“You are a good seed. Even if you’re broke.”
That’s the unapologetic affirmation Bishop T.D. Jakes is delivering to the Black community, entrepreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs, through the Good Soil Forum—a three-day gathering happening June 12–14 in Dallas, Texas, that’s part pitch competition, part networking hub, and part masterclass in building Black wealth.
In an exclusive interview with theGrio’s Natasha S. Alford, Jakes made one thing clear: this isn’t just another conference—it’s a movement with real money waiting to be poured into people’s dreams. “Good Soil Forum gives you access to capital,” Jakes said. “It connects you with the resources, the grant monies– the information that you need is almost as powerful as the capital that you gain.”
Backed by the T.D. Jakes Group and Wells Fargo Bank, this year’s Forum will feature a live pitch competition offering up to $500,000 in funding, small business grants starting at $5,000, and access to a newly launched app, Good Soils XP, to connect participants beyond the event. But as Jakes explained, the Forum’s true value lies in changing the trajectory of our communities.
“We have built a coalition of corporations that are willing and interested in pouring into those that are having a hard time struggling with their businesses,” Jakes said. “The cross-pollination of all of those feats—right down to training children to be entrepreneurs—may change the trajectory of the community and be our fastest way forward.”
The Forum couldn’t come at a more urgent time. As the U.S. continues to reckon with layoffs, inflation, and corporate backpedaling from DEI commitments, Jakes is sounding the alarm—particularly for Black women. “We have over 300,000 Black women who have lost their jobs in the last three months,” he told theGrio. “That’s horrifying. That’s three stadiums full of people. Three more stadiums of family members who don’t have food to eat, who are having struggles, who have to push to get ahead.”
Where some see despair, Jakes sees opportunity. “Ninety-two percent of African American businesses are women, are accelerating but they’re not staying in business because they don’t have access to capital,” he said. “Good Soil Forum gives you access. It connects you with the resources. The grant money. The information. And sometimes that’s just as powerful as the money itself.”
Jakes also spoke directly to the grind many know too well—working multiple jobs, trying to turn side hustles into something sustainable. “Your hobby could be a business. Your cake designs could be a business,” he said, shouting out platforms like Cast Iron and Nourish, which help turn passions into income. “To get the extra money, you may have to do extra work initially to get yourself to a place where you can invest in yourself. It’s hard in the short run, I will not lie.”
Investment, Jakes said, is a critical mindset shift. “It doesn’t have to be big money. It has to be smart money,” he explained, noting that investments can lead to freedom in all areas of life. “You make better choices when you’re self-sufficient. You date better when you are self-sufficient. You marry more wisely when you self-efficient. Your children have a better chance at education when you yourself sufficient. So if you’re not doing it for you, you ought to do it for your children.”
Beyond the dollars and cents, Good Soil is rooted in legacy—a concept Jakes embodies both as a father and spiritual leader. “I told my daughter, my landing space is your launching space,” he said, referencing his recent transition of church leadership to his daughter, Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts. “We are descendants of Nigeria. Igbo people. Known for business acumen. It’s genetic. It’s a propensity to take something that looked like nothing and turn it into something and make a business out of it.”
That’s why the Forum’s speaker lineup is filled with visionaries who’ve built empires from the ground up: Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Lorenzo, John Hope Bryant. “I picked them because they started with nothing,” Jakes said. “Oprah was making mud pies in Mississippi. John Hope was raised in the hood, okay?”
Jakes says his work with the Good Soil Forum is part of his larger legacy. Even after stepping down from the pulpit, he’s got new initiatives in the works, launching a podcast, My Next Chapter, through iHeartRadio this fall. “I gonna get to talk about things that weren’t pulpit conversations,” he said. “We didn’t all have fathers, we didn’t all have advisors, we did not have mentors, and through my podcast, I want to make a difference in the lives of the people that hear it.”
For those who feel burned out or are tempted to check out given the state of the world, Jakes puts his spiritual hat back on and offers this encouragement: “Everybody has a different breaking point. I think when your body tells you you’ve had enough, you need to listen to it. That doesn’t mean that you quit. There’s something between stop and go and it’s called pause. Pause, regroup yourself, redefine yourself, reinvent yourself, recreate yourself, but get back in the game again.”
The following Black entrepreneurs have been named finalists in the Good Soil Pitch competition and prizes will be given out next week in Dallas:
- Kia-Shun Voltz, Shampoo Time of Red Oak, Texas
- M-T Strickland, Metric Mate of Atlanta, Georgia
- Paden Sickles, SickFit, Arlington, Texas
- Lamanda Ballard, FloEver Health, Austin, Texas
- Orleatha Smith, Sip Herbals, Gresham, Oregon
- Joseph Hamilton, 4 Second Football, Fairburn, Georgia
- Rozalynn Goodwin, Confidence by GaBBy Goodwin, Columbia, South Carolina
To learn more about the Good Soil Forum, visit https://www.goodsoilforum.com/.
