Start Small, Dream BIG

With vision, dedication, and an entrepreneurial spirit, Tarsha Scovens laid the foundation for Let's Go Outdoors, a community organization devoted to encouraging people of color to experience nature. In 2012, Tarsha won the Turning Point Prize, which funded Let's Go Outdoors and paved the way for Tarsha and her twin sister Keisha to follow their life's passion.

On this episode of "Start Small, Dream BIG," Tarsha discusses her evolution as an entrepreneur, her organization's impact on the community, and how her American dream took shape.

From a young age Melissa Hyles knew that she would one day join her father’s business, Oak Tree Financial Services, in Rancho Cucamonga. Unfortunately, his death cut short their time building the business together and thrust Melissa into leadership much earlier than she had expected. An entrepreneur by nature, Melissa quickly grabbed the reigns and guided her younger brothers and the business to greater success.

On this episode of Start Small, Dream BIG, Melissa discusses her early entrepreneurial endeavors, her plans for growing Oak Tree, and her parents’ multigenerational American Dream story that began when they immigrated from Guyana and which she carries forward today.

After finding reprieve from a month-long bout of the flu in 2016 through juicing, Najee Ellerbe spent the next 2 years researching and gaining certifications in juicing for health. In 2018 he started his business Everybody’s Juice in his home city of Washington, DC.

On this episode of Start Small, Dream BIG, Najee discusses founding a business, how he finds support in his networks, and Everybody’s Juice’s place in the DC community.

When COVID-19 hit, Caryn Clopton was in a better position than many of her fellow small business owners because her cleaning company, Excel Cleaning Services, specialized in disinfecting spaces. They were therefore classified as an essential business and were able to continue their services through those uncertain early months of the pandemic, without a single employee contracting COVID.

On this episode of Start Small, Dream BIG, Caryn discusses her winding path to entrepreneurship (which included a high school passion for flying planes), how mentorship has helped her sustain her business, and her plans for expansion.

When Tiffany Nordé met her husband on the dance floor of a mutual friend’s party, she didn’t know that over a decade later she would leave her career in higher education to start a new career in this long-held pastime of dance. When COVID-19 hit just as her new business was taking off, she had to quickly re-structure her classes, embracing the outdoors and the rise of virtual classes that we all know so well by now. In doing so, she kept her business afloat.

On this episode of Start Small, Dream BIG, Tiffany discusses the role that dance has played in shaping her life, the importance of mentorship in her entrepreneurial journey, and how her background in Intercultural Ministry shapes her outlook and work.

Propelled to a sense of responsibility at the age of 6 by the sudden death of his father, C. Anthony Parker stumbled into entrepreneurship at a young age. From paper routes, to setting up a landscaping business on foot, to opening four car dealerships by the age of 23, C. Anthony was constantly evolving his business enterprises. And he did it all without graduating high school, getting financial support from banks, or using credit. Now, 21 years after founding his first dealership, C. Anthony has learned a lot, he has great credit, and he knows how to build strong and resilient businesses.

On this episode of Start Small, Dream BIG we hear from C. Anthony Parker about his journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur, how he educated himself outside of the conventional school system, and how his desire for financial stability increased his tenacity and resilience in the face of challenges and failures in business, leading him to his latest successful company, Elk Auto Spa.

Season four of Start Small, Dream BIG will be released on December 25, 2021. This season, we are highlighting the Coalition to Back Black Businesses, as Center President Kerry Healey speaks with inspiring entrepreneurs from around the country.

“Open banking” may seem like a complicated concept, but entrepreneur Jorge Ruiz insists that at its core it’s very simple: it allows people better access to more financial services. Through his company, FinConecta, Ruiz builds open banking infrastructure that supports this access for people around the globe.

Today on Start Small, Dream BIG Jorge Ruiz sits down with Center President Kerry Healey to discuss his journey to founding FinConecta, building open banking infrastructure in Canada, and how the Miami community has supported his entrepreneurial journey.  

Pilar Carvajal has more than 20 years of experience in the senior living industry. She entered the space with a mission to provide excellent care and has proven that better care and better resident outcomes can enhance profitability. Pilar's company, Innovation Senior Management, is designated as a certified Women Business Enterprise from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and a Minority Business Enterprise from the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Today on Start Small, Dream BIG, Pilar talks to Center President Kerry Healey about building her business, her motivations for entering the senior-living space, and her own American Dream.

Twenty years ago, Judi Henderson-Townsend started a side business renting mannequins from her backyard. Since then, Judi has built the only Black-owned mannequin company in the country, Mannequin Madness. In honor of her business success, Judi, also known to many as “The Mannequin Queen,” received a Special Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Living History Maker Award from Wells Fargo Bank.

Today on Start Small, Dream BIG, Judi talks to Center President Kerry Healey about what inspired Judi to start collecting mannequins and how her side hustle turned into a successful and sustainable business.