What happened with the business pitch contest? PowerMoves

Thank you so much for your supportive likes and comments cheering me on during the PowerMoves Miami business pitch competition!  Every notification felt like a gentle and supportive pat on the back.  

Since you were there with me, I want to share  my business pitch update with you.

First and foremost, Miami Beach, FL and the famous Fountainbleu Hotel are simply beautiful.  My mind was racing! "Let's get my business moving forward; I gotta increase my revenue because I AM coming back!"

The PowerMoves pitch competition was an empowering and  motivational experience.  I recieved a great honor; PowerMoves hand-picked me to share ideas, get information, network and learn the ropes for pitching my business to venture capitalists.  I was schooled on financial metrics, the power of presentation and the entrepreneurial philosophy of layering your business foundation as best as YOU can; one layer at a time.  

Unfortunately, I didn't win the business pitch contest. It's all good!   Why?  Simply stated, I am confident that I walked away with some SERIOUS TOOLS for future success!.  For you see, I delivered a flawless and deeply passionate business pitch presentation; the audience laughed and cheered me on!  Yes, I gave it all I got! 

Even though I didn't win, I am so deeply grateful because I feel more empowered than ever before.  

Thanks to PowerMoves, I have great key points for updating my pitch, new resource tools for evaluating and forecasting my business plans, and some super new friends; people I know you will be reading about in the near future.  

By the way, I have a fun fact: the stage that I spoke on was the same stage that Whitney Houston belted out the song, I have nothing, in the film, Bodyguard.

If you are interested in learning more about the PoweMoves, please visit the website www.powermovesnola.org  

THANK YOU!

I am feeling so grateful for the support of the Delta Institute and the Salem Baptist Church.  As you may know, the Delta Institute's BOOST Funding Night and the Salem Baptist Church ARISE program awarded support to the Octavia' Natural Hair Care Experience mission!  It is truly an honor to receive support from two game changing organizations.

Because I believe in both organizations, I feel compelled to send an update on my progress.   I am happy to report:

Today was a good day!

Early this morning. I had my first meeting with the Village of Hazel Crest's manager.   Even though no details were confirmed, I am pleased to report it was great meeting.  I look forward to collaboratively working with the Village of Hazel Crest in the near future

in the meantime, there is still plenty of work for me to do. In order to realize the full vision of Octavia's Natural Hair Care Experience, I must continue to fundraise for the salon's 2016 goals:

1) acquire the vacant (brownfield) gas station

2) launch the salon's retail products.  (check out my latest hand-crafted soap cupcakes on my online store; just click the link in the navigation bar.)

3) build relationships within the Chicago Southland community.

To keep the momentum going, my next stop is the Joliet Chapter Shark Tank event; the competition will be held on Saturday, January 23rd.   So these days, I am working to effectively communicate  a sound investment strategy, locking client's hair and making hand-crafted soaps.   And on Sunday, I will meet with a Girl Scout leader to discussworking with her Girl Scouts on confirming their Sustainability badge.  Yes, I am keeping my eye on the prize, a natural hair care salon with an urban farm and green technology.

To learn more about the salon's mission and vision, browse around the website and show support by liking this post.  And if you have any Shark Tank strategy tips, please share in the comments section.

Natural Hair Inspires Confidence – Yes! Your Natural Hair is beautiful!

As a Loctician and Natural Hair stylist, I’ve had the pleasure to meet so many women who want to go Natural.  Or even better, I meet the “already Natural” sisters; these “already Natural” ladies are stuck in the “what do I do now” phase.  Instead of embracing their hair in its natural state, they complain… my hair is too thin, too short or too gray.  Oh and my personal favorite, “combing my hair ain’t nothing nice!”  No matter what, their hair is not good enough.   I’ve grown to realize that we’ve become conditioned to believing that ultimate hair beauty can be achieved with some cash and a quick trip to the beauty supply store.  Also, we are trained to use tools that don’t support and are not made for ethnic hair types.  While practicing as Loctician and Natural stylist, I’ve grown to realize that wearing your Natural Hair inspires one of life’s greatest lessons…..CONFIDENCE!    So to my potential Natural sisters and my “already Natural” sisters , please joining me in claiming….. my natural beauty is good enough!   If you need some advice, please seek out your friendly neighborhood natural stylist.  Often, you will find these stylists are so creative.  Just yesterday, I recommended three different hairstyle options to a client sporting a short afro. Move forward in confidence!  Seek out a professional and always know,  Yes! your Natural hair is beautiful! 

l