A 39-year-old executive overcomes burnout, turns his partner's frustration into a business and creates a bank for Black people

After a year of sabbatical to recover from burnout, Fernando Ribeiro39, found in her skin, skin color and the experiences of people close to her a reason to take action. It started with AfroBusiness, a network of black liberal entrepreneurs founded in 2017, and today its activities have expanded into the financial market – a space traditionally occupied by white men.

He is the CEO Black accounta company it describes as a “financial products and services hub.” The company was founded in 2018 to be a financial institution that looks at black and peripheral audiences without discrimination.

“One of our partners who has always been an entrepreneur, and when he needed a loan, he was refused a loan. And then you can imagine that he was negative or had some problem, but no,” says Fernanda, recalling a story that happened over 15 years ago and which became the seed for the creation of Conta Black.

Years later, while working at AfroBusiness, similar stories appeared. “When we started connecting with other black entrepreneurs, we saw that they were going through the exact same situation. They were refused a loan, they could not open an account, and from that moment the idea was born to open a Czarne Account together with other partners,” he says.

Today, the financial center serves over 60,000 customers throughout the country. Of that total, Fernanda says about 70% are women and 80% are black. According to her, the institution's client base “reflects Brazil.”

What distinguishes Czarny Account

Like any other financial institution, to register with Conta Black, you must meet certain criteria, such as providing documents. Moreover, a loan application is not submitted one day and approved the next; there are also factors that need to be analyzed, as in other banks. The difference, however, is the company's “intentionality,” says Fernanda.

“We want to get to know our client's specifics so that we can offer products that meet their needs,” he says.

He adds that the company has launched credit lines addressed to its main group of recipients: entrepreneurs from the periphery. For now, credit plans addressed to individuals are still being developed.

In the company's DNA, management positions are held mainly by black people. Fernanda claims that although non-black people work at Conta Black, they are the heroes.

“I always advocate for corporate diversity, and when founding my company, not bringing these values ​​here would be completely disconnected from reality,” he believes.

The company takes its commitments and its social mission seriously. Last semester, for example, the financial institution launched a completely free course for Black investment advisors. The campaign was carried out in partnership with Banco Genial and TopInvest.

Goals for the future

Fernanda has already worked in a managerial position in the area of ​​internal communication in the company for many years. Then she got tired and was admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of burnout. “I worked an average of 14, 18 hours a day,” he recalls.

At that time, Fernanda believed that she had reached stagnation in her career. He had no place to develop, even though he gave his all. “Being a black woman, I was always overachieving three or six times more, which led to burnout.”

A year passed from the day she went through a crisis and was hospitalized until she resigned from her job. During this period, the principal was trying to create a financial plan that would enable her to spend a year out of work as part of a career change. She sought out courses, tried to better understand her work, and dedicated herself to “understanding who she was in the world.”

Then, at the end of the sabbatical year, AfroBusiness emerged, followed a year later by Conta Black. Now, privately, Fernanda is already planning another change for the next few years. You want to go back to school, get a master's degree, or invest in research. This will be an opportunity to transfer your professional experience to the academic world.

“I think I want to do new things. I think I have a strong instinct for transformation, of trying to introduce micro changes in my environment,” he says.