In an empowering tribute to the accomplishments of Black women everywhere, Dr. Tashion Macon recently released her book, “Coming in Hot: A Blueprint for Black Women Setting the World Ablaze.”
“Coming in Hot” is described as a movement, a call to action for Black women, the corporate entities that employ them, and the allies dedicated to their success and equitable consideration and inclusion in the C-Suite, according to Macon.
Starting her career in Atlanta and LaFace Records, Macon witnessed the beauty of careers like Dr. Dre, Toni Braxton, Usher, TLC, OutKast, Pink, and more.
“Coming in Hot” offers rich narratives, proven strategies, and personal insights that cater to the ambitious and the dreamers, catalyzing change-makers, and applauding trailblazers everywhere.
In an article by Forbes, Despite the growing rate of Black women with college degrees, there is still a major earnings disparity, where Black women are typically paid only 67 cents for every dollar paid to white men, resulting in a staggering $2.1 million earnings loss over the course of a 40-year career.
Released in reflection of the research informing Equal Pay Day, Macon introduced the “Hotlist,” a framework empowering Black women to count the costs and the coins as they cultivate a career arc as authentic and unique as they are.
The Atlanta Voice: What created the inspiration for your book, “Coming In Hot: A Blueprint for Black Women Setting the World Ablaze”?
Tashion Macon: I attended my nephew’s graduation from Howard University, and I noticed every time they called a young black lady’s name, she was Magna Cum Laude, with a 4.0 GPA, ready to go, every time they called her name. It made me think about because I have a background in the entertainment industry, how being a female academic is equal to being a female artist, there are more of us than there are opportunities. So how do I help the next generation? What book could I write that I wish I would have had at her age, so I could count the cost and the coins to craft the career that’s right for me? That turned into Coming in Hot.
AV: You refer to your book as the blueprint. Talk to me about how you came up with this and what it symbolizes.
TM: The blueprint is around understanding this arc of a black woman’s career from age 22. From entry level to emerging leader to established executive to when you exit. I created a new framework called “Hotlist” in the book, and the hotlist lays out how I’ve seen careers shaped successfully in your 20s or 30s, or 40s, or 50s, and even in your 60s, so that’s why it’s called the blueprint. In the book, I call it the happiness and I talked to young women, and at every stage and age of life, what would be paramount to your career success in your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, your 60s?
AV: Speaking of the “Hotlist”, you released your book in reflection of equity in salaries, talk to me a little about this.
TM: When we talk about equal pay day, and Women’s Equality Day is coming up in August, we talk about equality holistically being economic and emotional is environmental. For me, when I wrote the Hotlist, this new framework, it was really around a woman’s emotional health and her economic health at the same time. Making sure as you’re making decisions about your career, you’re counting the cost, the coins, and understanding what you may want to do or experience at certain ages. I’m strongly encouraging entry level executives to consider working abroad. Why? Because if you can work remotely, the cost of living in certain places is far less expensive than some of the major cities that we’re in. It allows you to count the coins. So, when you come back to your native country, if that’s what you choose, you are financially positioned to purchase something because real estate still is the foundational bedrock of wealth building in this nation.
AV: What can corporations do to go beyond performative gestures?
TM: I think what we’ve seen with the rollback of affirmative action, the completion of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), the pledges that were around George Floyd, that never really happened, was more transactional than transformative. I do think that what corporations can do, one is read this book, so they understand how black women particularly are experiencing these spaces. It’s very difficult to be the most degreed and the least paid for no reason. So, the first thing I would say is level the economic playing field, pay a Black woman at the level of her degree, if in fact, she is the most degreed and she’s the most denied. So, I think corporations must level the playing field, economically, and do right by the degree of this Black woman who is getting masters and PhDs.
AV: What is something you learned about yourself from writing your book?
TM: I wish I would have included myself. I was a first generation graduate in my family and helped get several people in my family through college. I’ve been blessed to make a good life financially, but when you are the first in that kind of context, I come from very humble beginnings. I grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois. I’ve sold and I’ve sold, and I’ve sold, and I didn’t necessarily reserve any for myself and writing the book helped me particularly when I was writing about the hotlist in the framework of the future.
AV: What advice would you give to Black women who may want to write and publish a book?
TM: Do it, girl. Do it. When there’s a story in you, it’s meant to be told and there are so many ways now to write a book, to tell your story, and to convey the message that you believe is meaningful. I want to acknowledge the fear component and I want to give space for that fear and say, feel it and then ask yourself, what is it really revealing to you? Because a lot of times, fear just shows up, unpacked, we don’t unpack it as it’s just, I feel afraid. We don’t unpack. People will have fears of not being accepted, not having the time, or starting it but not finishing. When you start unpacking what the fear is about, then you’re able to kind of extrapolate what you can attack at a time to do the work and it’s never too late to do it. This book has lived in me. Probably the arc of my career, I’ve written other books, but this book came out in such a way that I knew it was a purpose work.
AV: What is something you want Black women to take away while reading your book?
TM: Ascension is their decision that we can get access to. We can take agency of our own selves and our own careers and decide how we ascend. That more than anything, I say that about ascension, because permission requires purpose, which requires no permission. Purpose doesn’t need permission from anyone, purpose requires participation, but it does participate in your own purpose.
What’s Next?
As far as what’s next for Macon, she said there’s a seven-city book tour coming soon, which possibly may include Martha’s Vineyard.
“I’m excited about that possibility,” she said. “I’m taking ‘Coming in Hot’ and converting it into an evergreen calendar, so women can always turn the page on their own blaze.”
She will also be turning the book into an affordable curriculum so women can purchase it and do self-guided studies.
The hardback/hardcover will be coming out soon and the E-book is available now. Copies are available on Amazon. For more information about Macon, visit https://www.tashionmacon.com.
To purchase a copy of Macon’s book, visit https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Hot-Blueprint-Setting-Ablaze/dp/177482227X.
