FROM KITCHEN BARBER TO VISIONARY COMMUNITY DEVELOPER

The inspirational journey of James and Wonza Montague

At 13, James Montague started cutting hair for fifty cents a head in his supportive mother’s kitchen in Southgate, a subsidized housing community in Southeast Raleigh. At 19, he opened a hair salon with his life partner, Wonza, whom he met as a child. “At first, we didn’t like each other,” she said, “because he was one of the ‘bad boys’ in the neighborhood. Since meeting at eight or nine years old, James and Wonza have traveled the world and changed the world around them, starting with that hair salon. Over thirty years later, it is still operating with many original staff members. “My staff and my customers became like family to us,” says James. “All we had back then was our word, our reputations, and our relationships.”

He loved it so much that he poured himself into the business, often working 12 – 17 hours a day. He had created a successful business but an imbalanced life. A mild stroke at 26-years-old was a wake-up call for him and Wonza. Leaving his customers was difficult, but they knew they had to do something different to save James’ life. They had to learn how to be business owners and not just workers. They had to learn how to work on their business, not just in their business. The lesson he held on to from his early years was the value of relationships. Sometimes, relationships are worth more than currency because they can lead to the human and financial capital you need to grow.

They decided to work on projects that would positively impact the people and businesses in Southeast Raleigh, not just economic impact but also spiritual impact. They wanted to build hope. So, in 1998, he and Wonza founded F7 International. The ‘F7’ stands for faith in action.

They did not lose faith when 17 banks denied his loan application. Eventually, First Union and Central Carolina Bank (both were community banks that have since been acquired) provided the funding he needed for Statueside Business Park. Located on the corner of MLK Boulevard and Rock Quarry Road, it is still the home of over a dozen small businesses. That first experience taught James some valuable lessons that he still draws on today. First, don’t give up. Second, focus on action because you have to put your all into the project. And finally, confidence is a muscle that gets stronger with success.

After meditating on what his next project should be, the vision came to him. Their next project would be a 62-and-older independent living community for financially challenged seniors. Elder’s Peak (a wordplay on ‘elder speak’) opened in 2004 and has been home to many seniors over the past 20 years. Their oldest resident, Ms. Ethel Chapman, owner of Mom’s Country Kitchen, just passed away at over 90 years old.

For several years, James and Wonza traveled the world and were instrumental in developing Sister City relationships be- tween North Carolina cities and international cities in Africa and China. The pandemic hit just as they were ready to refocus on their local community.

“When we were not able to travel, we had to look inward,” says Montague. “I started to see people in shock. So, I thought, I’ve got to show people that all is not lost. We are going to come out of this.”

In March of 2020, Montague announced plans for Montague Plaza. “You can sit around and mope, or you can try to change your world, no matter what is going on around you,” he said. “Challenges force you to adapt and adjust, or you become a victim. I don’t want to be a victim. I want to be a victor. And I want to teach people, especially young people, how to be victorious.”

He branded this project with his own name to show the young people in Southeast Raleigh what a kid from the projects in their neighborhood can do. The $4m complex sits on two acres at 2718 Rock Quarry Road on land that was once a house and a gas station.

Bobbitt, a Raleigh-based commercial development firm active across the Carolinas, has a long-standing relationship with F7 and oversaw the design and construction of Montague Plaza. Bobbitt CEO, Brian Denisar said initial conversations with Montague unveiled common goals centered around elevating communities and the people in them, especially young people and small businesses. “I was inspired by Monte (business nickname for James Montague),” Denisar said. “In his world, you never would have known that there was a pandemic. He just wanted to move forward.”

Located right next to Southeast Raleigh High School, Montague Plaza will be home to over a dozen businesses, including two restaurants, a barber shop, a beauty salon, a braiding studio, a tattoo parlor, a luxury car rental business, a consignment shop, a recording studio, a retail clothing store, and a STEM education center. The two white buildings with green trim in Montague Plaza will be fully occupied by the end of this year.

One of James and Wonza’s future projects will be in the greater Triad region of North Carolina; a recently purchased ranch in Mebane, North Carolina, that will provide jobs for local citizens and learning spaces for local youth. More about that later.

It all began with that seed of entrepreneurship in James Montague’s mother’s kitchen at 50 cents a head, faith in action, and vision.

Katie Gailes, Contributing Writer