Driving Change Through Partnerships: The Entrepreneurs

This is part of a series of posts highlighting some of our partners who have played key roles in NYPACE’s effort to support underrepresented minority-owned small businesses in New York City.

The theme of Black History Month this year is “Black Resistance,” highlighting how Black people have overcome historical and ongoing oppression. At New York Professional Advisors for Community Entrepreneurs (NYPACE), we’re determined to create a more equitable and inclusive society through our work with underrepresented and under-resourced entrepreneurs in New York City. Our ultimate goal is to empower local businesses to create jobs and stimulate economic growth in the community. The NYC region has 7,200 Black-owned employer businesses — many facing common challenges like capability development and accessing capital. We are driven each day by helping them to tackle these challenges.

At NYPACE, more than 60% of the small businesses we support are Black-owned, with an average annual revenue of $130,000. Here’s a look at three of those small businesses.

Disrupting the Eyewear Industry with Vontélle

One inspiring example is Vontélle, a luxury eyewear company focused on serving people of color. Vontélle provides bespoke textiles and prints from the African Diaspora on optical frames and sunglasses, offering sizes that complement diverse faces.

Founders Tracy Green and Nancey Harris hatched the concept for Vontélle when they each lost expensive eyewear within the same year. They went in search of vibrant patterns to purchase from a Black-owned brand; when they couldn’t find the right fit, they resolved to launch a new brand themselves.

Today, Vontélle offers handcrafted designs that include wider bridges for the nose, a longer temple for a comfortable fit on your ears, and a wider lens to fit over high cheekbones. For centuries, so many of us have worn ill-fitting glasses — Vontélle is changing that, including growing with new distribution channels like Costco and America’s Best.

NYPACE was proud to work with Vontélle across a variety of areas:

· NYPACE helped Vontélle understand their financials and present them in a way that would attract venture capitalists. The team worked with the business owners to create a clear business model for the company.

· The NYPACE team helped Vontélle rewrite their pitch deck, making it more attractive to investors. This led to Vontélle being selected as a finalist to pitch for Enthuse Marketing, where they ultimately came in second, winning $5,000 cash and $16,500 in marketing services and gifts.

· As Tracy put it, “I feel more confident to speak to the financials and to pitch to anyone who will listen.” They plan to start a crowdfunding campaign on platforms such as WeFunder and Republic to raise funding for additional collections.

The global eyewear market reached $150 billion in 2020 and is poised to climb to $257 billion by 2027 — yet less than a handful of eyewear makers are owned by Black entrepreneurs. In partnership with NYPACE, Vontélle is poised for growth and success in the coming year.

Partnering with DMC Original Art to “Spread Love”

DMC Original Art is a Brooklyn-based business that creates original abstract art as functional decor for homes and workspaces, including handmade designs on coasters, serving trays, and original art pieces that grew in popularity as more customers took to redecorating their homes during the COVID-19 lockdowns. DMC’s original art coasters called “co-stars” emerged as a top-selling product as well as Brooklyn-inspired “Spread Love” jewelry dishes.

Owner Danielle Chery wears many hats as artist, owner, and operations officer. She took on a range of challenges in launching the business, including developing effective market and finance management strategies.

After she learned of NYPACE through the Brooklyn Women’s Business Center, the NYPACE provided her with a customized plan to promote her business and continued to support her with running ads on Facebook and Instagram. Danielle went on to participate in NYPACE’s eight-week cohort program for women-owned businesses, where she met weekly with three advisors who helped her develop a comprehensive financial spreadsheet.

“By the end of an initial three-hour meeting, I felt confident in my ability to take their advice and make effective changes to best promote my business. One of the reasons I believe this program works seamlessly is because of the staff,” Danielle said. “They take time to learn the core values of each entrepreneur as well as getting to the root of their goals. NYPACE staff are intentional about pairing entrepreneurs with volunteers that will provide the best support.”

She went on to say, “Alex Geller, Lynda Peralta, and Teresa Donahue have been super supportive throughout this past year, additionally going above and beyond to share resources that they believe would elevate my business. Alex has taken the lead on introducing me to business owners in Brooklyn who have also gone through NYPACE programming to connect and become inspired by their journey. The NYPACE staff is completely invested in the holistic health of the businesses they provide service to, proving to be one of the most outstanding organizations in NYC that supports small business owners.”

Telling Great Stories with Brass City Media

Brass City Media, a creative content studio based in Brooklyn, NY, is a testament to the impact that NYPACE has had on Black-owned businesses. LaToya M. Smith, the award-winning journalist and founder of Brass City Media, is a prime example of an entrepreneur who has taken advantage of the resources and support provided by NYPACE to grow her business and overcome challenges.

Brass City Media specializes in content programming, video, and virtual event production. Founded in 2014, the organization includes a team of top-tier media professionals and has a strong network of contacts in the industry, making it a go-to company for high-quality virtual events.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for Brass City Media, as the majority of the company’s business came from video production projects and content programming services for in-person events. However, the shift to virtual events presented an opportunity for Brass City Media to leverage its technical know-how and expertise in video production, lighting, sound engineering, content programming, and logistics to create custom virtual event solutions.

LaToya initially made a budget and profit forecast but as the project progressed, there were additional costs that she had not initially considered and these costs ate into her projected profit margin. This is where NYPACE came in. With the help of NYPACE’s team of experts, LaToya was able to refine her business model, better educate potential clients about the service, and increase her understanding of the target gross margins in comparable businesses.

NYPACE provided LaToya with an eight-week work plan that included clear objectives and a timeline breakdown. The team reviewed her cost structure and margin profile of past contracts and worked with her to identify new services that could be bundled into packages. After working with NYPACE advisors, LaToya documented every single cost, and created a comprehensive budget that accurately reflected the true cost of putting a virtual event together. With a clearer understanding of the expenses, she was able to make more informed decisions that helped to increase profitability on future projects.

We are proud to have played a role in the success of Vontélle, DMC Original Art, and Brass City Media and look forward to continuing to support Black-owned businesses in their journey to greatness. If you’re an entrepreneur of color who would like to learn more about working with NYPACE — or know a minority-owned small business that would be a good candidate for mentorship — please reach out to us at info@nypace.org to find out about our 2023 cohorts.