Welcome back as we celebrate Black History Month.
So many Big box and online stores
are elevating platforms for black owned businesses.
But we know historically,
there are some deep rooted issues with equalizing entrepreneurship,
especially for women.
Here to talk about that are three women,
three CEO s that own their own businesses here in North Texas.
And you guys are truly making an impact as well. Uh We're gonna get right into this.
Let's start with Marty mcdonald Marty.
You are the CEO of Boston Women Media, the founder of the
children's brand named Olivia.
Can you tell us how you're helping other women here in North Texas really across
the country with tools and skills that they need to elevate their own businesses?
Yes. Thank you so much, so, so much for having us. Cleo.
Um as you said, I'm the founder of Boston
Media.
And this past Friday, we had an event,
a breakfast with Amazon's Black Business Accelerator
where we brought um high growth,
potential businesses in the room.
We had about 80 to 90 women that are high potential growth.
Um These women here um in a room together to connect
to get resources to get tools around Amazon's Black Business Accelerator,
around their small business accelerator and their undiscovered businesses.
And these are the types of businesses that were in the room
that have so much opportunity for growth and success.
That's right here in North Texas that we're so excited about.
And these are just a small type of programs that we do with Boston
and media and so many more for anyone watching right now that are saying, wait,
I wanna be there.
I wanna be in this chair. Where do you start? Listen, you just start right?
Like we all have that same story, that same threat line.
If you want something in life, you decide I'm gonna wake up, I'm gonna do it right.
And then you figure out the steps along the way. There's no perfect plan.
No one has the exact tools and tips on how to do it. You just do it.
But there's so many resources now available for women owned business
and a really great place to start is
through Amazon undiscovered um small business accelerator.
Really doing a lot to help moms to help business owners here in North Texas.
Simone, let's get to you. This is Simone Kendall. She's the ceo of Wove.
Tell us more about Wove and then what it's like to really stay true to who
you are to your brand in rooms full of people that may not look like you.
Yeah, totally. So Wove
is an online custom jeweler. We primarily focus on engagement rings. We do custom
because so we design things online and then allow our
customers to try them on at home before they buy.
Um, and so for us right now, we're actually experience a really rapid growth moment.
Um, that is really centered around brand,
uh Taylor Swift won wore one of our bracelets a
couple of weeks, uh, which is awesome. Um
But at the brand, right, you have this huge moment and it's a little bit different,
right?
You've got new opportunities coming to you.
And so I think it really is a showcasing of
what it means to show up who you are everywhere
where you go, no matter the growth opportunities,
no matter if it's a room that looks like you are not, you have to know who your core is,
who you work for every single day and make sure that that real,
that is what you rely on when you make decisions.
And so, you know, when you think about being the only woman who's the only mom,
you have so many identity groups that you can
connect with and create great experiences for your customers.
Uh But really that brand is the first step to making sure
that you're showing up and really representing for us everywhere you go,
you got it and stay
it as well. Speaking of grounded, right? Let's get to Jessica Taylor here.
She's the founder of Ezra Coffee.
What's your message to women that are getting into the food industry,
into these spaces and these niches um who,
who may not know where to start because your success, it did not happen overnight.
Yes and no. Yes.
So I will say Erica Marty's point is just start, just start somewhere.
I've learned my best lessons through failure and I live
by this quote where it says success has many parents,
but failure is an orphan.
And so I always consistently try something new, something new,
but more importantly, test your audience,
test your customer base and continue to see
what they want versus what you're wanting.
And so in the food space,
I have a palette but everybody doesn't share the same palette.
So with Ezra, we have six different blends just for that reason,
ranging from medium to dark roast.
And then we also have three favorite blends of candy yams,
a toasted southern pecan and a cognac inspired blend as well too.
So we have to really make sure within the
food space that we're creating things for all people.
And with our blends also designed for those who suffer from lactose intolerance,
so you can drink them black
ladies. Congratulations to all of you.
And thank you for inspiring some moms, women of color out here to really just
do the thing and just dream big as well because that's where you all started.
Thank you. So thank you for sharing your stories. Thank you so much.
All right. Let, let's turn to weather. Let's go to meteorologist Maria Ruiz Maria.
I'll talk about inspiration here. Oh, I know it.
I, uh, have to look up all of those products now.