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Volume 12 Number 3 Career and Business Opportunities Spending Power


Behind Every Diagnosis there is a Great Medical Technologist


BY RIAN SPALDING So maybe one day you’re


not feeling well and you decide to seek medical help. Picture yourself entering the doctor’s office or hospital emergency department. Who is the first person you meet, the receptionist? Then depending on the type of visit, you may encounter nurses, nurse practitioners, and maybe even a doctor. These are usually the only few people in medical settings that you encounter. So, the nurse takes your vitals, and asks you to rate your symptoms between 1 to 10, or from happy face to sad face. Next you meet the phlebotomist who


takes a blood sample, and last you head to the bathroom to give a urine sample, and put the cup in the cabinet. Do you know where those samples go next? Many people do not, but if you were to follow the specimens to the next step, you would see them enter the lab. Who do you see performing the testing? Not the nurse, not the doctor, it is the person in the lab coat sitting quietly at the bench veering into a microscope. The person you’re looking at is the medical technologist.


Behind every doctor’s diagnosis


there is a skilled medical technologist reporting the results that assists the doctor in coming to this diagnosis. A medical technologist, also known as a clinical laboratory scientist is a medical


professional that examines


and tests bodily fluids, including blood, stool, and urine.


I am a medical technologist. When I inform certain people, that I am a medical technologist some responses include, “Oh so you’re a medical assistant?” Or my favorite, “Oh so you’re becoming a nurse?” This field MEDICAL TECH PAGE 14


2017 Hampton Roads Virtual Pitch Competition


Youth and young adults between the ages of 14-24 years of age are invited to compete for a chance to win at least $500 in start-up funds. Youth entering the competition must reside in one of the following localities in the Commonwealth of Virginia: Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach.


A panel of local entrepreneurs and business leaders will evaluate each video pitch submitted using the following criteria: viability, growth potential, team expertise, innovation, and pitching skills. Businesses will then be ranked based on which company the judge would be most likely to invest in. Criteria and instructions for the video pitch can be found in the application below.


The competition is limited to the first 50 businesses who submit a pitch. Competition closes for submissions at 5:00pm EST on December 1, 2017. Winners will be announced after December 15, 2017. All information submitted by entrants will be verified by competition staff. Any false information will automatically disqualify the entrant.


The 2017 Hampton Roads Virtual Pitch Competition is a collaboration between Opportunity Inc., Junior


Achievement, the SunTrust


Foundation, and SimIs Inc. For more information please contact Opportunity Inc.'s Youth Career Center at 757-233-8686 or email us at youthcareercenter@oihr.org.


FROM PAGE 1


(“24.3 million strong”) and 52 percent of all African Americans.


With an average age of 35.1 years (versus 42.8 for non-Hispanic white women and 39.4


women), Black women have enjoyed steady growth in population, incomes and educational attainment.


women currently


Sixty-four percent of Black enroll


in college


right out of high school and 23 percent over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, up from 18 percent in 2005.


Further, the report noted that the number of businesses majority-owned by Black women grew 67 percent between 2007 and 2012, more than all women combined.


The latest U.S. Census figures


show African-American women have majority ownership in more than 1.5 million


businesses with over $42


billion in sales. “This


report is helpful to


show banks and brands that Black women are highly qualified to be recipients of fair lending and to be fairly represented in advertising campaigns,” said Samantha Gregory, the founder of the website richsingle- momma.com, a platform developed to help single mothers earn extra cash. “As a Black woman in technology and personal finance, who is also a business owner, those statistics are useful, when I am making a case for working with brands for my blog and business.


Gregory continued: “However, if the powers that be are not educated about


these statistics, it is still


challenging to get a seat at the table, where all the prime contracts are being handed out.”


Briana Santirosa, the founder and CEO of online retailer, Casa de Reinas,


said that after working in


retail for four years, she made the decision to start her own business.


Santirosa said that fashion and beauty industries often chose to ignore the purchasing power of Black women.


“I do see the market beginning


to recognize Black women more and cater to our spending preferences,” Santirosa offered.


In Nielsen’s new Diverse


Intelligence Series report, the global researcher paints a portrait of Black women as trendsetters, brand loyalists and early adopters, who care about projecting a positive self-image. As they wield that #BlackGirlMagic, Black women play an increasingly vital


role in how all women


see themselves and influencing mainstream culture across a number of areas, including fashion, beauty, television and music, the report’s authors said.


“Black women have strong


For information on part-time and full-time career opportunities, call: 757-575-1863


life-affirming values that spill over into everything they do. The celebration of their power and beauty is reflected in what they buy, watch and listen to, and people outside their communities find it inspiring,” said Cheryl Grace, the senior vice president of U.S. Community Strategic Alliances and Consumer Engagement for Nielsen. “Understanding how Black women’s values affect their buying decisions has long been a marketing necessity.”


for all


Grace continued: “Now, marketers must also recognize the intercultural influence of Black women on the general market, as an increasingly vital part of how all women see themselves, their families and the rest of the world.”


The African-American woman’s


independent mindset is present in her growing confidence, self-awareness and rising income, according to the report.


Black women are not only


redefining what it means to be a woman for themselves, but are at the vanguard of changing gender roles and unlimited possibilities for American women of all ages and races.


The report noted that 64 percent


of Black women agree their goal is to make it to the top of their profession; 58 percent agree that they don’t mind giving up their personal time for work—20 percent higher than non-Hispanic white women.


Further, 14 percent of Black women have annual incomes of $50,000 or higher with ages 35–49 enjoying the highest income within the Black female cohort.


For millennial women, 81 percent have never been married, up from 71 percent in 2005 and, with an average household size of 2.47, 29 percent of total Black American households contain a married couple.


Black women also have


embraced the social media movement #BlackGirlMagic, a term that describes a cross-platform gathering of empowered Black women who uplift each other and shine a light on the impressive accomplishments of Black women throughout the country.


According to the report, Black


women “over-index by 29 percent for spending three to four hours each day on social networking sites and by 86 percent for spending five or more hours each day on social networking sites.”


Especially adept at using


technology and social media to trade opinions and offer recommendations, Black women 18 and older, more than any other demographic group, have taken social media and adopted it for higher purposes, the report found.


jewelry, smartphones or beauty products,


Whether they are buying cars, the


advice, referrals and


feedback they receive from friends and community play an important role in Black women’s purchases, the report said.


Forty-three percent of Black women say they like to share their opinions about products and services by posting reviews and ratings online; 47 percent come


agree to them that for people advice, often before


making a purchase. “The trend of Black women


becoming increasingly educated and driving the buying power of Black households, means that they are making purchase decisions that historically they didn’t make,” said Bianca Blake, a marketing specialist. “Couple that with trends of the millennial generation marrying and starting families later, the Black woman becomes an independent decision maker for much more of her journey through life, as opposed to abiding by decisions made by her parents, husband or heavily influenced by her children.”


December 2017


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