Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Karla Trotman.

She is the president and CEO of Electro Soft, Incorporated (ESI), an electronics manufacturing and engineering firm in the United States.   She is on the show to discuss many topics, including breaking down barriers for women and minority business owners in manufacturing.  

Talking Points/Questions *             

1.      Building generational wealth through family businesses

2.      Addressing the racial wealth gap in America

3.      Breaking down barriers for women and minority business owners in manufacturing

4.      Exploring non-traditional career paths in the industry

5.      How policies can support domestic manufacturing pipelines

 She holds a B.S. in Business Logistics from Penn State and an MBA from Drexel University. Her business experience extends to supply chain logistics, purchasing, global scheduling, and e-commerce, where she served in key roles in companies such as Honeywell, Gap, and IKEA.

 

Trotman welcomed her two sons during her time at IKEA, giving her firsthand experience with the difficulties prenatal and postnatal mothers face in their professional and personal lives. While on maternity leave, she founded the Belly Button Boutique, an online shop for pre- and postnatal women. Over the span of eight years, her business expanded to celebrity and international clientele, earning her features in PEOPLE and on NBC 10, CBS News, HuffPost Live and more.

 

The success of Belly Button Boutique inspired Trotman to propel ESI, founded by her parents in 1986, even further forward. Over the past 15 years, she served in the roles at ESI as special projects and marketing manager, executive vice president, COO and currently CEO and president. Under her guidance, ESI implemented both online marketing and acquisition strategies, dramatically increasing revenue.

 

Through her leadership at ESI, Trotman was named an Enterprising Woman of the Year, Transformational Woman in Family Business, Top 25 Leader Transforming Manufacturing, and most recently Entrepreneur of The Year® 2024 Greater Philadelphia Award winner. Trotman recognizes the plights and potential of minority business enterprises (MBEs) and how their power can be used to help close the ever-widening minority wealth gap. Leveraging her connections to funding, access, and networks, she advocates for minority business owners and educates on how investment in minority businesses uplifts minority families and communities.

 

Trotman is a board member for the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, Museum of the American Revolution, African Women’s Entrepreneurship Collective (AWEC) and Forum of Executive Women Foundation. She is co-chair of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Manufacturing Alliance (SEPMA) and a member of both the Drexel University Board of Governors and President’s Council. She is the author of the soon- to-be-released book, Dark, Dirty, Dangerous: The Vibrant Future of Manufacturing.

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