8 minute read
Business
D.C. Resident Brandon Andrews Champions Entrepreneurship Among Blacks
James Wright WI Staff Writer
Ward 5 resident Brandon Andrews owns or has become involved in a few District businesses that reveal his belief in the benefits of entrepreneurship.
He says adamantly, that Blacks should take a chance and start their own firms.
“Everybody can be an entrepreneur,” Andrews said in an interview with the Informer. “Everyone has the ability to open up a business or start a non-profit. The key is to meet a need. Anyone who wants to open a business should try to meet a need in the local community.”
Andrews works as the co/founder and chief product officer of Gauge, an artificial intelligence enabled mobile market research firm and has responsibility for products, marketing and sales. He also serves as the CEO of The Inexorable LLC, a consulting firm specializing in management, scientific and technical fields. For Values Partnership, he works as a senior consultant. He also fulfills his duties as an advisory board member of Angels & Entrepreneurs which connects entrepreneurs with investors using tools such as crowd investing, venture capital industry analysis, regulatory commentary and tips on how to deal with angel investors.
Andrews’s entrepreneurial pursuits serve as part of the District’s Black business landscape. An August 26, 2020 post on the website Technical.ly DC reports nearly 30% of all businesses in the city count as Blackowned, a larger percentage than Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta and Boston. The website noted District Black businesses brought in more revenue in 2017 than the four cities cited above.
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5 Brandon Andrews is a Ward 5 resident who owns and works for a few District businesses. (Courtesy photo)
WORKING WITH ‘SHARK TANK’ TV SHOW
Through his work at Values Partnerships, Andrews has managed to develop a relationship with the popular business television show “Shark Tank.” On “Shark Tank,” small businesses seek the funding of multi-millionaire and billionaire entrepreneurs such as Daymond John of the FUBU clothing company or Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, respectively.
Andrews said he works with “Shark Tank” producer Mark Burnett to bring Black entrepreneurs on the show.
“That show has about 30,000 applicants a year to appear on the show,” he said. “Needless to say, not all of those people get on. I organize events that reveal to people what it takes to get on the show. We work on their pitches and how to best answer the questions of the investors.”
Andrews said his “Shark Tank” work has been fruitful and notes that a few business owners in the District have appeared on the show.
ON THE PATH TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Andrews, who comes from a small town in Alabama, made his way to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, where he developed a sense of service to others.
“I would go to North Tulsa, where the historic Greenwood community is located,” he said. “That is where ‘Black Wall Street’ once existed. I just started knocking on doors and asking people how I could help. I found myself fixing leaks and watching after people’s kids.”
While Andrews didn’t start a business in Tulsa, his volunteerism led to an internship on Capitol Hill and a full-time job with U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) after finishing Oral Roberts in 2008. Working with Inhofe, he delved into foreign policy and defense matters. His knowledge gained by working in Inhofe’s office benefitted him as he would go on to become a part of the U.S. State Department’s speaker’s bureau, primarily on entrepreneurship, a few years later.
“In 2020, before the pandemic shut the country down, I went to Mongolia to teach people about entrepreneurship,” he said. “I have also traveled to Kyrgyzstan and Europe to talk about American entrepreneurship. I look forward to doing that again when the pandemic slows down.”
Advice for Black entrepreneurs
Andrews said in order to be a successful entrepreneur, one doesn’t have to be a genius.
“When we think of great business people we think of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg or Daymond John and how they are portrayed in the media and you should model yourselves after them,” he said.
“That isn’t what will make your business a success. As a business owner, you have to solve a problem. If you solve a problem and meet a need, you will be successful,” he said.
He said if one decides to open a business, they should make sure their finances are solid for a few months, have plans on how to promote their business and get ready to work really hard.
“Anyone can be an entrepreneur but how successful you are depends on you,” he said. wi @JamesDCWrighter
Ward 8 Activist Darrell Gaston Has New Cause: Chef and Eatery Owner
James Wright WI Staff Writer
Darrell Gaston has been involved in Ward 8 as a candidate for the D.C. Council and the state board of education position and has served as an advisory neighborhood commissioner and anti-violence community activist. But now he has a new gig: chef and restaurant owner.
Gaston owns and serves as the chef of Kitchen Savages, a takeout located in the Good Foods Market located in the Bellevue neighborhood of the ward. He said food has long been a passion but he wanted to take it to another level with Kitchen Savages.
“I have worked with at-risk young people and found that common ground could be reached when they are eating,” he said. “Food brings people together. So, I decided to do something about that.”
With Kitchen Savages, Gaston offers residents of Ward 8 another food option but gives people, mainly at-risk individuals, the chance to learn about the culinary industry and possibly establish a career in the field.
THE START OF KITCHEN SAVAGES
Gaston has worked for years trying to save young lives through his DC Young Emerging Leaders program, which he founded in 2013. His experiences with his non-profit revealed that many at-risk youth lack healthy foods in their homes, if there’s anything to eat at all.
“I learned over time when I would fix something to eat for young people, they would eat my food and then compliment me on how it tasted,” Gaston said.
Plus, Gaston said he helped family members prepare Sunday dinner.
“It was during Sunday dinner that my family would discuss what is going on among us and out in the world,” he said.
In 2018, Gaston made the decision to pursue entrepreneurship in the food business. He worked to prepare himself to be a chef and eventually a business owner. However, when the pandemic came to the District, he realized the importance of having healthy food options in Ward 8.
“Because of where we are located in the city, it is difficult for DoorDash and other food delivery companies serve our people,” he said. “I decided to go ahead and get started on Kitchen Savages even though the pandemic was in full force. Ward 8 residents should be able to get healthy food without having to cross over the Anacostia River.”
In his research, Gaston found the culinary industry in the District needed chefs of color. What better way to teach Blacks about the industry than to offer opportunities to work for him, gain experience and use what they learned to build a solid career, he asked.
“I decided to create something with teaching and training together,” Gaston said. “So far it has worked out well.”
In order to enjoy the items offered by Kitchen Savages, you’ll need to go to the Good Foods Market in Bellevue.
“We are so thankful for Good Foods Market for allowing us to use their kitchen,” he said.
In Spring 2022, Gaston will formally open Kitchen Savages as a sitdown restaurant for 40-45 people in the MLK Gateway located in Historic Anacostia. He said Bo Menkiti, the founder and chief executive officer of The Menkiti Group, and his staff worked with him to secure a lease in the MLK Gateway’s eastern building which will house the restaurant and culinary school.
Additionally, Gaston received a grant from the Bowser administration designed to spur food establishments in Ward 8 earlier this fall.
Gaston said since establishing his takeout, he has had 668 sales in the past month. Popular items on the menu include: honey blackened salmon and crab cake egg rolls and shrimp in different offerings. Gaston said the banana pudding cheese cake has emerged as his most popular item with the peach cobbler cheese cake a close second.
“The most important thing is that we offer our customers good healthy food to consume,” he said. WI @JamesDCWrighter 5 Ward 8 political activist Darrell Gaston is the owner and chef of Kitchen Savages. (Courtesy photo)
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