SHOWCASE Magazine November/December 2021 Edition the "PROGRESSIVE" Black Woman

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VONTÉLLE SHOWCASE Magazine the “PROGRESSIVE Black Woman

SHOWCASE MAGAZINE EDITIONS

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Founder’s Message It’s always an honor when someone says “YES” to be apart of something that you “LOVE” to do, and for this I am thankful to all the Women featured in the November/ December 2021 Edition of SHOWCASE Magazine the “PROGRESSIVE” Black Woman.

I hope you are inspired by the work that each of these Women are doing in their own communities. We celebrate you everyday and THANK YOU. It has been an incredible 2021 for me especially the magazine. I hope to continue on this journey in SHOWCASING many more amazing business women. As we close out with the last magazine for 2021, we at SHOWCASE Magazine wish you the best that is yet to come in 2022.

Denise Bethune Who We Are : FOUNDER/PUBLISHER

Denise Bethune Managing Partner Damon Troy

Inside Edition

Cover Feature VONTELLE LUXURY EYEWEAR Tracy Green & Nancey Harris

Social Media Amir & Anaya Troy Logo Design

12-13……… ….Gwen Richardson

Anaya Troy

16-17…………..Latoya Nicole

Financial Consultant

26-27…………..Laquisha Hall

Amir Troy

Creative Content Advisor Bonnie Josephine Contact: scmzine76@outlook.com All content in this magazine are thur the approval of every Woman featured, nothing will be altered or misprinted without permission 2021

28-29…………...Laure Lemboumba 34-35 …………...Judi Townsend 38……………….Chanda M. Womack

URBAN BUSH WOMEN Culturally & Socially Art Makers

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BOOK REPORT Featuring The Work of Gwen Richardson

Boss Women features seven AfricanAmerican women who started their businesses by themselves or as co-founders with family members. Although some of these women may not have high public profiles, they represent a variety of industries and all of their businesses are successful. Some of the enterprises are relatively new; others have been established for decades.

The businesswomen profiled in this book are Janice M. Adams (JMA Solutions), Valerie Daniels-Carter (V&J Holding Companies), Bea Dixon (Honey Pot), Janice Bryant Howroyd (The ACT One Group), Garnetta Sanders (Neta Scientific), Janell Stephens (Camille Rose Naturals), and J. C. Sykes (90 Degree Construction).

Gwen Richardson is an author, publicist and entrepreneur. Two of her books have been nominated for NAACP Image Awards: 101 Scholarship Applications: What It Takes to Obtain a Debt-Free College Education in 2015, and You Are Wonderfully Made: 12 LifeChanging Principles for Teen Girls to Embrace in 2016. The latter was a book she co-authored with her daughter, Sylvia, who is a graduate of North Carolina Central University, an HBCU. As a publicist, Gwen provides a wide range of marketing services, primarily for clients within the book industry. She has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years, and co-owns Cushcity.com with her husband, Willie. Cushcity.com provides retail and literary marketing services within the African-American market.

Gwen is co-founder and national coordinator of the National Black Book Festival. This annual event, held in Houston, Texas, attracts over 100 African-American Boss Women uses poetic phrasing making authors from across the U.S. and celebrates its 13th it easier for children to read and underanniversary in October 2020. stand. While reading each poetic profile, children will be able to see themselves in Gwen is a native of Newport News, Va., She resides in these women’s successes and dream big Houston with Willie and their daughter, Sylvia. She is a dreams for the future. The book also is a graduate of Georgetown University with a B.S. degree motivational tool for adults who are seek- in marketing. ing encouragement on their entrepreneurial journeys.

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Black Woman Owned Coloring Book Company

Latoya Nicole is a bestselling author, publisher and social entrepreneur. She is from North Carolina and has received a Master's Degree in Counseling/ Psychology. She is creating her own lane with her brand Entrepreneurs Color Too while bringing diversity to adult coloring books that are aimed to help women relieve stress. Her books have been featured in Curly Nikki, Black Enterprise, Madame Noire, Official Black Wall Street, O, The Oprah Magazine and more. Being passionate about uplifting females in the community she also teaches emerging entrepreneurs how to start and market their online businesses.

Entrepreneurs Color Too is a Black Woman Owned Coloring Book Company promoting self care and stress relief while providing positive representation for women of all ages.. entrepreneurscolortoo.com

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VONTÉLLE

Tracy Vontélle Green & Nancey Harris

AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN, AND LATIN PRINT DESIGNS AND TEXTILES Thank you Tracy & Nancey for agreeing to grace the cover of SHOWCASE Magazine it is my honor.

riage. We must coordinate and discuss all matters especially how we want to represent the company. As different personalities, we balance each other out but I love reading both of your journeys especially how we also can bump heads, just like any marriage.

Vontélle became into existence from the awkwardness at the age of 13, the many faces/styles of eyeglasses, These differences make us stronger as we work through them with the same goal…the business must cost, insurance, (layaway) just finding the right pair succeed. without having to solely worry about price. Did you

even imagine that Vontélle could/would become so successful?

How were you able to fund your business?

Yes! Due to our thriving business careers. It was decided early on if we can be successful for our employers, we can be successful for ourselves. We knew if we put forth the same effort and fortitude, Vontélle would be very lucrative.

Thru your experience as executives for other companies, and now running your own business, what are some of the comparisons if any?

We are leveraging the same experiences, knowledge and networking skills. Honestly, there’s not much of a difference. However, as an entrepreneur you are flexing all your skills since you’re doing it all: development, operations, administrative, accounting, sales, marketing, hiring, and etc. It’s actually more intense, so we suggest before anyone steps out, ensure you know those other areas and how important they are to any organization/company.

Being in business together has your relationship with one another become stronger and what are some of your challenges?

Vontélle is 100% a self-funded start-up. Both CoFounders have been truly fortunate to have had careers that afforded us the ability to save and make wise investments and wonderful husbands who support us 200%. Though we were able to manage the costs of graphic and web design, manufacturing, packaging (and we roll out the red carpet for our customers), the expenses quickly add up.

As a startup, we are reviewing our options to help scale and create a sustainable business. To increase awareness and build sales, we will need additional capital for marketing (commercials, social media boots, radio ads, etc.). We have started to apply for grants and our next steps are to fundraise/seek crowdfunding and begin pitching to venture capital firms.

We attribute most of success to individuals who believe in our vision and crave exciting eyewear with colors and style from the African diaspora, thus willing to work with us either gratis or for eyewear.

Yes! We were already best friends and knew a lot about each other. But as business partners it’s a mar18

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Terri w Governor Tom Wolf

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www.urbanbushwomen.org Terri w Congresswoman Maxine Waters

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VONTÉLLE Tracy Vontélle Green Nancey Harris What advice would you give to other founders just starting to build a company?

My advice is to ask questions. Ask everyone how did you do that? Where should I go to get this? Do not be afraid to ask. The internet is your best friend. You can find a great deal of information using the search engines - putting in your questions. Moreover, do not take “no” or “I do not know” for an answer. If you want or need information, keep asking. Ask for a referral to another person but keep asking you will get someone with the knowledge, know-how and willingness to share. Lastly, ensure you have a business plan, review the numbers - actual potential ROI (return on investment) and continue to reach out to other start up business owners. There is the fun part of the business and there's the necessary business needs (taxes, sales tax, website management, content, inventory, meeting timelines etc.).

Have you ever failed at anything? If so, how did you handle it and what did you learn?

We follow the motto that our failures are lessons.

You learn from every experience and then you turn that into a positive. As of today, I do not think either of us have failed at anything. Have we lost jobs?

Have we quit jobs? Did something we wanted did not go our way? Yes, to all those questions, but we learned from those experiences, and we are here..

Photographs by Felix Natal, Jr. Photographs by Matt Frisbie

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VONTÉLLE EYEWEAR HANDCRAFTED DESIGNS ARE FOR DIVERSE FACES. Motto or affirmation that you live by...

Tracy - It was now of never! I honestly believe I can do anything, except surgery (fear of blood) or fly a plane (fear of heights). I can read, comprehend, I am a hard worker, and incredibly good at following instructions. A recipe for success. I have worked hard for others (prior employers), it was time to put forth the same effort for my own company.

Nancey - Harriet Tubman said “I’ve freed hundreds of slaves and I could’ve freed hundreds more if only they knew they were slaves. This statement is true for today. We may not be physically in bondage, but mentally we still are. Many are afraid to take risks and create a business on their own.

What lessons have you learned thus far being women CEOs? Tracy - Before doing Vontélle full-time, I was a CFO for a hospital. The responsibility is at the same level, but I learned that a CEOs job is to sign people up! To get them to see YOUR vision and want to be a part of it.

Nancey - The job of the CEO early on is to do a few things: 1) keep your company growing 2) keep your team motivated to do great things together. 3.) Make sure you and your team are always working toward concrete goals

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New Year, New Opportunities

* Attend to be inspired *

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LaQuisha Hall

COMMITTED TO ENCOURAGING & TEACHING TEENS is a force to be reckoned with as she has dedicated her life to serving her community and has been recognized by great leaders, including President Barack Obama and others. She has won regional, state and national pageant titles.

LaQuisha founded the SheRose Awards to give a platform to abuse survivors to share their own stories of survival. Beginning her skills in mentoring at age 16, she also spends hours locally and abroad mentoring via her nonprofit program, Queendom T.E.A. (The Etiquette Academy), committed to encouraging and teaching teen girls about personal safety, feminine etiquette and positive self-esteem. She is the award-nominated and best-selling author of memoir, Unholy Communion, and a self-esteem journal for young girls, Positively Bodyful, and the coauthor of more than 10 additional books.

LaQuisha is the proud educator of #MrsHallScholars, serving youth in Baltimore City Public Schools for 19 years and winning Teacher of the Year in 2018. Her “walk on gold” philosophy teaches communities to step off of familiar territory to do extraordinary things. LaQuisha has empowered others to empower others for 2 decades and has no plans of stopping!

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GOLDEN MADE KAFE INTL LLC Laure Lemboumba - A Drop Of Gold For Every Cup Nowadays, coffee is known for being an essential ingredient in enhancing the well-being and happiness of numerous individuals across the globe. Golden Made Kafé is a small coffee business, located in Southeast Texas, proudly offering ground coffee for households and any type of business. We have been more than 5 years in roastery and develop exclusive blends inspired by French recipes. Thanks to our dedicated and hardworking team of producers and importers from South and Central America, we are proudly supplying unique selections of sustainably grown, rich coffee, stressing on consistency, freshness, and flavors.

Due to my business ambition, I decided to broaden my skills by adding international market language, English. So, I moved to Houston, Texas (US) to go further into my education. In 2014, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management from the University of Houston-Downtown. Consequently, I got into coffee about six years ago when I started working for a coffee manufacturing plant in Houston. At that time, I was not a huge coffee drinker but after seeing what it takes to get a single cup of coffee and how it could make a difference in someone’s day. I knew I wanted to be an actor in that industry.

With time, I have gained a cultural, social, and professional connection with coffee. In addition, coffee represents gold to me i.e. wealth, culture, diversity, and exchange.

These experiences have expanded, helped, and stirred my Life Purpose to my passion for coffee. As a result, I launched my own coffee business six months ago in which I developed exclusive blends inspired by French culture. Now, our Golden Made Kafé products are proudly not only represented in the United States but around the world.

In this journey, I have learned to find my definiteness of Purpose. Moreover, I ignited the mixture of my inner skills, experiences, strengths, passion and faith to create a unique brand and coffee products satisfying coffee lovers.

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Laure Lemboumba

I am originally from Gabon in Central Africa, my family moved to France when I was three years old for business matter. Entrepreneurship has always been a dream of mine from witnessing my Dad multiple and diverse. Therefore, I went to the University of Technology in Roanne, France where I got my degree in Technology in Industrial Logistics, Quality and Organization. At the end of my program, I was awarded the Young Creator of a National Production Unit in 2007

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VONTÉLLE Tracy Vontélle Green & Nancey Harris How are your hours spread throughout the week?

Have you had to set any boundaries around time?

As a startup, we are working around the clock as needed. In 2020 alone, one of us was diagnosed with a rare form of diabetes and another had a fire at their home and had to relocate. Throughout it all, we continued to work, taking calls and responding to emails. In 2021, we began to set boundaries, and agreed that we will try to take off on Sundays, but that just means we do not call our team; we just call each other.

Has your business made you happier and more fulfilled in life, compared to how you felt before starting it?

We are both starting over with this business. Tracy, after having a successful financial career in healthcare as a Chief Financial Officer and Nancey as a successful Sales Executive in advertising at a major cable network. We are taking that knowledge to start this business. We are just as happy; however, this does not feel like work. We finally get the phrase “do what you love, and you never work a day in life.” So yes, more fulfilled, and happier to add our eyewear into the world.

control and success. Control to produce beautiful, better fitting eyewear fashion for all communities and success of them getting the designs and culture they seek.

You must be so excited about the collaboration with Nickelodeon, what a great opportunity to showcase your company; how did this come about?

We are still pinching ourselves. As stated, networking is key for any entrepreneur. We signed up for many eyewear designers’ expos, groups, including optometry groups. On one of these groups, we were on with ViacomCBS, and they reached out and the rest is history.

How can we support Vontélle and where can we purchase your eyewear?

Vontélle understands eyewear is a medical necessity and is poised to disrupt the industry. With the right partnerships and capital, the goal for the company is limitless and we can continue to give the gift of sight to families in need in homeless shelters nationwide.

Please purchase your eyewear and Vontélle T-Shirts (a percentage of proceeds go toward giving glasses to homeless individuals) at www.vontelle.com

What impact do you want to have? Is your startup objective "getting rich" or "changing the world"? Is control or success more important?

Our goal is to change the world. In the United States and globally, African American consumers spend billions of dollars on eyewear produced by luxury name brands, but they are not owned by African American/ Black Owned fashion houses or companies. We want

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Late in life Judi Townsend became an “accidental entrepreneur” as a result of looking for Tina Turner concert tickets. While searching for tickets on Craigslist she saw a mannequin for sale. Instead of buying one mannequin for an art project she ended up with all 50 mannequins the seller had for sale.

The seller inspired her to start a side hustle renting mannequins although she had never touched a mannequin before or worked in retail. Because so many people thought she was having a mid-life crisis with this idea, she named the business Mannequin Madness. Now the company is an award winning e-commerce business with 4 employees, 4 independent contractors with customers all over the world. Judi expanded from renting mannequins locally to having an e-commerce business selling mannequins all over the country. She is the leading mannequin recycling company in the country with clients such as Nike, The Gap, Nordstrom, Macy’s and Ralph Lauren. Mannequin Madness is also the one stop shop for mannequin DIY projects such as Dress Form Christmas trees.

Judi is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

ACCIDENTAL ENTREPRENEUR

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“Every woman I know shops and cleans out her closet only to make room for more...Of Course! She is ultimately on the hunt for another great bargain.”

Chanda M. Womack, Founder Thesuitexchange is a marketplace for resell enthusiasts, fashion icons and influencers who love to shop and resell contemporary and luxury designer clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories at deep, discounted prices.

Our “Suitemates” sell items directly from their very own closets...or sourced from a number of resources all over the planet.

Created out of a love for fashion and with a spirited entrepreneur’s heart, Thesuitexchange, was founded by Owner, Chanda M. Womack, after she was hosting an abundance of unworn or once worn apparel, shoes, handbags and accessories, some with tags still attached, hanging and sitting gingerly in her very own closet. Upon researching the online resell industry she was drawn to a world where she could combine her passion for fashion, styling and entrepreneurship all while helping to sustain the planet by repurposing her own fashionable goods. Wha la! Thesuitexchange was born.

As a woman and minority owned business, our vision is to lead the way for other women and minority owned fashion and beauty brands to leave a footprint in helping to build a universe where sustainability sucks the life out of landfills and helps sustain the planet one repurposed fiber at a time.

BUILDING SOMETHING THAT GIVES HOPE AND RECOGNITION WHILE CREATING A BETTER COMMUNITY…AND WORLD!

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Culturally & Socially Art Makers

URBAN BUSHWOMEN Urban Bush Women (UBW) galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. With the ground-breaking performance ensemble at its core, and ongoing programs including the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), BOLD (Builders, Organizers & Leaders through Dance) and the Choreographic Center Initiative, UBW affects the overall ecology of the arts by promoting artistic legacies; projecting the voices of the under-heard and people of color; bringing attention to and addressing issues of equity in the dance field and throughout the United States;

and by providing platforms and serving as a conduit for culturally and socially relevant experimental art makers. urbanbushwomen.com

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