OWN YOUR BRAND SHOW with Victoria Odekomaya

Why Visibility Fuels Opportunity | Epi 68

• Victoria Odekomaya | LiMStudios Network • Episode 68

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In this episode, Victoria Odekomaya sits down with powerhouse construction leader Akilah Darden, President of The Darden Group. Akilah shares her incredible journey from breaking into a male-dominated industry to building skyscrapers in Washington DC by age 24, and later moving to Indianapolis to launch her own company. 

She opens up about the adversity she faced — from sexism and racism to the pressures of being a Black woman in leadership — and how she turned challenges into opportunities that created jobs, empowered subcontractors, and built community impact projects like the Cook Medical facility and a grocery store in a food desert.

Whether you’re a woman entrepreneur, leader in STEM, or simply chasing your next big opportunity, Akilah’s story will inspire you to embrace confidence, turn every “no” into a “yes,” and focus on legacy.

 👉 Don’t miss her insights on confidence, preparation, and building people while you build businesses.

🔗 Learn more about Akilah Darden and her work:
 🌐 Website: https://akilahdarden.com/

 🎓 Courses by The Darden Group: https://courses.dardengroupllc.com/

📖 Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Construction-Manager-Akilah-Darden/dp/B09YWXPWR8

📚 Book on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-mom-is-a-construction-manager-akilah-w-darden/1141393884

ABOUT

Victoria Odekomaya is a proud Nigerian American whose 23-year journey to U.S. citizenship shaped her belief that everyone has a purpose and that she is a vessel God uses to help leaders fulfill theirs.

She is the founder of LiMStudios, a full-service creative agency and state-of-the-art content studio in Indianapolis. Through LiMStudios, Victoria helps small businesses become known, paid, and remembered through high-quality photography, video, podcasting, and content marketing strategy. She is also the creator of Boss Ladies Magazine and host of The Own Your Brand Show, platforms dedicated to amplifying female leaders who are ready to step fully into their power and impact others.

With nearly two decades in drug research and her long journey to citizenship, Victoria understands the perseverance and clarity it takes to build something lasting. That same drive fuels her mission to help entrepreneurs show up, grow, and leave a legacy. Since launching the Boss Ladies Campaign in 2022, she has helped raise over $30,000 for local nonprofits while empowering women to feel confident, credible, and celebrated.

Follow Victoria’s journey through LiMStudios, Boss Ladies Magazine, and The Own Your Brand Show, and join her in amplifying voices, building legacy, and making impact.

📩 For sponsorship or business inquiries:
mtr.bio/limstudios | hello@thelimstudios.com | Text 260-777-7211

Akilah Darden:

I'm a 3D person. I know architecture, engineering. If I can design the building, the functionality of the building, then why can't I build it? So I put my resume out there knowing that my dream job was to work with Clark Construction, the largest general contractor in the country. I reached out to Clark Construction. They just hired their first female HR representative. And she hired me in 2000. And I told her I wanted to build skyscrapers in DC Wow. And at 24 years old, I got my first 11 story office building in downtown DC. Oh my God. During one of my PTO meetings, I was presenting something and my kids were so loud in the back. After I finished my presentation, I was like, what were you guys so animated about? And they were like, well, they don't believe that you're in construction, that you build things. As many hours as I've had success, I've had about three times as many hours of adversity negativity, racism, you can't do this, sexism. So I built up ours in adversity. What would you like your legacy to look like? Ooh.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Own Your Brand Show. I'm your girl, Victoria Odeko-Meyer. And you know, on this show, we bring you real stories of powerful boss ladies that are crushing it. We also share with you actionable strategies to help you build your brand and build your business. And today I am excited to welcome Akilah Darden. She is, look, if you don't know this woman, you need to know her. She's an amazing mom. I've come to know a little bit more about her and she is very fun to be around. I remember when When I photographed her, at first I was a little nervous because she's very accomplished. She owns a construction business. She's a construction management expert. She's an author. She has several classes that she's using to help other people grow in their construction businesses. So she's really killing it in all of the areas. So when I was like trying to get to know, I was like, oh my God, you know, but she's really cool. And today we're going to be sharing a little bit about our life journey and the things that she's doing to help the community. I want to touch on her successes, the challenges, and how she broke through into this business. So without much ado, let's get into it. Hi, how are you doing, Akilah? Victoria, that was amazing. I'm trying to figure out who you're talking to. It's you. It's you. Powerful Boss Ladies here. I am just so excited and honored to feature you in this edition of the Boss Ladies magazine. And if you have not seen this one, it's available to you online. You can pick up a copy as well, but you definitely want to read and see how she looks badass. I don't know if I can even say it. say that. But anyway.

Akilah Darden:

It was amazing. Let me tell you, go check Victoria out. You want her to do your photo shoot, your cover page, your headshot. She's absolutely amazing. Thank you. Well, how are you doing today? I am wonderful. Can I just say I love your studio? This is beautiful. Talk about a boss lady. I'm so impressed. Well, thank

Victoria Odekomaya:

you. Thank you. I'm very impressed with the things that you're doing. I like that it's also very intentional. So So for those people that don't know who you are, just give us a brief introduction.

Akilah Darden:

Okay, a brief introduction. Well, I'm from the D.C. metro area. I have a twin sister. I'm eight minutes older and I have an older brother. All three of us are entrepreneurs. My parents are educators. So I was raised with two teachers. One is an English teacher, my mom. And I went to school in Fairfax County. I was really good at math. I wanted to to be an engineer. And then I found architecture my senior year. Went to the North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, where I received my Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering. Best four years of my life. And then I went to get a master's degree in business with a concentration in finance. And then I was with an architecture firm for 12 hours. Realized I'm an extrovert. I love people and No offense to any architects, but they're more introverted and quiet. So after the second day at lunchtime, I was like, you know, I need to change up. I really wanted to be in construction, but my dean and professors were telling me I was too quote unquote smart for construction, I guess because they didn't know.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Because construction is not generally a women's, you know, you don't find a lot of women in construction. No, you

Akilah Darden:

don't. And you don't find anyone that didn't grow up in construction in construction. So it was It was a double whammy. Young, black, female. I mean, in baseball, you strike out, right? So I chose I was going to turn those no's into yes's. And I wanted to do construction. I wanted to see what it was about. I'm a 3D person. I know architecture, engineering. If I can design the building, the functionality of the building, then why can't I build it? So it took me about four months to get a job. And it was in Residence. And then I wanted more after building two seven-unit townhome structures. It was just easy. And that's what they wanted me to do because it was making a ton of money. So I put my resume out there knowing that my dream job was to work with Clark Construction, the largest general contractor in the country. They weren't having it. So I went to a mechanical contractor who was representing the airport Delos Airport their fuel tank farm they were acting as a mechanical contractor and a general contractor so I worked with them for a year and it taught me a lot about construction it taught me a lot about composure getting into the field learning about the people it was a lot it was a highly competitive angry environment but through it all it helped propel me into this is what I want to do with all the adversity. I knew I wanted to do it. And then I reached out to Clark Construction. They just hired their first female HR representative specifically for individuals in the construction projects. And she hired me in 2000. So it was May 10, 2000. I got the call and I told her I wanted to build skyscrapers in D.C.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow.

Akilah Darden:

And at 24 years old, I got my first 11 story office building in downtown D.C. Oh, my God. Yeah. And I had to demo a three story warehouse and excavate or dig below the ground 80 feet, which is five stories. And we had a five story parking garage, 11 story office building, the tallest building closest to the White House. Wow. And 10 feet away from the oldest Catholic church in D.C. that housed the chaplain for the D.C. Police Department. So building construction, if someone dies within the D.C. Police Department, I would have to shut down the project, make sure they had access. And then I was across the street from the World Bank with the highest paid attorneys in the world. And it was like game on. So we did the project on time, on budget. They actually added $2 million in changes. And we were able to finish one time and that propelled me like this is what I want to do I had to deal with community government secret service and just my project in

Victoria Odekomaya:

general it's so interesting as you're telling this story it's like you were 24 yeah you knew exactly what you wanted and you weren't going to take no for an answer and you were like you know what I'm just going to go give it you know putting out and you eventually got it and just talking the way you're talking about it I can feel the joy like yeah I did that you know I went for my dreams and you built you know, like you said, 11 story building. Yeah. 11 story office building for an attorney for, it was a law firm. Wow. That is incredible. I just love that tenacity. Like, and I think that a lot of people can learn from that because sometimes we're too shy as women to go for what we want, you know, but you're saying like, go for it. Like what's the worst they could say? No. But you turn the noise into a yes. You're like, I'm going to keep going until I hear a yes.

Akilah Darden:

Absolutely. But I kind of jumped when I first got into construction. I was like, I was working on a project, a residential project in Dulles, and they had 300 change orders, which equated to about $20 million of change orders. So new into construction, I had to figure out the project was almost done. I had to figure out like things that were excavating and in the walls to get the changes. But through that, I gained a rapport with the owner, which is one of the largest developers in the country. So but prior to the 11 story office building, I was walking into resign. I had another job. Really? Yeah, I had another job because I wasn't moving fast enough. Even though I was the youngest project manager promoted ever, I just knew I had what it took. So I will say it wasn't ingrained in me. It was my girl squad and my parents, right? Because everyone's saying no, but the people I trusted were saying, yes, you know, we're proud of you. We don't know why you want to do construction, but keep going. And so I knew there were better opportunities for me. And And there was a black female architect that was building DC. And I was like, I want to work under her. I love that. Got the job, went in to resign, and they didn't accept my resignation. They gave me plans and specs, stacks. They put it in the trunk and they were like, this is your project. You're the project manager. You've been promoted. They gave me the world. And that, I had three engineers working for me at the time. And they're all executives, senior VPs. one as a senior VP for Clark Construction. So those engineers that helped me on my first project as a project manager are now very successful in construction. And when I saw that, I was like, okay, I'm not only going to build and be successful, I'm going to build community. And most importantly, I'm going to build up the people around me. Even if they overtake me and become more successful, I knew that if I could build people, community, and projects at the same time, this is what I want to do. I

Victoria Odekomaya:

know. Wow. I can feel the energy. from you like so when did you decide to start your own business

Akilah Darden:

um so I knew I couldn't break the glass ceiling I was making hundreds of millions of dollars for um two large general contracting companies um I just couldn't get in the c-suite so I decided I was going to go into real estate and just build communities up um through the residential industry and then God was like nope I got pregnant with twins and I already had

Victoria Odekomaya:

you're a twin

Akilah Darden:

too I'm a twin that had twins oh that is so cool I want a twin so bad oh yeah everybody does right so I was like telling the doctor there's no way because I'm a twin and she just kind of looked at me and was like yes it's supposed to skip a generation or something like that she's like that's not true that's not medical sciences and I was like okay so she shut that down plus at the time she was a twin that had twins and her twin sister had twins oh my god and so I was like you know I had to meet all the doctors and that day she was the one that told me I was having twins Oh my goodness. I thought I had a baby with two heartbeats, but I digress. So I was like, okay, God doesn't want me to do that right now. I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to build a legacy for my future family. So I went back and I worked for another general contractor who was reaching out to me for 18 months. Went there and then I got another opportunity to build a general contracting firm in Indianapolis.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Okay. So

Akilah Darden:

after another 18 months... Is that what brought you to Indianapolis?

Victoria Odekomaya:

Oh, I see. Okay.

Akilah Darden:

Yeah, so I thought the job was in Cincinnati. Don't tell them. Until I got the offer letter and it was Indianapolis. And I was like, oh. Mind you, I didn't know anybody in the Midwest. Definitely no one in Indianapolis or Chicago. And my husband was like, we're East Coasters. We're not going

Victoria Odekomaya:

to the Midwest. I know. And it's very different. I used to live in D.C. too.

Akilah Darden:

So it's very, very different. Very different. Very different. It's seek or swim. It's highly competitive and you know that's where we grew up so and we have four kids and my husband heard me speak at a graduation at his cousin's church I thought it was her church was small and quaint we drove up as this mega church and I'm speaking to hundreds of high school and college graduates and he's like we gotta go

Speaker 02:

he's

Akilah Darden:

like you're not gonna grow here I'll do what it takes so we moved such a supporter oh my gosh yes I was like, really? That was 30 days. We decided in 30 days and we moved here to the Midwest and we love it. We love Indianapolis. And I was like hitting the ground running. I did a lot of business development for the organizations in D.C. So I just hit the streets and try to meet as many people as I could. So that was great. Three and a half years of that. Then I decided at the time when I was working with subcontractors that There's some help. I do? Then the 2019 city of Indianapolis disparity study came out and I was heartbroken to see all the diverse contractors in the gap of opportunity. Cause you can't build a business if you don't have opportunities, right? And you can't preconceive who I am until you give me a chance or opportunity, or at least let me talk about my business. So when I was meeting with people and they were talking about their business, I was like, okay, no, no, no, you don't do everything what is your business so I was like let me help educate and that's when I couldn't sleep and I said I told my husband now's the time I'm gonna start my own business and um in 2019 I started um I started branding in January 2020 wow oh my goodness yes yes yes yes yes I went from you know a very nice job uh stable full-time work and then four months into my entrepreneurship I had four you Young kids at home during COVID. Moved your whole life

Victoria Odekomaya:

over, and now it's like,

Akilah Darden:

wow. Yes, and my kids, I had two kindergartners, a second grader, and a fourth grader, all on Zoom. So they had eight Zooms before 10 o'clock in the morning. Oh, I remember those days. I

Victoria Odekomaya:

used to almost pull my hair out. Yes, it was a

Akilah Darden:

lot. It was a lot. It was a lot of coffee, Mountain Dew, and Jesus, and not in that order. I was like, okay, I gave up Mountain Dew. But it was a lot. and I so I woke up early I tried to do social media because I needed people to see me as a builder so I would showcase my projects because you know it's hard to tell people what I've done in DC if they haven't seen it so I did a lot of social media in the morning then handled the kids virtual stuff and you know after I think 10 months perseverance is key I just want to let you know that I I got Cook Medical called me. Actually, a lady that saw me on LinkedIn was following me, went to a meeting, and they were looking for a person to engage a community for the Cook Goodwill medical facility, manufacturing facility, sorry, on the far east side. And they wanted 100% minority participation. And she thought of me. She's like, okay, we're going to act like we're friends. And I'm like, we're friends already. Anyone that wants to give someone an opportunity to showcase their talents. We're friends. And then two days later, I had a contract with Cook Medical to get 100% minority participation on the Far East side. I have 45 days. Wow. Oh my goodness. So we got 100%, but we got 97% minority-owned businesses. So 97% of the subcontractors were of color. And of that, 96% were African-American businesses. That's amazing. And then 3% women and veterans. And, you know, we hired 46 minorities new to construction. And 76 new people to construction, mostly in Marion County. So it wasn't just building a project with and for the community. It was providing jobs, getting individuals in the trades. And those individuals who didn't have necessarily everything that they needed, LIS gave us a grant to take them through my master class. And it was, it was wonderful.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So I want to step back a little bit. Okay. So I'm thinking about, you know, in that pandemic season, you were still doing, you were doing social media because you understand that you needed to put yourself out there. And that led to the opportunities to someone calling you, right? And then now that led to even more things, you helping other people to build their businesses. Yes. That is incredible. Yes. That is powerful. And I think a lot of people don't understand the power of putting yourself out there yes you know going for what you want like letting people know because if you don't if people know if people don't know what you're doing how can they patronize you

Speaker 02:

yeah

Victoria Odekomaya:

you know so it's really and I really appreciate you saying that too and also telling us about the how that you doing that led to other things

Akilah Darden:

yeah and I want to tell everyone you do not have to be an extrovert to get on social media and I'm an extrovert because I love people I love engaging I love I love one-on-one conversations. I love group conversations. Talking to a camera is something totally different. But I was reading and at night I would have dreams and everything would come up. Success is on the other side of fear. And so Eleanor Roosevelt said, do something that you fear every day. So I said, okay. And I turned the camera on and I started doing social media. And that's what helped me be comfortable in front of the camera. And then I started filming my videos. for my master class. So that's how it all started because people perceive me one way, which is based on their exposure and experience. But I needed them to perceive me as who I am, which is a very dynamic builder who's feminine, by the way, right? So I want to get that out there. You can be in STEM and a male-dominated industry and still be feminine. That's why I wear my pearls. I'm pearls and hard hats, right? So I was like, I need them to see who I am and not who they perceive me to be. But I wanted them to know I am successful and I will always be successful regardless of the adversity or whatever complexities come. And it's because of that, like before I got that global contractor or contract, I was working with some subcontractors in DC. So I was working with minority owned businesses and I would step in as their project manager. So I would get on Zoom and help, negotiate changes that I wasn't even part of. Give me your contract. Give me the specifications. Game time. And so I did that for a while. And then that's what gave me the confidence as a business, not having a huge company with marketing and business development and project managers and executives, but being able to hit the ground running with all the tools that I already

Victoria Odekomaya:

had. Yeah. So it's like, you know that you have this talent and that's exactly Exactly. Well, really building a business is about like really using your talent to solve problems. So everything else, obviously, it's good to have. And, you know, as the business grows, you have those things, too. But like the core of it's like I have a talent. I can solve this problem. Let's go. Absolutely. And you're telling people about it like, yeah, I can help you with this.

Akilah Darden:

Yes. And I would add confidence to confidence. Right. Because, you know, you have talent. You're solving a problem, which is key. What you said, solving someone else's problem, not the problems that you think True. project or that business or that opportunity, but make sure that you're networking through the opportunity to get something at the end. That's

Victoria Odekomaya:

so true. So let's talk a little bit about that confidence, because I think that a lot of people don't have that confidence. I can feel it with you right now. And I think that in some cases, I would say that sometimes it's the confidence that sells the product or whatever it is that you're selling. People want to know that you are confident in providing the result that you claim that you provide. And so Even if you know what you're doing and you're like, well, I think, like you just lost them.

Akilah Darden:

Absolutely. So the confidence comes from preparation, right? So if you work hard and you spend time in your art or your expertise, when it's game time, you're always ready because you know your product. So even if you have a business that you put all this money into it, do you know your business, right? And can you communicate to others what your business is? And can you pivot during a conversation to see oh this is their problem let me switch it up a bit and tell them this and how I can solve their problem and it's knowing yourself listening and that confidence comes because you spend so many hours in what you did so when I got the cook project no I didn't spend a lot of hours with minority businesses I did have friends with the city and the state I also had subcontractors that could share the word because they had worked with me before Mm-hmm. I was like, who is the loudest person in the neighborhood? I need to meet them, gain their trust and help me because I can't do it alone. So I had different mouthpieces. I brought people to the site with grass and pavement and a church. And I said, you know, we're going to honor the church, but it's coming down. We built a manufacturing facility and then we also built a grocery store and a food desert, which was built by 88 percent of minorities as well. And with that, I just want to say, not only did we build a community, because have you seen 46218 on Sheridan and Arlington? It's amazing, okay? I need to check that out. It's like almost Black Wall Street. But we were able to do the manufacturing facility, put a grocery store in a food desert. But those 18 subcontractors that turned into 12 or 13 for the grocery store, now we're going on a $4 billion hospital campus, okay? So they started out small. But just how you start, where are you going? Gain enough information. So the subs that came to me were not self-sufficient. It was like, you go there, do that. You go here and do that. And I'm like, nope, we're going to do a three week look ahead schedule. You're going to prep your people. You're going to know who's going to be where a week in advance so that we can move this ship together with the same sheet of music. So they started to understanding running a business, the administrative, the operational. And not just the technical sticks and bricks. Wow. So when you say it like that, I'm like, you can run any business. Yes. Mm-hmm. Yes. I'm a project manager by trade. I'm a project... I guess that's why God gave me four kids and two at the same time. Because I did have conversations. I'm a multitasker and people were like, nope, you just do a lot of things quickly. And I was like, that's not it. So God was like, okay, we're giving her twins. And there's a lot of things you have to do two at a time. Right. And it was just basically... Let me communicate with everyone what we're going to do. Then we're going to collaborate. Where are the experts? Where are your strengths? And then we're going to coordinate that schedule, that budget. We're going to talk all those things. What I learned at my dream job was that if I can plan and build a project before I get on site, it will be successful.

Victoria Odekomaya:

You know, that's interesting because it's the same process when we're doing filming or any production like that, movies. The pre-production part is probably the most important phase of the work. Absolutely. Because you want to go in as prepared as possible so that if anything comes out, you know, you can quickly pivot or make changes. And it sounds like in constructions, there's always a lot of changes that comes through.

Akilah Darden:

Oh, it is. Every day. Because, you know, you have drawings and we try to do CAD drawings, which are just computer automated design. So we build the project. We see any clashes. But there's still times when you're out on the site and you know your HVAC guy wants to put his duct work but then you have a sprinkler and then you have a light and you have to get everyone together and coordinate that right you could tell I was in construction before all the CAD and the BIM where we had just you know colored pencils but it's the communication but it's the comfort level if you know what you're doing like when I got here today you already had the emails you had everything set up what the expectation was what were some of the questions but then I get here and then you have this hope production, which is fabulous. So it gets me into game time. So I automatically go from this to this because I got to heighten my expertise because of how you prepared the layout. So I always tell people plan, prepare, and perform.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Well, you're dropping some germs right now. I love it. Yeah. Plan, prepare, and perform. And also to be realistic as black women too, we almost, we have to bring it every single time. Yes. Not just bring it. We have to be

Akilah Darden:

three-time Three times

Victoria Odekomaya:

better. Three times. Just remember that. So if you

Akilah Darden:

see somebody that's on your level, you need to step it up. That's right. Because an average person that doesn't look like you will get the job, will get the project. You have to be that much better. Right.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow. All right. So throughout this journey, tell us a little bit about any challenges. I know we talked a little bit about the pandemic and you kind of scaled through that. It seemed like effortlessly too, but I'm sure it's not always effortless, you know, like the challenges. Can you remember a time where you had like maybe a dark time or situation in the business where you're like, oh my God, how am I going to poach her? Oh

Akilah Darden:

yeah. Oh yeah. So I have to, as many hours as I've had success, I've had about three times as many hours of adversity, negativity, racism, you can't do this, sexism. So I built up hours in adversity. So I became a subject matter Matter expert on adversity. And a judge of character. I saw immediately who was going to support me and who was not. And that is all people. People of color, women, women of color, majority, minority, whatever. I had to judge character pretty quickly because I need allies. Because guess who did not look like anyone else in the room? So I built up my hours in adversity. I dealt with people that I knew didn't Right. But I hear positivity doesn't work in golf because the negative ones win. So negative being the score. So that was like a joke. So and then through the joking, I was like, I sign your payment application for you to get paid. I said, we don't have to be friends, but I need you here to do this thing by this time because someone else is coming after you. And if you're not done, that's going to be a deduction because I got to pay them because you're not on time.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right.

Akilah Darden:

communicated that with everyone got them paid on time also got them work during the project on other projects because I was talking to other project managers so they were winning so if I could make people win and show them how to win and then give them opportunities then they're not only going to win and build their business they're going to hire more people and they're going to tell people about their experience because they're so happy because they're winning that's right and so through that being an entrepreneur and knowing I'm great at all these things, I had to realize that I have to solve someone else's problem. Maybe they're not building an office building. I mean, I have a high clearance. I can do classified work, but that's not the need right now. So it was listening. The pandemic happened, social unrest, George Floyd, all the things happened. People started changing their mindset to more social Mm-hmm. I got in the room and put a doorstop. And not only that, I looked at the construction of the table and the chairs and I was like, okay, I'm going to build my own tables and chairs, but people have to buy in that room. So we're going to get this room, get it situated, get it comfortable. And how many more people are like you, Akilah, bring them in while we're building this over here. So you're here, but I have you here in the morning training you up so that when you are at the table, you are at the table and you're part of the table. You're not just like, yeah, I'm at the table. No, no, no. You're going to be efficient and effective and you're going to showcase that you're exceptional because I need you to bring three other people. That's

Victoria Odekomaya:

right. Ooh, that is so powerful. Yeah. Because not everybody thinks like that. They get in the door and they shut it closed. Absolutely. I made it. And

Akilah Darden:

then they treat others worse because I made it and you need to work 10 times harder. And I'm like, excuse me, who was your ally? Who was your sponsor? Who got you to the table let's not forget and then what I do is I help people who help people you will get my help as long as you're helping someone else because you know what it's enough for everyone and God blesses those

Victoria Odekomaya:

who bless others that's right so I think I'm getting a better understanding of what foils you now because everything that you do you know stems from loving your job and loving people and wanting to help them grow you know that's why you started your master class too essentially like bringing people, tell us a little bit about that because you're bringing people to the table to empower them for that next big job so they can empower others too.

Akilah Darden:

Correct. And I want to be very clear. This is a construction management masterclass and not skilled trades. So we have enough of that. We have enough workforce development. This is to develop the professional to be in a managerial position. Everyone wants to help you with your hands and your trade, sticks and bricks, build something, get your head down and just build. I want people to see with your head down in your building, how much are you doing in an hour? How much are you doing in a day, whether it's eight or 10 hour workday? How many people are with you? How much are they doing? If you can do the work, learn the skill that no one can take away from you, and you can see the time in which you can do the linear feed or how many blocks you can stack, then you're estimating. So you can go back to the office and say, no, you can build that wall in this amount of time with this many guys for this many days. So you're estimating, but you're helping the business development manager with articulating what your expertise is to get the opportunity. And then you can actually speak in the presentation because you know what you're talking about. So it's not just dicks and bricks putting in the work. What am I doing? What are they doing? How are they ordering material? What are the costs so that I can be competitive? You know, so this masterclass, which is courses.dardengroupllc.com, it's accredited by the Construction Management Association of America. I teach you the management of construction, how to be efficient and effective, project management, agendas, memos, commissioning. So we have pre-functional and functional testing for equipment. Because your building, if it doesn't function, it's worthless, right? That's right. So I teach how to read the specifications, how to read the drawings, do takeoffs, estimating, bidding, cost management, communication. We talk about communicate, collaborate, coordinate, right we talk about uh plan prepare perform um and then we get into the money because i love that you're doing the work but i need you billing every 21 days in a 30 day duration right so it's great to know what you do i need you to know how many people the time if you're going to loads of home depot you're losing money so i need you to figure that out and i show you how to do that and i give you all the templates which now is on etsy so you can get the template um outside of the course because you you do have 90 days because I'm all about time and money. Yeah. Because that's what our business is. You're very efficient with this too. Oh, absolutely. So you get 90 days for my course. I can see the DC, you know, trick coming out of you. Like, let's get it going. I mean, time is money. It is. And nobody has time to waste, right? And I need to get hundreds of people on the same sheet of music with the same passion and nobody on any one of my jobs wants to hold someone else up. Yeah, because we have that energy. Right. And everybody wants to win. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. get our minority participation with a general contractor who was of color no excuses so when people talk about inflation and they talk about tariffs I'm like let's talk about the efficiency and effectiveness and then we will talk about the tariffs and all that stuff but people are using that as an excuse or a way to make money with those individuals that can't do the evaluation so I'm here to explain to people this is the cost of construction this is inefficiencies with the cost of construction that have nothing to do with tariffs and nothing to do with inflation but if you don't understand the business then you're going to pay for owners you're going to pay way more than you should right and for general contractors you may lose money you may make money but you know honesty is the key right and to be trustworthy so I'm trying to educate those through the master class but most importantly is that you have a 50 page workbook that you're working through you can actually print the page out right on it and turn it into an owner and get paid so I don't the guessing game is out now you're showing up professionally you're showing up with the breakdown of what you've done which helps you sorry it helps you to articulate what you've done in your business and then from that you get more opportunities so sometimes you think you're going in to explain your payment application but really that's the interview for the next job you got to be prepared for that absolutely and be able to answer questions when they want to negotiate what you've already spent you got to have that expertise and know about your business what your people have done in the time frame that they've done it to hold firm on your payment application I see like

Victoria Odekomaya:

you're helping people level up absolutely you know it's not just like you like you call it the sticks and the bricks but like understanding the whole process so that you can educate you can talk about it with educate educatively talk about I don't even think that's a word but it's like you know intelligently talk about it but I also when you started talking about the book I was thinking about the book you wrote with your kids yeah my mom mom is a construction manager. That is awesome. Yeah. Like you get to bring your kids into like, I love, you know, you know, our business is also a family business now. We try to bring the kids in there, but tell us how did that book come alive?

Akilah Darden:

Yeah. Well, first I want to say about the Construction Management Masterclass, I want to tell the audience, we are helping people compete and win and grow their business. That's first and foremost. It's sharing what I know. I have 25 years of construction experience in that masterclass. We will be having a part two, which goes into the new TikTok, what I wanted to mention. We're taking the masterclass. People want more, but they want individual connectivity. So we're doing a 30 second timeout on TikTok. It's coming out this month. Launch on your show, your podcast. And it's 30 second snippets. So they're going to get additional stuff that they didn't get in the course, individualized for their certain situations. But the book, My Mom is a Construction manager I wasn't going to be author I didn't want to write a book but I got a lot of people asking why construction how you do it you're a mom you're a wife you have four kids all the things but I was a PTO president for my kids school in 2019 oh man let me tell you so it was half regular world half pandemic and I'm the PTO president um but when we had our events um one I added music and food and um people helping with kids because some of we have 52 languages that were spoken at our school so with that I know family and a lot of cultures is key and then I'm having a meeting during dinner time so let me provide those things that would help people to come and spend time so we know what they need yes so during one of my PTO meetings I was presenting something and my kids were so loud in the back and I was like okay I was like um y'all quiet down and then after I finished my my presentation I was like what were you guys so animated about and they were like well they don't believe that you're in construction that you build things and so that we talked about that and so the book my mom is a construction manager is through the eyes of my four kids they've been on all of my projects and the the basis was what you see is what you'll be and if you can see me you can be me so it's very important that the cover had myself with my four kids and every illustration in the book are projects I've built and different Right. And it shows that I'm still a mother and I go to all my kids' events. I don't miss any of their events. That's very important to me. And I know your kids are into a lot of sports, too. Absolutely. About seven. But who's counting? Yeah, the girls, they're into softball and hopefully basketball soon. And my son is wrestling. Well, my oldest son is wrestling and football. And he used to play baseball. So I think he's focused on football. And then my son was soccer and volleyball. Now he's focused on volleyball. He plays club. So we've added that and the girls want to start playing traveling softball. But I wanted to showcase in the book that you can be a mother, have active kids and still do well in a male dominated industry that may or may not want you. Not really wanted, but I chose that as a profession. So you needed to see that from the cover. I knew it was very important with colors and how we look. That's right. Our textured hair. The different phases of hair are in the book from when I was a little kid playing with Legos and puzzles and then in college hair and then the professional hair after. So I got a lady from Nigeria. She did the illustrations. I found her on Instagram. The Nigerians. Yay! And then actually she moved to the UK. She's working on a film. Super excited for her. Got her at the right time. Yeah. And then the lady that actually compiled the book, she is Dominican. Mm-hmm. And then I got my book printed in China. But that's only because my Dominican friend had a friend who was Chinese and she had a publisher or a printer. And so I evaluated U.S. versus that and it was just so much greater. So all women of color helped create the book. So it was not just telling my story through the eyes of my kids and giving my kids the opportunity to be authors, but it was all minority women. We have now won an international and national book award just telling the story so I want to tell you everyone has a story and you never know who wants to hear it who will be inspired by it tell your story you never know what

Victoria Odekomaya:

happens and that's the reason why I really do this podcast to share the stories because I know that I get inspired and definitely people get it because people are in different stages of their life and sometimes we get to think that oh we're the only ones going through this like how can I do this like but when you see other people shining and making it like That fuels me and I'm hoping that that inspires others not to give up on their dreams too.

Akilah Darden:

Absolutely.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow. So if you were to give someone in this stage of life, you know, in a different stage of life, an earlier version of you, an advice, and I know you just kind of gave a little bit about, you know, telling your story here, but what would you say to them to encourage and inspire them?

Akilah Darden:

One, you can do it. Two, find people who will push you and tell you that you can do it. I have my girl squad. I have my mom. I have my husband. But most importantly, manage your social media time. It's great to see people doing it, but you're watching people doing it when you can do it yourself. So I and my husband is always like, you need to finish these books. And I'm like, I read the book just enough to get something that I can utilize and then I got to stop. Because I'm like, I got to work on that nugget. So social media is great. Get the nuggets and then go build your business, build your creativity, or just expound upon being that employee and being the best at it. Use social media as a tool to get ahead, not to judge or compare yourself. Everyone can win in whatever it is that you do. I mean, people made pies and became millionaires, right? People are talking on podcasts and became millionaires. So whatever your passion is, put in the work, put in to work in yourself, your creativity. What is your expertise? What's your why? Storytell. Right. And touch social media, but don't spend a lot of time because the hours you spend in somebody else's life, you could be building your own. That's

Victoria Odekomaya:

right. You know, I think also for me, what I'm also hearing from you is like, be focused too. Absolutely. Figure out what that goal is because I see you as very intentional, very focused. You're not easily distracted by, you know, like social media can be very distracting, but you know where you you're going. And sometimes we get wrapped up in a lot of things that we don't need to be, you know, especially when you start schooling. But like I'm hearing you say, stay focused, know where you're going, build allies, build friends, learn adversity so that you can know how to deal with it as well. But just keep going and stay focused.

Akilah Darden:

Absolutely. Focus scares people. So I would like to tell people that, you know, know what you want to do. If you don't, here's a quick tip. Pick five things you would do without money. If you didn't have to worry about money what are those five things and that's your passion now put your passion with your purpose and go solve a problem and you have it and then you bring back your why right so I tell people to journal how they're feeling now so that when they do create a business and they find the five things that they will do for free and then narrow it down to one that's the light laser right lasers penetrate walls lights just shine on them so you want to penetrate you want to solve that problem that's how you're going to grow and gain respect in the industry whatever that industry is and that's how you'll gain focus that's where your business plan will come from is your why statement and how well you can tell your story whether it's your expertise whether your background where you came from your confidence stuff like that because the confidence will come from the preparation and everybody has a story to tell because you had lives to live right but that is the key to gain the focus because I know a lot of the people that I mentor Focus scares them. I don't know what I want to do. I don't know what my superpower is, which mine are my pearls, by the way. Even when I'm in those tough meetings and it's all older men that don't look like me. You know, I know I have this and I'm like, OK, let's go, because there's a bunch of women that want to do the same thing I'm doing. And I have to open the door and pave the way. But that's where you're going to get your focus and your why. is figuring those five things out first. That's amazing.

Victoria Odekomaya:

And once you get all of that, then share it. Tell people, you know, get online, do whatever you need to do in terms of creating content, whatever it is to let people know. That part is also very important.

Akilah Darden:

Yes. And reach as you climb. Yes. And even if you don't have opportunities and you hear about opportunities and you know somebody that can utilize that opportunity, share it.

Speaker 02:

Right.

Akilah Darden:

Because you're going to get more opportunities by how many opportunities you share. Right. Oh, that's

Victoria Odekomaya:

so good. So what would you like your legacy to look like?

Akilah Darden:

I would like my legacy to be that she worked as hard as she could to change the game for everyone. That people can just show up, be themselves, and not have to worry about their skin color, their ethnicity, what language they speak, how they look, their gender. who they love like let's come and let's compete based on what we do and not have all these preconceived notions these unconscious conscious biases and just be able everybody's at the table and everybody's competing to win not because you know such and such or that you look a certain way I want to do whatever we can to have everyone show up as their all And I

Victoria Odekomaya:

think you're already doing that. No. Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh my goodness. So we talked about the book. Yes. We talked about the masterclass. We're going to put the links to everything in the description. You already know how that goes. Do yourself a favor and just, I think I'm a project manager. I have a PMP too. And I think I'm going to be looking into that because, well, first of all, I need it for my credits too. But also I like it because I think I can learn about, I can, I can learn I feel like I can extrapolate how to build a business successfully from that. And I know it's a little different, you know, because you're teaching about construction and building a business around it. But I like the fact that I feel like every business should really be run that way. Like beyond what you're doing, think about how the pieces are moving. Think about how the problems that you're trying to solve and figure out how those pieces can help solve that. So I feel like it just gives you more confidence and It helps you just be a more holistic problem solver. Absolutely. Anyway, I'm going to be checking it out too, but make sure you do. And thank you so much for coming.

Akilah Darden:

Thanks for having me. This is wonderful, Victoria. Thank you. And your husband over there doing production. That's awesome. A family business and your son taking pictures. Congratulations on all your success. Thank

Victoria Odekomaya:

you. It's been an honor. Yeah, absolutely. For me too. Thank you so much for coming. Well, until next time, make sure you check out those slings. And keep it here. We're going to bring another fun episode to you again. So bye.

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Victoria Odekomaya

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