Candle in middle frame

BRB Stories: Frères Branchiaux and the Fragrance Revolution

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Fragrances and aromas can bring us back to our favorite moments. Whether under the protective charm of cinnamon and pine sap during the holidays or the essence of a seaside town and wet sand, a candle never fails to brighten even the most silent and grey days. The value and power of authentic fragrance are well understood by the team at Frères Branchiaux, a family-owned candle company currently based in Metro DC. In celebration of the Frères Branchiaux team’s 3rd place win in the Building Resilient Businesses contest, we at Kapitus had the pleasure of learning more about the inspiring story of three brothers and their parents who built an eco-conscious vegan candle company from the ground up.

Exclusively using soy and coconut wax, each Frères Branchiaux candle is hand poured with artisanal care. It is no exaggeration to say that lighting a Frères Branchiaux candle with your family is supporting a small business and strengthening a fragrance revolution calling for high-quality, natural products that enhance our own living.

Building a Business

The modern-day family business can be much more than a classic mom-and-pop shop, as exemplified by Frères Branchiaux. Let’s instead call it a brother-brother-and-brother shop; this is because the Frères Branchiaux story started with three brothers Colin, Ryan, and Austin who were faced with a big question. Their mother told the boys that they could make more spending money by either getting a job or starting their own business. Thank goodness they chose the latter. 

Celena Gill (mother of les Frères Branchiaux) explained that on top of making high-quality candles, she and her team faced several unexpected challenges when starting their business. “We had no idea of how to run an e-commerce business nor did we have any type of marketing plan,” explained Celena. “Most of what we learned was on Google and YouTube University.  After we figured out how to make candles, we had to figure out how to market them.  Because the boys were homeschooled, we were able to vend in major cities all around the country.  We were able to home in on our customers and determine our target market.  Our challenges helped us learn who our customer was and how to sell to them.”

Growing a Business

The Frères Branchiaux story is emblematic of a universal change in how our small businesses interact with their communities. By not engaging in ecommerce, small businesses don’t simply lose a revenue stream; they are shortening the potential of their community. Frères Branchiaux took this guiding concept in stride and even scored distribution for their candles in major retailers like Whole Foods and Target.

Any small business seeking national distribution is aware of the pitfalls and sometimes aggressive requirements from big-name brands for distribution, but Frères Branchiaux had some key advice for small business owners hoping to see their products on more shelves: “Start networking and getting connected to buyers.  Also, ask other business owners in Target about their process, their journey, and if they can share their buyer contacts. Apply for any local vendor programs or accelerator programs that would help you gain entry into department stores.  Also, make sure that your products are retail-ready—have proper packaging, UPC codes, ingredients (if necessary) and directions. Our CEO mom, Celena, leads the way in developing relationships and connections to launch in more retail stores.”

Building a Niche

Candles, like coffee or deodorant, are a market full of existing competition and big names who hold massive sway. From Yankee Candle to Harlem Candle Company, it’s clear that candle companies need a strong identity that consumers can identify with. Candles, by nature, are luxury products, so people need to be genuinely compelled to choose one candle over another. This is another fact Frères Branchiaux took to heart when building their business and brand.

Frères Branchiaux is family-owned, vegan, eco-conscious, and community-minded. And further, the team at Frères Branchiaux lives by these guiding principles. They make decisions not based on trend-chasing, but personal inspiration. That inspiration is more than present for Frères Branchiaux: “We care about the air quality in our home and wanted to create candles that would be as ‘clean’ as possible to everyone’s home environment. Austin, our youngest co-founder, has asthma so we had to make sure that any lit candle has the best ingredients for his health.  Soy candles are vegan, clean burning, and emit a better mix of fragrance and wax than paraffin candles.” In an ocean of impersonal brands, the value of personal inspiration cannot be overstated.

Further, consider the Frères Branchiaux recycling program. Co-founder Ryan explains that. “We are very invested in using renewable resources and reducing our carbon footprint.  Since we use glass jars, we thought it would be best to start a recycling program to encourage others to do the same.” After someone entirely burns a Frères Branchiaux candle, they can package up and ship the glass container to their Maryland base. Plus, processed returns can net the sender a $1 coupon for use at pop-ups or the Frères Branchiaux online store.

Building a Future

Thanks to the Building Resilient Businesses Contest, Frères Branchiaux took home a $20,000 prize to continue their mission of clean-burning, hand-poured candles for all. When asked what is next in store for les Frères Branchiaux, the team mentioned some major plans: “In 2023, we are launching in Sur La Table in February, pet products on HSN, and have collaborations with creative brands.  We are also opening our flagship store in Oregon next fall.  Our oldest co-founder, Collin, will be entering the University of Oregon in the fall as a starting cornerback on the football team—so we wanted to open one of our flagship locations where we would spend most of our time. “

Those interested in getting their own Frères Branchiaux candles can find them through the company’s online store or at one of several national supermarkets. And keep an eye out for news on the new flagship and more on Frères Branchiaux team’s social media.

Learn the stories of all of our small business winners:

BRB Stories: After Devastating Setback, Play Pits Takes First Place in Kapitus’ BRB Contest!

BRB Stories: Relying on Faith and Passion for Business Success

BRB Stories: Creating Libraries-worth of Unforgettable Memories!

BRB Stories: Healing Relationships with Body & Fitness

BRB Stories: Empowering a New Generation of Swimmers and Thinkers

Office with stylish yellow carpet

Women’s History Month 2022: Michelle Pippin’s Wowing Journey To Create Women Who WOW

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Women’s History Month is a celebration of female empowerment and the figures throughout history who have made strides in women’s rights and industry. While our earlier spotlights during this Women’s History Month featured strong, driven, and independent women-owned small businesses, today’s spotlight is a little different. Women Who WOW is not just a woman-owned small business; it is a small business for other woman-owned small businesses. Owned and operated by Michelle Pippin, Women who WOW is an online coaching and mentoring platform “for seriously driven women,” according to Pippin herself. Having built her business with the most grassroots strategy possible, Pippin’s story is more than a tale of female empowerment, but a learning tool (in more ways than one!) for the next generation of female small business owners.

Teaching to Learn

Michelle Pippin, Owner and Founder of Women Who WOW

Michelle Pippin turned a turn-of-the-century one-woman operation into the “wowing” Women Who WOW which is now operated in all 50 states and eight countries. While there are several online business training programs for aspiring business owners to choose from, Women Who WOW is distinctly different: “What makes WOW special is its focus on freedom and empowerment for women,” Pippin explains. “While we help these women make more money in their business, it’s really about empowering them to lead the lives they want to live. In the end, if you can’t financially support yourself and your goals, full empowerment isn’t possible. So, entrepreneurship is the vehicle, but empowerment is the destination.”

While knowing the basics of management and accounting are great tools, business owners kept from their own potential will have little use for even the most genius ideas. Pippin’s purpose is more than rational, it is essential for the modern business owner, as self-reliance and empowerment are the most versatile tools in the small business owner’s belt. Pippin’s methodology gets to the critical crux of the unspoken rule: don’t just run your business;  sustain yourself alongside your business; and there may be no one better fit than Pippin to explain the intricacies of both empowerment and a healthy working life.

$50 Seed to Priceless Idea

Yes, it’s true: Michelle Pippin created Women Who WOW while raising a family at home and with $50 of seed money. It is forthcoming, then, that Pippin has more than sufficient experience creating a small business under tough conditions. “Like anyone, I had to stare down the ‘devils’ of disappointment, defeat, and distraction.  I had to stay true to my business goals while also raising three kids, caring for my aging Grandfather, and being the wife I wanted to be.  It was hard, but never complicated.  Bottom line, I had to bet on myself and determine to live according to my own priorities rather than get caught in the busy-ness of the business world. In the end, this allowed me to take more focused and bolder steps in my business, creating financial success faster.”

Those first steps were admirably grassroots, as Pippin started seeking our clients for her business in 1999, long before digital marketing became prevalent. “I started this community by growing our members through print invites for 18 months, which is very different in the internet marketing space. I thought this step necessary to protect the culture of Women Who WOW, to keep our tribe high touch, high drive and deliberately low tech.”

In 1999, “working from home” could be seen as corporate code for “taking the day off,” but Pippin anticipated today’s change in the working world more than two decades earlier. “My desire was simple: to be at home full time with my babies. However, being married to a public school teacher demanded that I immediately replace my full-time income. So, I had to move fast.  After the first year of selling my services as an ‘at home secretary’ — and making $63K — I figured out that I wasn’t just ‘cobbling together an income,’ but running a real business.”

WOWing for the Future

In a new era of digital opportunity and reliance, Pippin’s two decades of experience running an online business made the pandemic shift straightforward but by no means easy. Now a veteran of digital marketing and initiatives, even pandemic staffing shortages didn’t sink Pippin: “I have curated my income streams to run lean,” Pippin explains. “I try not to take on projects or launches that depend too heavily on a full team and focus on selling deliverables that I can control.  It’s also important when marketing to acknowledge the hardships in the world, so you aren’t selling while being viewed as obtuse.”

Teaching by Example

Michelle Pippin’s business story is a lesson in itself: work begets success. Truly successful businesses are forged by the searing heat of sometimes uncomfortable hours and the weight of several hats balanced at once on very few heads. Who is better than Pippin, then, to teach business empowerment? Being that her business came to be in a field that barely existed and came to thrive when that field grew in around her. There is no greater empowerment than the validation of determined success. Voices like Pippin’s are irreplaceable in the forthcoming history of visionary women small business owners, and we are honored to spotlight not only her business, but her unique path to empowerment; both are proof that Women’s History Month ought to be twelve months long.

How Kristin Wallace is Changing the World of Freight with Atlantic Freight LLC

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As we push into the midway of Women’s History Month, don’t expect the businesses we highlight (or the women we feature!) to be any less compelling. Continuing the second tenet of the mantra “Here’s to strong women – may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them,” let us highlight another business that small business owners can aspire to be like. It is our honor to highlight Kristin Wallace, the President, and Founder of Atlantic Freight LLC.

Heavy Lifting

Atlantic Freight LLC is a freight company in Boston, MA that exclusively hauls loads for Amazon. Moving those crates and boxes filled with Amazon goods, however, isn’t the only heavy lifting happening at this Back Bay freight company. President and Founder, Kristin Wallace, is both lifting the veil on male-dominated freight stigmas and uplifting opportunities for women everywhere through her hard work and dedication. Wallace is a business owner with several years’ experience in fields from logistics, finance, marketing, real estate, transportation, business development (among several other fields!).

Kristin Wallace, President and Founder of Atlantic Freight LLC

“I think women in Freight is pretty unique, even more so a woman-owned freight company,” Wallace explained. “I became a small business owner because I have always wanted to be my own boss. I enjoy the uniqueness that comes with each day when you own your own company. I also wanted my daughters to see that women can do anything!”

Pandemic Problems

Atlantic Freight LLC has been in operation since May 2021, meaning that the business kicked off during one of the high peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think there are the typical obstacles to starting a business that everyone faces, but I also started a business during a pandemic while working from home with two small kids…one who is severely immunocompromised. So, that definitely added a layer of complexity to the launch of this company.”

Wallace worked tirelessly to bring her company into working order and did so while balancing family life. “I regularly have to take her for doctors’ visits, infusions, labs, etc. so that can be a challenge. I also wanted to be extremely careful about bringing home anything, especially Covid, so I did most of my interviews remotely, which was not always ideal.”

Amazon, being one of the major fulfillment companies consumers relied on during lockdown, partnered with more regional freight companies across the planet in 2021; and Wallace’s company proved their mettle; Her company quickly became a major load hauler for Amazon. Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, Wallace diligently built out a fleet of trucks and drivers fit for the job of not only delivering loads but breaking stigmas as well. “I also think that there was an initial challenge to recruiting drivers to come and work for me as a new start-up in this industry that is typically male-dominated.”

A New Kind of Freight

The hard and cold stigmas that taint the greater freight and shipping industry don’t just alienate the women in the field; they also often disenfranchise the drivers and workers who work tirelessly to deliver payloads. The picture classically drawn of a “freight company” or a “freight driver” is often skewed a bit too far “macho” than what is true to reality. While we tend to think of those drivers and workers as rugged “Clint Eastwood-type” folks who don’t need breaks, Wallace acted doubly hard to dispel this stigma. “My drivers tell me that working with us is completely different from other freight companies, and that is a good thing! They tell us they feel like a person rather than a number…and that is the feeling I am going for. Whether it is putting cookies in the trucks for the holidays or a note to tell them to have a safe day, we try to make our company a place where our drivers want to come to work each day.”

The Road Ahead

Wallace’s new world of freight is urgent and quick; it doesn’t hurt having the largest fulfillment company in North America as your sole client. While the pandemic may be receding, internal Amazon reports  indicate commerce will expand over the next decade on the service. The only roadblock that could slow down Wallace and Atlantic Freight, then, is not seating their trucks with drivers fast enough. Even despite Wallace’s modern, personal approach to freight, her company has not been spared by the employment shortage felt across nearly every industry in North America. “The labor shortages have made recruiting drivers more difficult. We really have to make ourselves unique and stand out to attract talent.” This, however, hasn’t slowed down Wallace’s can-do attitude: “We have to work extra hard with recruiting and devote a lot of time and follow up to bringing on candidates, but it is worth it to build a great team.”

Be the Change, Be the Freight

Women’s History Month is both a time to recognize the women who have made history, while also using it as   a space for recognizing those women who are making history. Kristin Wallace and Atlantic Freight LLC are a touchstone of modern business perseverance, sensibility, and humanity. Wallace is a business owner we can all take inspiration from. As the world continues to connect and intertwine in more intricate ways, companies like Atlantic Freight and the leaders who create them –  like Wallace – should be remembered not only as those who won over a market space, but also as individuals who made that space better through innovations – both human and logistic.

Women’s History Month 2022: How Jill De Forest Found Success and Founded De Forest Search

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“Here’s to strong women – may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.” Let this mantra be your guide to Kapitus’s 2022 celebration of Women’s History Month. Throughout the month of March, we will be profiling six women-owned small businesses, two by two, who  embody each of these guiding principles: “may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.” Our first two features of this month will encourage knowing women-owned small businesses, spotlighting women-owned businesses you ought to know either for their world impact or the inspiring journey that brought them to the small business world.

We at Kapitus encourage you to reach out to your local community to patronize those who also embody the guiding principle: Know Them, Be Them, Raise Them. Today it is our pleasure to get to know Jill De Forest, owner of De Forest Search.

Industrious Beginnings

Jill De Forest, Owner, De Forest Search

Jill De Forest started her career in real estate when she was 18 years old. “I was easily the youngest in the industry in my geographic area. As a realtor, you get your license and are pretty much on your own. You may get some basic training, but for the most part, are left to your own devices,” De Forest explains. “It is an easy industry to fail fast.” De Forest, however, took the independence in stride and allowed the freedom of real estate to help her own personal and professional development. Forced to find new prospects when interest rates topped 20% in 1979, De Forest quickly adjusted to working with an employment agency, “which was a perfect fit,” De Forest said. “The employment agency was amazingly similar to real estate, but it offered a draw against commission and benefits. I was in heaven and became the top producer in a large chain with 60 offices within month two.”

When you reach the top, there is little more to do than redefine the game; and that is exactly what De Forest did in 1985 when she opened her first business, Sawyer & Associates Personnel Service. Becoming a business owner, like any business owner can tell you, leads to a redefining freedom. De Forest thrived with her business and “it was great until it wasn’t.” While 80% of entrepreneurs went bankrupt during this period, De Forest managed to avoid that and made good on any lingering debt over the next 18 months. De Forest, 8.5 months pregnant at the time, went through the demoralizing process of negotiating out of her leases and credit lines. “It was devastating,” De Forest said.

Now a seasoned authority in the staffing world, De Forest found a job at Mattel in Talent Acquisition. “ I was in heaven again,” De Forest explains. “No stress, doing what I do well and getting paid on a regular basis without the burden of operations, payroll, expenses, HR etc.” After two years with Mattel, De Forest found herself missing the thrills of running your own business. Having made a meaningful impact at Mattel, De Forest proposed a plan to Mattel’s Chief People Officer – offering to become the company’s exclusive search partner for all marketing and creative roles for Mattel. Her hard work and determination had paid off, as Mattel said yes. “If you do not ask…you do not receive … anything is possible,” De Forest muses. And with the closing of her exclusive deal with Mattel, De Forest Search was born.

De Forest Search

Jill De Forest became the CEO of her second business, De Forest Search, in 1995 and experienced the same joy and freedom that empowered her in her first business. Now backed by large corporate clients, De Forest Search quickly became a talent and staffing name to be reckoned with. “We did experience the 9/11/2001 terror attack and associated hiring freezes as well as the 2009 Great Recession but were able to weather those storms as I had experienced recessions prior and was prepared.  In 2020 we had a first ever pandemic and that was so new to anyone in business that we were all consulting each other but the following year in 2021, 28 years later, De Forest Search had its best year ever.”

As to what drew De Forest back into running her own business, she explains succinctly, “I have the entrepreneurial gene.” De Forest knew early that she had the willpower and determination to build something all her own. “Entrepreneurs are driven, determined, intuitive, assertive, and not limited by specific hours or how things are generally done. They are always on; they do not think of their work as work but more of a piece of themselves which loves to create and build something and see their ideas flourish. They have a positive mindset and only see open doors.  I have never seen a pessimist with a limiting mindset become a successful business owner. My husband is a corporate guy and says that my intuition defies all logic.”

Woman (Not) Afraid

De Forest has worked both as a small business owner and as a higher up in the corporate world, so her experiences as a woman in the business world are varied and enlightening. While De Forest is not unfamiliar with roadblocks, she never considered being a woman one of them: “I had other obstacles (lack of college degree, A.D.D, Dyslexia, four recessions, Covid etc.) but I personally never considered being a woman hindered me. I was cognizant of other women who spoke about hitting a glass ceiling; but as an entrepreneur, you generally do not have to worry about that.”

De Forest has let her expertise and acumen speak for itself throughout her long career. “As far as business development, I think it has been an asset being a woman as I have found that many men find it refreshing to meet driven women business owners that are confident and engaging.”

Today’s Challenges

Being an employment business, De Forest Search survived the bulk of the COVID-19 pandemic through learned and well-advised leadership from De Forest herself. 2022, however, is an entirely new puzzle: “Since we are in the employment business, the labor shortages are creating more demand for recruitment firms, and we are busier than ever. Our challenges are more about the war for talent and candidates’ new motivations/demands (limited to working remote or hybrid, higher compensation due to inflation, requiring more PTO for mental health/work life balance) and they are juggling multiple offers.” But like every new challenge De Forest has faced in her several decades of entrepreneurship, this is just one more way to grow into a better business owner. The several challenges, external or otherwise, were nothing more than crucibles for De Forest who rose above each one with the knowledge and experience from each stacking up to better equip her for the future. By the time COVID-19 affected De Forest Search, De Forest herself had seen multiple recessions and knew how to shrink and grow her business to suit the scenario.

De Forest Mindset

As De Forest herself said, she has the entrepreneur gene. From an early age, she forged her own path; trusting her instincts and leadership skills brought De Forest to entrepreneurship like a magnet. Her story, however, isn’t a rose-tinted climb into business stardom. De Forest didn’t find success until after some closed doors and frustrating roadblocks. Those roadblocks, however, only strengthened her resolve and better prepared her for what lies ahead.

It pays for small business owners to hear Jill De Forest’s story – they ought to know that the best businesses are tempered by continued resolve through the good and bad. It is our immense pleasure to know Jill De Forest and De Forest Search.

The Black History Month Changemaker Collection

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Black History Month provides a dedicated time each year for us to reflect on the indelible mark and positive impact that  African Americans have made throughout US History. It is a time to recognize and honor the legacy of activism, strength, and determination in the Black community. The unbreakable will of those catalysts of righteous change like Fred Hampton, Malcom X, Angela Davis, and of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are justly celebrated the world over. And this year, we at Kapitus honor those legends as well as the local legends who carry on that strength today: Black small business owners. In honor of these business owners, this thread will be updated every day of Black History Month with new stories from Black small business owners across the country who have overcome challenges and made their own way in the business world.

They are visionaries.  They are changemakers. They write their own stories.  They are black business owners.  And this collection is just a small way to honor them and the impact they make on this earth everyday. 

Trenice McMillian

Platinum Graphics

New Orleans, LA

A graphic design company with a profoundly transcending philosophy, Platinum Graphics specializes in the memorializing of those lost. Platinum Graphic’s specialty is life-size posters which stand beside the casket at end-of-life services. These high-detail prints can be therapeutic and moving for those in attendance of these emotional events. Trenice and her husband became small business owners 15 years ago for the freedom and flexibility of being your own boss and they haven’t looked back since.

 http://www.facebook.com/PlatinumGraphicsNOLA

 https://www.instagram.com/platinumgraphics

  https://twitter.com/PlatinumNOLA

 

Neena R. Speer, Esq.

Neena The LAST Brand LLC

Birmingham, AL

Neena Speer is an Amazon Bestselling author with a solo law firm, The Neena R. Speer Law Firm LLC, and a detailed history of public speaking and activism. Across her books and talks, Speer is a proud voice of perseverance, speaking openly about her experiences as a Black female in law school and beyond. One of Speer’s most popular books Dear Future Lawyer: An Intimate Survival Guide for the Female Minority Law Student is an Amazon Bestseller. Through her prose and public speaking, Speer is a force for good and a powerful voice for both Black and female empowerment

https://www.flowcode.com/page/neenarspeerlawfirm

https://www.flowcode.com/page/neenaspeer

https://www.flowcode.com/page/step123mentor

 

Querida Lugo

The Beloved Brand Company & Styling for Your Life

Washington D.C.

Querida Lugo’s The Beloved Brand Company is a one-stop-shop digital agency specializing in providing  small businesses, corporations, entrepreneurs, start-ups, and institutions with the tools required to get  more in touch with their self-value and closer to their next transformation. From diversity training to brand development, Lugo’s agency takes pride in teaching their clients transferable skills they can use every day. Lugo uses her expertise to directly help her community by teaching, assisting and inspiring the BIPOC community to generate substantive income. After more than 10 years in the industry, Lugo is still determined to empower each and every business owner and passionate creator who walks through her door. Lugo also runs Styling for Your Life, a resource center for those looking to live their best and fullest life.

https://www.facebook.com/285870218191103

https://www.instagram.com/stylingforyourlife

https://www.linkedin.com/www.queridalugo

https://www.pinterest.com/stylingforyourlife

https://twitter.com/QueridaLugo

 

Terri Sherman

MindYourBusinessToday

Daytona Beach, FL

Terri owns and operates a business for businesses. Through MindYourBusinessToday, Terri has brokered deals and acquisitions and helped would-be business owners discover their potential. When Terri began her business 10 years ago, she was the only Black female intermediary with a firm in the state of Florida. Since then, she has seen her fair share of challenges proving to colleagues and customers that she not only has a right to sit at the business table but that her perspective makes her an even stronger business owner. Terri has an interest in the changing face of America’s small business owners and has been a guiding force for many of the country’s new, young entrepreneurs and business owners.

https://www.facebook.com/TerriSherman.BI

http://www.twitter.com/Terri_ShermanBI

https://www.instagram.com/mindyourbusinessfl/

 

Nadia Francois

Heiress International Enterprises

Baton Rouge, LA

Francois is the owner and face of Heiress International Enterprises, a beauty services and products business committed to excellence and quality. Francois holds both a B.S. in Business Administration as well as a license in Cosmetology and Barbering making her a genuine perfect fit for the beauty industry. Since beginning her business ventures nearly a decade ago, Francois has become a bestselling author and talk show host with a dedication for helping would-be business owners reach their goals. Francois also created the non-profit Hence Sistars of Empowerment, Inc advocating for the education and inspiration of women in the greater Baton Rouge area. A proud mentor and thought leader, Francois shows no sign of stopping her outreach and education ventures; she is an unstoppable force for good in her community and the business world at-large.

https://www.instagram.com/heiressintl/

https://linktr.ee/heiressintl

 

Martel Sharpe

404 Communications Firm

Marietta, GA

Martel Sharpe is the Principal Communications Officer with 404 Communications, a public relations and content management company specializing in entrepreneurial and small business clientele. Inside that specialization, however, Sharpe and his firm are artfully selective and have a wide breadth of clients from fashion designers to financial firms. Being a minority-owned business, Sharpe has fought an uphill battle for his firm using his own and his team’s incredible PR expertise to help clients and break out of the restrictive box often afforded to minority-owned businesses. Never having been recognized for his contributions in the 9-5 world, Sharpe started as a freelancer and quickly formed his own business after clients and contracts streamed in.

 https://twitter.com/404commfirm

https://www.linkedin.com/company/404-public-relations-communications-firm/

https://www.instagram.com/404communications/

https://www.facebook.com/404communications

 

Kim Crowder

Kim Crowder Consulting

Houston, TX

The Kim Crowder Consulting Agency is determined to reshape the modern workplace through diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism (DEIA) training. Crowder’s team is made entirely of people with traditionally ignored identities and uses their combined lived experience to delve into the nuance of workplace discrimination with personal precision. Empowered by her own experiences in corporate America, Crowder started her small business to correct the moral wrongs and foster businesses to be equitable and justice-forward. Crowder’s empowering and forward-thinking philosophy has caught the world by storm having worked with major names like Target, HarperCollins Publishing, and Adobe with seminars in the past.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimcrowder/

https://www.instagram.com/iamkimcrowder/

https://twitter.com/IamKimCrowder

 

Damian Spencer

CINO Rezdox

Denver, CO

Damian Spencer is the co owner of RezDox, a software that allows homeowners to upload and manage the details of their home. Rezdox’s “Home History Report” is called a “a CarFax for their [clients’] home” by Spencer and is a great way for homeowners to quickly and easily manage their home’s key facts. Rezdox was born from experience when Damian sold their first home. “Homeowners should have an easy way to determine how much equity they have gained from improvements.  We should all have a better warning if our appliances are nearing the end of their useful lives, so we can budget for emergency repairs or replacements,” Spencer explains. Through perseverance and unending hard work, Spencer forged his own solution for homeowners and has changed not only industry, but also the home-owning experience for the better as a result.

https://www.facebook.com/rezdox.growequity/

https://www.twitter.com/RexDox

https://www.linkedin.com/company/rezdox/

https://pintrest.com/rezdox/

https://www.instagram.com/rezdox/

 

Joi Wade

Joiful Bee

Wesley Chapel, FL

Joi Wade is the owner of Joiful Bee, a haircare company with the mission of helping women both establish consistent hair routines and live more confidently. After a successful career as a haircare influencer on YouTube, Wade was inspired to start her own business after reading about her commenters’ hair care journeys. After fantastic success, selling out their entire initial inventory in 2020, Wade has since expanded both her product line and operations. Now beating out supply chain shortages, Wade is a touchstone for modern business acumen and shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

https://facebook.com/joifulbee

https://instagram.com/joifulbee

 

Ashton & DC Cayce

REI Remodel

Lancaster, CA

Ashton and DC Cayce are the married couple and team behind REI Remodel and the REI Remodel Club. Ashton, interior designer and realtor, and DC, author, investor, contractor, and REI remodel specialist, started their own online program teaching real estate investors how to effectively flip properties and strengthen their investor network. The duo were empowered to start their business upon finding that there are little to no resources for would-be home investors to learn how to manage contractors, budgets, or schedules. Ashton and DC’s online program has allowed them to connect with a nationwide audience of future real estate investors and allowed them the luxuries that come with being a small business owner.

 https://www.facebook.com/reiremodel

https://www.instagram.com/reiremodel/

 

Darryl Kelly

Hectic

Lafayette, CO

After spending several years at the executive level of large, traditional companies, Darryl Kelly was ready for a change. Inspired by his guiding mission of making a platform for freelancers to further their careers, Kelly created Hectic. “Freelancers are critical to our ability to be agile, maintain a capital-light business, and embrace many different ideas and talents in a fractional-focused nature,” Kelly explains.  Kelly’s choice to start his own business and provide the platform for others to do the same which has allowed him and those who use Hectic to follow their own path and become better creators as a result.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hectic/

https://www.instagram.com/hectic_app/

https://twitter.com/Hectic_app

 

Eudell Watts III & Eudell Watts IV

Old Arthur’s Heirloom Barbecue Sauce

Kansas City, KS

A long-held family recipe, Old Arthur’s Barbecue Sauce is a multi-award-winning sauce that spawned a proud family business. Owned and operated by Eudell Watts III and Eudell Watts IV, the Old Arthur’s Heirloom Barbecue Sauce continues the legacy of Arthur Watts, a former slave who formulated the sauce still adored today. “We made minimal changes to the original recipes,” says Eudell Watts IV, a sales executive who runs the business part-time with his father, Eudell Watts III. “We were careful to stay true to the original flavors.” This time-honored tradition has  become a flourishing national phenomenon as Old Arthur’s is now for sale nationally on Amazon, OldArthurs.com, and in Mariano’s supermarkets.

https://www.facebook.com/OldArthurs/

https://twitter.com/bbq_art

https://www.instagram.com/oldarthursbbq/

 

Jewell Singletary

Gratitude Griot LLC

New York, NY

Jewell Singletary is the entrepreneur and educator behind Gratitude Griot, a diverse online wellspring of mental health and holistic wellness resources. Singletary’s business focus is wellbeing. Through trauma-informed yoga, somatic meditation, and other therapeutic arts, Singletary and her business work closely with individuals, schools, communities, and even governments to deliver her teaching. Singletary has been living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus for nearly three decades and found balancing health and a corporate career extremely taxing. Now with her own company, Singletary is sharing the tools and methods that have helped her prioritize her own health. Following a quick pivot to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singletary’s teachings aim to reduce the building stress that has only compounded since 2020.

https://www.instagram.com/gratitudegriot/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkfcY-h5_hpi7PQ5tYulseg

 

Barbara Smith

BHS Consulting, LLC

Hampton Roads, VA

Barbara Smith is owner of BHS Consulting, specializing in flexible leadership and management skills training programs. BHS Consulting takes great pride in specially creating each training program to fit their clients’ needs. Never believing in the “one size fits all” approach, BHS understands that every business is different, thus, can benefit most from specialized, trained consulting. Smith found in corporate America that, despite being a master’s degree holder and a highly-credentialed expert, she was regularly not invited to the business table. After witnessing employee mistreatment first-hand and beyond, Smith moved to consulting with the aim of teaching the fundamentals of an inclusive and future-centric business to the next generation of visionaries and beyond.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-h-smith

https://www.instagram.com/therealbarbarahsmith/

https://www.facebook.com/coachbarbarahsmith

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFrBa0XB8sx9iGO9PL8A42Q

https://twitter.com/speakcoahtrain

 

Sherrie High

Official Solutions Mobile Notary Services

Greater Maryland Area

Sherrie High is the owner, operator, and notary public behind Official Solutions Mobile Notary Services. And the mobile is no joke, High works directly with businesses, realtors, and title companies procuring the solutions they need all across the greater Maryland area. High understands the value of her services and has found great success running her own small business. Having faced stereotyping in the past, High has fought an uphill battle making her name in the legal space but equally lets her success speak for itself. High is an enthusiastic and driven independent who is not only a small business owner, but a template for modern success.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077166761405

 

Raven Waterman

Raven Wings LLC

New York, NY

Raven Waterman is a licensed psychotherapist and executive leadership coach with the admirable goal of helping and supporting the emotional health and professional development for Black Women and the greater BIPOC community. After working more than 20 years in the non-profit space, Waterman found that by running her own business she could focus on what she is most passionate about: addressing the mental health and leadership gap. Waterman has been breaking barriers in the professional space and made a name for herself through determination and power of will. She has become an authority on wellness and emotional health through her expertise and dependency which has only increased in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.instagram.com/raven_advisory/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/raven-waterman

 

Kisha Mays

Just Fearless

Global

Kisha Mays is the founder of Just Fearless, a collective galvanized to empower female-founded businesses through global business development. Also the operator of the Angel Fund, an investor’s fund created exclusively for female founders, Mays is an incredibly influential force for scaling female-owned businesses. Mays is acutely aware of the troubles that both female and African American owned businesses face when trying to secure funding which is why her collective seeks out those marginalized business owners and works tirelessly to close the race and gender gap in the business world. Mays admits herself that she was never cut out to be an employee; she instead proved that she was much better poised to both run her own business and give passionate trailblazers the tools to do the same.

https://twitter.com/iamjustfearless

https://www.facebook.com/IAmJustFearless/

https://linktr.ee/kishamays

 

 Ivory Tenee

More Marketing Firm LLC

Atlanta, GA

The More Marketing Firm is an Atlanta, GA-based social media marketing firm servicing the ecommerce space and working to help their clients build exposure and natural traffic. As a small business themselves, Tenee and her firm can work with clients on an incredibly granular level affording them exactly the type of marketing and coverage they most need. From a blue-collar background, Tenee felt respect and admiration for the people who came before her but also knew she had the potential and the tools to grow. And grow she did: Tenee is a symbol for small business tenacity. As an African American business owner, Tenee has witnessed discrimination that stereotyping firsthand explaining that “people sometimes see our work and love it but then when they realize that a double minority created it all of a sudden, they question if we can do the job.” Tenee, however, lets her work speak for itself and has only grown as an entrepreneur since.

https://www.facebook.com/More-Marketing-Firm-105544714679418

 http://instagram.com/moremarketingfirm

 

Franklin Forbes

Blistey

Atlanta, GA

Blistey is the app and community created by Franklin Forbes. The Blistey platform was built to empower the greater BIPOC community with the ability to patronize businesses as well as exist as a meaningful lifestyle brand. Stamped as “the Yelp for the BIPOC community,” Blistey was created out of a necessity to connect the world BIPOC community in a space that accepts and celebrates diversity and grand inclusion. Forbes is a Brooklyn native with degrees from Columbia and the Kent School of Architecture who instead of giving his expertise to a large firm, used his skills in urban planning to make his own business. Blistey is more than a place to celebrate differences, but even more so a place to celebrate “what we have in common,” Forbes explains.

https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fblistey.com

https://www.instagram.com/myblistey/

http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Use%20Blistey&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblistey.com

http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblistey.com&title=Use%20Blistey

https://www.pinterest.com/Blistey/

https://linktr.ee/myblistey

 

Kylie Russell

Priceless One Management

Miami, FL

Priceless One Management is an event staffing and management agency owned and operated by Kylie Russell. Russell and her company have worked directly with major brands like Nike, Google, Nordstrom, Cîroc, HBO, Coca Cola, and several others to provide models, bartenders, and event managers for a variety of corporate events. Russell explains that “Before 2020, we were hesitant to let it be known that we were black owned. We felt like it may deter some companies from wanting to work with us. Most staffing agencies supply mostly blonde-haired, blue-eyed staff for events, so our work is so important to represent the billion-dollar marketplace that African Americans provide.” But since then, Russell and her team have let their superior service and client care assert their place in the events industry. Russell is a second-generation small business owner who takes immense pride in the power that comes with running your own business. The pandemic has certainly wreaked havoc on the events industry and Russell watched as once enthusiastic clients canceled and pushed back events throughout the past two years. Having built Priceless One Management herself, she has no intention of closing her doors and has masterfully pivoted to pandemic-era solutions like digital conferences.

https://twitter.com/pricelessonemgt

https://www.facebook.com/PricelessOneMgmt

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pricelessonemgmt

 

Michelle Ngome

Line 25 Consulting

Houston, TX

Michelle Ngome is the founder of the African American Marketing Association and a consultant with Line 25 Consulting. Through inclusive auditing, strategy, and workshops, Ngome and her team work directly with marketing teams to help them, and their companies, reach higher highs. Their newest project is a DEI card game built to help facilitate constructive conversation in the workplace. Ngome left the large corporate space in exchange for running her own business after facing frustration with decent salaries and advancement. Now a successful business owner, Ngome is a symbol of perseverance and SMB success; she is using her skill and expertise to help other businesses grow and the space is better as a result. She explains, “Being a Black business owner is everything to me. Especially at this turn in my life, where I see the transformational change with the people that I work with on a regular basis.” Ngome’s unique plan for inclusive marketing is fresh and allows for a new kind of comprehensive success in the business world.

https://www.facebook.com/michellengome

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mngome/

https://twitter.com/michellengome

https://www.instagram.com/michellengome/

American flag

Celebrating Independence with Small Business Owners

/in , /by

Even though none of us were in Philadelphia 245 years ago, the gravity of the signing of the Declaration of Independence still resonates today. While Americans enjoy 4th of July festivities, which for many is a return to tradition after a 2020 hiatus, let us think of the modern day revolutionaries: small business owners. Like the American colonists who chose to brave the unknown rather than be vassals, America’s small business owners are intrepid leaders who through will-power and determination forge their own paths.

Independence, however, can mean something different to each business and business owner. Below is a collection of quotes from small business owners explaining what they enjoy most about their independence.

Richard O’Brien, CEO, Hoamsy, Boston, MA

“There are two great things about running an independent business: setting your own direction and constantly solving new challenges. Running an independent business means that we get to define our own vision and our own impact, and really build our values into our brand’s mission and goals. Moreover, it forces us to be flexible and solve new challenges all the time. The ability to think on our feet is required in order to tackle the issues that we may face. It might be a bug in our code or an ops issue one day and then it might be marketing strategies that we need to reassess. Building and managing an independent business offers a great deal of freedom and flexibility, and it’s also a great learning opportunity to tackle issues as they arise.”

Nicole Graham, Lifestyle/Relationship Coach, Womenio.com

“Your boss’s standards and processes, as well as corporate culture, have no bearing on you. You can sell a product or provide a service that aligns with your goals. You can even create your own corporation based on your own ideas. Maybe you’ve come up with a solution to make procedures run more smoothly. Perhaps you want to ensure that your employees are paid fairly and have adequate time off for family obligations. Whatever troubles you’ve had in the workplace, you now have the opportunity to start your own business and do something different.

Many entrepreneurs claim that once they’ve experienced the independence of being their own boss and controlling the shots in their own business, they’ll never want to work for anybody else.”

Natasha, Owner, Whisk, Brooklyn, NY

“Whisk was formed in 2008 with the intent to provide a range of cookware and cooking tools for everyone – from the novice cook to the professional chef – and at a range of price points. Cooking should be affordable. 

Being independent means that we take this mission seriously. We don’t have any Wall St largesse backing us and our choices really matter and so we continuously think about our two priorities – curating the best selection of kitchenware and providing the best customer service we can muster. We love and respect our customers’ needs and their opinions and we will always listen to their experiences with a product. So we celebrate our independence as our freedom  – freedom to make decisions that always benefit our customers first.”

Thomas Fultz, CEO, Coffeeble.com

”Talking from my case, I gave up the job at BBC that I worked for almost a decade to build my own team, in a very different industry – Coffee. That is my hobby and my own business. My first thought was how can I validate my business ideas of building a site that provides valuable content for coffee-lovers. Everyone can write about their hobby, their recommendations, and their knowledge about coffee. I tried some business ideas, then stopped, before coming up with Coffeeble. At this moment, we have more than 50,000 readers/month from more than 100 countries. We know the business idea is not new, yet we understand the hunger for quality and authentic content. We are a team of experienced writers and creative people. We built a business from simple ideas, but we have the unique system/ or we often call the Coffeeble lab, to test and recommend products in the most transparent ways. We work for coffee-lovers, they can be individuals or whole organisations. They can be a supplier or any player in the coffee industry.

We know they need and they want our content, that’s our niche touching point. I love this job as it gives me joy every day, working with my hobby, and I have freedom in my own job.”

Rod Greensage, Owner, focus4marketing.com, San Antonio, TX

“Here’s what Independence Day means to me: It was 7 years ago today that I made a tough decision to leave a ‘safe’ job to start my own business. I had been thinking about it for a while before I took that leap. There have been many challenges, emotions, and learning curves along the way, but I’m so glad I chose to do it. Being miserable at a safe job is not the way I wanted to live my business life. Congrats to all of us who dare to be Business owners, entrepreneurs, and/or self employed.”

Tiffany Riffer, Founder, TiffanyRifferSoap, Washington, D.C.

“I love having full creative control of the products I make for my customers.  It allows me to brainstorm and visualize new soap scents and color combinations, and ultimately see how it plays out in the production process. Having my independent business available to do that brings me a lot of joy and satisfaction.

I also love meeting and befriending other small independent businesses, either through direct wholesale partnerships or through our presence at pop-up events throughout Washington, DC. It’s refreshing to meet others on a similar journey to share knowledge with, as well as lift-up and support along the way. I don’t get the same sort of collaborative friendship from larger companies or chains. “

David Reischer Esq., Attorney and CEO, LegalAdvice.com, New York, NY

“Independence is at the heart of being a self-employed entrepreneur. The biggest motivation for starting a company was to be my own boss and be self-employed. Entrepreneurs like myself are dedicated to building an organization from the ground-up with a mission statement and corporate culture that is uniquely personal. Building a business online is especially rewarding due to the freedom to operate the business from anywhere in the world. An online business allows for the ultimate freedom and independence to balance work and life priorities because there is no mandate to appear in a physical office on a daily basis.”

Small Business and The Pursuit of Happiness

When the Founding Fathers set out to secure their freedom, they guaranteed Americans the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is no collective more emblematic of those rights than small business owners. So as you celebrate this momentous 4th of July, extend your thanks and gratitude to your local small businesses, those who boldly chose their own independence.

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