We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Going Global with an (African) American Business

For many academics, teaching and researching on topics we love has a direct correlation with changes we want to see in individuals, institutions, and society. For instance, teaching a course in sustainability might strongly correlate with a professor’s interest in the environment. Classes such as, managing diversity, social entrepreneurship, and corporate entrepreneurship—in addition to a survey of marketing class—are all courses the author of this chapter has a connection to academically and personally. He has chosen, therefore, to write this chapter in a more informal, personal, and direct tone. The creation of a BBQ sauce venture outside of academia while teaching in New Zealand allowed him to hit the triple nexus of (a) practicing skills he would later teach his students, (b) gaining insight into how diversity and inclusion issues are revisited overseas with the branding of an ethnic market-niche product, and (c) adding some connectivity between his personal life and the New Zealand society (where he lectured and introduced his product) via a small company intent on doing good with the customer and the retailers. Starting a venture in Kansas City—a Mecca of BBQ culture, would be one thing—but New Zealand? What the author’s experience taught him was that overseas travel, entrepreneurship, and adaptation are the ultimate “change” for any future manager. A measured, patient approach to friendship, cultural intelligence, and business development, are warranted.