“My services started with landscaping and lawn care, but have since expanded to garden start-up, fall clean-ups, trimming, edging, blowing, tree removal, snow removal, and leaf removal,” lists Stewart. “Once I got started, I realized there was more I could do and more that my business could offer. And, of course, more money to be made.”

Yotique was founded in 2016, though Deidre didn’t do anything with the business until 2018. She connected with ProsperUs and went through their training program, and that’s when the business really started.

Kwalli began researching ways to get into the beauty industry and how to open and run a beauty store. Though the task was daunting and she didn’t know where to begin, Kwalli noticed one of her notebooks sitting by her at the time had a vital message embossed on the cover. Write Every Moment.

“So I did just that,” Kwalli says. “Each day, I would jot down ideas, thoughts that would come to mind. I’d then start doing one thing at a time. Which put together a blueprint.”

“There are two defining moments for me that pushed me down this path of entrepreneurship,” Banks recalls. “I was taking my daughter to school one day and saw kids outside waiting on the school bus. Their stop was near a gas station, and I watched those kids rush in there and attack the snack aisles. When I asked if they had had breakfast, they all said no for various reasons. That moment made me realize there was no alternative for their family to have access to fresh food for them to start their day.”

“Eventually, I got better. But it took a lot of research and dedication to learn the proper way to do things and the way the ingredients work with each technique,” Stone says. “With each batch, both the soap and my skills got better, my confidence grew, and people started asking if they could purchase my products.”

Today, like always, ProsperUs Detroit says #BlackLivesMatter and happy #BlackHistoryMonth!