Follow your dreams without listening to anyone else.
That was the message Tuesday night from several Madison-area entrepreneurs of color as part of a Cap Times Idea Fest panel, moderated by Cap Times reporter Natalie Yahr.
The featured speakers were Josie Chu, owner of Madame Chu; Jason Boatright, owner of B. Right Barbershop; Cle Gray, CEO of Prodigal Building Systems; Awa Sibi, owner of Les Delices De Awa; and Brian Espinosa, owner of Adapt Marketing Consulting.
The discussion focused on the journeys of entrepreneurs who went into business against the odds. Wisconsin lacks businesses owned by people of color. Madison also has long been a place with limited opportunity for upward mobility for entrepreneurs of color.
Chu told the audience at Madison College’s Goodman South Campus that people need to believe in their product if they are going to start their own business. Espinosa said it takes strong planning. Boatright said go it alone if you have to.
“Do not listen to anyone but yourself, period.” Boatright said. “Your vision is not what they see. Nobody sees it but you.”
Each entrepreneur benefited from community resources or people who gave them a chance when no one else would.
For Sibi, one of those supportive people was local developer Joe Krupp, who was familiar with her food and work when she began to pop up at the Badger Rock Neighborhood Center. The timing could not have been better.
“I had given up,” Sibi said. “I shaved my head and was like I’m done.”
Each of the panelists said their faith was tested and they arrived at the same moment Sibi experienced. Gray was out of options trying to find a space that could hold his construction business. Boatright competed with wealthier bidders for space he wanted for his barbershop.
But all of them survived. Feed Kitchen helped Chu find commercial kitchens so she could lower her costs. A person selling building space in Sun Prairie thought Boatright sounded more sincere than the wealthier person bidding against him. Krupp helped connect Sibi to space she could use. Gray found a person with large warehouse space in Milwaukee.
Startup costs plagued each person, though. The panelists warned that going into business will not mean you are suddenly wealthy.
“We started out with our own savings,” Chu said. “Every time we make any profit, it doesn’t come into my pocket. It always goes back into the business.”
“There’s no such thing as money for you when you are starting out,” Boatright agreed.
But each person’s business is staying afloat, thanks to wise saving and even wiser business decisions.
Sibi’s restaurant now occupies the former Monsoon Siam location on Atwood Avenue. Gray helped build the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Black Business Hub on Madison’s south side, which is designed to support business owners and entrepreneurs of color.
For people of color hoping to start their own businesses, the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Dane County, the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce and the Urban League’s Black Business Hub provide resources and mentorship.
Nicholas Garton joined the Cap Times in 2019 after three years as a features writer for Madison365. He was also the sports editor of Madison College’s newspaper, The Clarion. He writes about development, neighborhoods, businesses and race issues.
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