Business Is Jammin’ Movin’ Forward...
by: Emily Rendell-Watson and Paul Rukidi also has a small selection of tiaras and gloves.
Empowering Black youth through
Entrepreneurship
A
s her scissors snip through pieces of thick red satin, Kayla Fells creates a custom bridal gown for one of her clients. It’s a
Kayla Fells , opened a small bridal shop at the beginning of 2014–Ladykay’s Formal Attire in Yarmouth..
challenge–the client is short, stout and doesn’t want to wear a traditional white wedding gown. She also planned to wear Converse sneakers and asked Fells to design a custom dress for the wedding. “She wouldn’t have found a dress that fit her in the amount of time she had and within her budget. The bridal industry wasn’t working for her. It was a chance to give her exactly what she deserved,” Fells says. “When I watched her come up the aisle, I thought, this is exactly why I wanted to do this.”
She always “had a flair and love for formal wear” and decided to use that passion to run her own business. Fells became interested in entrepreneurship while she was participating in programs run by Business Is Jammin’ (BIJ). She learned about the skills she would need to start her own business and was motivated to “dive in head first”. Business Is Jammin’ focuses on empowering Black youth across Nova Scotia through entrepreneurship. It began as the youth arm of the BBI and, in 2005 became a registered charity, and as such will issue tax receipts to those who wish to invest in the future of our youth. “We work with youth as young as eight to adults up to the age of 29,” Paul ukidi, the BIJ Manager , says. “We’ve developed programs to address the needs of three different age groups - eight-15, 16-20, and 21-29. We also focus on partnerships by working to connect youth to other business training and resources offered by organizations like the CBDCs, CEED, Futurpreneur, ISANS, etc.”
Fells opened a small bridal shop at the beginning of 2014–Ladykay’s Fells participated in the BIJ summer Formal Attire in Yarmouth. The store camps, learning how to create a busisells prom and evening gowns in addi- ness plan, and about market inteltion to renting suits and dresses. Fells ligence. She eventually became a
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