Dec 28, 2020 · 45m · how-i-built-this
ActOne Group: Janice Bryant Howroyd (2018)
0:00 / 0:00
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of How I Built This, Janice Bryant Howroyd details how she overcame racial segregation and systemic bias to build ActOne Group into a billion-dollar workforce management empire. Drawing on foundational family values and technological innovation, Howroyd made history as the first African-American woman to own a billion-dollar enterprise.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 32.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Guy as informed peer 2.6 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.2 Guy pushing back 0.8
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 41:42 Flat rejection of luck
Howroyd firmly rejects Raz's standard question about luck playing a role in her career, stating unequivocally that luck had nothing to do with it.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 37:32 Probing rationale behind gifting intelligenceRaz pushes Howroyd to clarify whether her decision to send team members into pitches was based merely on assumption or proven client prejudice.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 37:42 Educating on racial bias in client scrutinyHowroyd breaks down how scrutiny differs for a Black female founder, explaining that clients ask 'can we' rather than 'how will we' unless a proxy is used.
Guy holds their own ▶ 23:25 Detailed inquiry into placement guaranteesRaz demonstrates industry understanding by pressing Howroyd on the fee mechanics and financial guarantees staffing agencies had to provide to secure clients.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NPR Member Station Year-End Fundraising Pitch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Host monologue featuring an end-of-year NPR fundraising pitch followed by a brief teaser soundbite from the upcoming interview. No active dialogue occurs between host and guest. | |
| Show Introduction: Janice Bryant Howroyd's Historic Milestone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Narrative intro monologue by Guy Raz introducing Janice Bryant Howroyd and summarizing her achievement as the first African American woman to build a billion-dollar enterprise. Scored zero across scales per monologue rules. | |
| Childhood in Segregated Tarboro and Structured Family Life | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Raz asks about Howroyd's childhood with ten siblings, assuming the household was chaotic. Howroyd gently corrects this framing, explaining how her parents structured the home like an efficient business. | |
| Early Entrepreneurial Inspiration from Grandma Dora's Barbecue Business | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Raz brings up Howroyd's integration of an all-white high school, phrasing it as her parents sending her. Howroyd corrects him to clarify it was a conscious collective family and community decision. | |
| College at North Carolina A&T, Father's Death, and Moving West | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | A collaborative biographical segment covering Howroyd's time at North Carolina A&T and the sudden, tragic loss of her father at sea. Raz listens empathetically as Howroyd explains her mother's encouragement to go West. | |
| Arriving in Los Angeles and Working for Billboard Magazine | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Howroyd recounts arriving in Los Angeles and assisting her brother-in-law at Billboard Magazine. Raz asks basic chronological follow-ups as she explains how she was encouraged to start her own agency. | |
| Founding ActOne in Beverly Hills and Early Operating Model | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Raz inquires about the mechanics of opening ActOne in Beverly Hills on fifteen hundred dollars. Howroyd outlines her operational strategy, emphasizing that mastering the interview process and building trust via word of mouth drove her early growth. | |
| Meeting and Marrying Bernard Howroyd of AppleOne | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Raz asks about her marriage to a competitor and the turning point where the business scaled. Howroyd shares her initial skepticism about minority business certification before realizing its wider systemic impact. | |
| Developing Proprietary Technology and Creating Acceleration | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | When Raz suggests rapid growth made her head spin, Howroyd reframes the challenge around managing cash flow and payroll risk in temp staffing, which compelled her to build proprietary technology. | |
| Hiring Family Members and Merging with AppleOne | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Raz asks about integrating family members and merging ActOne with AppleOne. Howroyd explains the strict professional prerequisites required for relatives and how succession planning for their son motivated the merger. | |
| Navigating Systemic Bias, Gifting Intelligence, and Leadership Lessons | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | Raz probes into instances where Howroyd faced prejudice and asks about gifting intelligence to colleagues. Howroyd schools Raz on the practical reality of corporate scrutiny for women of color versus white male colleagues. | |
| Building a Billion-Dollar Enterprise and Honoring Family Legacy | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | Raz poses his signature question regarding skill versus luck. Howroyd immediately dismisses the role of luck, attributing her achievements to blessings honored through relentless hard work and family values. |
Statements from this episode (13)
Howroyd: Segregated Tarboro Maintained Southern Politeness Alongside Racial Injustices
“Now, we were segregated, make no mistake about that, but we had that southern etiquette that went along with it, so there was a politeness That occurred amongst people, but we also were very aware of the injustices.”
Howroyd's Grandmother Adjusted Food Prices Based on Customers' Employment Status
“She fed people to-go bags where they would come and buy their lunches or dinners at the back, and she would charge based on who was working and who was out of work, and she had that sense of justice in her mind about how to run her business”
Howroyd: Teacher Stood on Desk Claiming Black People Were Suited for Slavery
“And we had a teacher who stood up on the desk that day, the first day I went into his history class, and explained so eloquently, if you can even see the paradox of that, how blacks are so suited to slavery.”
Howroyd: You Are Defined By What You Answer To, Not Names
“It's not what they call you. It's what you answer to. And that was my first big lesson from dad. That I should not listen to what they called me. I could only be what I answer to in life.”
Howroyd Launched ActOne With $900 in Savings and $600 Family Loan
“I borrowed money from my mom, and I had saved 900 and borrowed 600 from her.”
ActOne Reached Profitability Within One Year of Its Founding
“Hitting profitability in a year seems pretty good, but living through it didn't.”
Howroyd: Gwen Moore authored California legislation mandating utility diversity spend
“Gwen Moore was an elected official congresswoman out of California here, and she had been very active in championing, and I believe she was one of the original authors of legislation that required public utility companies in California to have diversity spend”
Howroyd: Formal Contracts Must Supersede Client Relationships Because Personnel Leave
“And one of the failures I've seen occur in my own business as in others is that we create Great relationships with people in companies, and definitely we should do that, but people are moving all of the time, and the agreement you have with a person, it may no…”
Howroyd: Family Must Earn Outside Experience Before Joining ActOne
“One of the things that I insisted for my family members before they could come into my company is that they either had to work for three years in a larger company somewhere else Or have three promotions before they could come to work for me.”
Howroyd Merged Companies With Husband So Their Son Wouldn't Choose Between Them
“I think the thing that would make it interesting for me is that our son not have to decide which one of us he wants to work for, because by then our son was looking at our industry as a future for himself, and he had worked in my company, he had worked in his …”
Howroyd Often Had White Colleagues Pitch to Sidestep Client Bias
“I'll tell you candidly, and I'm not proud of it, there were times when I would gift my intelligence to other members of my team and have them go in and make a presentation or them make the pitch. So that the client wouldn't have to interact directly with me as…”
Howroyd: Black Female Founders Face "Can We" Scrutiny Rather Than "How"
“I think the questioning and the scrutiny would be different. There would be more question of can we than how will we. Whereas if I sent someone different on my team in, the questions around how are we going to do this happened a lot quicker in the conversation…”
Howroyd: You Cannot Teach Experience, Common Sense, Confidence, or Unwilling Minds
“In our company we teach that there are five things you can't teach people. You can't teach people experience. You can't teach people common sense. You can't teach people confidence. You cannot teach people anything if they don't want to learn it, and you can't…”