Chaymeriyia Moncrief had, at the age of 12, already started pursuing her entrepreneurial dream.
The Montgomery resident started off as a designer under her own branding agency which eventually turned into a business by age 16.
Now at 24, Moncrief has stepped into the world of technology – a move that was fueled by a bad experience she had with a cell phone company.
“You go in and they say your phone bill is going to be $98, but you are getting a $150 or $200 bill. I think the final straw for me was a $235 bill, and that is when I said I want my own company,” she told WSFA.
That gave birth to Tesix Wireless, a telecommunications company that announced its launching in summer 2018.
“The name [Tesix Wireless] comes from two things: Technology and sixteen because sixteen is when I started my entrepreneurship journey. The name has a personal meaning to me,” said Moncrief.
Since its announcement, the company has attracted several customers and private investors. With this interest, Tesix Wireless received investing and acquisition offers from investors, taking the company to $5.9 million dollars in value, even before its launch, reports eurweb.
Being valued at such a huge figure is an amazing feat that sets the company into the bigger space of MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) and Moncrief is hoping to carve a niche for herself within that market.
“I know that I am stepping into a crowded market with other telecom companies to go up against but that doesn’t set me back. We at Tesix Wireless find great advantage in being able to offer slightly less competitive rates, fee-less monthly bills, more wireless flexibility and connecting with our customers on a more personal and peer to peer level.
“To be able to be in a moment where a company that I have started is valued at millions before it’s even launched is just beyond me. If Tesix has gained this level of valuation now it is only more exciting to see where it’s going. I’ve worked at this for 5 years and now that I am putting it into action, I plan to build an amazing company that makes its mark in the telecom space,” she was quoted by eurweb.
But that is not all for the young entrepreneur who owes so much gratitude to her mother, a domestic violence survivor, and two younger sisters for their motivation.
Before the company’s launch in December, more than 3,500 people were on the early sign-up wait list. The company has also generated numerous pre-sales for their network’s Sim Kits from customers who can’t wait to make that switch.
She said this of the company: “Everything is included in the bill. When you pick the $25 plan that is what you pay, when you pick the $45 plan that is what you pay every month no fees. Everything is transparent and straight forward something you aren’t getting with the others.”
All seems to be going on well for Moncrief but that doesn’t shift her off her goal.
“We have people subscribed, but only on a certain network at the moment. By week we should have anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 people off the wait list,” she said.
For now, Tesix is a prepaid service, although Moncrief is optimistic that in the next three to five years, the company would have its own network and ultimately be its own carrier.
Moncrief grew up in Montgomery, AL and graduated high school in 2012. She subsequently attended Alabama State University for Business Management and Computer Science. In 2016, she launched a Branding Studio and within two years, the company has three locations.
Moncrief is among several other black people who, despite the challenges and political attacks, are producing life-saving solutions to myriads of problems facing the world.
As the world is in the midst of a tech boom and tech companies continue to pop up, black people are one of the minority groups at the forefront of this digital movement.
There are the likes of Iddris Sandu, a 21-year-old tech guru who has accomplished many incredible feats, including being responsible for algorithms that have made Uber, Instagram and Snapchat what they are today.
Silas Adekunle, a 26-year-old Nigerian who is credited for building the world’s first gaming robot, recently became the highest paid in the field of Robotic engineering.
There is also Jessica Matthews, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the U.S. who founded Uncharted Play, a company that uses renewable kinetic energy solutions to generate clean, consistent, and cost-efficient power for communities, facilities, and the Internet of Things.
