Selina Thomas said she is proud to be the owner of her company, 6 Degrees HR Consulting Inc., which is based in Santa Clarita.
Her firm provides human resources consulting services on matters such as offer letters, background checks, employee records management, employee relations and more.
“I have been deliberate, purposeful and intentional about shaping the company to my personal values and work ethics,” Thomas said in an email to the Business Journal. “That is something a person can’t do working for someone else.”
Tell us how you got your business started.
I actually began my company 6 Degrees HR Consulting Inc. in 2014 with no investors and no idea that by 2023 it would be a profitable company with a quarter of a million in sales by the close of 2022. We consult small- to medium-size businesses in their daily human resource needs. All companies need it and it translates to every industry, so for me I believed with that it could be a global company. Last year, I found myself visiting a 6 Degrees client in Bordeaux, France. That is when I realized how full circle we had become.
What’s the best aspect of running your own business?
The best aspect of running my own business is that the company has evolved just like I have as a person. I literally started my company in a Starbucks in Santa Clarita in 2014, and now the company provides services to clients nationally and, as of last year, internationally. That aspect of my growth and story becomes part of the brand and amplifies my growth and longevity. 6 Degree HR Consulting Inc. is also a Minority Business Enterprise as of 2021 which helped us scale and be able to obtain government contracts, seek grants and gain access to capital.
And the worst?
The worst aspect is that if it is your own business you have to commit to the sweat equity that it takes to get things done. What I mean by that is that everything falls on you. I have had to learn how to strike a balance, to give myself time off, turn things off with the mindset of “Rome was not built in a day.”
What’s the biggest challenge your business has faced? And how did you deal with it?
My biggest challenge initially was that I was a one-man band. I ultimately built up enough of a book of business that I could hire administrative support. I also learned how important it was to re-invest back into my own company. Learning to pay for support and experts to handle the things I was doing myself really changed the quality of my operations and delivery of my services.
Has being Black affected your business?
I would like to think that being Black has not affected by business, but I would be naive if I believed that is not a factor for some. I had a conversation with a group of students recently about this subject, and my suggestion on this topic was that in my experience as a Black woman that hard work, ethics, delivery and consistency allow for any color issues to fall away. I rest on those attributes in anything I do.
Do you think you’ll ever start another business?
Actually, I just launched another startup company, “Black Women Owned LA” this January. I am partnering with Nielle Cook and Dr. Edith Ellis, two other Black women, whom I’ve come to know through business. We collectively started this company with the mission to help other Black women navigate the business world in whatever product, scope of practice, or service they have to offer.