Good morning,
Tye Caldwell is a lifelong student of human relationships.
His formal study began early in a small town in Arkansas, when his parents started teaching him to talk to adults and socialize. As he reached school age, and then as a teenager, they briefed him on how, as a Black man, he needed to be cautious and intentional in his interactions with police. “They called my dad the mayor,” Caldwell tells Inc. “He knew a lot about relationships. My dad had friends who were racist White people, but they generally liked him. I understood racism was here, but I also knew about building those relationships.”
That experience has been crucial for his two businesses: Salon 74 by Tye, based in Plano, Texas, and ShearShare, a technology platform, co-founded with his wife, Courtney, to match stylists with available space at salons. Caldwell places such a premium on building relationships that he insisted on paying his company’s lease in person--a rare move that paid off when he convinced his landlord to let him take over and build out the space next door, with a year of free rent.
With his bank, it was harder. In 2006, despite a perfect credit score and money in the bank, Caldwell was turned down for a line of credit to match what he had in his account. Some banks have histories of racism, especially when it comes to issuing loans to Black business owners; it was the only explanation that made sense to him. And the bank rotated managers in and out too frequently to build rapport with any one of them.
Caldwell eventually solved that problem too, again with the power of human relationships. Read our story to learn how he’s used that strategy to build, sustain, and expand his two businesses--and why you should consider doing the same. |
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