Nneka Ude’s story is about daring to live. But it finds its start in grief.  A self proclaimed “true blue Capricorn”, Ude likes to be in control. So when her mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, she realized she needed to let go of control. She took time off work, and dedicated her life to taking care of her mom and her immediate family. When she lost her mom in 2016 and encountered pain deeper than she’d ever felt before, she knew she needed to start living her life in a new way. She asked herself a new question:“Why don’t you just bet on yourself? What’s the big deal about that?”To Ude, the word “dare” is loaded with creative ideas and daring to believe in the power of your own vision of the world. She drew on her grief and started taking action towards this vision. She found herself a “tribe” of people to connect and uplift her and encourage her to start initiatives around the ideas she had.She broke into the tech and entrepreneurship community in Chicago and looked around to see that black and brown folks were not receiving the same attention as their white counterparts. Thus The Xchange was born - a web series dedicated to telling the stories of people of color in entrepreneurship spaces. As Ude says, “There’s not a lot of dimension being given to us. If you’re not a superstar entrepreneur, there’s no attention being given to you.” The Xchange aims to tell these stories with the nuance they deserve.  When she noticed that there was a lack of access to products produced by black and brown folks, she started LoveDot. LoveDot is an online store that aims to lift up black and brown beauty practices and artisans, and is named after her mom. Starting the store was a manifestation of her confidence in her own story, and she finds it energizing to build a space for underrepresented businesses to thrive.  Oh, and did we mention that she also writes children’s books? Another initiative born from pride in her own story, Ude is currently working on publishing her first children’s book. “There wasn’t a lot of kids books that showed images of people who are as brown and beautiful as me!” Coming this fall, Ude is working on telling stories that support parents of color in teaching their children to also take pride in their identities.  To Nneke Ude, to dare means to “just be”. No matter how the outside world might make it difficult to tell your story, pushing through the obstacles to tell it anyway.  Thanks so much for your motivating talk, Nneka! We can’t wait to see what else you create. Get in contact with Nneka through her website or via Instagram, and check out the Xchange and LoveDot!