Gullah Geechee CATERING Excellence

Business & Brews was founded as a networking event to bring African American men together in a safe space to share business ideas, goals, triumphs and challenges among a safe group of their peers. Since its inception we have hosted numerous networking events and helped to foster relationships between its participants. Some of the connections have been mind blowing! As we prepare for this week's Business & Brews event on Thursday I wanted to highlight 2 African American business men that helped to pave the way for our current Kings to thrive within their own businesses.  Arthur G. Gaston Sr. (1892-1996) was a prominent businessman and philanthropist in Birmingham, Alabama. He founded the Booker T. Washington Insurance Company, which grew into a financial powerhouse, and was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1923 Mr. Gaston started the insurance company with $500 which was a lot of money back then. White insurers refused to insure African Americans during this time. With only a 10th grade education he used his ambition to diversify his portfolio and established a motel, radio station, real estate company and a bank. Of course Mr. Gaston was also instrumental in supporting the civil rights movement and financially backed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his fight for equality. Along with his business acumen, he had a heart for social justice. I am so proud of what Mr. Gaston was able to achieve during the challenges of racial injustice and segregation. He built a multimillion dollar business through dedication, sweat and tears. Henry Parks (1916-1989) is the founder of Parks Sausage, a Baltimore-based sausage company. Mr Parks built a multimillion dollar company selling breakfast sausages. In 1970 Parks Sausage was the first black owned company to be traded on NASDAQ . This was a huge accomplishment coming off the cusp of desegregation. Parks Sausage was established in 1951 and didn't suffer any losses until it was sold to a white company in 1977. Eventually Mr. Parks regained control of the company again. Both of these African American men were smart businessmen but they also had several failed attempts at other businesses. However, they never faltered and realized the importance of creating a legacy for their families. I encourage you to share our Business & Brews invitation with an African American male who you think would benefit from being in a room with like minded, motivated individuals. We would love to see them on Thursday.

For those of you who don't know I follow Pinky Cole on IG like a Groupie! LOL. She's a mastermind at business and I love her approach to building an enterprise. Well, most recently she decided to launch a Group Economics Experiment. Overall it's an experiment that encourages her 1M followers to support a struggling business by supporting them with online purchases. The business she selected was MESS in a Bottle . She challenged her followers to support this business because while it was a monthly six figure business a few years ago, most recently the owner, was thinking about shutting down because business was so slow. In just 3 days her sales have skyrocketed to more than $65k! Remember that just a few days ago she was making $10k in a month and now she's almost exceeded that goal in less than a week. This is the power of not only social media but a true Influencer. Everything Pinky Cole touches turns to gold. The woman is a genius I tell you! More so I love the way she truly reaches back to help other entrepreneurs. Her actions definitely match what she says.  With all of that being said, it put me in the mindset of how much people truly don't understand entrepreneurship. Can you imagine going to work everyday and making a 6 figure salary, then all of a sudden you're still showing up everyday but your salary has been cut to $10k/year? It doesn't matter how much you promote and work hard, for whatever reason your salary doesn't move. Some people are calling the economy "weird". It's not that it's weird - we're in a recession and it's the elephant in the room no one is talking about. Even in our business we've experienced extreme highs and extreme lows over the years. When people ask me how it's going I'm honest and tell them "it's good this month" or "things are slow" because it literally changes from month to month. There's never a time when we can simply coast. We're always reinventing ourselves, promoting a special, making sales calls, sending out email newsletters and reminders letting people know we're still here. It's necessary in this ago of 30 seconds or less attention spans. I thank God we're still standing but let me tell you there are times when I feel like going to be a Walmart greeter! LOL. The pay is steady and the work is EASY! All in all though, Pinky Cole's experiment proved to be successful and it's just another jewel in her crown of helping entrepreneurs on this stressful journey. A special shout out to her and people like you all, our followers, who truly support small businesses.