By Te’Jal Cartwright, Founder, What’s The Biz
Let’s take a break from WTB4 talk for a moment and talk about something most of us experience — seasonal depression.
Seasonal depression is a real thing! It’s caused by weather change, holidays, and the end of the year in general. But as entrepreneurs, we know that our businesses cannot function without us. So here are some things that have worked for me during this time of the year.
Be intentional, take a moment for yourself everyday. I try to wake up early in the morning by 5 am! It’s my favorite time of the day, and everyone in my house is still asleep.
Find your favorite time and do small things that keep you sane, like journaling your dreams, sipping tea or coffee, watching trash tv, or meditating. Do something that is completely unassociated with your business.
I love watching sermons and attending healing circles at The HeArt! We live in a crazy world, and we’d be remiss to think that it doesn’t affect us. Doing things to soothe and heal my spirit keeps me going and paves a better feeling for everything else.
You may feel alone and isolated, but that’s not truth! So many people are experiencing mood changes during this time as well. Try to find entrepreneurs in the same predicament and work to hold each other accountable.
If you’re someone that experiences these moods every year, try to pinpoint when it usually starts, and provide a cushion for yourself beforehand. This could look like preparing work and content ahead of time, communicating to your clients that November and December are slow months for you, or changing your hours. There are so many things that you can do to take care of yourself and people understand that. Identify your needs and make sure you communicate them.
It’s important to listen to your body and slow down if you are experiencing winter blues. Your business can’t function if you’re not well!
Launch Dayton is thrilled to partner with Te’Jal and her team to produce the final season of What’s the Biz. Check out Ep. 1 and Ep. 2, and stay tuned to socials and our newsletter as episodes drop!
For Rayelle Wells, food is a love language. The chef is cofounder of baking and catering co Sizzlin Sistahs, which she runs with three others.
Rayelle has tapped into a number of local entrepreneur resources, including Greater West Dayton Incubator’s Urban Elevation Accelerator, Launch Dayton Startup Week, and the Flyer Pitch competition. Read on to learn more about her journey.
I am Rayelle Wells, 25 years young, chef/baker of Dayton, Ohio. My company is Sizzlin Sistahs LLC, a catering and baking company offering delectable cuisine and desserts to the community.
My company stared with a life-long dream and dedicated team. My partner Chevae Wilcox, my sisters, Araya Wells and Dairrion Smith, and myself, put together our passion for food and business. We launched in November 2021, so we are celebrating two years in business this month! It began as short order-style cooking for late night crowds doing deliveries. Then we upscaled into catering and then tapped into the custom cakes and desserts.
As a child, I always loved food and the overall culinary lifestyle. Growing up, I watched the food network with my grandfather, and he would teach me skills and recipes. It was like it was destined to be. Cooking is my love language, and food is how I express myself! I always wanted to be a chef. So this idea was fueled by passion, it gave me purpose.
Yes!
Being in a service business, it is essential to put people first. I believe in “lose yourself in the service of others.” This is so impactful. To put others first is to have humility. And I believe in being a cheerful giver! To give love, to give support, to give thanks, to give peace and so much more. I give love when I create meals and desserts for my clients. I give passion. These values are important and impactful to our community.
I am resilient. I bounce back no matter what, and I don’t let setbacks define me. And I understand how important it is to pivot in this entrepreneurial life. Things change, and you have to be able to keep up and keep going.
I honestly cannot think of one at the moment. I have been truly blessed. Where one door closed, another opened. I haven’t really had time to focus on the barriers, only the opportunities.
I love what I do because it is who I am, who God called me to be! I love that I am able to artistically express myself and create change, unity, love and exceptional food, one plate at a time, to build up my community through my love language, food!
TO NEVER SETTLE! Life is too short and too great! Never give up, for every NO, there is a YES waiting for you! Stay driven and determined. Always put your best foot forward! You only get one first impression. No matter what, always have FAITH!
Connect with Rayelle @SizzlinSistahs on FB or @ss_toptiercakery on IG
Lisa Richards used her credit card to launch Serendipity Paper Co. last summer in Tipp City’s historic downtown shopping district.
Today, she’s ready to help you find the perfect holiday gifts from fellow woman-owned businesses and creatives.
I am Lisa Richards, and I am the founder & owner of Serendipity Paper Co in Tipp City.
I wanted to start a card & gift shop to help fulfill the needs of the community. Our cards range from sweet and thoughtful to snarky and funny. We also carry books, journals, candles, self care items, clothing, art work, and kitchen/bath items. We have also expanded our eco-friendly & sustainable collections.
I love our little downtown and everything that it offers, and I wanted to add something a little different into the mix.
I never really saw myself as a business owner, and there’s definitely been a steep learning curve, but I love it.
My husband and I launched Chaffee’s Brewhouse during the pandemic. I founded Serendipity last summer because I saw an opportunity to add to our little historical downtown area. Both spaces are inviting, safe, & comfortable for all in the community. Both places are also active in fundraising events.
I spent most of my 20s & some of my 30s as a bartender in and around Dayton. I enjoy talking to people and making them laugh & feel comfortable.
Well, I am not a tech person, and I don’t know anything about marketing, so my website needs a lot of help. And funding — I started the shop on my credit card. It was a bit risky, but I felt it would be worth it.
I love when people come into the shop & laugh at the cards and/or find something they didn’t even know they needed. I try as much as possible to source the items we carry from other woman-owned businesses, and I have found a stunning community of artists, creatives and makers.
If you believe in your idea, go with it. Be prepared for your goals & visions to change and evolve. But keep going.
By Te’Jal Cartwright, Founder, What’s The Biz
As an entrepreneur, fear can show up at any moment! When we want to try something new with our business, when we start to expand, when we pursue a major opportunity, fear can rear up.
But we can’t let fear stop us. Instead, we must harness it as a tool.
I was really nervous to produce a Season 4 of What’s the Biz with TJ. Seasons 1-3 felt so organic, fun, and simple. But much like my show, I was evolving, and I couldn’t continue to create the same content anymore. Interviewing Black business owners helped me realize that there were deeper issues that we have as a community. But I feared a new season, a different format, wouldn’t hit. Questions bounced around my head: Will this next season be great? Will people understand my intentions? Will viewers see the truth or disregard it?
After spending two years contemplating and living in fear, I finally decided to execute. We just released episode two of our final season, and I can’t help but think about how I pushed through and made the fourth season a reality (with the help of my team and Launch Dayton of course).
Hindsight is 20/20, so I took the time to think about what helped me when I experienced fear in my business.
Someone once said, fear has two meanings: Forget everything and run, or forget everything and rise. In the end, you have to choose which of those last steps that you take. I hope you choose to rise! You can do it.
Let me know if these tools work for you, or if you have a few of your own that you’d like to share!
Launch Dayton is thrilled to partner with Te’Jal and her team to produce the final season of What’s the Biz. Check out Ep. 1 and Ep. 2, and stay tuned to socials and our newsletter as episodes drop!
Make your 2024 events stand out by renting a paleta cart from Frios Gourmet Pops.
Husband-and-wife duo Augustina & Armando DeLeon are at your frozen dessert service. Paleta cart rentals are a new offering they’re excited to launch in the new year.
Augustina is also a recent graduate of Entreprneeur Rising Academy, a 10-week business-building bootcamp powered by Parallax Advanced Research. We caught up with her to learn more about her business and her journey.
Hello, my friends! I am Augustina DeLeon, a.k .a. the “popsicle lady.” I’m excited to be the owner/operator of Frios Gourmet Pops – Dayton. We offer hand-poured prepackaged gourmet popsicles, including GF, DF, NF, and vegan options. We can swing by your event with our “Sweet Ride” Ford Transit dessert van, deliver POP Drops cooler/dry ice or POP Packs to-go bag delivery; participate in our wholesale partnership program and new for 2024 paleta cart rentals.
My husband, Armando, is retired from USAF. Frios Gourmet Pops offers veteran-friendly franchise opportunities. While stationed in Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, AL the family visited a Frios Gourmet Pops. Everyone enjoyed the large variety of flavors and appreciated the dietary flavor variety. We wanted to bring Frios Gourmet Pops to Ohio so we started our own locally owned/operated family-run Frios small business.
We wanted to bring the gourmet pop, and tie-dye “Sweet Ride” van happiness to Ohio! It is a fun, modern take on the ice cream truck. The pops are tasty with extra ingredients – we get compliments daily.
I’ve always had a passion for small business ownership. This is the third small business I’ve owned, with the previous two having a positive financial transition when sold. We work around my family schedule to balance work vs family life. I enjoy stepping up to the challenge!
I enjoy participating in community outreach projects, volunteerism, and being a part of my community.
I have a communications degree and went on to work in broadcast television – marketing, research, and then broadcast sales. My former experience has given me a solid foundation on how to market Frios for brand awareness.
Of course, with all new businesses, financial services can be hard to secure. Over time with business growth performance funding will be easier.
I enjoy engaging with customers, getting to know them, and celebrating their family or work accomplishments.
Start small, slow, and build at your speed. We often try to grow too fast with too little funding.
My focus is securing more wholesale partnerships. We offer complimentary loaner small-footprint wholesale freezers with wholesale commitment.
Connect with Augustina @friosdayton on FB + IG.
By Te’Jal Cartwright, Founder, What’s The Biz
In What’s The Biz Season 4’s first episode, Kourtney Terry (Taste-T Love), Keenan Woods (Remarkable Ice), Karlisa Heflin (Tiny Scholars University), and Joshua Nalls (Nalls and Davis Attorneys at Law) set the tone for the season!
Through our conversations, it was obvious that there is a deep desire for Black businesses to establish full autonomy, have equitable opportunities, and build a successful foundation that lasts for generations.
Over the years, I’ve seen Black business owners experience atypical complications. When we decided that the topic of season 4 would cover equity and community, I knew that one of the first businesses that I had to include was a childcare center. I’ve worked in early education and have witnessed the struggles that Black childcare directors experience.
Karlisa is the co-owner of Tiny Scholars University and has been advocating for business’ rights, especially after the pandemic. I knew her commitment to the quality of her center was something that we needed to highlight. There are many discriminatory barriers that she and others face, specifically concerning access to capital. According to The Center for Law and Social Policy, Black-owned businesses that apply for loans are nearly 20 percent more likely to be denied. Karlisa was able to share a specific experience in the first 15 minutes of episode one.
Keenan Woods is one of my best friends, as well as the owner of Remarkable Ice. I saw firsthand Keenan’s journey to entrepreneurship. His unique perspective is a phenomenal addition to this conversation. During the episode, you will see that barriers don’t exist to Keenan. His entire theme was how can we re-imagine or “get creative” with solutions. That type of mindset is important when working to build a community that reaches a resolution.
Kourtney Terry is the owner of Taste-T Love Baby Food. I interviewed her in 2020, and our energy was very similar. We’ve kept in touch over the years, and I’ve seen the roller coaster ride of her entrepreneurial journey. In the midst of her rise, she had the most earth-shattering experience. She has without a doubt experienced discrimination in her field. As I reflect on her story, I am reminded about the insidious impact discrimination has on a community, and how this often hidden reality can trip up even well-meaning resource providers.
I met Josh Nalls out in the entrepreneurial scene. I admired his partnership with his family and appreciated his knowledge about the legalities of business. Many business owners are intimidated by legal paperwork. I wanted to have someone with a logistical mindset on the panel as we moved into a conversation of solutions.
This panel is powerful, but I know that it only reflects a small portion of Black entrepreneurs’ voices. Our conversation about their experiences and possible solutions sets the foundation for the rest of the season. Key questions that arose included:
We can’t wait to deep dive into potential solutions starting with episode 2, which premieres LIVE on YouTube tomorrow at 6pm EST! We hope you will be part of the conversation!
Launch Dayton is thrilled to partner with Te’Jal and her team to produce the final season of What’s the Biz. Stay tuned to socials and our newsletter as episodes drop!
A Dayton company’s new heated boot liner technology offers advanced cold and frostbite protection, effective down to -49°F.
Cornerstone Research Group collaborated with FirstSpear Technology Group to develop the prototypes they debuted last month at the SAFE Association’s 61st Annual Symposium in Virginia Beach.
Users rigorously field tested the revolutionary wearable technology in Alaska and Vermont, shared research engineer Elaine MacAslan.
“This was the first time FirstSpear debuted the HBL prototypes in a public setting,” Elaine said.
The SAFE Symposium is a prominent platform for safety experts in aviation, space, land, and marine disciplines. It offered CRG and FirstSpear the perfect venue to introduce this innovative technology to a global audience, including domestic military and NATO allies.
CRG’s collaboration with FirstSpear to scale up production and distribution of the product will ensure this cutting-edge solution reaches warfighters in the field.
Andrew and Tanor Banks are the 20-something husband-and-wife duo behind Performance Wraps. The vehicle treatments offer endless customization options for individuals and businesses alike.
“It’s removable as well. So on the commercial side, you can draw all the attention possible on the wrap, then 5 to 8 years later, cycle the truck,” Andrew explained. “Just pull it off, and now you can sell a white van to the next contractor.”
Two years ago, Andrew was one of the first business owners to win the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Winsupply Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
That success was hard-earned, he and Tanor share in the latest episode of our “I Am an Entrepreneur” video series.
When Tanor moved back to Ohio to join Andrew in the business, he was sleeping on a futon at the shop. But they don’t regret the sacrifices or mistakes they made along the way.
“I essentially lost everything and hit rock bottom,” Andrew said. “In the grand scheme of life, I didn’t have much to lose. It was brutal. I lost everything. But in hindsight, I would have much rather lost absolutely everything and learned my lessons from 20 to 24 than from 50 to 54.”
Check out Andrew & Tanor’s full story in the latest episode in our I Am an Entrepreneur series.
One day in 2000, Judd Plattenburg realized he was making his boss at Oregon Printing Communications a lot of money.
So he walked into his office and bought the business.
“I didn’t go to school to be an entrepreneur owner. I never really imagined myself doing that,” he shared. “But I also knew I was kind of running the company. And I was basically making the other owner kind of rich. So I went to him one day, and I don’t know what I was thinking, but I just said, look, I’m going to go work for a big company, or I’m going to buy this company, one of the two.”
His boss agreed, so he visited an accountant, and then his banker.
“I must have been having a pretty good day because I talked to bankers into loaning me enough money to purchase it,” he recalled. “It was a dive head-first into real business ownership.”
Check out Judd’s full story in the latest episode in our I Am an Entrepreneur series.
We’re so excited to promote your business this holiday season with the return of our #LaunchIntoTheHolidays social media campaign!
Launch Into The Holidays is our annual shop local holiday campaign. We share the stories of local business owners with consumer products to encourage our community to shop local for holiday gifts rather than turning to big box stores, Amazon, etc.
Sign up by Nov. 17 to be included in this year’s lineup.
We’ll use your responses to craft blurbs for our online gift guide and social media. The gift guide will be distributed via the weekly Launch Dayton e-newsletter, as well as across social.
Questions? Email [email protected].
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