Shaquana Teasley says in the global trade business, “the industry is always in distress.” A few years ago, it was COVID-19. Now, it’s tariffs and a global trade war.
Teasley, also known as Shaq, knows firsthand that global trade always has some issue — in fact, she has for a long time. But, the founder and CEO of supply chain and international trade consultancy Agate Solutions has also learned, through her own experiences and the connections she’s made, how to excel nonetheless.
More important, she said she wants to share the knowledge with others in the business world so they can find the same success.
Nearly 100 business owners from across the nation and globe gathered at Atlanta’s Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs on Saturday to learn how to find success amid the growing anxiety around tariffs.
This year marked Agate’s fourth Mayday event, hosted in collaboration with International Supply Partners. Each year, Teasley focuses the one-day conference around whatever topic is prevalent in the business world at the moment.
This year’s event was titled “Tactics to Thrive in Trade and Tariffs.”
Teasley’s goal with Mayday is twofold: provide actionable advice and create an intimate environment for networking. She said she wants attendees to leave with “information to not just survive, but thrive.”
Credit: Credit: Allison Mawn / AJC
Credit: Credit: Allison Mawn / AJC
The trade war has thrown consumers and many small business owners for a loop, in addition to uncertainty about the cost of importing or exporting goods, forcing many decision-makers to put expansion plans on hold.
Consumer sentiment rebounded a bit in May after slumping for five straight months, according to The Conference Board.
International Supply Partners founder and CEO Jennifer Barbosa echoed the aim of providing “knowledgeable, accurate information” and the importance of cultivating a proactive, instead of reactive, mindset.
“What we need to do is move away from survival and move into ownership, move into impact and move into building legacies,” Barbosa said during her keynote.
The program included two panels, focused on operations and global markets, as well as keynote addresses by Teasley and Barbosa. All of the sessions centered on teaching how to “not just compete, but compete and win globally,” as Teasley put it.
A common refrain throughout the day was the necessity of adaptability.
One of the reasons tariffs have created so much anxiety is the seemingly constant changes in policy. Being able to stay calm and ride the waves of whatever comes was highlighted by multiple speakers. Business professionals need patience “because this is going to be a long change,” David Hughes said during the global markets panel.
Panelists encouraged attendees to be OK with adapting their strategies while staying committed to their missions; challenges are inevitable, so how a business responds is everything.
“Don’t pause when you hear bad news,” Larry Yon, co-founder and president of internet security business Cyber Alliance, said during the operations panel.
Part of adaptability is to broaden your own skill set and knowledge, according to several of the speakers.
Whether it is learning the lingo and legal workarounds to avoid overpaying tariffs or getting additional certifications, education should not stop when you leave school, according to Teasley. More education makes a business owner better able to weather the storm of economic uncertainty.
“The world is being put in a position to break down every false security,” Teasley said during her keynote.
Another key theme was the necessity of solid relationships, especially across diverse skill sets.
“That’s how deals really happen,” Teasley said.
The small nature of the conference is by design to help support relationship building; registration is limited to 100 spots. This intimacy helps foster more intentional, meaningful business connections that attendees are more likely to follow up on and form working relationships from.
“No business works in a silo, and no business can grow in a silo,” Barbosa said. “Understand that everyone is good at something, and just make those relationships with those people that are good in the areas you’re not.”
Beyond this emphasis on the importance of connection, the day had an undercurrent of highlighting the vitalness of mentorship.
Agate offers accredited continuing education classes through its Agate Scholars program, which has had about 5,000 students in the last three years, according to Teasley. A few Agate Scholars, hand-selected by Teasley, were present and recognized at Saturday’s event.
International Supply Partners also has an initiative to work with high school and college students to teach them about working in the supply chain, in addition to launching a new program to teach small businesses how to effectively work with global companies.
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