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Owners Illustrated Magazine founder and Hustlenomics Way Podcast host Damola Idowu interviews 3 consultants for American Express during the Summit for Success in Washington, DC. The summit was a great event for small business owners to network and ask questions pertinent to their success. This podcast features 3 interviews and has fascinating details that will help any entrepreneur seeking ways to grow their business. The topics discussed are wide-ranging and the conversations are fascinating. Ron Busby, Gloria Larkin, and Rod Robinson were the interviewees, Damola Idowu is the interviewer. The consultants interviewed and their bios are as follows.

Gloria Larkin, Procurement Advisor to American Express

Gloria Larkin is the President and CEO of TargetGov, a government contracting, business development and marketing consulting firm. Gloria is the creator of the exclusive FAST™ Process, and the KickStart Program™ and a subject matter expert on government procurement and marketing. Her clients have won over $4 billion in federal contracts. Gloria is also the new Procurement Advisor to American Express. Gloria has been quoted in the Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, and Bloomberg. She is the author of The Basic Guide to Government Contracting and of hundreds of federal contracting articles in print and online.  Gloria is also the Educational Foundation Board Chair Emeritus for WIPP.org.  Gloria began working with American Express as the Procurement Advisor this past year. 

Rod Robinson, Corporate Procurement Advisor to American Express

Rod Robinson recently began working with American Express as the  Corporate Procurement Advisor this past year.  He is also the founder, president, and CEO of Connxus, Inc., a company which provides an online service that connects diverse and small businesses with companies seeking to expand and diversify their supplier base.  Connxus focuses on aggregating corporate purchasing demand and helping corporations to locate, evaluate, and engage performance-rated small, and minority- or woman-owned businesses in various categories, such as construction, transportation, information technology, consulting, marketing, and temporary staffing. Rod’s expertise in procurement comes from nearly 20 years of experience as a chief procurement officer for a major telecommunications company and as a management consultant with firms such as AT Kearney, Accenture and Diamond Advisory Services where he was a procurement subject matter expert.

Ron Busby, President, U.S. Black Chamber

As President/CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), Ron Busby, Sr. brings business management skills as well as a lifetime of community development experience to the organization. Mr. Busby is a former successful business owner himself, and he has been recognized as one of the nation’s best CEOs. Ron grew his first company, USA Superclean, from $150,000 annualized revenue, to over $15 million in only 10 years. Early on in his career, USA Superclean was recognized as the largest Black-owned janitorial firm in the country. Mr. Busby has also started and grown two other janitorial firms, both resulting in over $4 million in annualized revenue.