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CONTENTS DEBORAH SMITH 12

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

#MyJourney

Deborah Smith

Co-Founder & CEO |The CenterCap Group, LLC

Making Opportunities Count

ONE

of the striking factors that differentiates leaders from each other is their ability to inluence. Often held in a negative connotation, having an inluence as a leader conveys one ' s ability to drive people ' s actions towards an aligned goal.

Powerful inluence enables leaders to achieve effective results, as opposed to coercion. It is worth noting that a high level of trust and a high level of competence accompanies one's level of inluence.

A person of inluence is someone who people believe in and trust to guide them in the right direction in order to attain the desired results.

Women leaders across the globe are asserting their inluential presence with their ability to stand out and be the best. These leaders are going past the preconceived notions surrounding their gender and creating stories that are inspiring.

Deborah Smith is an example of one such inluential women who has cemented her presence in the inance space by spearheading and establishing a boutique investment bank – The CenterCap Group, LLC.

Featuring as the Cover of Exeleon ' s Inluential Leaders to Watch, we look into

Photo Credit: Kamara Photography

the journey of Deborah Smith and how she made her opportunities count even at the face of adversity.

WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE

Growing up as a dairy farmer ' s daughter in rural Australia, Deborah stood out from her peers due to her background. She remembers, “ Education took a backseat to work, and responsibility was a way of life back then. As my parents used to say, “ the cows don ' t milk themselves!”

For Deborah, being part of her family business as a dairy farmer was almost inevitable. However, with the help of some incredible mentors along the way, Deborah ' s journey was opened to new possibilities. She was the only one in her family to go to the university after completing high school. Looking back, she mentions “ I recognize that while I don ' t consider myself a risk taker, it was the willingness to explore and take risks that ultimately paved my way.”

Perhaps, it was this willingness to explore that eventually led her into the inance world. Back in law school, Deborah intended on becoming a tax attorney. She explains, “ I loved tax law complexity coupled with the challenge to ind answers buried within it.”

Although investment banking and finance

was not on her radar, she decided to take the risk, switch gears, and show up for work.

Starting out as a banker at Morgan Stanley, Deborah was almost convinced that her stint in the inance domain wasn ' t going to last for long. However, once she took on the job, Deborah was determined to learn and establish her reputation by being the best version of herself.

Years later as a veteran in the industry, Deborah looks back at her early days with fond memories and a heart full of gratitude. “ Turns out I had quite a knack for numbers and picked things up pretty easily, so I had found the right career for myself.”

GRABBING THE OPPORTUNITIES

In 2005, Deborah joined Wachovia with the deliberate intention of focusing on healthcare banking. “ I had been a utilities banker for many years, and I wanted to try something different.”

This period also happened to be the boom for REIT transactions. Suddenly, Deborah was seen making a lot of real estate transactions and it eventually cemented her status in the real estate banking space.

The emergence of the global inancial crisis in 2008 saw Deborah co-heading CBRE Investors Global M&A business and led the

Life is full of open and closed doors, and I am big believer that to be successful you need to be able to tell the difference.

irm ' s negotiation and acquisition of a majority interest in Wood Partners.

With real estate being at the heart of the global collapse, one would assume it would be a smart choice to change directions. However, never shying away from an opportunity, Deborah decided to co-found a womenowned boutique real estate investment bank – in the middle of the global inancial crisis!

She explains, “ When we decided to build CenterCap during the great inancial crisis after co-heading CBRE Investors global M&A business, it was really on the back of the thought that a lot of organizations in the middle market needed an advisor who also really understood real estate itself. Our view from a client's perspective was simple - how could anyone give us advice if they really didn ' t understand what we did?”

Considering their extensive real estate knowledge, expertise, relationships, analytical strengths, and hard work, The CenterCap Group, LLC was born with the simple, yet all-encompassing tagline – All Things Real Estate.

“ One assignment at a time, we built CenterCap, and the next thing we knew, we had an ofice, a name above the door, and a reputation for getting things done. It ' s been quite a ride,” she mentions proudly.

Almost a recurring theme in her journey, Deborah recognized an opportunity, grabbed it, and ran with it. She perfectly sums this up with one simple statement, “ Life is full of open and closed doors, and I am big believer that to be successful you need to be able to tell the difference.”

ALL THINGS REAL ESTATE

The idea behind CenterCap is built around the concept of ' All Things Real Estate ' and the irm has committed itself to stay true to that core principal.

“ We consider ourselves to be sector leaders in terms of our knowledge, expertise, and breadth of service offerings. We do take a lifecycle approach toward our clients and assignments.”

Furthermore, every assignment the irm takes upon is in the context of building a long-term relationship. This

“Don’t make decisions based on emotion.”

Inspiring

Inspiring

Change

As a female entrepreneur, Deborah understands the disparity in ratio when it comes to women helming senior positions in the real estate and investment banking space. Being one of the only female-founded investment banks doing what it does, dedicated to its sector, Deborah hopes to be an advocate of change and inspire more women leaders.

At CenterCap, Deborah has built a senior team that has collectively been in the industry for a very long time. With this collective pool of experience comes the industry knowledge and understanding of what can work and what can ' t.

“ You get pretty wise about a whole host of topics, decisions, strategies, and deal terms over the years. We take pride in our success rate in getting things done. The ability to adapt, switch gears, change paths are critical for any entrepreneur. Being stuck in your ways may leave you in the past, focused on issues that no longer matter with a mindset that is no longer relevant.”

emphasis has enabled CenterCap to build a loyal client base and provide an array of services.

Deborah elaborates, “ I think we are known for taking on the complicated, the contrarian, and the non “bread and butter” type assignments. Sure, we can do the easy transaction processes, but we're not afraid of doing something different or complicated. We are pretty conident that we can spot an attractive opportunity when it presents itself.”

Based in Stamford, Connecticut with a recent expansion to Florida, The CenterCap Group is a market leader when it comes to thinking about the role of technology in real estate as well as niche sectors like cold storage, senior housing, manufactured housing, and logistics.

“ Our deep knowledge translates into informed advice, which we use to provide customized guidance to companies looking to raise capital or make strategic investments. Sure, we are focused on transactions – we are bankers – but we are more focused on delivering the right advice and the right transaction as opposed to just a transaction.”

She continues, “ The former is a lot harder to do than the latter. Sometimes our advice is that it ' s not the right deal or the right time.”

BUILDING A BUSINESS

In many instances, Deborah has mentioned that starting her business in the middle of the global crisis was borderline crazy. However, for both Deborah and her partner, the thought of impending business failure never truly crossed their minds. They were focused on their strengths and had the willingness to work hard to make it a success – and so they did.

Amidst the positives, the early days of the irm was riddled with confusion as is the case for every new entrepreneur. She recalls, “ I laugh when I look back, as there was a time in the early days when I would be making presentations and running excel spreadsheets at

Cover Story

night and then turning around and putting on my senior leadership hat to explain it all the next day, with strategy and growth ideas along with it.”

With time and experience, Deborah evolved her leadership style and gained clarity when it came to building a business. One of her biggest learnings in her entrepreneurial journey is to not assume. She advises emerging entrepreneurs to continually evaluate their plans, modify, adjust, and improve as new information comes to light.

Always mindful of their womenowned structure, Deborah relects on their fortune that Lisa Beeson, an industry veteran, agreed to join them in 2017. “ Lisa had previously run real estate M&A groups for Barclays, Lehman Brothers, and Wachovia Securities after a long stint with Morgan Stanley ' s M&A group. Her expertise with public companies, including REITs, was pretty much unmatched,” Deborah says, “ To have Lisa join us, both a long-time friend and former colleague, was a truly unbelievable positive for us.”

Nowadays, Deborah oversees the day-to-day proceedings of CenterCap and the strategic growth and development of the irm.

She also mentions, “ I am also intimately involved in our consulting practice. I really enjoy building relationships with companies, iguring out what makes them tick, their culture, strengths, and weaknesses, and then helping them to reposition, switch gears, or grow. It ' s really rewarding and incredibly challenging. Every company is different.”

Talking about how she ensures work-life balance, Deborah quickly points out her love for running. “ I run a lot. There is something calming about putting one foot in front of the other on the pavement. I do some of my best thinking while running; when I am actually not trying to think at all.”

Being a parent, spouse, and an entrepreneur, she understands the dificulties that one can face juggling between the three. For her, it ' s the clarity of determining what you want to do, making the decision, and then just going for it. It's all in the follow-through.

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BEING THE BEST

“ We had our busiest year in 2022 and this year I am excited for what we have going on and the pipeline ahead of us. We are continuing to grow all of our business segments, but also a new avenue for us is to explore making principal investments ourselves.” Deborah realizes that one of their core strengths is the ability to underwrite good management teams and good opportunities. “ We are now looking to make some investments in early-stage companies, a market segment we don ' t spend as much time in. It ' s really exciting stuff,” she concludes saying.

Going forward, Deborah hopes CenterCap continues striving every day to be the #1 advisor in middle market investment banking and be the best at every service they offer. But she also looks forward to building out an investment side of their business, too. Her grand planto do it all; and to do it all well.

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Moss

Moss G u ru m ee t t h e

What was the idea that led to the start of Moss Pure? What was the market gap that you wanted to address?

I founded Moss Pure during a startup competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June 2020, called the MIT Lebanon Challenge. Moss Pure won First Place Startup in the competition in Track 1B Health, Energy, and Waste Management. From there, the United Nations invited me to compete in their Development Programme in August 2020, where it won the Top 10 Startup.

During the competition, I realized that moss has several beneits. But there weren't many companies that were using live moss. Most moss companies use preserved moss or dried moss, which are no longer living. Because preserved and dried moss are no longer living, they are not able to improve air quality as only live moss can.

In talking with customers and scientists, I found that:

1. No other company was able to use moss as an effective air ilter.

2. No other company was able to keep live moss alive in indoor environments for more than a few days.

3. Existing living walls and moss walls used a great amount of water and electricity and were bulky and required time to assemble.

Using engineering and biology, I created the irst and only live moss design that improves your air quality and provides therapeutic relief without needing any watering, sunlight, or maintenance. I wanted to create an aesthetically pleasing, yet simple decor piece that anyone could use in their everyday, modern space.

How Jamie Mitri used engineering and biology to create the first and only live moss artwork that improves your air quality – Moss Pure.

Talk to us about the science that went behind the creation of the product.

A great deal of science is used in the creation of our products. We are not simply just putting moss on a wall frame. Although I have a strong science background, I spent months and many hours doing hands on research with moss to engineer Moss Pure.

I formulated a multi-layered design of ecofriendly materials that sustain the moss within our product in any environment – indoor and outdoor. Because of this, our products do not need watering, sunlight, or electricity. Our proprietary technology extends the life of live moss from days to years. The multi-layer also works in synergy with the live moss, so that the moss uses toxic pollutants in the air as its food source, therefore improving your air quality. Air purifying plants take decades to purify the surrounding air. Moss Pure's technology enhances the air iltering capability of live moss.

We are the only company that has certiied analytical results showing that our live moss products improve your air quality within minutes, capturing carbon dioxide, dust, allergens, pet dander, VOC, metals and certain bacteria and viruses.

I also worked with 150 customers in the U.S., gathering feedback on the aesthetics of our design. I conducted prototype, alpha, and beta testing with our customers to create the inal Moss Pure products you see in our online store today.

As the Moss Guru, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?

I'm a very hands-on CEO. I am involved in every aspect of the business in some way – whether it's working with a customer on a custom moss wall, helping assemble our products, pitching to a distributor, sales, marketing, PR, accounting, inances – you name it and I'm doing it or have

done it. I am able to combine my passion for science and fashion and interior design every day and I'm stepping out of my comfort zone to grow the business.

Looking at your journey as an entrepreneur, if you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Absolutely nothing. Every milestone, every mistake, every failure, and every success accompanied a learning lesson, and I wouldn't take any of it back. It has been such a rewarding and amazing experience, even on the crazy days.

What would be your advice for emerging entrepreneurs bringing-in new and innovative sustainable solutions?

Being an entrepreneur and launching a business is dificult in itself – let alone creating an innovative product in an existing market. When you create such an innovative product, you have to make sure your messaging is right so that you capture people's attention and then you have to clearly explain why you are different from your competition. It's incredibly challenging but if you know it's worth the risk and you are consistent, the business will grow and everything that you've worked so hard for will pay off – and it is such an amazing feeling.

Finally, what does the future look like for you and Moss Pure? What are you most excited about?

I'm excited to get the word out about the company and expand it. Moss Pure has such a positive impact and story and I want to share it with the world. We are also always learning and growing, and we are releasing new products with feedback from our customers. My creative and intellectual mind is always at work coming up with something and I love it.

THE DOWNTURN OF THE AMERICAN DREAM

Written By: Michaela Green, Licensed Realtor in Houston, TX

The American Dream” is

widely heard in big speeches and is a selling point for the public to aim for big and avail the opportunity of becoming successful. However, over the years, the American dream has become a nightmare for young adults, especially millennials and Gen Z –leading to the downturn of the American Dream.

The general trend among the younger generation is to acquire as many 'assets' as possible. While this releases dopamine and creates a sense of achievement in their minds, it is essential to realize that the American Dream has been deined only in terms of material possessions, encouraging Americans to go beyond their limit and eventually face a inancial crisis.

Since 2014, the average household income has decreased by $2000 in middle-class families, with an average household debt of around 130% of the salary. Alarmingly, the household savings rate is nearly zero!

The last great recession happened in 2008 that had a lasting impact on Americans. Millennials are drowned mainly in student loan debts; unfortunately, the median income is the same as in the 1970s, after considering inlation. Although a lot more people are employed today compared to the 1970s, still a fewer percentage of them own their houses. Even so, a third of them are currently living with their parents.

We'll discuss some factors that correlate with the lack of

homeownership among young adults.

HOUSING BUBBLE

If you're aware of the Great Recession of 2008, you must know what a housing bubble is. For those looking to investigate this matter, let's make it simple for you to understand. As the house demand increases, the prices follow an upward trend. This is exactly what a housing bubble is.

Giving a brief history lesson, investors shied away from stock investments and turned to economical mortgage rates, increasing the demand for st property at the start of the 21 Century. Also, to incentivize nonstock investments, fewer regulations were put in place, which implied that a high income was not required to get a mortgage; however, the turmoil was not anticipated as those payments accumulated with interest rates rising at the same time.

The investments were such that when the buyers couldn't pay, the lending organizations went bankrupt, and the lending structure crumpled.

This proved to be one of the primary reasons for the slowdown in the real estate market. Even as America regained control of its economy, property building did not become as normal as it was.

THE GAP BETWEEN PROPERTY PRICES AND INCOME

In the modern era, property prices are insanely high. Additionally, the average household income is failing to maintain a constant ratio with the rising prices. According to bankrate.com, the median price of houses grew 30% as opposed to an 11% increase in median household income in the last ten years.

At the time, homebuyers enjoyed the privilege of property costs ivefold the mean salary. But after the market collapse in 2008 – aka the Great Recession – that ratio increased to sixfold, that stabilized eventually. Recently, the average property costs have soared again and are seven times greater than the average household income.

For instance, the national median home price was around $121,500 in the 90s. That was around twice the average income of around $50,000. Whereas in 2020, home prices rose close to $359,000 while the median income is limited to around $67,500.

This is one of the reasons why the younger generation is inding it extremely challenging to buy a new property in the current era.

HIGH DEMAND, LOW SUPPLY

As of now, the millennials are the most populous adult generation, outnumbering boomers in 2019. As the population of these young adults increases, the need for homeownership grows simultaneously. To give some perspective, before the COVID-19 pandemic, homeownership was ever-increasing among millennials.

On the other hand, the older generation have kept their ground and continued residing in their old homes. This creates a negative supply and an increasing demand for houses as fewer homes are sold in the market, and more buyers are looking for relatively affordable homes.

The boomers are also cognizant of the fact that the prices have signiicantly risen, and taking advantage of that, they are making competitive offers which makes it harder for the younger generation to buy new property.

STUDENT LOAN DEBT

According to several research, millennials are drowned in college debt which is correlated with a delay in homeownership. If we take in to account the inlation, the millennials are far behind boomers in homeownership rates.

72% of student debt holders believed their debt would delay them from purchasing a home for several months up to 8 years. More speciically, 19% of student debt holders believed their debt would hinder them from buying a home for more than eight years!

Although we saw an increase in homeownership among millennials during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a void in homeownership rates that needs to be addressed. To ill this gap, incentives should be given, such as the Transforming Student Debt to Home Equity Act of 2022. This act provides leverage to students who have cleared their student loans,

such as subsidized mortgage loans, and discounts on government-owned homes along with inancial aid for making down payments.

FIRMS & ORGANIZATIONS STEPPING IN

Considering the increasing home prices and the harder it is to afford a new place, large irms and organizations have seen a business opportunity. They have bought single-family properties for rental purposes.

This is not new, but seeing the recent trends and lesser affordability, the phenomenon is growing. Smartly enough, the investors have bought singlefamily homes because that is the type of irst-time house buyers goes after.

CONCLUSION

Conclusively, homeownership among the younger generation has a sluggish rate compared to the boomer generation due to the pertinent factors that affect it. We have discussed ive essential elements that have caused this gap in the market, and we hope this helps you broaden your perspective on the downturn of the American Dream.

About Michaela Green

Michaela Green is a licensed real estate agent with half a decade of experience representing investors in buying and selling property in the Greater Houston area. Through her extensive knowledge of the marketplace, Michaela is able to represent investors in finding properties that produce the highest return on investment. Michaela founded 'The GreenCollective'in2022,acompanythat alignshercorevalueswithherpassionfor real estate. Michaela has with National Assistants Ministers (NAM) to help survivors of Hurricane Harvey start fresh by selling their distressed properties and helpfindanewhomes.

MurshidahSaid

EMPOWERING LEADERS, CREATING COMMUNITIES

I gift leads us to our purpose. However, it is merely a part of the whole truth. Another signiicant part of this 'purpose' is that it grows when we connect to individuals. Maybe that's why in any crisis, when we are struggling with ourselves and our purpose, we often choose the path of isolation. And when we bounce back on our destined path, we ind others traveling beside us, on the same way reaching for the same destination — taking our collective passion to a whole new level, towards a healthy community.

t is believed that our unique talent and

FINDING THE 'WHY?'

Murshidah works closely with people on an individual level to understand their mindsets, 'WHY' — as in their purpose — to help them in their course of life. It is something she learned the hard way back in 2006. At the time, her husband lost his job and was not paid for the work. The situation was so severe that Murshidah was on the verge of being homeless with only $0.50 in her pocket. Not to mention, she was also taking care of her six-monthold daughter.

Murshidah Said, Founder of the LOVE & RESPECT Transformation Centre, is one such transformational leader who strives to drive purpose among individuals and world leaders to add value to their businesses, by creating a chain of positive reactions in communities. Being an entrepreneur, corporate trainer, life coach, and keynote speaker for over a decade, Murshidah is transforming corporate leaders' and individuals' lives by guiding them and creating ripples of positive change in organizations.

Her daughter thus became her 'WHY' factor in helping her ind purpose. Making the best of available resources at hand, Murshidah stepped into her superpower and surpassed the challenging times in the fastest manner possible. In less than two weeks, Murshidah was carrying $5000 in her pocket. She realized she had all the resources; she just didn't use them effectively.

The moment was nothing short of a eureka for her, which became the foundation bricks of her training business, transforming people's lives for 14 years.

Searching for the 'WHY' factor drove her to reach out to struggling people who required the muchneeded breakthrough in their business and leading their communities. Soon, Murshidah found herself managing a coaching and mentoring platform wherein she helped business owners, startups, and professionals who want to grow their business and incomes, all the while doing good and creating a social impact.

Besides inding the purpose, helping people out of uncomfortable situations and witnessing a transformation also drives Murshidah. Instilling conidence, creating changes in their lives, releasing old negative beliefs, habits, behaviors, and uplifting their communities to success lifts spirit and brings peace to her.

UP CLOSE, PROFESSIONAL, AND PERSONAL

To ind out the 'WHY' factor in her clients, Murshidah never opts for any shortcuts. Beforehand, she clariies to the clients that she can best serve them by getting to know them professionally and personally. She believes that only by understanding the personal life and the clients' mindset that she can meet them where they are in their business and personal life and help them.

With the said approach, she pinpoints why they are stuck in a situation or are facing challenges in growing personally and professionally. At irst, she works on releasing the mental and emotional blocks of a client through

private sessions and later with monthly forgiveness sessions. Additionally, business owners and individuals get to be a part of a community with like-minded individuals who accomplish great things and form a network with each other. The close, tight-knit community results have led to partnerships across sustainability initiatives and the growth of international business opportunities for those who were stuck state or community-wise.

Murshidah believes that when she empowers leaders, when she inds great qualities in them, backed by a strong purpose, she creates a big impact in the community. She asserts, “When I coach people to be

the leader they are meant to be, that is when they start to transform not only in their personal and business lives, they also transform their communities. I believe businesses can make the world a much better place when the proits have a purpose of doing good for the people, planet and the economy. When positive transformational leaders come out of these communities too, they create positive changes in their circles.”

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Murshidah's humanitarian efforts started as a weekend family activity a decade ago. She also wanted to educate her daughter to be grateful

and kind to those less fortunate. So alongside her daughter, she started visiting orphanages, either contributing money and toys or volunteering time to feed orphan babies or play with the toddlers. Later, the activity extended to feeding the homeless and starting a humanitarian project. Soon, others were also keen to join Murshidah and her family in these activities. However, upon observing, Murshidah realized that her efforts are going in vain, and people are still poor, homeless, or waiting for handouts. Perceiving the situation, she shifted her efforts towards educating and training them on overcoming the challenges. Success touched upon her feet when she found a breakthrough within the

refugee, homeless, small business owners, and low-income single mothers' community.

These people she led later became leaders, deining the life of others for a better community. Instances of such include a refugee who went on to become a TedX speaker and a single refugee mother who commenced her own humanitarian work for the community and beauty business.

In essence, for Murshidah, giving back to the community is not about helping members inancially or handing out food and things. She raises them as leaders and supports them in realizing their true purpose and administering their communities.

THE ART OF BALANCING PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIFE

Guiding us with her sharp analytical mind, Murshidah reveals that the secret around balancing personal and professional life is setting the priorities right, understanding boundaries, and the utmost urgent work we must focus on in daily life.

As an entrepreneur, Murshidah knows that she cannot create an empire herself. Hence, she would have to rely on like-minded people that complements her purpose and her vision. She dedicates her attention to her life, family, business, and beneiciaries. And when confronted with situations incompatible with her strengths, she makes sure to support the people handling the work and focus on what she's good at.

Murshidah's advice for young and aspiring women entrepreneurs also remains the same. She says that the entrepreneurial journey will bring all sorts of shiny objects to get distracted by. However, you must stay true to the purpose of your personal and entrepreneur journey. “Your 'WHY' will keep you resilient and make you go through any obstacles or challenges. Also, don't forget to make a place in a high vibe community of other women entrepreneurs who can support you and get a coach who can guide you through the journey.”

LOVE & RESPECT FOR FUTURE

Murshidah is stepping into the future with a vision; a vision to have more communities around the world that practices LOVE & RESPECT in their cultures, business practices, and organizations. She is also quite conident that she will create and raise more leaders who will do good for the environment, human capital, and the community through their businesses.

She concludes saying, “All this can happen when the leadership is based on LOVE & RESPECT and the goal is to make the world better through having conscious businesses which also takes care of the environment, eliminating poverty and elevating human capital.”

Can you please introduce yourself and your background as a woman entrepreneur.

My name is Lauryn, I started my business as a result of being racially discriminated against in my workplace and ired. I've always had a great relationship with secondhand clothing, I've always enjoyed buying & selling it. I've loved making people happy with clothes I've picked and provided for them!

After that traumatic experience, I decided it was time to go into business for myself doing exactly what I enjoy most – Buying & Selling. Helping people by providing clothing for them to look & feel good in! Now

Interview with

it's more personal & direct when it comes to selling my items.

Throughout the last year, it's been all going uphill, from selling to local stores to inding myself in many markets, vending, and bringing my eccentric clothing & energy to the public eye. I enjoy people's positive responses to my inventory as I have a wide range of sizes for everyone to very affordable/reasonable prices! I am a small sustainable clothing business as of right now & looking forward to what's next for me!

Talk to us about your brand. What is the nature of your service or solution?

I am in the business of repurposing clothing. Think “one man's trash is another man's treasure” but for clothing, where most of the clothing I obtain, was someone's “trash” (Donation) and I am giving these items another chance at “life” by bringing them to my racks & public events for people to enjoy.

I prefer to market my clothing as gender neutral or unisex as well, as I'm marketing towards the queer communities. I want to provide EVERYONE (All sizes and identities) with unique clothing at reasonable prices. I want the people to look at feel good within them too!

Being a woman entrepreneur, what are

some of the biggest challenges that you faced in your journey?

The main challenge I've faced but not major challenge, is with my business name. Occasionally but not often, I will have to alter the name of my business to make sure all people are comfortable/not offended! But even within those situations, I've never received any negative feedback on my business name, nor suggestions to change it, just that the word “bitch” may be offensive to some women. Which I'd understand if I was using it to refer to them, but the business name is “Bad Bitch Thriftin” which is a reference to me.

Another challenge I've faced is personal time management. It's completely different from time management during college life. It's where you put more hours than you even recognize into your business, yet still feel like you haven't gotten anything done. Its spending too many hours as well as all of the money you make, going directly back into your business.

One more challenge I've faced is within social media, it can be dificult to maintain multiple moving pieces of a business and still have energy left to update & provide context to various social media platforms on individual items. Another challenge is a physical one, having so many clothes to bring to & from events is a lot of physical labor that I'm truly not built for but I have had help along the way that I am so thankful for.

My last challenge is with competition. I do not view them as competition because I am in my

own lane, but I am viewed as competition and there are others, male resellers, who are potentially threatened by me and have disclosed their dislike for me due to my great “eye” for women's clothing items. This is minor, I doubt there would be any harm caused, but I do get dirty looks and cold shoulders from some men in common thrifting spaces.

What according to you makes one an empowering woman?

What's empowering to me is someone who keeps going, no matter how many challenges they face. No matter their opposition, internal & external struggles, a woman who keeps going but also knows when to take a break for themself, is an empowering woman.

A woman who doesn't accept “No” and inds another way, because there is always a way to succeed in your business. A woman who is also very aware of their actions & emotions is empowering. Someone who tends to their needs and doesn't ignore issues at hand, but works through them & experiences growth because of that, is an empowering woman.

What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging women entrepreneurs?

Just do it! I ind that we can be our own worst enemies, if you have any dreams you want to see through, just do it! There is no right time to wait for, the best time is now! Waiting for “the right time” is a waste of time towards accomplishing any goals/dreams one may have!

Where do you see your business or your brand in the near future?

I see my brand going nationwide, I want to take it across the country! I am currently working on setting up in a shop to have my clothes on display during business hours, but that's a huge step up from just events & vending markets.

This will be huge exposure for my brand. Big dream, is to get a short bus, renovate it for my business and travel it around to different states for different pop-up shops! I want people in New York, ATL, Florida, California, Arizona & Texas to be shopping Bad Bitch Thriftin' I've already sold to people in those areas through online sales, I know I can make a mark in some communities in those states too!

Thank you so much. Do you want to add anything else or any other information?

Just wanted to thank you for this opportunity to share my experiences as a Black Woman Entrepreneur. I speciically say this because I am Nonbinary but will always hold the identity of a Black Woman, proud and true as my experiences are unique to Black women. I am queer and I want to bring my clothes back to my communities as well as for everyone and bring people together through unique, thrifted & vintage items. I also hope that its known that the bitch in Bad Bitch Thriftin' is very non-derogatory, a term of endearment or even a reclamation of the word itself for myself.

Interview with Holistic Practitioner

Nadia McKoy

Can you please introduce yourself and your background as a woman entrepreneur.

Hello! My name is Nadia McKoy. I am a Holistic Practitioner and I teach women how to have healthy work/life/rest balance as well as offer various services and products to support that balance.

Talk to us about your brand. What is the nature of your service or solution?

Qveeng Bee's Luxury Care was created in 2017. At the time it was called Qveeng Bee's Honey Pot and it was just a skincare line that began as me testing products on myself. I did this because medicine wasn't working so well for me, and my eczema was taking a toll on my skin. My friends started to take notice and paid to try them. I then released

it to the community and the rest was history!

Around that time and even before then, I took an interest in spirituality, psychology, and there were plenty of people coming to me for advice. I was pretty good at helping others learn how to be gentle with themselves and sorting out their issues. From then, I honed my skills in coaching and creating and then made an entire service/product line to help my community.

A year later, Qveeng Bee's Luxury Care was solidiied, and I've been building it ever since. Qveeng Bee's now offers herbalism through our all-natural products for full body issues/goals, facials, yoni steams, meditation sessions spiritual reads, and more.

Luxury shouldn't just be about material gain. Luxury also lies in feeling and how we take care of ourselves too. Having the freedom to do so whether it's a big or small gesture. I plan to travel to different cities to assist women all over the nation. Self-care is so important in the world we live now, and it can truly save several lives and/or make lives easier if we take just ive minutes to implement it daily.

Being a woman leader, what are some of the biggest challenges that you faced in your journey?

If anything, my gender as well as my age has been a challenge. Most people I've tried to work with respect me until they ind out how old I am or assume how old I am just by looking at me. There have been times I've worked with someone older, and conlict arose because just because I was younger—how smart I was for my age wasn't taken well.

I've also noticed that boundaries also aren't taken too well as they should either. It was almost as if, who am I to have them? There have been projects that have had to be canceled because I felt I needed to remove myself due to there being a lack of respect.

What according to you makes one an empowering woman?

I feel it's how people that truly rock with you, respond to your work that makes you an empowering women. Does it and your name proceed you and has what you've put out truly encouraged people? Has it made a change? If so, you've done your job.

I also believe in leading by example because it starts with you being yourself. Simply being myself, showcasing how I use my own techniques that I teach and showing how it's changed my own life has done a lot for

others. I've felt good and I've wanted others to feel good. I have no issue or restraints when it comes to giving my knowledge to others.

People also enjoy a good story and want to know that they're not alone, including me. When I feel it's necessary, I will disclose personal life events that could've stopped me and how I responded to them. It not only shows me how strong I am, but it also motivates others and gives them comfort.

What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging women entrepreneurs?

Be. Yourself! Being yourself is easy. And you have to not care about

strolling this journey alone because there will be plenty of times when you'll have to. With that, you have to know and take in that you aren't for everyone, everyone isn't for you, and that is completely okay!

Find out what your values are and stick to them no matter what. You'll ind grounding in that, and it'll show you who is truly supposed to be around you. Be gentle with yourself—life is hard enough and you don't need to be hard on you as well. And get you a prayer life going. It'll show up for you when you feel you have nothing left.

Where do you see your business or your brand in the near future?

I plan to have my products in a few stores that are intentional about natural care. I'd love to work with brands and people who are also in the business of self-care like Tabitha Brown, KeKe Palmer, Nats Locs as well as some of my community sisters in and out of state.

I'd love to have pamper parties nationwide, and I deinitely wouldn't made if Qveeng Bee's made it out of the country. Lastly, feature on a few podcasts/electronic mags to spread knowledge of holistic care.

Kail —

I NTE RV I E W W I TH MODE L

KaileyLiller

Can you please introduce yourself and your background as a woman entrepreneur.

Hello, my name is Kailey Liller. I am a up and coming model from Braddock, Pa. When I was 18, I was domestically abused, and it caused me to lose sight of myself and my worth. After leaving that relationship, I was homeless, and it took me a long time to ight to gain my conidence and see my own worth.

Then, an old friend of mine asked me to model for her brand, and I fell in love with being in front of the camera. It became a way for me to take control back of my life and my body. Modeling allows me to show off my creativity and express myself. Modeling is also my way to inspire and show other people, that may have been in similar situations as me, that there's always a way back to yourself.

Even if you're at your lowest point, as long as you take the time to heal, you can do anything you want to do. You can make it back from anything. I just want to continue to inspire and show others anything is possible.

Talk to us about your brand. What is the nature of your service or solution?

I am currently working with local brands to promote their products and businesses. I do photoshoots and even walk in local fashion shows to help with promoting. I love working with the local businesses because it shows that there's a lot more to our city than just the bad that happens here. I'm still in the process of growing my brand and getting my name out there more.

Being a woman leader, what are some of the biggest challenges that you faced in your journey?

As a woman, especially in the modeling industry, you have to be very strong minded. You can't let a lot get to you. You have to set boundaries for yourself and those around you as to what is acceptable. You have to be very protective of yourself, your brand, and the message you want to put out.

Sometimes, there's men in this industry that do not always respect the female models. I've experienced shows where the man in charge had no care in the world that female models were changing, and him being in the room was making the group feel uncomfortable. I've had

men photographers try to be more than just the photographer. Sometimes, it's other women that will tear you down due to their own insecurities or ego.

Then, you have social media which can be very dark at times. You have to be very strong minded, know your self-worth, set your boundaries, and have an attitude that nothing matters except your own growth. It's a lot of mental discipline.

What according to you makes one an empowering woman?

I think the deinition of an empowering woman is a woman who has overcome obstacles and adversity again and again and is still working on her growth, and trying to strive to be the best she can. A woman that shares her truth and her dark times to show others there's always room to grow is an empowering woman.

The deinition of empower is to make someone stronger and more conident especially in controlling their life. An empowering woman is someone that knows what she wants, and doesn't let anyone or anything get in her on the way to her goals.

What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging women entrepreneurs?

Be yourself. Tell your story. Don't let anyone change you. As long as you're happy and passionate about what you're doing, always chase that goal. Even things that seem unattainable, they ARE within your reach.

Where do you see your business or your brand in the near future?

I see my brand growing as I take these next few steps in my career. I walk in LA Fashion Week on March 11th, and I'm hoping this opportunity opens doors and puts new people in my life to continue to help me grow and evolve in this industry.