Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon has long championed community, collaboration, and economic empowerment.
As the founder of The Village Market, she has created a thriving ecosystem for Black entrepreneurs to build, scale, and sustain their businesses. With her latest book, No One is Self Made, Hallmon expands on her mission, offering readers a powerful blueprint for success that emphasizes the importance of collective support, mentorship, and reinvesting in one’s community.
Part memoir, part manifesto, No One is Self-Made dismantles the myth of individualism in business, reminding us that behind every success story is a network of people contributing to the journey. With her signature wisdom and unapologetic love for Black entrepreneurship, Hallmon delivers a timely and necessary guide for anyone striving to build lasting wealth while staying rooted in purpose.
ESSENCE caught up with Hallmon to discuss the inspiration behind the book, the lessons she’s learned from building The Village Market, and why true success is never a solo act.
Why this kind of book at this time?
A serial social entrepreneur, Hallmon knows further triumphs and challenges sustainable businesses. At a time when DEI divestment was rampant, she said she had written the book at the most opportunity.
“The passion behind no one is self-made comes from a place of my belief in community,” Hallmon said. “I wrote this book because we need to be grounded in community and shift our mindset back to collective and coalition building. Many times, we are seeped in individualism. It’s seeped into the American culture. And for us, it’s advantageous for the Black community to understand that our power is truly in our ability and togetherness.
She shares that she wanted to write a book with strong historical references but also centering “present folks like myself doing the work.”
Dispelling the myth of individualism
According to various studies, a significant portion of entrepreneurs experience burnout, with data suggesting that 72% of entrepreneurs struggle with mental health issues, including burnout.
Hallmon shared that individualism is central to these issues, countering Black ideologies.
“Community has always been the place for us,” shared. “It’s steeped in our ancestral being. When we think about the past civil rights movement, the things achieved were achieved through building a community.”
She explained that her success in helping other Black businesses scale and thrive is due to her community.
“Everything I’ve done may have been because of my vision, but the individual work is through collaboration. We all need people. She says she wrote in the book that being a visionary is essential, but true success comes when business owners have people on board who believe in what they’re doing.
How to grow your village
Building a village is not the same as networking, Dr. Hallmon points out, although both are important.
” I think the biggest component of building your village is setting good intentions,” she said. “For us to be able to do something transformative in this lifetime we have to get clear on why we want community, what we want that community to be, and who we want to be in community.”
She explained that “you have to be in it.”
“It’s not saying yes to every invitation,” she said. “It’s saying yes to the things that feel aligned with you. I’m not telling people that every time you see an Eventbrite link, that’s your thing. It’s the one that speaks to who you are, where you are, where you want to be. Again, you need to go out and show up for those values. You have to nurture relationships consistently. We shouldn’t see each other as merely transactional.”
What does that look like? Hallmon says checking in on people even if you know it won’t ever benefit you directly.
“There’s nothing like looking in the audience and seeing people you know showed up to celebrate or be there for you. That level of social currency is powerful. For us to build and have sustained communities, it takes action from the person to be consistent with these things. That’s what community is. No one is truly self-made. Not entirely.”