4 minute read
Cortney Woodruff
Cortney
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Woodruff
Q. Thanks for interviewing with us.
Tell everyone who you are and what you do?
A. My name is Cortney Woodruff and
I’m the Co-Founder and CEO of
Assemble.
Q. Tell us about “Assemble” and the motivation behind it?
A. Assemble is our solution to the age old saying: “It’s hard to become that which you have never seen.” We’re updating the curriculum. We want to start with a visual and a dialogue and leave our viewers with a vision. Assemble is the lens into a broader perspective of what the world has to offer traditionally underserved people in professional spaces; Starting with a video platform that highlights brilliant individuals of diverse backgrounds sharing their learned knowledge and personal experience. There are thousands of careers and hundreds of business industries that have traditionally excluded minorities from participating at a meaningful level and they have also been presented in an unflattering manner. Assemble sheds a new light on the unknown for so many curious and driven people.
Q. How do you balance work and life responsibilities?
A. I enjoy being on the move — handling business from my laptop or phone, honestly, almost feels like second nature. When I make time to stay active and mindful, you’ll usually find me in the gym, on the golf course, meditating or having a southern cookout at my home with family and friends (with a little Johnnie Taylor, old school
R&B and OVO Radio playing in the background). As someone whose role is to stay a few steps ahead, I hold on close to the moments that keep me present in the now. will push society forward. Will it make the life of your kids and grandkids better? If the answer is yes, then the work will probably be hard but will always be worth it! Last and certainly not least, treat everyone with dignity and respect because life is like a doorknob and everyone gets a turn eventually.
Q. Tell us a time in your career you felt like you wanted to give up?
A. In 2013 I moved to San Francisco on my own to launch my first tech venture. I was a recent business school dropout, broke with nothing other than eight months of hard lessons to my name and two weeks’ worth of rent in my bank account, searching daily for something to keep me motivated and other minorities that I could hopefully connect and resonate with. Nevertheless, I got word of a meetup happening in the city that featured a prominent African
American Venture Capitalist that
I’d admired for years and wanted more than anything to meet this person. So after I snuck into the event and waited over an hour to meet and gathering up enough courage to introduce myself, he told me that I had 60 seconds to introduce myself, make an impression and pitch him on my idea as he waited for his car at the valet line. After doing what I thought was a decent job, he got in his car, let down his window, instructed to me to email his assistant to follow up and I simply asked “what’s her email address”; to my surprise he looked me in the eyes as he revved up the engine on his $200k sports car, and said “figure it out” then peeled off. The valet chuckled and I stood in awe. In that moment, I realized how brutal the world was and felt sorry for myself. But that only lasted for a split second as it lit a fire in me that’s still burning.
Q. What advice can you give to the next generation of Male leaders?
A. Ask yourself if what you are working to achieve in this moment
Q. How does your work help others?
A. I believe my teams’ work provides hope and tangible to-do’s that many people lack in order to tap into their desired potential. My hope is that we share insight in order to educate not just those who have been overlooked for so long, but those who have been privileged enough to have a more directed path to knowing what it truly takes to break through glass ceilings.
Q. What is your number one goal you want to accomplish in the next five years?
A. I would love to see 1 million people watching content on
Assemble and saying that we’ve had a positive impact on their respective lives.
Q. How would you describe your future in 3 words? A. Humbly Displaying Success.
Q. Are you working on any new events or upcoming projects?
A. Right now I’m knee-deep in
Assemble affairs and our company’s nonprofit BeGreat
Together which is being led by our Co-Founder, Avrell Stokes.
Q. Where can the readers follow you?
A. @TvCort via Instagram, @Assemble.BeGreat via
Instagram or www.Assemble. fyi
