H.I. Hands Massage

In honor of National Women’s Business Month, Entrenuity would like to highlight two incredible women in Chicago making a difference in the Lakeview community through health and wellness.

H.I. Hands Massage originally started as Heba and Iman were looking for a space to rent a room to service private clients. On the way to sign the lease, Heba and Iman started sharing ideas on their dreams of having a business together and thus H.I. Hands Massage was born!

Heba and Iman are two young millennials changing the narrative about massage by educating their clients on the importance of health, wellness, and self-care. Massage in society has generally been viewed as a luxury by most people. At H.I. Hands Massage the biggest priority is ensuring that whoever walks through the doors of their business understands that it is in fact an absolute necessity! H.I. Hands Massage believes that wellness is for everyone and should be received regularly.

Heba and Iman have focused their business around each specific client and their personal needs. Heba states, “I wake up and I can’t wait to see who I meet, who I connect with. I am fascinated by how every single session is different and unique. I am constantly learning and re-learning things about our bodies. Iman says that what motivates and ignites her passion is, “I have people depending on me and I enjoy making a difference. It means a lot to me when someone trusts me with their health”.

As a female owned small business, Heba and Iman have had to overcome a number of challenges. “One of the biggest challenges, especially in the massage industry, is having to deal with false assumptions. There have been many instances when as soon as we start talking about what we do, men start to immediately ask us inappropriate questions and make comments. We have learned how to shut down these questions. At times we have to explain that what we do is purely therapeutic within professional boundaries and we have ZERO tolerance to anyone that tries to cross those boundaries”. 

In November, H.I. Hands massage will be celebrating their one year anniversary. One of their upcoming goals for 2020 is to host their own international wellness retreat. Heba and Iman are also looking to hire more therapists and expand their space.

In celebration of their one year anniversary, H.I. Hands Massage is offering a number of promotions and packages. To book an appointment or for more information on the incredible work H.I. Hands Massage is doing, check out www.hihandsmassage.com. 

The Chocolate Barista

Meet Michelle Johnson, marketing professional, creative director, and culture writer and entrepreneur in the coffee industry. Originally from DC, Michelle has traveled across the country and overseas discovering new and innovative ways to push the coffee industry forward. Michelle started her first barista job at 19 at an independent coffee shop in DC and later moved to specialty coffee where she thrived in the complexities of coffee. From going to cuppings to learning how to train her palate, what kept Michelle in the coffee industry was the community of baristas she met along the way.

After working 7 ½ years in coffee, Michelle’s desire is to see others feel more empowered to “pick up coffee and create their own stories with it.” She wants baristas to know they can carve their own path in coffee and forge a career. The industry has allowed Michelle to be incredibly creative and given her the platform to grow her own business and get the message of diversity out.

Michelle manages The Chocolate Barista, a blog that focuses on the promotion of racial diversity and inclusivity in the specialty coffee industry one black cup at a time. As a black entrepreneur and women in the coffee industry, Michelle encourages other baristas of color to “take up space, y’all! Coffee is grown by Black and brown hands and it is in our blood. This is just one of many things part of us and our destiny!”

Michelle states that her entrepreneurial dreams for the future are to “turn The Chocolate Barista into a full blown parent company that includes creative pieces by myself and other Black people in coffee (writing, podcasts, photos, etc), a consulting business for diversity and marketing, and an ongoing scholarship fund to help people do whatever it is they need or want to do in the industry!”

Go check out http://www.thechocolatebarista.com/ to follow Michelle and her entrepreneurial journey!

SC3 Goes to Malawi

Gift Mungula, born and raised in Malawi and currently enrolled in the M.Div Program at Moody Bible Institute, took a Social Entrepreneurship class Spring 2018 taught by Brian Jenkins using the StartingUp Now: 24 Steps to Launch Your Own Business workbook and Skillcenter 3.0 (SC3) online platform. The class met Gift’s passion to launch his own organization in Malawi that would help develop small ministries operating alongside small businesses, enabling him to develop a business plan for a real estate business in Mzuzu City, Malawi.

Gift appreciates that SC3 is a multipurpose platform able to guide a person’s development of an idea into a complete business plan. He was able to watch videos and read stories of successful examples through each stage of business plan development. He found it fascinating that the entire content of SC3 was available in over 120 languages and was excited to find that the Malawian language of Chewa was available!

In December 2018, Gift was tasked with teaching a group of young adults in Malawi on the challenges that hinder progress in life and ministry. Gift has believed for a long time that the number one challenge in Malawi is that of not preparing. “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

“I could not find any better resource for helping my fellow Malawians prepare to win in life than Skillcenter itself.”

Gift plans to continue to use Skillcenter to teach small scale entrepreneurs in Malawi. “I want us to help each other make progress with our own resources and to be able to sustain our own projects. I know that Skillcenter is the perfect fit for my mission.”

Little by Little: Growing Your Savings in the New Year

• eating healthier (37%),
• exercising more (37%), and
• saving (more) money (37%). [1]

Automate your savings programs. Determine how much you will save on a monthly basis, and then make it automatic. By taking this step, you make only one decision for a ten-year period instead of 120 monthly, individual decisions.

Save for retirement. If you are an entrepreneur, set up retirement accounts for you and your employees. Find out what retirement plans are available where you work. If you own a business or work for a business, it there a 401k-retirement plan? If you work for non-profit organization, is there a 403b or 403b (7)-retirement plan? If you work for the government, is there a 457-retirement plan?

You can also save for retirement using Roth or traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The Roth IRA is a really great vehicle. You can put in after-tax money, let it grow tax-free, and then eventually withdraw funds tax-free. Some businesses have started to set up Roth 401k plans for the owner and employees. With all of your retirement accounts, you should review your beneficiaries annually. With proper use of beneficiaries for IRAs, you can build up wealth for future generations.

Costs matter. With your retirement savings and other investment programs, the costs you pay for fees and expenses are critical. Investments with high fees and expenses can significantly erode the value of your long-term savings. Choose financial institutions that have lower fees and expenses. 

How much should you save for your goals? This depends on a number of factors including your personal financial information, other family data, short-term goals and long-term goals. A great way to address this question is to develop a financial plan. Regardless of this process, it is critical to start saving something, even initially a small amount. You can increase your regular, savings in the future when your income increases.

Best wishes as you implement your goals for 2019! 

Lyman Howell, MBA, CFP^â is the President of Regal Oak Financial, LLC, www.regaloakfinancial.com, a Registered Investment Advisory Firm in Illinois. His firm provides financial planning and investment advisory services.

[1] “The Most Common New Year’s Resolutions for 2018”, Martin Armstrong, Jan 2, 2018

RICAFRICA

Overflow Afterdark provides an opportunity for artist entrepreneurs to showcase their skills and products to a diverse community of people, as well as network with other artists, entrepreneurs and small business owners. Each Afterdark event features a performing artist and a vendor. At our September event, Kimberley Mbayiwa, founder of Ricafrica, was our featured vendor.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Kimberley has always had a passion for the African continent. After moving to the United States for college, Kimberley's passion for Africa only increased. She gained a greater appreciation for the contributions and impact the continent had and continues to have on the rest of the world.

Kimberley's believes the opportunity is ripe for continent-based African designers, artists and artisans to participate in socially, culturally and economically enriching exchange with those outside of Africa who seek to celebrate African heritage and innovation. Unfortunately and ironically, many African entrepreneurs face barriers to entry that prevent them from participating in global celebrations of African heritage and innovation. The barriers are many--financial, physical, political, social, and more. Consequently, it is commonplace to find contributions of many African's being exploited, stolen, replicated, and appropriated. The impact of this is deep reaching. Not only are African contributors not getting the recognition they deserve, but the resulting economic loss is detrimental--lives are literally lost because Africans are being excluded from the global economy.

Kimberley founded Ricafrica.com to address the problem of those barriers. Ricafrica includes a unique online marketplace that makes goods made in Africa accessible to the global marketplace. African businesses showcase and sell their products on Ricafrica so that people around the world can learn more about, celebrate and purchase their designs and innovations. Ricafrica facilitates a global celebration of African heritage and innovation that is authentic, respectful and allows Africans, particularly those who are continent-based, to fully benefit from their contributions to these celebrations. This is an ambitious endeavor cluttered with obstacles. However, being at the intersection of all things African and lovers of all things African makes it clear that Ricafrica.com is a worthwhile endeavor that many desire and support.

Entrenuity was honored to feature Ricafrica at the September Overflow Afterdark event. Find out more at RICAFRICA.COM.

Inspiring Entrepreneurs

Boogaali is derived from two separate words: "Boo" from the last letters of the word bamboo and "gaali" from the "Ganda" word meaning bicycle.

Kasoma Noordin, Director of Boogaali Bikes Uganda, has a passion for bamboo--what he believes to be nature's perfect plant. Strong, light and durable, it can be used to create a wide variety of functional and beautiful products. It is all natural and easily renewable. When crafted into a bicycle, it helps promote an environmentally friendly and healthy lifestyle that reduces the number of vehicles clogging crowded roadways and helps improve air quality for all.

Kasoma learned the art of crafting bicycle frames with bamboo in vocational school in Kampala. He handcrafts each frame from hand-picked, mature bamboo stems, to exact specifications. Each frame is a beautiful, unique, highly functional work of art. His frames are not only beautiful, but provide an exceptional quality of ride that has amazing vibration dampening characteristics and incredible durability.

Kasoma's workshop has assembled over 2,000 bamboo bicycle frames, mostly for European customers. The bicycles haven't really caught on with the Ugandan people, who Kasoma says are not really bicycle riding people. But he is hopeful that more locals will enjoy the thrill of riding the bamboo bikes and that the bikes will become more affordable for the local people.