Don Carter - Transformational Executive Coach

doncarter.co

Helping human beings unlock and unleash the best of themselves into their respective worlds is a specialty of mine. Working from a place of deep belief in and understanding of the goodness in the world, I do my small part to influence the coming shift in people's awareness from what's "wrong" on the outside of them to what's right IN them. This is how transformation happens - and with it, access to the power to live a fulfilling life with peace and joy in the midst of almost any circumstance.

Transformational Executive Coach

Black Executive Men

Speaking agent for Black Executive Men, a premier organization helping Black men in corporate America find inner peace. 

Facilitator of the online monthly wellness gathering for Golden Rhinos, Black Executive Men's insider community "leading the charge for healthy manhood".

Guest Speaker and Facilitator

Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship

Startup founders of all shapes and kinds undergo a tremendous amount of transformation to build their businesses to their highest potential.  "Untapped Entrepreneurs" from communities of color, rural communities, LGBTQ+ communities, and the immensely growing numbers of women-founded and led businesses often must find their own unique way through the unchartered territories of expanding startup ecosystems. Enter: Pipeline Pathfinders. 

Through collective introspection, real consideration of the personal aspects of business, transparent communication, and connection to the abundant networks of innovative entrepreneurs in the Midwest U.S. and beyond, the Pathfinders program doubles down on Pipeline's "Founder First" approach to early and venture-funded stage startup growth. 

Our leadership and ecosystem support helps startup founders become more high-performing in their entrepreneurial journey while connecting the dots between the growth of their companies and their personal growth as serial entrepreneurs.

Pathfinder Program Director

Champions Mental Health

OUR LEADERSHIP
Jewel Love, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist and the CEO of Champions Mental Health. He holds a B.A. in Black Studies and a M.A. in Clinical Psychology. He provides highly engaging events for international corporate audiences.

OUR PROGRAMS
☑️ Management Training
Clear Communication Tools to Support Dialogues About Race

☑️ Black Talent Retention
Effective Tools to Improve Black Talent Retention and Satisfaction

☑️ Diversity and Inclusion
Crushing Stigma by Empowering Diverse Voices for Mental Health

OUR CLIENTS
☑️ Google
“I’ve never seen so many Black men at Google in a meeting, in a hangout, in an org, or anywhere in one space. Today was cathartic and left me feeling better…”

☑️ PayPal
“The compassion, energy, fun and affirmation was amazing and left folks in far better places than just the previous hour. We can’t wait for your return to enjoy additional measures of healing…”

☑️ Medtronic
"Thanks Jewel, that was amazing. You created a safe space for us to share and engage, as well as helping us to focus on our wellbeing.”

☑️ PG&E
“I feel less alone today. I felt like my company really cared for me. Thank you…This helped me.”

GET IN TOUCH NOW
https://www.championsmentalhealth.com/contact

Business Strategy Consultant

Kansas City Missouri Police Department

With the aim to help Kansas City grow and thrive as a community, I served on the Kansas City Police Department. The first portion of my career in law enforcement was as a patrol officer in the urban core of the city. Subsequent to that, I served in a high school as a Resource Officer for one school year.  The remaining years of my career, I spent as a detective in the Violent Crimes Division, switching from full active duty to reserve status in September of 2014.

Police Officer/ Detective

Helping "Untapped Entrepreneurs" & Executive Leaders Eliminate Limitations & Imposter Syndrome || Convos on the intangible aspects of business, healing trauma, tending to grief, & mental wellness as a Business Strategy

In a world that often underestimates our brilliance, Black professionals and entrepreneurs continue to rise—breaking barriers and redefining success.

Yet even with your ambition and accomplishments, you know there's more:
- more freedom, 
- more wealth,
- more impact. 

But the weight of generational pressure, societal expectations, and daily demands can leave you feeling stuck—held back from your next level.

Here’s the truth: YOU DON'T HAVE TO SETTLE

Through transformational coaching rooted in cultural and spiritual alignment, I help you unlock your full potential—so you can lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
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Together, we’ll:
• Align your business and life with your deepest values
• Release limiting patterns and reclaim your power
• Create a clear, actionable vision for lasting success
• Shift from overwhelm to peace and abundance
• Grow your impact—and your income

This is more than strategy. It’s about healing, alignment, and unapologetic growth.
You’re not starting from scratch. You’re rising from strength

I used to walk into rooms I earned… and still feel like I snuck in.

Even with the resume.
 Even with the results.
 Even with the respect.

I felt like a fraud in my own success.

If you’ve ever been the only one…
 The first one…
 The youngest, Blackest, or most "different" one—
 You know what I mean.

That quiet voice that says:
 👉🏾 “Don’t mess this up.”
 👉🏾 “You got lucky.”
 👉🏾 “They’ll find out you’re not really that good.”
But here’s what I had to learn:

Imposter syndrome isn’t proof that you don’t belong.
 It’s proof you’ve outgrown who you were told to be.

When you’ve spent years shrinking to survive, success can feel like a costume.
 But your power isn’t found in becoming more “polished”—
 It’s found in becoming more you.

Because the truth is:
- You didn’t just land in the room.
- You built the damn path to it.

And when you stop performing and start owning your story?
Energy shifts.
- Confidence becomes quiet, not loud.
- Respect deepens—because people feel when you’re rooted.
- Money follows presence, not performance.
- And most importantly… You start to breathe again.
 
“The real flex? Being yourself in every room you walk into.” — The Melanin RxCH Collective

The most dangerous Black man in any room?
 The one who’s not pretending.

Within the Melanin RxCH Collective, we support high-achieving Black men in shedding their masks—and living, leading, and earning from a place of clarity and truth. Not just success… but freedom.

If you’re done performing, start building what’s yours.

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Don Carter

Helping overlooked entrepreneurs & execs overcome self-sabotage and imposter syndrome| Owner and Founder of doncarter.co

I've never believed that liberation had to look like war.

I've always believed liberation could look like remembrance.
- Of our worth.
- Of our power.
- Of our brilliance.

I stand for Black liberation—
 Not in a militant sense,
 But in the soul sense.
 In the heart sense.
 In the creative, expansive, genius sense.

When we remember who we are, we unleash what the world has been waiting for.

I’ve seen what happens when Black people finally give themselves permission to let go of old stories—
 Stories of shame, struggle, smallness—
 And instead live from the truth:
 We are more than enough.
 We always have been.

 💥 When we unburden ourselves, our genius flows freely.

 🌱 When we slow down, we move more powerfully.

 🌍 When we come together, we transform not just our communities, but consciousness itself.

This is what I believe with all my heart:
•	We are on a grand adventure.
•	Fear isn’t a barrier—it’s a bridge.
•	Love is the engine of the universe.
•	Business isn’t just profit—it’s a sacred offering.
•	Community isn’t a luxury—it’s how we rise.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
                    - Barack Obama

If you're building a business, a family, or a legacy rooted in liberation, remember this:
 - You are not too much. You are the medicine.
 - You are not too late. You are right on time.
 - You are not lost. You are becoming.

Let’s build a world that remembers.

________________________________________________________________________________

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Too many Black men are out here calling it “success”… but feeling stuck as hell.

Six-figure salary.
 Premium benefits.
 Resume on point.
 Everybody clapping—but inside? Numb.

Let’s keep it real:
 When the choices are rooted in fear, approval, or image… that ain’t freedom. That’s survival.

A high-paying job can still be a low-vibration life.
Getting real with your choices creates more than success—it creates alignment, clarity, and peace.
Not in theory. In your bank account. Your body. Your mind. Your relationships.

Too many are driving luxury cars with the gas light on.
 Looks good. Shiny. Fast.
 But one more mile in the wrong direction… and it's a breakdown.

This isn’t about quitting your job or blowing up your life.
 This is about making decisions that come from truth, not trauma.
 From power, not pressure.
 From vision, not validation.

Real choices lead to real outcomes:
- Energy comes back.
- Focus sharpens.
- Opportunities align.
- Respect increases. (Because people feel when a man is rooted.)
- Money flows—not from hustle, but from clarity.
This isn’t magic. It’s mastery.

What would shift if the question stopped being:
 👉🏾 “What will they think?”
 And started being:
 👉🏾 “What is mine to build?”

Because real power?
 Starts when the performance ends.

Inside the Melanin RxCH Collective, Black men stop pretending and start creating lives that match their truth.
 Not the filtered version. Not the palatable version.
 The real version.

The world doesn’t need another “safe” Black man.
 It needs a free one.
 Time to choose accordingly.

________________________________________________________________________________

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You’ve become so good at being what everyone else needs—or what you think they need—that you’ve lost touch with what you actually want.
I see it all the time.
✅ Corporate execs getting promotions and praise… but feeling emptier with each new title.
 ✅ Entrepreneurs building “successful” businesses that feel like they’re wearing someone else’s identity.

You’ve mastered the art of reading the room. Delivering what’s expected. Being the “safe choice.”

But let’s be honest—safe can feel like a slow kind of suffocation.
Because that version of success? The one that requires you to shrink, mask, code-switch, and perform?
 It’s not your fullest expression.
 
It’s just you playing a role. And you got so good at the role, it started running on autopilot.

Somewhere along the way, you learned that your authentic self was “too much”... or maybe “not enough.”

So you built a version of yourself that could navigate investor meetings, executive boardrooms, and networking events.
You made it work. Because you’re brilliant.
 But now?

You’re trapped in a version of yourself that was never built for your own liberation. It was built for other people’s comfort.

Here’s the real issue:
 The job isn’t the prison.
 The title isn’t the prison.
 The real prison is the gap between who you are at home and who you become in professional spaces.
That disconnect?
 
It’s the difference between success that fills you… and success that hollows you out.
I’ve lived it. You probably have too.
That moment when you look in the mirror after a long day of “being professional” and barely recognize the person staring back.
👉 Recognition is the first step toward liberation.
 👉 Awareness is everything.

So let me ask you:
What would you create if you stopped asking, “What do they want?” and started asking, “What am I called to build?”
Not the safe version.
 The dangerous one.
 The real one.

Inside the Melanin RxCH Collective, we don’t just talk about “finding yourself.”
 We help you remember who you were before you learned to perform palatability.
Because your authentic genius doesn’t need permission.
 It needs powerful expression.

Following the program, the so-called “safe” route, can be the riskiest.

Building a life is freedom. 

Liberate yourself by remembering who you are, not by conforming to who you think you’re “supposed” to be.

Adventr CEO | GOOD Music Co-Founder | Grammy-Winning Producer | Girl Dad

For two years, everyone in business school was obsessed with recruiting.

Banking. Consulting. Private equity. Tech.
The “right” jobs.

People spent months perfecting resumes.
Networking at receptions.
Grinding case studies.

Graduation came.
Almost everyone landed the job they wanted.

Success, right?

One year later, 4 out of 5 had quit.

Including my buddy, the guy who never shut up about boats.

While everyone else chased Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, he was sketching boat designs. Talking about sails. Dreaming about being on the water.

But he followed the playbook.
Got recruited by a top bank.
Prestige, salary, the whole package.

He quit within a year.

Bought a little boat. Started giving $30 charters around New York City.

People laughed:
“You have an MBA from Columbia… and you’re running boat tours?”

He was happier than ever. Sailing every day. Meeting people. Building something real.

A few years later?

He had the #1 boat charter in New York City.
His charter is in every outlet from the 𝘕𝘠 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 to 𝘎𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘨 to 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨.

Now I can’t even afford to ride on his boat. 🙂

Meanwhile, my other classmates who stayed in their “dream jobs”?
Largely miserable. Stressed. Counting exit strategies.

Here’s the truth business school never taught us:

Success ≠ prestige + salary + other people’s approval.

Success = doing what you love + being great at it + getting paid for it.

The math is simple:
If you hate your job, you’ll never be great at it.
If you’re not great, you’re replaceable.
If you’re replaceable, you’ll never have real security.

But if you love it → you’ll outwork everyone.
If you outwork everyone → you become irreplaceable.
If you’re irreplaceable → you write the rules.

The “safe” career path? It’s actually the riskiest.

Because when you chase someone else’s definition of success, you guarantee your own mediocrity.

My boat friend didn’t just find a job.

He built a life.

Every morning, he does what he’d do for free.
And people pay him for it.

That’s not just a career.
That’s freedom.

-DH

I’m not a marketer, just admiring the brilliance. 

If you are, take notes. 

If you’re part of the diaspora… enjoy. 🙌🏾

You’re not going to learn how to create an ad like this from Wikipedia.

Or scanning what’s trending on your fyp.

Because culture doesn’t show up in headlines.

It shows up in touch.
In memory.
In a grandmother’s hand on a child’s face.

If your team doesn’t know how to access that,
you’re not building ads;
you’re just buying impressions.

Culture is not passed down.
It’s rubbed in.

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Maaaaan, I’ve been tryna tell yall. But the truth is, you know it already. 

You’ve just been afraid to admit it to yourself. 

And I get it, change is hard. Especially when you’ve banked on your ability to perform and follow “the program”. 

Success has always been subjective. But when you’ve become subject to it and lose your sense of Self, there is little else that its worse. 

This is a time for reckoning and reawakening. Let’s go!

Making more room for the expression of your peace and power must supersede your ability to perform your programming. 

But if you can’t hear it from me, hear it from Marquel:

I was listening to a podcast that said: "This is for those just starting and those who've reached the top."
I almost laughed out loud.

After helping 3000+ expert-based businesses scale, let me tell you what nobody admits about "the top."

It doesn't exist. 
Not where you think it does.

I used to chase it like everybody else. 

Another comma in the revenue. Another stage. Another feature. Another acquisition.

The more I achieved, the emptier it felt.

That's when I finally understood something that took me from the streets of Atlanta to 7 figures to actually discover:
You never reach the top by climbing. You reach it by transcending.

Here's what I mean:

Most entrepreneurs operate FOR success, validation, worthiness. 
The transformed operate FROM success, validation, worthiness.

One is exhausting. The other is effortless.

One is performing from false identity. All those titles, achievements, follower counts. 
The other is being from true identity, who you are before the business card.

I watched too many successful people lose themselves climbing mountains that have no peak.

They get the revenue but lose their peace. 
They get the recognition but lose their presence. 
They get the lifestyle but lose their life.

The real top isn't a destination. It's a decision.

The decision to stop performing and start being. 
To stop proving and start providing. 
To stop positioning for abundance and start positioning from it.

When you make that shift, something wild happens:
The business grows faster with less effort. The clients come without the chase. The impact happens without the grind.

Because you're not trying to GET anywhere. You're operating FROM somewhere.

That's the real top. And it's been inside you the whole time.

Most people die never finding it, still climbing ladders leaning against the wrong walls.

The question isn't how high can you climb. It's how deep can you root.

Because trees that touch the sky have roots nobody sees.

1, 2, 5, 9, 10…

12, 16…

18, 19 AND 20!  (Check his bonus comment for these)

All bangers! 

Others will likely stand out to you, but these are the ones on Matt’s list that you probably want to consider the most!

You don’t have that nagging feeling for no reason. Listen.

Corporate Graduation™ Founder | Smart Exits + Premium Business Design for Senior Pros | Ex-BCG | 4x Dad | Pod: Uncage Yourself 🎧

I'm 41. I spent 15 years in corporate.
Then 4 years building my own business.
Here are 17 lessons the system never taught:

---

1) Corporate is the launchpad — not the rocket.
The job was never the destination. You are the rocket ship.

2) You are the # 1 asset.
Not stocks. Not real estate. Not a carwash. You. Invest accordingly.

3) Be an anti-commodity.
If you look like everyone else, you'll get treated like them. Run from the crowd. Leverage your genius.

4) Beware Corporate Replication.
Repackaging your career as “consulting” or "fractional" isn’t freedom. For most people, it’s worse. Creative and authentic reinvention is required.

5) Your tribe determines your ceiling.
If you’re not in rooms that scare, challenge, and inspire you — you’ll stay stuck at the level you’re at.

6) "Free" doesn’t activate you.
Podcasts, YouTube, and books inspire, but don't change you. Skin in the game gets you into serious action. Where $$$ goes, attention flows.

7) Safety is the greatest risk.
Endlessly tolerating fear and calling it “stability” will become one of your deepest regrets.

8) Runway unused is wasted.
You’ve built financial margin. If you don’t use it to bet on yourself now, what's the point? (Don't talk to me about "retirement.")

9) Deferred freedom is a lie.
Better to claim peace and freedom now than keep kicking the can down the road. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

10) Jobs are transactional.
Don't confuse jobs with "family." They are pure business exchanges. Treat a job like the tool that it is. Be hyper-efficient in what you give.

11) Corporate is like college.
You’re not meant to stay forever. You’re meant to graduate to something bigger, bolder, and more authentic.

12) Massive growth requires forcing functions.
Design (invest in) conditions that force you into hard, scary moves. That’s how big outcomes happen, fast.

13) Love your work — or pay the price.
Does your work drain you? Your family, health, energy, and future absorb the cost. Conversely, when you love it, everything multiplies. Reinvent.

14) Passive income won’t save you.
It’s just another slow, fragile external play for money. Dollars without meaning or freedom is hollow.

15) Tune your mind and body.
Without emotional peace and energy, nothing else matters. Build healthier rhythms.

16) Invest before you’re ready.
In mentors. In masterminds. In vacations. In experiences. Program your mind to live the dream now, not “someday.” Show yourself that you belong.

17) Your family is watching.
Especially your kids. They don’t care what you say. They care what you do. Don’t tell them they can be anything while you live confined.

---

Two decades of hard-earned wisdom.
I treasure the pains — they forged who I am.

Which # stands out and why? 🤔

---

PS - These are some of the core beliefs in the world of Corporate Graduation™.

Join 3,200+ rebels applying them here: corporategraduation.com

Rethink how you rethink. 

By now, you recognize that “mindset” is important. It’s part of mainstream vernacular now.  That’s probably why it means little to nothing for your actual transformation. But there’s still a program running your life underneath the surface. You feel it more than you can articulate with words. 

If you’re aware of the program, but it’s not working for you anymore, connect with Dr. Cheryl Carr in her workshop to uncover the hidden codes and discover how to rewrite them.

Forget “ mindset/limiting beliefs.” Those terms are tired. You tune out as soon as you hear them.
Let’s talk about Invisible Scripts—the hidden codes running your life in the background.

These aren’t motivational buzzwords. They’re the quiet programs installed in childhood that still dictate how you show up today—how you work, love, and lead.

👉🏽 One offhand comment from a parent can become a lifelong script: “I’m not good enough.”
👉🏽 A teacher’s comparison can hardwire: “I’ll never measure up.”
👉🏽 And no matter how many affirmations you chant, those scripts don’t budge—because they’re written in emotion, not logic.

This week on Facebook Live, I’ll show you:
✨ Why mindset work feels like a hamster wheel
✨ How “re-emotioning” dissolves old scripts at the root
✨ The fastest way to free yourself from patterns that keep you overworking, underpricing, or doubting yourself

💡 Imagine what your life could look like if you cleared the script that’s been running the show for decades.

📅 September 24 at 12 noon
📍 Right here on Achieve With Dr. Cee Live

Your next level isn’t about doing more—it’s about deleting the code that no longer serves you.

👉🏽 Join me live and let’s rewrite what’s possible.

#YourWorkDoctor #InvisibleScripts #BreakTheCode #EmotionalFreedom #BehaveBetterFaster

🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://lnkd.in/dhn7kzPZ

Mindset is Dead- Fix Your Invisible Scripts

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