A Better Chance TV with host Dr. Monique S. Robinson
Educational Conversations with Scholars in Mind. "Our mission is to empower and uplift scholars pursuing higher education at HBCUs, ensuring they have the resources, support, and opportunities needed for a successful future. Through mentorship, scholarship programs, and community engagement, we strive to create a pathway to excellence, fostering academic achievement, leadership development, and a strong sense of cultural identity. Together, we are building a brighter future for young scholars, strengthening the legacy of HBCUs, and fueling positive change in our communities."
A Better Chance TV with host Dr. Monique S. Robinson
Embracing Change, Owning Purpose: A Playbook for Black Women Entrepreneurs and Educators
When change knocks you off balance, do you brace—or build? We sit down with Dr. Monique Robinson to map a clear path from disruption to purpose-driven momentum, tracing how a pandemic pivot became a nonprofit, a TV platform, and books that elevate student voices. The conversation moves from mindset to mechanics, showing how courage, clarity, and community turn an uncomfortable season into a strategy for growth.
We unpack purpose as a daily operating system, not a slogan. Dr. Robinson shares how her mission—expanding access to HBCUs and championing minority scholars—guides decisions, energizes teams, and sustains grit on tough days. We talk identity as advantage for Black women entrepreneurs, translating lived experience into leadership, and using your voice to shape products, programs, and partnerships that meet real needs.
Education takes center stage as a tool for liberation: practical steps to shrink the gap between talent and opportunity, including streamlined HBCU applications, financial literacy, mentorship rhythms, and family inclusion. We spotlight the power of community—simple, consistent acts that create momentum: sharing events, showing up, and staying connected so wins compound over time. From a living history fair to a health event with in-kind services, and a gala that funds scholarships, this episode offers a blueprint for designing legacy as a series of tangible outcomes. Want to turn change into impact and purpose into action? Follow, share with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can grow this community together.
Greetings. Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Monique Robinson, and I will be presenting to you information that is definitely necessary for you to grow as a womanpreneur, a femmepreneur, you know, even if we have a couple of males watching today, as an entrepreneur as a whole. I will be up front with you. I will be in and out of the camera today because I want you to take the words that are coming to you and concentrate and focus while we do this lesson today. Now, I must say, before we get started, please grab yourself a tool that you can take notes, be engaged, listen, and also enjoy. My name is Dr. Monique Robinson. I will be presenting some very necessary information. So today's topic is embracing change and understanding purpose. A journey of empowerment and purpose as Black women entrepreneurs and educators. As mentioned, I am Dr. Monique Robinson. I will be coming in and out of the screen as we go over this powerful lesson today to empower you as you go out to be successful women business owners. That's me, those who didn't get here early enough to see my face. That is myself, Dr. Monique Robinson. I am the founder and CEO of A Better Chance for You Futures Incorporated, where we help young people get to college prayerfully debt-free, but we do the best that we can. We have served scholars literally from Buffalo to Seattle. So we will get more details to you about that as we go on with today's lesson. Welcome and affirmation. Today is all about embracing our power, our purpose, and our potential. I want to remind each and every one of you that is listening today that you are capable of achieving extraordinary things no matter what obstacles that you have to face. Today's affirmation as a group, and I want you to uh repeat after me, I am worthy, I am capable, I embrace change with courage and move forward with purpose. Now, I hope that you are taking notes because this is some really important information that we will go over today. Embracing transformation, change is a blessing. Change can be uncomfortable, of course, we all know that, but it is fertile ground where growth happens. Through change, we find new strengths, new wisdom, and new opportunities. Let that just resonate for a minute. And as we think about that, I'm going to tell you about my journey. Change is necessary for growth, of course, but sometimes those changes are really uncomfortable, and it puts you in a situation where you're vulnerable, and you also have to re-examine and reflect on yourself. Now, often when we get things that we don't want, or we get news that is really sad for us to face, you know, whether it's that job that we have and we are our services are no longer needed, that's a change, and sometimes that change is definitely a blessing. We don't see it at first, of course. I mean, nobody wants to see a blessing in losing a job, but sometimes that door closed, I won't say sometimes, about 98% of the time, when that door closes, better opportunities come. So personal growth through change is definitely necessary, and it is something that actually happens. Now, I gave you my personal story, I want you to share yours in your head, of course, because we can't really have a physical dialogue, but since we're teaching a lesson, I want you to take that note and uh write down a personal story where it was an uncomfortable change, but it was a blessing at the end of it. Now, thinking back on that, did that change lead to something beautiful? Of course, it did. I can just give you a brief summary of my change that developed into a blessing in the middle of COVID. Yes, in the middle of COVID, I know, in the middle of a change that impacted the whole wide world. I birthed a nonprofit, a television show. I didn't understand at first, and I even wrote a couple of books too. So, change is necessary for greater things to happen. Why purpose is your superpower? Purpose is the guiding light. Your purpose is not just a career goal, it is the heartbeat of your life's mission. Purpose is what fuels resilience and keeps us going, even in the toughest days. Now, let's think about that. Even in the toughest days, we still have to keep going and keep that fight. Now, my purpose, if you know you haven't found out, my purpose is definitely education. I have a strong passion to help minority scholars get to our nation's historically black colleges and universities, debt-free, as close as we can, but we also like to educate because we want it to be a fair playing field when people are deciding to go to school at you know to seek higher education. Now, my purpose, I get so excited. I mean, I've even had some of my dear friends tell me, you get so excited when you talk about the schools. If your purpose does not fuel you as making you passionate about it, then that might not be your will. Like I, you know, my purpose, I get excited when my scholars write to me, hey Dr. Mo, I'm graduating. Hey, Dr. Mo, I got an acceptance letter. Hey, Dr. Mo, uh, you know, what do you think about this internship? Or even the best ones lately. I've had scholars reach out to me saying they want to pair with alum so that they can have a network to grow from for the rest of their life. So let's get back to it. The unique power of being a black woman entrepreneur. I know I keep saying women, probably because I'm, you know, a black woman, but this message can go to both men, women. So now, first you must embrace the power of your identity, your strength, your creativity, your resilience are not just survival tools, they are your superpowers. They go into what makes you who you are. Acknowledge the challenges, but focus on how those challenges have shaped you into powerful leaders, how your identity as a black woman entrepreneur shapes your mission, your voice, and your vision. Education as a tool for empowerment, education as liberation as an entrepreneur. You have the opportunity to create lasting change, not only in your own life, but in the lives of others. Education is not just about books, it's about instilling confidence, expanding horizons, and empowering people to create their own future. Now, you know, we have to reflect on this a moment. I want you to think of how you can impact the lives of anybody, not just young people. Now, when we think of impacting lives, several people would assume that it always has to be book-by-book learning. What new skill can you teach a young person? Because they're going to be who's left when we're gone. Overcoming adversity together, the power of a community. Now, together we rise, building each other up. Women, this is a challenge to you, Nessie. I I have to come back to where you all can see me here. Women, we must learn to work together. We must learn to work together with one another, support one another. It doesn't cost anything to share information because when you share information, that's also free advertisement. I know I probably shouldn't say it like that, but um, it's also letting someone know that hey, I support you. Usually, you know, social media people share things um and they share events. That is the easiest way that we can show that we are supporting one another. Another way is you know, if we can't make it to an event, show your support in some way, shape, or fashion. So I am challenging everyone. Let's change the narrative today. We will create a network of women who lift each other up and support one another, building a strong future, as I mentioned in the previous slide or the previous part of the presentation, however, you want to um review that when we empower our youth, we give them the tools to build a better future for themselves and their communities. Now, how one small act of mentorship or guidance makes a difference in someone's life? Let me answer that for you. Now, I have several scholars that I have sent to various institutions of higher learning. I have one particular scholar that will write me and tell me thank you. And she will also let me know what tasks she has accomplished. She also keeps me abreast to her internships, and that's just simply because I always tell her thank you. I always, when she shows up to the meetings that we had when she was in the program, I always encouraged her. It's important to connect and always stay connected to those who have helped you because you don't know how much they can help you in the future, embracing your legacy. Everyone in this room has the power to create a lasting legacy, not just in business, but how we inspire and uplift others. Think about what legacy you want to leave behind. What will they be remembered for? Or how we can change that is what will you be remembered for in your impact in the businesses and various things that you plan to do. Now, I know that I gave you a whole lot of nuggets in short in a short period of time. However, thanks for your time and your insights. Please remember that we are powerful, we are purpose-driven, and we will continue to rise together. Continue this conversation, perhaps with loved ones or business partners, connect with one another and share resources and opportunities because you promise that as women, we are going to change the narrative. I I, you know, that's what we promised. A couple slides back. Okay. So we have some important information uh coming up. We do have a new book. Actually, we have two new books. We have one children's book that will be coming out shortly. It's called Shine Bright Little Star. It is a youth affirmation book. Uh, this book is actually to empower our young people because they face things that, you know, sometimes as adults, we don't always understand what they face. And this lets them know that they are powerful. So this book will be available probably in about a week or so. But uh keep watching, and you will see several things from that. Also, we have a voices of education volume one, um, where we have several different educators in various aspects of the field of education who are coming together to share their part and their versions and their experiences as educators. We have several upcoming events. Um, as you look, we do have our African American History Fair. If you are in the San Antonio area, um, this is not your traditional um speech contest. The scholars will become the characters almost like a living wax museum. We have a health fair in April, and we are actually looking for some community volunteers that may be health uh related that want to come out and give some in-kind services. They may want to check blood pressures, A1Cs, etc. Now we have our Tux Intool, which is our annual Gala and Ball, where this is kind of like a party with a purpose. If you are interested in attending, we do have a room block here in San Antonio, and we would love for you to participate. And then we also have our weekly show that is on the Daily Gospel Network. And what we do there is we highlight several young people across the nation in their wonderful success stories and things that they have going on, as they are in their journey to change the world. Now, this is a program that we offer at A Better Chance for You Futures Incorporated. We allow uh from September to July. We mentor and we discuss with scholars college opportunities. We also provide them with services, classes, financial literacy, anything that is school related. And guess what? The parents can attend to now, discover your future. You know, I was gonna put this in here, of course, at a HBCU. Now, how do you go about that? You ask, I give you the answer. Apply to an HBCU using Get Educated, the common black college app. You will use one application,$20, and it will get you about 68, 69 applications pushed through the system. Again, I am Dr. Monique Robinson from A Better Chance for You Futures Incorporated. If you scan that QR code that is up there, you scan that QR code, let me make it bigger. There you go. You scan the QR code, then you will have all the information and all the ways of contacting me. If you wish to donate to our mission, we have several opportunities and ways that you can do that. We have Viro, Cash App, Zell, and PayPal, or Giblify also, if that is your option. Again, my name is Dr. Monique Robinson from a better chance for you futures incorporated. Thank you, and we appreciate you. And I hope our nuggets to success help you in some way, and have a wonderful day.
