Anikka Masey and her husband, Thomas, launched their online CBD store, New Season Wellness, in 2020 because they wanted to help their community be well.
This year, they’re working toward business growth goals, including launching a physical retail location and a new custom product.
We recently caught up with Anikka, Early Risers Academy grad and winner of her fall 2020 cohort’s pitch competition. Our interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Launch Dayton: How did you first start on your path to launch New Season Wellness?
Anikka: I first learned about CBD during my certification as a hair loss specialist. I first began researching when I needed to use it — my mother and father were both in the ICU, my grandmother was in the nursing home with Alzheimers, my son had an allergic reaction. I was under a lot of stress and I needed something to help me sleep, but I wanted it to be natural. I’m a wife, mom, salon owner, and I needed sleep to keep functioning.
After my mom’s surgery, she came to live with me. She was depressed that she wasn’t getting back to normal, so I suggested she also try some CBD. A few days later, the difference in her demeanor was night and day. So I started researching ways she could consume CBD other than as just another pill. I found myself ordering products from lots of different places, lots of credit card and shipping charges, I wanted a one-stop shop.
And New Season Wellness is that shop?
Yes, we’re a retail space for various products in the cannabis industry. We offer topicals that help with pain, as well as CBD-infused teas, honeys, tinctures, nuts, chocolates and fruit chews. Right now, we’re fully online, but I do offer local pickup at my salon, Girlfriends Salon, on Main Street in Dayton.
What challenges have you faced as you launched this new business?
People have to unlearn the idea that CBD is illegal. We have to educate our community that these are alternative therapies to deal with insomnia, topical pain.
Why do you love what you do?
I love what I do because I love to see people healthy. I’ve always had a passion or love for the health of the body. My husband and I come from long line of illness — blood pressure, diabetes are prevalent and in our family, we start taking medicine early. It has always been a goal of mine to avoid that, and I made it to 46 without having to take any regular medication. What I want for my family, my children, my community, is to be more educated overall to be healthy. To be able to make small changes on regular basis to get to a better way of living.
What’s in store for New Season Wellness in 2021 and beyond?
New Season Wellness will grow into a full health store in the next five years. We’re shooting to open a physical storefront next month, on 4/20. We are also working with a manufacturer in Kentucky to create our own product line. The first product will be a pain cream.
How was your experience with Early Risers Academy?
It was phenomenal! It was worth every bit of my time, and I was so shocked that it was free! Ke and Gail are so supportive and knowledgeable, and they don’t make you feel stupid for not knowing. I’ve been in business 15 years, but I walked in nervous because I’d never taken business class, and I thought there were things that I should know, but they were open, supportive. I couldn’t have asked for better program to be part of.
What identities do you bring to entrepreneurship?
I was raised by two single mothers — learning how to run a household is very reminiscent of running a business. You have to have a plan. That created a foundation for me right our of the gate. I was raised by a single mother, became a single mother, and became an entrepreneur to be the type of parent I want to be.
I’m also an African-American woman without a college degree. I’ve felt I wasn’t good enough at times, even though my mother and grandmother raised me to know what strong Black woman looked like. Knowing I am enough is important. And it’s important to let little Brown girls know that they can do it, too — what looks like a mess up to other people is OK, you can still do it.
How can the Launch Dayton community support you?
Be receptive and open to alternative, natural ways of doing things, and share them with others — maybe something isn’t for you, but it could help a friend or coworker if you share it with them.
Learn more and shop New Season Wellness’s current product lineup here.
Te’Jal Cartwright never wanted to be an entrepreneur — and she still doesn’t, she jokes. But as long as she has to pay the bills, she wants to do it by supporting businesses and people she loves.
Te’Jal is the founder of What’s The Biz with TJ, a web series that has grown into a platform to highlight, support and connect Black business owners across the Dayton region.
She is also a graduate of the spring 2020 Early Risers Academy cohort. We recently caught up with her to see what’s new with What’s the Biz in 2021. Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
What’s the Biz is a web series that highlights Black-owned businesses and resource organizations that are trying to reach them. So we just signed a contract with the Greater West Dayton Incubator to create episodes about what it is and how entrepreneurs can connect with those resources. We’re exploring a similar series with Canary Consulting to highlight the work they’re doing with the Black entrepreneur community. And we’ve partnered with Understory Ventures, a new local investment group focused on minority entrepreneurs and innovators to financial, social and political capital.
What really made me interested in storytelling was taking a class with LORE. Having Bridget teach me exactly what a story can do, the science of why you connect with some stories but not others. I love storytelling, Oprah, my community — I wondered how I could merge all these things. Then it clicked — it’s a talk show! We’re three seasons in now, and we’ll soon be looking for sponsors for season 4.
Customers need to be connected to Black entrepreneurs because that’s what maintains relationships. Back in the day, when I would buy black, I’d get upset about certain things, late packages, I wouldn’t be understanding. But Black entrepreneurs face the same systemic oppression as Black folks – it doesn’t skip business. Knowing these business owners helps consumers to understand those realities.
Plus, it’s fun! This 100 Black Businesses highlight has been a really great way to connect with local businesses. A lot of times, we get caught up in working and just trying to get money. I feel wealthy when I’m having fun and doing what I want to do. I just want to work enough to have time to spend with my son and time to rest.
I really loved the community. Once a week, you’re meeting with people, all in different places and phases of our businesses, but we have the yearning to learn in common. And it helped me with the basics. I could not talk to investors before Early Risers Academy. Now, when I’m in a conversation about business and someone asks about projections or my business plan, I can give real answers. I don’t think I could have written a contract with the Greater West Dayton Incubator or been able to lay out what I need as a consultant. But Early Risers Academy really helped me shape what I want my business to look like. The model now is different from where I started, and the academy helped me transform it, gave me the business savvy.
Follow! Sponsor! My goal is to keep these interviews free, but the only way I can do that is if people continue to invest.
Follow What’s the Biz on Facebook @What’s the Biz with TJ and on Instagram @Whatsthebiz_. Learn more about how you can watch, or how you can sponsor, at www.whatsthebiz.black.
The Entrepreneurs’ Center, Converge Technologies, and Sumeru Ventures have partnered to launch the Ohio Gateway Tech Fund, a new $10 million investment fund backed by Ohio Third Frontier.
The goal of the new fund is to bolster early-stage startups in the Dayton region. The vast majority of investments will be sourced from the Entrepreneurs’ Center’s robust Entrepreneurial Services Provider program portfolio of nearly 100 Miami Valley-based high-tech, venture-able companies.
“This is a huge win for technology startups in Dayton needing venture capital to fuel their growth,” said Paul Jackson, Vice President of Strategic Programs for the EC, who led the region’s effort to win the fund. “Venture funding has been a missing piece in our startup community and we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Converge and Sumeru to fill this gap.”
The EC initially won funding to support high-tech startups in Dayton via the Ohio Third Frontier’s ESP program three years ago, after the region lost the funding previously. Over those three years, the portfolio has expanded significantly from 30 companies to nearly 100 promising technology businesses. Ohio Development Services Agency, which manages Ohio Third Frontier, recognized the hard work and progress made in the Dayton region in 2019 by more than doubling its support of the EC’s high-tech work for three additional years.
“The EC is all about powering progress and prosperity. This fund is validation of the growth and promise in our region,” said Scott Koorndyk, President of the EC. “Investors, who could invest anywhere, are turning their eyes to Dayton because they see what we’re building here.”
The Ohio Gateway Tech Fund is expected to be fully operational and actively investing by early in the third quarter of 2021 and forecasts a 3-year investment period.
The C. J. Francis III Foundation has granted nine area organizations funds to deploy Dayton startup My Music Ed’s platform across their youth programs.
My Music Ed is an app designed by Deron Bell to help students and teachers build vital relationships by bringing music into the classroom.
“You don’t have to be a musician or music teacher to be able to use it,” Deron explained. “It’s not about teaching them music, it’s talking about how to build relationships, how to express feelings. It builds on restorative practices — we take a positive approach to dealing with feelings. Sprinkle a little music in there, and that’s just fun.”
The app is built for use on mobile or desktop and includes features like an interactive drum set and piano — you click on a drum or key, and the app plays the note or sound and names the instrument the students hear. At the top of each page are social-emotional learning and relationship-building activities.
The grant covers the cost of a year-long license for the software, as well as training and support to deploy it through youth and after-school programs. The nine organizations who will benefit in 2021 include:
“We’ve always had a great interest in things that impact children and youth,” said C.J. Francis Foundation President Patricia Francis. “What could be better, especially in time of COVID, than something that allows people to be socially and emotionally connected?”
In the case of the Dayton Metro Library, the grant was originally intended to serve the Trotwood branch and its patrons. But with COVID sending all programming online, this grant provides an opportunity for the library to incorporate the software across children’s programming county-wide, said Julie Buchanan, Dayton Metro Library Programming Manager.
“Movement and music programming really engages young children well,” Julie said. “Virtual programming is pretty new to the library. We’re excited to incorporate music a little more fully. This creates an awesome opportunity for us to branch out and hopefully engage people in new ways.”
The library has rolled out several different incarnations of virtual programming since last March, and has found events with a live element to be most engaging, Julie said. Currently, the library offers three or four live virtual storytimes per week. She envisions a new music program that blends that live element with the My Music Ed platform.
Deron has been very hands-on providing information and training staff, she added.
“To have that level of support form the app creator is going to be awesome,” she said.
For the founder, it’s just his way of paying it forward.
“I love what I do because someone did it for me,” Deron said. “When I was a teenager, there was music conductor named Isaiah Jackson, then music director for the Dayton Philharmonic. It was the mentoring, the restorative conversations I had with Mr. Jackson, it was being exposed to things I’d never been exposed to before. Now, I’m reaching back and allowing students today to connect with music.”
Deron is a client of the Launch Dayton partner the Entrepreneurs’ Center’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider program, which serves to provide resources to scaleable, tech-enabled companies across the Dayton region. Gail Francis Johnson is his entrepreneur-in-residence through the program.
Deron is also an Early Riser alum — he pitched his app for community support in July 2020.
In addition to this local rollout, My Music Ed is also in the process of implementing pilots in school systems in Indiana, Illinois and Georgia.
Does your small business operate in the drone space? A new UAS-focused defense accelerator might be for you.
The goal of the new UAS Accelerator is to support emerging UAS-related small businesses in the region to discover and express the value within technologies and services while establishing a documented path towards sustainability and growth. Potential markets range from military, emergency response and logistics to entertainment, real estate and agriculture.
Zoom-based workshops will guide small businesses and entrepreneurs with support and coaching along the way, featuring training in topics like customer discovery, business model development, and more. The accelerator will run for 6 weeks beginning May 10, and you will still be able to work on your business while participating in the accelerator.
There are spaces available for 10 to 12 companies to participate. Participants will attend 2.5-hour work sessions twice per week, and will end the program with a business plan.
The UAS Accelerator is supported by Launch Dayton partner Parallax Advanced Research via a grant from the U.S, Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment. The accelerator will be managed by Launch Dayton partner the Entrepreneurs’ Center.
Questions? Contact [email protected].
Ever wondered how to be comfortable in your own skin? Book a session with Whitney Brewer Photography.
Founder and namesake Whitney Brewer provides branding images for small business and body positive photography for individuals. Her goal is that no one ever feel uncomfortable in front of her camera.
Whitney tapped into the Launch Dayton community through Entrepreneurs Anonymous and a chance meeting with a community champion at one of the first LaunchPad events. That chance connection took her to Early Risers Academy last spring.
We recently caught up with Whitney to hear more of her story and hear what’s on the horizon for Whitney Brewer Photography. Our interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Launch Dayton: Why did you decide to strike out on your own as a photographer? What was the launch moment for your small business?
Whitney: In November 2018, I was working in the restaurant industry and running a photography business as a side hustle. The restaurant was very uptight and intense — if I dropped the silverware, I’d get screamed at for weeks. So it was Black Friday, I had just finished a leadership training, and the chef yelled at me in front of the whole dining room — so I quit on the spot. I trusted that was the universe telling me to take a leap, so I did.
You reach a particular niche with your photography, and your social media feeds particularly showcase your work to empower women through your lens. How did you get to this niche?
I was originally pre-med at Ohio State University, but fell in love with photography, and I switched my major to pursue my fine arts degree. There was a particular photography professor, and it was known throughout the student body that if you didn’t get naked in front of your camera, you weren’t getting an A. I did it and got my A, but I knew he made so many people uncomfortable. And I knew when I graduated that if I ever had the opportunity to photograph people in a vulnerable space, I would never make them feel that way.
You don’t have a home studio — is that part of making people feel comfortable?
Yes! I often shoot in people’s homes. If I put everyone in the same studio space over and over again, they begin to look the same. Especially with boudoir photography, people are already getting uncomfortable taking their clothes off, why strip them from their space, too? It shows in the photo when someone is uncomfortable. That’s also why I don’t do a lot of posing. The people you see in my social media feeds, I don’t direct them. I might tell them to giggle or tell a joke to make them laugh, but it’s about making them comfortable, then photographing that authenticity. We’re all human, we all have bodies that are magical, and they deserve to be celebrated.
And you travel to photograph people as well?
My bucket list at 18 was to travel to all 50 states before I turned 30. Being on the road, seeing and experiencing new cultures, brings me joy. When I can go to Texas for a week for work and fun at the same time, it’s a win-win. I sold 34 gift cards around Christmas, and most of them were outside of Ohio.
So what services specifically do you offer?
If the energy is right, I work it and make it happen because it feels good. Where I want to focus, my gift, is branding photography and body positive photography.
Advice for fellow creative entrepreneurs?
Know your boundaries. I trust when it feels good to work with a client, and if it doesn’t, I speak my truth that I can’t deliver what they’re looking for. Then I recommend someone else who does that work, and I get to support local and love on other artists in the process. When you trust the right gigs to come in, it makes room for bigger things. I once turned down a $400 job and landed a $6Kjob the next day.
How was your experience with Early Risers Academy?
I always look for opportunities to grow. This is a free program to launch my business from idea to launch, of course I’m going to do that, I’d be stupid not to. It was like a college course — you’re not going to get everything. But the value was exponential.
So what’s next for Whitney Brewer Photography?
COVID-permitting, I’d love to do some body positive retreats. I’ve found group sessions to be more healing. We can share differences and similarities and know we’re not alone. I also want to focus on couples’ boudoir this year, couples celebrating each other. Showing the world that it’s OK to be celebrated like that is taboo, and I want to normalize it.
Check out Whitney’s work and book your session at https://www.whitneybrewer.com.
The Greater West Dayton Incubator has launched its brand & logo.
The color palette for the incubator was inspired by the Ancestral Spirit Dance collection of world-renowned Dayton artist, Bing Davis. A piece from this signature collection will be purchased by the GWDI and housed at the incubator permanently.
The brand also pays homage to the geographical focus of the incubator with Greater West Dayton being prominently featured on the top banner. The small circle within the State of Ohio is strategically located to represent the City of Dayton. The positioning of the word incubator brings forward the primary purpose of this collective endeavor.
The process of determining the branding included several design iterations and presenting multiple design choices to the GWDI Advisory Council, UD’s Administration, and the Entrepreneurs’ Center leadership team for feedback.
How are the Greater West Dayton incubator and the University of Dayton connected?
The GWDI was envisioned by and developed in partnership with Black community leaders through the University of Dayton – Greater West Dayton Conversation. This ongoing multi-year initiative proposes an intentional and active engagement between the University of Dayton and Greater West Dayton neighbors. It creates a space for leaders who are impacted by, concerned with, and committed to creating equitable education, research, and economic development opportunities and outcomes for the common good. The initiative is designed for purposeful, proactive, and sustained action and dialogue to explore mutually beneficial opportunities for the development, execution, and assessment of activities or interventions.
As the first tangible community-university outcome of the Conversation, the incubator seeks to make intentional connections with six members from the Conversation being represented on the GWDI Advisory Council, including three individuals who serve on the Conversation steering committee. The fruits of this work also assisted in the formation of UD’s 11-step strategy toward becoming an anti-racist university. In the coming months, the GWDI will work with community leaders and leverage storytelling avenues to more fully and accurately depict the partnership and role of Black leaders in the conception of this initiative.
The GWDI is housed within the L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the University of Dayton’s School of Business Administration. The Crotty Center provides a distinctive approach to university entrepreneurship education with a vision of being an incubator for the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs. The center leads the entrepreneurship capstone courses, which provide opportunities for business owners to receive market research support and individualized business deliverables from student-led teams with professional mentors.
The Crotty Center is also home to Flyer Consulting and Flyer Enterprises.
Flyer Consulting is a student-run organization providing complimentary business consulting to nonprofit organizations while promoting economic growth locally and around the world. With a current international micro-lending program in Nairobi, Kenya through the IMANI Marianists, Flyer Consulting is equipped with previous experience to support the GWDI’s local micro-lending program. Students within this local lending program will also receive mentorship and guidance from banking professionals.
Flyer Enterprises is one of the largest completely student-run corporations in the world. From sales associates to CEO, students drive more than $1.2 million in annual revenue. This includes 10 divisions across campus that range from coffee and smoothies cafés to storage space. Flyer Enterprise students will utilize these experiential learning opportunities to further support food-preneurs that are pursuing supplier diversity pathways through the GWDI for the café located within The Hub.
How will the Greater West Dayton Incubator connect entrepreneurs to the Dayton region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem?
The Hub at the Arcade powered by PNC Bank is a joint-venture between UD and the Entrepreneurs’ Center that leverages synergistic partnerships and collaborations with entrepreneurs, community stakeholders, Launch Dayton, and ecosystem partners. Space, opportunity, and entrepreneurial collisions are vital to any startup community. The 95,000 square feet of innovative transdisciplinary launching and learning space at The Hub provides just that. From co-working space, office space, academic classrooms, and state-of-the-art design studios, The Hub has everything you need.
The GWDI has an on-site satellite office to ensure equitable access and a sense of belonging in The Hub for entrepreneurs that are engaged with the incubator’s initiatives. This will include a scholarship program that is forthcoming. Additionally, the café at The Hub will have a menu that is intentionally curated by the Greater West Dayton Incubator to feature underrepresented entrepreneurs. These strategic connections will support the synergies of Dayton’s startup community between Greater West Dayton and downtown.
The Hub Café will be a grab-n-go breakfast and lunch option in the historic downtown Dayton Arcade that leverages the joint-venture between the University of Dayton and The Entrepreneurs Center to provide convenient food and beverages to hustling entrepreneurs, organizational leaders, Arcade shoppers, and Dayton residents. The menu will be intentionally curated by the Greater West Dayton Incubator to feature underrepresented food and beverage entrepreneurs.
Early Risers is back this week! Our February Early Risers pitch event will be virtual — join us Friday morning, Feb. 26, to hear how local startups aim to make a difference for home healthcare workers, small businesses and average folks who want to learn how to invest.
Pitches will start promptly at 8a. You’ll meet:
Early Risers is a morning pitch series that connects entrepreneurs to the things they need most, like first customers, key employees, mentors, funding, and more. Each startup gets 10 minutes to pitch, then the audience gets 5 minutes for Q&A.
In the last three years, 90% of startups have gotten their ask granted through a connection made at Early Risers. So pop online and find a place you can plug into Dayton’s startup community!
Let us know you’re coming! Register here.
Want to pitch Early Risers? Click here.
Want to sponsor Early Risers (and get two minutes in front of the audience)? Click here.
Hope to “see” you Friday!
The winter 2021 Early Risers Academy cohort kicks off today with 11 founders gearing up to move their businesses forward!
Participants will complete Kauffman FastTrac coursework from the nationally-renowned Kauffman Foundation, receive pitch coaching and hands-on mentoring, weekly discussions with successful entrepreneurs and experts, & access to Dayton’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Cohort graduates will pitch for $1K.
The Early Risers Academy program is managed by Launch Dayton partner Parallax Advanced Research with funding from the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment & Ohio Third Frontier’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider program.
“From Air Force and university research labs to urban kitchens and garages, innovation is a force in the Dayton region,” program manager KeAnna Daniels said. “Our diverse entrepreneurs are developing new technologies and processes, and we’re excited to offer these tech-focused cohorts to help them reach the world.”
In 2020, 37 entrepreneurs graduated from Early Risers Academy cohorts, including What’s the Biz founder Te’Jal Cartwright who graduated in spring 2020.
“I could not talk to investors before Early Risers Academy,” she said. “Now, when I’m in a conversation about business and they ask about projections or my business plan, I can give real answers.”
Sierra Leone, founder of Acacia Health & Wellness, graduated from the most recent cohort.
“There is something to be said for working in an environment that is professionally supportive and culturally safe,” she said. “Authenticity was at the forefront. You didn’t have to explain or go underneath or hide or suppress.”
Two additional cohorts are planned for 2021 — get more info here.
Participating in the winter 2021 Early Risers Academy general cohort are:
Wonder if Early Risers Academy might be a fit for your business? Learn more here.
The 2021 Early Risers Academy tech cohort kicks off today with nine founders gearing up to move their startups forward.
Participants will meet virtually for the next 10 weeks to explore an array of topics specific to STEM-focused entrepreneurship, such as prototype development and how to design to appeal to end users and for large-scale manufacturing. The program will also cover facets of business management and financing pertinent to startups, such as how to secure seed and early-stage funding and different modes of venture capital investment, including non-dilutive capital acquisition. Cohort graduates will pitch for $1K.
The Early Risers Academy program is managed by Launch Dayton partner Parallax Advanced Research with funding from the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment & Ohio Third Frontier’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider program. One of the goals of the Early Risers Academy tech cohorts is to prepare area entrepreneurs for the Entrepreneurs’ Center’s Entrepreneurial Services Provide program.
“From Air Force and university research labs to urban kitchens and garages, innovation is a force in the Dayton region,” program manager KeAnna Daniels said. “Our diverse entrepreneurs are developing new technologies and processes, and we’re excited to offer these tech-focused cohorts to help them reach the world.”
The Early Risers Academy tech cohort is helmed by Eric Wagner, Converge Technologies’ founder and chief strategy officer, and CEO of Converge Ventures, a high-tech start-up model that helps early stage companies fund, develop, and commercialize their products.
An experienced instructor and mentor to engineers, Eric has served as the associate director for the Center for Design and Manufacturing at the Ohio State University and as an adjunct instructor for the I-Corps@Ohio program.
“The ultimate goal of the program is to identify burgeoning high-tech projects that have a strong fit with current market needs and help those programs come to fruition,” Eric said. “The Dayton region is known for their innovation and we are excited to support the growth of technology start-ups in the region.”
The first Early Risers Academy tech cohort ran in April 2020. Luis Estevez, founder of AIMM, won the cohort’s pitch competition for his work to develop a self-disinfecting N95 mask.
“Early Risers Academy is what turned me from a scientist into an entrepreneur,” Luis said. “People focus on the end of the story, how entrepreneurs break the mold, but you have to know the rules before you can break them. Early Risers Academy is this wonderful, concentrated course of entrepreneurship 101 that teaches you the lingo, how things are done. It brought different skill sets to give my company a higher degree of success.”
Participating in this year’s Early Risers Academy tech cohort are:
Wonder if Early Risers Academy might be a fit for your business? Learn more here.
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