By Megan Sayles
AFRO business writer
msayles@afro.com
Chase for Business welcomed the DC small business community to “The Experience” on May 8, a free, day-long event with marketing workshops, panel discussions and networking opportunities. The financial institution carefully selected six local minority-owned businesses to showcase their products at a pop-up market during the occasion.
Kristina Sicard, senior business consultant at JP Morgan Chase, said the event gave business owners the opportunity to learn how to advance their companies regardless of their stage of growth. It also allowed them to discover the resources the company has to offer.
“We are the largest bank. We have a large reach, but we still maintain a unique and delicate relationship with our clients,” Sicard said. “This is an opportunity to show DC who we are as a company and how we present ourselves, while also providing them with resources. It is beneficial for everyone.”
Two of the companies that appeared on the local market were Brix Fitness, run by Robert Glover, and MahoganyBooks, owned by Ramunda and Derrick Young.
Glover founded the online fitness brand after losing 160 pounds with an approach that leveraged mindfulness and emotional awareness along with diet and exercise habits. Offers virtual group and individual weight loss coaching and personalized meal plans.
The Youngs, a husband and wife team, founded MahoganyBooks in 2007 to ensure that readers across the country have access to books written by and about the African diaspora. The couple maintains an online bookstore as well as two brick-and-mortar locations in the Washington metropolitan area.
The Youngs and Glover participate in the Chase for Business Coaching for Impact program, which offers free one-on-one consulting and executive coaching to business owners, regardless of who they bank with.
“It’s an intentional time to strategize with someone who is in finance. It helps us look at our profit and loss statements in a different way,” said Ramunda Young. “It’s funny, you can be in business for 17 years and still not understand how cash flow works and how to optimize it. “It has helped us understand what we are seeing and how the numbers speak to us.”
In Glover’s case, the logistics of entrepreneurship were tedious. He founded Brix Fitness out of his passion for holistic weight loss, not business operations.
He said the Coaching for Impact program has helped him better understand the basics of running a business.
“I am a passion-based business and understanding logistics was not very important to me. I need help with that,” Glover said. “For me, it was about learning the intricacies of being an entrepreneur. “They provided me with resources and helped me steer my business in a different direction than what we are prepared to scale now.”
Because Brix Fitness primarily operates virtually, The Experience gave her the opportunity to meet community members face-to-face. He said most of the people who came to his booth were dancing around the idea of addressing their health goals.
Glover was able to share his personal journey with them, something he hopes proves that they can achieve any goal they set their minds to.
At the MahoganyBook booth, Ramunda Young offered books by business leaders. Works included “I Am Debra Lee,” a memoir by the former CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and “More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say),” a memoir by award-winning La fashion journalist Elaine Welteroth.
“As an entrepreneur, you can have low moments and feel alone,” Ramunda Young said. “Having a book about someone who is a millionaire or billionaire and seeing the struggles they’ve gone through can help.”
Megan Sayles is a Report for America staff member.