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Even before starting a business, Cherie Warner-Richard said there was an “entrepreneurial bug.”
Growing up around her entrepreneurial grandmother and “crafty” mother inspired her to become who she is today.
Warner-Richard, who owns bag and accessory store Cee Wee Designs, said, “I feel like they laid the groundwork for me to brave this challenge.
Cee Wee Designs is part of the new Southwestern Ontario Black Entrepreneurs Network (SWOBEN), which aims to serve as a “dynamic resource for black business owners, entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders” in the Hamilton and Windsor area. I participated in the launch.according to them website.
From Tobago to Hamilton
Warner-Richard said her business started about 10 years ago when she made her own bags in Tobago.
“People have seen it and said, ‘I like your bag. Where did you get it from?’ I said, ‘Oh, I made it.'”
She was confused when people started asking if they could buy from her, but said, “You want me to make it, can you pay me?” I said I thought
As more people asked, Warner Richard began to realize that it might not be such a crazy idea.
She began traveling back and forth between Trinidad and Tobago and Canada when she got married eight years ago, eventually staying in Hamilton.
Today she sells her own bags and accessories. website.
She said her home has inspired her designs.
“I’m from the Caribbean. [bright] Sun, we love bright colors… I love making statement pieces.
“I was sure I had something.”
For Beko Mbeko-Edem, who also attended SWOBEN’s launch event in Hamilton on December 5, the inspiration for his hot sauce business, Beko Foods Inc., comes from a family that grew up fascinated by cooking. is also obtained.
By the age of four, Mbeko-Edem was helping make brownies in the kitchen.
However, it wasn’t until I visited Nigeria as a child that I was truly impressed by the process of bringing food “farm to table”.
Mbeko-Edem graduated from Humber College in 2010 and decided she wanted to start a business.
“There was no representation of African cuisine on a major level or on a major scale. [accessible] to the public. ”
He tried several different things, but said in 2017 his third business attempt was successful.
“One day I decided to make pepper sauce. It was too hot to sell anything.
“But I knew I had something, so I decided to say, ‘I’m going to put this flavor out there.'”
His hot sauce is now sold at several locations in the Hamilton and Toronto areas, including Nigerian restaurant Taste of Lagos. website.
network of black entrepreneurs
SWOBEN’s launch event also served as a pop-up market.
Henry Elui, manager of Empowerment Squared, who leads the network, said:
The network was funded by the federal government through a $1.9 million investment in Empowerment Squared.
“We really want as many entrepreneurs as possible to have access to the programs they plan to offer,” said Werner-Richard.
In her case, making bags is only half the business, she added.
“You have to learn the skills to do accounting, bookkeeping, taxes and contracts, so I am really looking forward to the course. [SWOBEN] We provide and provide the assistance we provide to entrepreneurs. ”
Elui says programs like SWOBEN support black entrepreneurship, which is very “unique.”
“Entrepreneurship is a very lonely job, and good advice doesn’t mean you’re better.
“That’s what we want to achieve with this … Our strategy is to work with various partners and advisors who consciously work with these companies to accelerate their goals.”
Leo Nupolu Johnson, executive director of Empowerment Squared, said he hopes events like Dec. 5 are “not just a one-off.”
“I hope that we can use this opportunity to keep our efforts going long after this program lives.”
For more stories about the Black Canadian experience, from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community, check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
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