The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC) celebrated Black Business Month in downtown Jamaica on Tuesday, Aug 12.
In celebration of the yearly calendar event, the GJDC held a Black Business Month Expo at its Greater Nexus co-working space, located at 89-14 Parsons Blvd.
The event featured five local black-owned businesses, including Llew-Lu’s Gourmet Cookies, Beauty On Wheels and Natural Napes Natural Hair and Skin Care. Additionally, attendees were invited to a panel discussion led by guest speakers Dawn Kelly, owner of The Nourish Spot, Dan Lloyd, CEO of Policy and Culture, and Jeff Lindor, founder and CEO of The Gentleman’s Factory Inc. Food and beverages were provided by Queenz Bakery.
Patricia Robinson, chief administrative officer of GDJC, said the event aims to showcase everything that GDJC represents as an organization. “Particularly on this day, we put a fine-tuned lens on small Black businesses that are within the Southeast Queens area, and we do that by offering opportunities for black businesses to table so that we can showcase their products and services and patronize them,” Robinson said. Robinson added that the panel of entrepreneurs serves as a gateway for important discussions related to business sustainability and social content strategies.
“Our hopes are that people will walk away feeling inspired,” Robinson said. She added that the event helps to raise awareness about Black Business Month. “We want to bring awareness to anything that supports economic development, economic growth and closing the racial wealth gap.”
NYC Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Dynishal Gross spoke to attendees about how the SBS supports the success of local businesses. Gross shared some of the key support services that SBS has, including its Black Entrepreneur Program, webinars related to brand marketing and social media. Addtionally, Gross said the SBS has launched a future fund for entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses, as well as ones that have seasonal fluctuations in their revenue to help them grow their revenue.
The featured business owners spoke to QNS about their inspirations behind becoming entrepreneurs.
Candita Panayotti and Natasha Morales are sister-in-laws and co-owners of Make Me Over Beauty Truck, a traveling makeup truck that provides various beauty services to its clientele.
They founded their business in 2015. It was originally a brick-and-mortar store on Jamaica Avenue that offered an array of beauty services, including makeup, lashes, hair and nails. After the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023, Panayotti and Morales decided to scale down and offer their glam skills to their customers.
“The true story is that it was an inspiration from God for me. This is one of those things that was a God inspired thing, and he put it in my spirit to do. When I told my sister about it, she thought that it was a great idea because at the time we felt like there was nothing on Jamaica Avenue like that, where it was a one-stop shop where everyone could get the services,” said Morales.
Morales added that their business flourished after they decided to transition to the mobile truck.
“The positives are that when we transitioned, we got to keep the same number of staff, we were able to keep the same services we had before, and our clientele actually grew,” she said.
For Llewanee Alexander, Llew-Lu’s Gourmet Cookies was born from a desire to serve sweet treats to all. It was a holiday hobby turned into a full-time, year-round business. “I enjoy making treats, and I specialize in corporate orders, events and personalized orders, and I also do shipping,” Alexander said. Alexander started her business in 2015, but officially started scaling it in 2022.
Alexander said she completes many high-volume corporate orders, saying that the specific niche grew after her relative shared her cookies in her corporate office. The Springfield Gardens resident said she has big plans for the future. “The big goal is to have a cookie cafe. I’d love to have Llew-Lu’s Gourmet Cafe,” she said.
Stephanie Howard is the founder of Natural Napes Natural Hair and Skin Care. Howard, who has natural hair, said she was inspired to create her brand as she had a hard time finding skin and hair care products that work for her. “I started making the hair growth oil and hair and body butter first, and then expanded to other things. I try to focus on common hair and skin care issues and try to resolve them as best as possible,” she said. Nearly all of Howard’s products are made with naturally sourced ingredients.
Lamont Kirton is the creator of the card game Your Opinion Doesn’t Matter, and founder of Our Ros LLC, as well as an author of an inspirational quotes book for young people. Kirton described his game as a thought-provoking, debate-fueled game that allows people to share their opinions about various topics, including social issues.
The final featured business owner was Dr. Elechi Osueke, educator and author of the “The Kids Who Wouldn’t” book series. Osueke showcased her five self-published children’s books, stories that encourage children to practice good habits using humor-fueled storytelling. “I wrote these books using suspense and humor to highlight and teach these stories, but making sure that our children see themselves in these books and these stories as main characters, where their features are highlighted,” she said.
As an educator, Osueke said that she wrote the books in hopes that her students would develop their reading and writing skills and know that they, too, can become authors.
