The inspirational story of the Carter brothers and their milestone celebration illustrates the spirit of community and the height of success that Black professionals in the United States can achieve with perseverance, a quality education, and a strong work ethic.

Twin brothers, Stephen and Sterling Carter come from humble beginnings. They lost their father, a Vietnam vet, at a young age. Even while juggling multiple roles as a single mom, their mother was determined that their circumstances should not in any way affect her education or that of her children.

She was one of the first women in her family to graduate from college and went on to graduate school. Her sons have inherited that same spirit of determination and opted to serve as reserves in the army and even went on active duty as their pathway to a college education. This stint in the army sharpened their inborn discipline and leadership qualities, and proved to be a turning point in their lives. It reinforced their determination to challenge the notion that the world of successful Black men was limited to athletes, musicians, and actors.

Today, the Carter brothers are the poster children of Black excellence in the US. They own and run many healthcare businesses including their flagship company, Sterling Staffing Solutions, which specializes in healthcare staffing and has already won several awards in this space by leveraging Sterling's background as a physical therapist and Stephen's business expertise. They own several other businesses like home health care agencies, mobile physical therapy clinics, healthcare tech companies, and diagnostic centers. They are also published authors having worked with Forbes on their book, "Double Your Success: Principles to Build a Multimillion-dollar Business."

The Carter brothers showcase the fact that anything can be achieved with hard work, discipline, and an entrepreneurial mindset. Stephen Carter strongly feels that there are many other successful African-Americans, who look just like the Carter Brothers, who are symbols of success in their communities and beyond - and who should be celebrated.

He says, "We want our youth to know that there are many career options and that it is possible to move up in life with hard work and discipline. We have many like-minded friends, successful Black business professionals - doctors, attorneys, and investors, who despite coming from disadvantaged backgrounds have worked really hard to achieve a level of excellence. They are focused on giving back to the community and making a difference in the world. In fact, for our celebrations in France, we were joined by more than 30 friends who had taken a similar route to success, highlighting the spirit of community and the scope for successful Black people to play a greater role in America."

The 18 couples who were part of the celebration were all successful Black professionals in their own right, though they came from different walks of life. Stephen and Sterling Carter planned for a milestone celebration in 2020 but Covid restrictions meant that the celebration had to wait until this year.

According to Dr Sterling Carter, what mattered more than the places they visited and the things they did was spending time with the friends who had patiently waited for two years to join them for this celebration. The sense of solidarity and community spirit made this celebration truly special for the brothers.

Dr Carter concluded, "If you had told us 30 years ago that two brothers reared by a Black single mother in Mississippi could achieve this kind of business success, and stay in five-star hotels on the French Riviera, I would not have believed you. But today, we know that such success can be achieved by dreaming big and working really hard.

This is the message that we want to share - that there are solid principles through which we can all achieve success. We want to inspire more Black people to build up generational wealth through entrepreneurship. That is a real equalizer that can level the playing field for marginalized people from different communities. Our celebration was a celebration of Black excellence, and we want many more from our community to enjoy such celebrations."