Ohio represent ! Honestly, I intended to write this in March in honor of Women’s History Month. 10 Baddies bodying business and making history together. Time was not on my side *insert awkward laughter*. But still, my girls deserve some more recognition and as a firm that dedicates their time to Powerful Women I felt like this was a more than appropriate way to do it.
Dayton, Ohio Early Risers Academy
In 2021 a different bae, Jaz Stewart, let me know about this program she thought would be PERFECT to help me develop my nonprofit. It was called the Dayton Early Risers Academy. DERA is a program located downtown in Dayton, Ohio. And per their website, “a free, 10-week, cohort-based business class designed to help business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs build the foundations they need to make their businesses successful.”
It turns out that they didn’t accept nonprofits into the program but I decided to join anyway, mainly because my new friend ended up being in the same cohort. Also because when I met with the social media-less program manager, KeAnna Daniels, I caught an awesome vibe and wanted to see what she had going on.
No Regrets
The very first class was so overwhelming. We had no idea what to expect as a group and I personally was totally unprepared because I was agreeing to go in not working on what I thought I’d be working on. However, right before the class began is when I had the idea that I’ve began implementing now about switching from creative marketing + branding to creative branding + wellness.
I thought about just ditching it but something told me to stay and I’m glad I did. It gave me the opportunity and space to hash out and process all of my new ideas and make time to organize and implement them as I continued my client workload. It also is the only time in my life that I’ve been around a bunch of amazing Black Women so intimately in a space that felt curated just for us. I am so incredibly grateful for Ke developing the culture of the program in such a way that made the space safe. It was inspiring to be part of an actual sisterhood.
The Pitch
All of the work we did during the first eight weeks to build our foundation led to one night. A final pitch competition where we had the opportunity to win $1000 of seed money. You can actually catch the replay on Facebook ! Humble brags, I really think we all did fantastically presenting and answering the questions. I’m also so appreciative because it genuinely didn’t feel like a competition. We were all there for each other all along the way. We even have taken the support outside of the classroom.
The judges agreed that we were all pretty amazing and ended up awarding THREE women some money *cheers and the crowd goes wild*. I’m elated with the winners ! Three Women who have been using their businesses to enhance the quality of life in the Gem City. They also get to gain their own personal freedom now have a little boost to do so. Here are the 3 winners !
The Winners
“Shayna Boyd, founder of Naturally Bare, specializing in preventative pedicure services to Diabetics and elders who are suffering from specific foot issues such as thicken toes nails, neuropathy, and poor circulation.” You can consider her your local Community Foot Fairy in Dayton, Ohio ! When I say my girl is so passionate about what she does and it shows ! We really need more Shayna’s in the medical field. It was so exciting seeing her get her thoughts organized and come up with a plan on how to take over the Foot World.
“Bree Thomas, cofounder of Gem City Laser, a Black Woman-owned custom laser-made gift shop for retail, corporate, and wholesale gift giving.” She’s located downtown in Dayton, Ohio on Jefferson Ave. On May 6, 2022 she had her grand opening ! I’ve purchased two bookmarks, an LED lamp, a key chain, a cutting board so far and a few other gifts for people. I have 3 more orders in mind. It’s legit such a great shop and so affordable yet great quality. I promise that you want to check her out before you show up lame to your next b’earthday party or baby shower with a boring gift.
“Sam Walker-Baskin, founder of SamiDubz Art, offering customized art work and art fun in the formats of paintings, jewelry, paint parties, face painting, art lessons and more.” As a way less cool artist who arts for fun I absolutely loved watching Sam work. Also listening to her explain what it is she’d like to do and the value she brings. Even more so, my daughter was completely impressed and inspired by Sami and she’s a real artist ! I’m so grateful to have experienced this with her !
The Rest Of The Ohio Gals
- “Daria Love, founder of MsLovexoArt, a black woman owned art business that creates visual and digital artwork using abstract affirmation art to motivate, encourage, and inspire youth and adults; She’s another artist that has invaded my home that I’ve loved for years now !
- Davida Lattimore, founder of Lattation, an online-based business offering supportive solutions for expecting, new, and recurring moms, to provide relief to make for an enjoyable breastfeeding experience; She has great quality products. I’ve also shopped with her already ! If you are or know a pregnant or nursing mom, definitely see what she has to offer.
- Ariel Smith, founder of Tribe, offering a quality, convenient and safe extended village to families in need of housekeeping, laundry service, a kid’s chauffeur or a nanny; Tribe has my heart in the chokehold. She won’t be launching until fall but I see already that it’s such a valuable service. I’m in line to be a client for sure.
- Lenice Hill-Williams, fostering the resilience of those harmed by intersectional experiences, specifically Black women, with a suite of holistic wellness programs, principles, and practices; As my fellow friend working in wellness also with Powerful Black Women when I first saw what Lenice did I fell in love ! She gets more into the nutrition side of things also.
- Kamika Green, founder of BeautyNBody, specializing in body contouring, pre/post op services with non-surgical weight-loss in different areas, and butt lifts for a more natural sculpted shape.”
- KeAnna Daniels, not part of the group but felt like she should be permanently included. She does co-host a podcast that I’ve fallen in love with and owns other businesses offline as well !
And Then There’s Me !
As I mentioned, the cohort helped me figure out how I wanted to dive into wellness and the Branding Bootcamp I came up with is now LIVE ! The next bootcamp will be starting on September 1st. Click here to check it out.
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I’ll be back to talk about more stuff that has to do with branding + wellness next week ! Join the other 1000 humans who subscribes so you never miss a vibe *dramatic hair tuck*. Keep it copacetic, friends !