Nakia Stith
CEO
Top of the Clock Inc.
What are some of the challenges you face being a young black female in the security industry?
People never expect to see me when they think of public safety services. It is an advantage because it’s a little disarming. [But] a lot of the challenges I faced were internal. [When I took over the company from my ailing father] there was a lot of waste and abuse and fraudulent behavior going on within the company. It really just took some time to clean house and start over again. Our brand was never damaged, so that was good, and people knew that we provided quality services. But in order for us to get to the next level, there were some things that I had to take care of and a lot of people that I had to get rid of to get us where we are right now.
Tip for young entrepreneurs: Stay conscious. Stay focused. Know that it can get bad. Sometimes it will get worse before it gets better. But if you’re consciously focused on the goals that you set and you don’t allow anything else to deter you, it starts to work out.