MEDIA RELEASE: North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Taps YellowWood Group CEO Olalah Njenga To Keynote At School of Business Global Speaker Series Launch

Award-winning marketer and business owner, Olalah Njenga to  present “Set Yourself Up for a Breakthrough” as the inaugural topic for NCCU School of Business launch of Global Speakers Series on March 22, 2012

Raleigh, NC (March 20, 2012): North Carolina Central University’s School of Business is focused on preparing their students for success and global leadership in the 21st century. In choosing Olalah Njenga as the keynote speaker to launch the School of Business Global Speakers Series on March 22^nd, the school recognizes Njenga’s reputation as a respected thought leader in the business community and as a champion for women through her civic endeavors.

Njenga, known for her matter-of-fact presentation style, will share one of her signature messages “Set Yourself Up for a Breakthrough” with students, faculty and members of the Triangle business and civic communities.  Njenga remarks, “I’m thrilled to kick off the Global Speaker Series. It is an incredible honor and deeply humbling to be chosen.  My keynote discusses the elements of a breakthrough and how facing each day by asking a simple, yet powerful question can ignite your breakthrough in a way you never imagined. I’m looking forward to sharing this message. ”

A complimentary breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the Banquet Hall of NCCU’s W.G. Pearson Cafeteria.  Njenga’s presentation will begin at 8:15 a.m. A meet-and-greet and Q&A session will follow. Advanced RSVP is required via email to: globalspeakersseries@nccu.edu.

The Global SpeakersSeries is important to the school’s overall mission of preparing students to compete in a global marketplace and building a foundation for future career success.

About Olalah Njenga

The author of 37 What Were They Thinking Moments in Marketing, Olalah has been spotlighted on Forbes.com, Fox News and Small Business Trends. She’s a passionate small business champion who writes a column for Carolina Business Connection and is a featured expert in the 2012 Woman’s Advantage calendar. Olalah serves on several business advisory boards and is a two-time Top 50 Catalyst Entrepreneur award winner, a two-time International Stevie® Women In Business award finalist and was named a Women Extraordinaire for seeing her company to record revenue growth. Information about Olalah’s upcoming events and speaking engagements are at www.Olalah.com. For information about her company’s marketing consulting solutions, please visit www.YellowWoodGroup.com.

About The NCCU Dean’s Global Speakers

The NCCU Dean’s Global Speakers Series is an outgrowth of university’s 2020 Strategic Plan and aims to increase retention and graduation rates, enhance academic distinction and distinctiveness and foster community engagement. Each Speakers Series forum will include roundtables and provide an opportunity for students to interact one-on-one with leading business professionals and entrepreneurs. Led by Dean D. Keith Pigues, the NCCU School of Business offers six undergraduate degrees, as well as an MBA program for working professionals, including three specialized degrees. The school prepares students for success and global leadership in the 21st century.

Media Contacts

For Olalah Njenga, please contact:

Eileen Batson, Batson Group Marketing and PR

919.413.2318

Eileen@BGMPR.com

For North Carolina Central University, please contact:

Darlene Laws
919.530.6458
DLaws@nccu.edu

Radical Partnering - The Art of Creating Profitable Business Alliances and Joint Ventures

Whether you're King of the Hill and ready to Create Your Own Movement or you want to become the next Global Brand here's absolutely the most important advice you'll get from anybody. . . .form an alliance with your competition. Yep you heard me right. Ever read the Art of War? Well I'll capsulize it for you - "Keep your Friends Close" and your "Enemies Closer"

You're good, yes? You've made it up the Hill.

But you want more. You want to be BIG. Really BIG! You want to own your space, you want to dominate your market and most of all, you want to be "The One" that everyone talks about - am I close?

So what's the issue? You have good leadership skills, a reasonably productive sales process and you're making money right? Ahhh, that's it you're NOT making enough money. Well building an "Intelligent Business Alliance" is a way to profit from using today's most important strategic tools, joint ventures, creative collaboration and strategic partnerships. Paradoxical as it may be, if you're a "self-employed" entrepreneur, the best way to compete right now is to identify your competition, sort through how you can and cannot leverage the majority of these businesses and then form strategic alliances with the rest.

Think about it, whether it's local market ownership or global market penetration and domination it will take this kind of evolved thinking. Even becoming the "go to" business in a local market will rely on getting past the "lone ranger" mentality.

Conflict and competition are not part of the new business dynamic. The Stone Age is called the 20th Century. Cooperation and mutual benefit reign supreme in the 21st Century and those who are smart enough to embrace the concept and plan strategically will own their markets.

So look for a good alliance partner to stand side-by-side with and together you can make "It" happen for both your businesses. Defining "it" together is where the finesse comes in.

Some suggestions: Look for a company who has expertise, skill sets where you "don't" i.e. you have an established business but not enough customers? There are thousands of experienced sales and marketing consultants out there just looking to help you get more customers or let's say you have a new product that you want to market on the internet but you don't have a list of customers - FIND A COMPANY WITH THE SAME KIND OF PRODUCTS same target market and an established list of customers and "partner with them". It makes good business sense to give up a percentage of your profit to this new "strategic partnership" to 'get into business" quickly via someone else's website and lead list.

So you've all heard that the best partnerships are "Win-Win" where both sides get "something" out of the alliance. You've Heard Right!

I challenge you to reexamine your thinking about creative collaboration and approach joint ventures and strategic partnerships with a new awareness. If you move toward potential business alliances armed with the clarity that comes from being 'educated" on the subject and equipped with specific tools to evaluate and manage your collective business - YOU WILL SUCCEED. I GUARANTEE YOU the time you invest to better understand today's most important strategic business tools - joint ventures, creative collaborations and strategic partnerships will serve you well over a lifetime.