Sydney is an entrepreneur, artist, nonprofit professional, and motivational speaker. She is dedicated to supporting non-technical entrepreneurs, helping them launch their first successful mobile app, and equipping them with the software to do it. Recent recognition and accolades include one of 30 Influential Women Advancing AI in 2020, 2nd place in the Black Women Talk Tech Roads to Billions Conference, and 1st place in the Harlem Capital and Forbes More Equity virtual pitch competition earlier in 2020.
A Western Michigan University alumna, Sydney studied engineering and worked seven years in environmental engineering & product development at a Fortune 400 Utility company. In 2017, she opened a commercial business called Pop Up and Paint in downtown Jackson, MI. Sydney’s innovated twist to painting was a viral hit and soon franchised to over 3 locations. Today, Pop Up and Paint is still thriving and bringing creative experiences to diverse families in their homes.
With the funds earned from Sydney’s hard work at Pop Up and Paint she was able to found her startup Tequity, and invest in the software development of her first tech product, NixCode. Tequity bridges that gap, removing the high costs and high efforts traditionally tied to building an app – no coding or design skills needed. With the IP of Sydney’s software she’s able to get a 99% publishing success rate on more than 100+ apps for business owners and startup founders. Sydney ended 2020 with a $3.3M valuation of her company and launching her first fundraising round of $500,000.