average annual revenue since the pandemic— even while traditional banks still hesitate to believe in our visions? What would she say about our ability to love each other, collaborate, and support one another— even in a world designed to fracture us? I don’t care what anyone says. Dedicating my life’s work to helping Black women experts rise and dominate their lanes was the best pivot I’ve ever made. Our history is RICH. Our creativity is RICH. Our love is RICH. We are all that and a bag of chips. When I wrote the script for the Black Women Sell Live commercial, I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I needed actresses to portray Madam C.J. Walker, Maggie Lena Walker, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Ellen Pleasant. I needed a full production team to bring the vision to life. I needed a director who could steward the assignment with excellence. And although I’ve written small commercial scripts before, this one was different. The first draft was 25+ pages… for a 5–10 minute commercial. Too long. But every word mattered. I had to research the figures. I had to build a narrative where the past and present collided. Some of it is fiction. Much of it is historically accurate. So who carried the vision mattered. So who did I call? A Black woman–owned production company. Of course. It’s fitting that a commercial about Black women’s economic power was built by sisters—and supported by strong men who honor that power. It’s fitting that I had to release control and trust other Black women to steward the vision. It’s fitting that this required collaboration, discernment, and trust