Looking for single mother business owners

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Kennedy on July 3, 2009 at 1:15am

My name is Melissa Kennedy and I am the proud single mother of five children and the owner of Kids In Transit (K.I.T.). I have four boys and one daughter, Aquathago(11), Mykel(9), Jayden(5), Nya(4), and David(1). I love being a mother but I went through some very rough times before I got to actually enjoy being a mother. I had my first child(Aj) at 21, and like every other young lady my age I just knew this would be the man I would marry. Well a couple of years later I had my second child (Mykel) and things still weren't on track; matter of fact we weren't even together. We went through a very long drawn out custody battle. It ended with us sharing custody of the children. While the custody battle was going on I met a man who at the time I needed. It was such an emotional time for me though. I then became pregnant with my third child. I thought I was in love again, I guess it was just because I was pregnant. I took a lot from this man, more then I took from my first childrens father. I was abused, humiliated, and treated like an animal that wasn't fit to sleep in a dog house. This man even took one of my children from me because I confronted him about the many women he associated with. And yes, believe it or not I had two more children by him. I would have never imagined my self esteem ever being as low as it became. I didn't want to better myself because I didn't believe I could. I was always told I was a bum and I wasn't fit to be a mother. The reality check I needed came after giving birth to my last child alone. I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed about my situation. My oldest two boys were with their father so I tried to call and ask the youngest three father to come and get them for a short time. We were sleeping in a car, we washed up in a McDonalds bathroom. The job I had was killing me physically. I needed help and I was told, "you wanted them now you take care of them." I begged him to just get them for a little while. I was so tired, frustrated, and broke; he wasn't paying child support. I didn't know how I was going to turn this situation around. He said something to me this particular day that could have broke me completely. He told me, "yeah let me come and get them and then why don't you kill yourself." I remember standing in the middle of the room I was in and weeping. I cried for days after that, I just kept replaying those words over and over again. I just couldn't imagine any human telling another human to kill themselves. I kept wondering what if I had been so depressed that I would have taken him up on his offer. Well after I got over all of the disbelief of his statement I asked myself why are you acting surprised. I've found him in bed with women, been told that everything about me disgust him, been abused every which way. So again why was I surprised!
I took my next check and I moved back to Oklahoma with my sister. I searched for jobs and I was turned down for excellent positions until I cleared up a bounced check on my credit report. I mean didn't these people know that I would clear it up if I had a job. Anyway, I finally got a job in a call center. I was really excited about the job. I wanted to be the best at the job. I came everyday even when we had bad ice storm I drove to work. Then one day I had a toothache. You know the toothache that keeps you from moving an inch. The one that all someone has to do is look at you and you get mad. Well the tooth became infected and I had to get it pulled but I was told I would be let go if I went.I continued to come to work. I sat in the training class rocking back and forth in pain. I sat at work writhing in pain for two days and a lump developed in my airway. I advised the manager of the situation and was still told if I left to take care of it then I would be let go. So I left the room and I submitted my letter of resignation.

After this incident I decided that I needed to work for someone who cares about me. The only way that would happen is if I owned the company. I pulled out my journal of ideas and decided that I would start my own transportation company for children. I mean I was good at that, after all I am the mother of five children. Active kids who play football, go to karate, and take dance. I began to research the type of business I was proposing. I found a few in other states that were operating successfully. I wanted mine of course to stand out from the rest. I wanted to set up a long term vision for the company. I worked on ways to make it better then the ones that were already operating. I started a community for parents. I have worked on different contests that can draw people to our site and our services. I have outlined different services for the future. I definitely see the need for the personalized transportation services especially now as I start my business. I find myself needing a driver for my kids to get to their extracurricular activities so I can take care of business related projects. When I started my business plan I wanted to help out other families who experienced the same issues I had. But as business people know once you start this process you find out a lot of different things that you are not necessarily prepared for. I found that my clients are upper income families. The families I set out to help can not afford the services I offer. So thats when I decided to come up with a way for a small group of them to afford the services. I am setting out to create what I hope to be the Worlds largest candle or at least Oklahoma's. The candle will be 8ft tall and 3ft wide. There will be a wall around the pillar candle that will be made up of wax cubes that house business logos in them. The money we raise from the sale of these advertisement spaces will enable Kids In Transit to supplement those low income families. Once the piece is completed it will be auctioned off for charity. We are excited about the feed back that is generating from this attraction. We also started the community blog site where we will attempt to secure sponsorship from a local news station. There are two other community sites here locally but what sets us apart is we are black owned and we offer an additional service. We plan on coming up with new innovative ways to raise funds every year. K.I.T. will be the leading source of child transportation from state to state. We look forward to helping you keep your kids involved.

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Permalink Reply by Angela Roberts on September 4, 2009 at 10:09pm

My name is Angela Roberts. I am 37 years of age and the mother of 3 children.
This is my story…
Chicks N’ Wings is a fast food restaurant that serves up wings in 38 delicious flavors. We also serve Fish, Conch and Shrimp. While this menu is designed for folks who love to get their grub on. We also serve grilled chicken wings for those who are health conscientious.
My first love was clothing design. I thought to make it in the fashion industry one day. I would design my own clothing and often had my designs show-cased in fashion shows throughout Miami. A little over a year into the business, I decided that things weren’t panning out the way I had predicted and begun leaning towards my second passion; and that was “cooking.” I started cooking at the very tender age of 9 and I really enjoyed it.
Still determined to be my own boss, I decided to give the Food and Restaurant business a shot. Approximately four years ago Chicks N’ Wings was born. It was difficult to accept defeat regarding my designs; but wiser to know when to throw in the towel and although I never anticipated working for anyone else, I soon realized that Miami did not provide minority and black women entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to get a business off the ground and up and running.
In Miami, a person couldn’t even qualify for a business grant or loan if he/she did not have an operating business establishment for a minimum of at the least two years. After applying for business loans at several local banks and being rejected on more than one occasion, it began to sink in. The banks were not willing to take the risk.
Instead of being discouraged, this only fueled my drive. I knew then what I had to do. I swallowed my pride and buckled down with my 9 -5. I worked diligently towards my goal with my head focused. With every pay check, I invested in my dream. It took 4 years, but I eventually built my own restaurant from the foundation up. I continued working until I was able to buy the necessities I needed to run the business.
I give all the glory and thanks to God and although the restaurant takes up a lot of my time, I make it my business to speak at schools and functions. For the younger kids, I take it a step further. I plan field trips to my restaurant, thus, allowing the children to visualize what a dream really looks like. I have been involved in many community sponsorships and team events down and around the South Dade area.
In the end, I have discovered that I have a new passion and that is mentoring minorities by preaching and pushing them into the majority. I take pride in giving back and hope that some-day “Chicks N’ Wings,” will become a household name. .

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Permalink Reply by Donah Ollila on December 2, 2009 at 12:05pm

Let's see if this works. I have never attached a file before. This is my story.

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• My story.wmv, 36.7 MB

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Permalink Reply by Felice Bois on December 4, 2009 at 10:57pm

Hello! My Dear Shepreneur Sisters:

I'd loved to be featured in this phenomenal magazine! What business woman wouldn't? I have all the support tools a single mother business owner could ask for; I can network, build professional relationships and never leave home, gain valuable business development skills, I can advertise, upload my videos, my music and so much more.

This is a wonderful online setting for all women business owners. If you don't mind, please visit my personal website and learn more about my personal story as single mother business owner.

Thank you for time and consideration.

Felice Bois
http://www.moderndayblackmomma.com

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• Felice At The Bookstore.JPG, 135 KB

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Permalink Reply by Stylicia Bowden on January 27, 2010 at 12:00am

My name is Stylicia Bowden, many things can describe my life but one word stands in my head Faith..As a single parent I have been through the storm but God gave me peace through it all. A single parent of two daughters, Saraia and Serenity Bowden. However, tragedy hit my life February 20, 2007 when I lost Serenity at the age to 2 years old. This event changed my life and my oldest daughter life Saraia. I served in the United States Navy for nine years and in my last two years of service I lost my baby girl and that gave me a passion to write for the rest of my life. I have been writing since I was young however my passion was rekindled at my last duty station in Goose Creek, SC. I have self published four poetry books and perform spoken word throughout the southeastern area. My theme is release the pen and let the healing begin....Healing began when I let my pen flow from the hurt of losing my two year and writing is my passion because without it I am merely existing....It is my motivation to be whole.

Go to www.releasethepen.com

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