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Get in the Game, Know the Players, Shoot Your Shot
By Teasha Cable
Most small business support programs can tell you how many founders attended a workshop. Unfortunately, far fewer can tell you how many went on to win a contract.
Most small business support programs can tell you how many founders attended a workshop. Unfortunately, far fewer can tell you how many went on to win a contract.
That gap sits at the center of my conversation with Dr. Alice Gordon Holloway, Ph.D., MBA, interim executive director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Growth and Excellence (the EC) in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. Holloway has spent more than two decades inside corporate supply chains, corporate and crisis communications and governmental relations. She worked in corporate supplier relationships at Alabama Power Foundation, started six companies of her own (can you say serial entrepreneur?), and now leads a nonprofit built to help diverse and small businesses scale. She also holds a PhD in business management, entrepreneurship, and strategy. Here is what stood out. Whew.
Getting Connected...It's Starts with Email
When I asked what it really takes to break into corporate supply chains, her reply was surprisingly simple:
Email.
Early in her own business, she missed meeting invitations because her platform wasn't connected with her clients' systems. She didn't know this was happening until the opportunities stopped coming.
Her solutions are also simple:
- Make sure your tech works with your buyer's
- Use professional language in every document
- Be in the room wherever decision makers gather
- Fine tune your elevator pitch
Dr. Alice was resolute: "You must be able to explain what you offer succinctly, and in a moment's notice. People still buy from people at this point."
Lastly, she tells founders to "show up in person, even if it means getting on a plane."
The Closely Guarded Secrets...Keeping You Out of the Game
Her book, Shh: Unlocking the Secrets of the Fortune 1000's Business Playbook, comes from the conversations most procurement professionals avoid.
There are secrets corporate professionals don't tell small businesses... because we don't think you can handle it.
However, not being ready is not the same as not being capable. Procurement teams will always try to protect a company's reputation. Meaning they will not entrust a century-old brand with a vendor with no track record.
Dr. Holloway's answer is to build a deep bench: relationships, references, and a reputation that makes people call you, even when they are asking if you know someone who does the work. But, how do you that?
Suit up, get in the game, know the players, shoot your shot.
What Gets Measured, Gets Done
"You cannot take goodwill to the bank. You cannot take potential opportunity to the bank. You cannot take partnerships to the bank."
The point being is cash flow absolutley shapes decision quality. A founder who is desperate for the next payment makes different choices than one who has options. Read that 2x.
Desperation has different decision making challenges than those operating in a flush and flourishing environment.
That's precisely why the EC sets targets around revenue, contracts, and survival, and why she tracks why businesses exit and who takes the baton when they do.
"What gets measured, gets done." The Brutal Honesty of One Truth Teller Dr. Holloway named five obstacles that keep small businesses from scaling:
- Lack of access to the people who can say "yes"
- Lack of strong networks
- The inability to tell your story
- Lack of access to capital (for women, and women of color in particular)
- A strategic plan that gets founders working on the business, not just in it
And lastly, yet most importantly...
Be coachable.
The Truth Hurts
She shared a story about a client who once told her she needed to "be more present."
That client's brutal honesty "stung," but and it was also the moment that greatly improved their relationship. Founders at the top of the pyramid rarely hear that kind of honesty, and a truth teller can be the difference between a pivot and a shutdown.
Where the EC Fits
The Economic Center, launched as a freestanding nonprofit in February 2026, that grew out of a 2023 Black business census analysis that found a gap in how diverse businesses sustain and scale.
Backed by the city of Birmingham, foundations, and corporate partners, it works as a marketplace: businesses that need help on one side, resource partners who can provide it on the other, matched through a CModel Data, Inc.'s data-driven platform.
The EC is where Dr. Holloway's life's work finally has a name.
Listen to the full conversation on the Dynamic Decisions Podcast, and if you are a Birmingham small business or a resource partner, connect with the Entrepreneurship Center for Growth and Excellence.