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Launching Dreams: Luna Launchpad Supports Women Of Color Entrepreneurs

by DESTINIEE JARAM.

Nikita Allen grew up in Detroit, surrounded by entrepreneurs. Her mom worked from their home as a licensed cosmetologist, and her dad owned a company that made computer parts.

Now, at age 52, Allen lives in Charlotte and has launched Luna Launchpad, an initiative to help women of color grow their small businesses.

“I was fortunate to be able to see it in my home,” Allen told QCity Metro. “When I got older, I knew that that was something I wanted to do as well.”

Why it matters: Between 2019 and 2023, the number of U.S. small businesses owned by Black women grew by 35%, compared to a 7% growth rate for women-owned businesses in general, according to a 2024 Wells Fargo report.

“I have been delighted to see that we were right,” Allen said of her decision to start Luna Launchpad in September 2024. “There are lots of other women who want to make the leap.”

Luna Launchpad is free to participants and is funded through a $50,000 grant from NC IDEA, a foundation dedicated to helping North Carolina residents realize their entrepreneurial dreams.

Allen will graduate her first cohort, with six participants, on Saturday. She said future cohorts may have up to 12 participants.

“We were very happy with the intimacy that was created by these six incredible women,” Allen said. “They are definitely supporting one another, working together, sharing ideas and things that really help hone their potential for growth and transformation.”

Empowering women

Luna Launchpad offers women a one-year transition plan, primarily through journaling, that focuses on financial literacy, strategic sales and productivity workflow. It aims to empower participants to achieve financial stability and sustainability for their businesses.

“The idea is that they will have everything that they need a year from now … that they would be able to say, ‘I quit, goodbye,’ ” Allen said. “They’re building a plan that showcases: here are my real numbers, and here’s what I know I need a year from now, from a financial standpoint, to be able to make this leap.”

Allen said the 10-week program teaches business owners an “entrepreneurial mindset,” such as how to break even and achieve profitability.

“They’re working to build their confidence,” she said. “They’ll note in some of their journals, ‘What do I need to be doing so that I’m prepared? Who do I see myself as? Who do others see me as?’ And then we deep-dive.”

Instilling confidence

Luna Launchpad participant Chanel Brown told QCity Metro that the program helped her determine the next steps for her business, ChanelJGraphics.

Brown said she started the business as a hobby in 2013, while she was an art major at South Carolina State University. While in graduate school, Brown discovered a passion for the strategy and marketing behind graphic design, so in 2015, she evolved the company to become a full marketing firm, helping small business owners.

Brown, 31, said Luna Launchpad “elevated” her confidence to become a full-time business owner and provided her with structure for her transition.

“I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t confident before,” she said. “I just didn’t know how I was going to do it.” “Now that I’ve gone through the program, I can definitely see this being a full-time thing for me.”

The program also seeks to cultivate a sense of community, which Brown said was valuable for her success.

“Having a community of people that truly understand what the journey looks like … not only do they get it, they’re there to offer words of advice, words of encouragement. They can speak from their own experiences,” Brown said.

A life-long journey

Allen said she was inspired by her own experience to open the business accelerator.

By 1999, she founded ​​Simply Virtual, a productivity consulting firm. Allen moved to Charlotte in 2004 and brought her company with her. In 2016, she sold that company and, two years later, founded Growmetix, a business accelerator.

While trying to grow her own company, she worked a corporate job, an experience that left her feeling undervalued.

“I wasn’t being utilized in the way that I would have preferred,” Allen said. “As I started to investigate, I did learn that there were lots of women out there like me.”

After Allen’s husband died in 2010, she said she was ready for “something new.”

Earlier this year, she received an NC IDEA North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council Ecosystem Grant, which supports business growth and economic opportunities in the state’s Black community. She was one of six recipients.

Andrea Cook, senior director of marketing for NC IDEA, told QCity Metro that Allen was chosen because her business serves Black women who are entrepreneurs and that she had experience scaling small businesses.

“We felt like hers was directly addressing a gap in … the coaching, and equipping specifically Black women founders who are looking to turn their side hustles into a more sustainable business,” Cook said.

Allen said women of color who own for-profit businesses and are ready to scale them are ideal candidates for the program.

“The goal was that the program isn’t about ideating a product and testing a product,” she said. “We want you to have already pretty much tested it with customers and know that it’s a viable product,” Allen said.


See Original Article at Q City Metro

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