Culture & Community | Economic Development | Arts & Culture | The Hill | Collaboration of Minority Women Professionals
Photos contributed by Samantha Williams.
For years, Naeem Obot watched his mom Carlene run Kayjun Katering, a plant-based spot for Caribbean soul food. He saw his dad, Nse, start a fitness business with family at its center. So it made sense that even before his 10th birthday, he would launch an endeavor of his own.
Naeem, who is eight, was one of six “Kidpreneurs” at the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven this past Saturday afternoon, for an expo featuring businesses from youth 8 to 18. An initiative of the Collaboration of Minority Women Professionals (CMWP), the expo brought together ventures from the New Haven area, giving residents a chance to support them.
Samantha “Sammi” Williams, who is the President and Co-Founder of CMWP, decided to launch the Kidpreneur Expo as a way to empower Black and Brown kids to feel ownership over their futures and careers. “Entrepreneurship is one of the key catalysts driving sustainable wealth in Black and brown communities,” Williams said in an email.
Starting their own venture allows kids to “experience being their own boss, living life on their terms, and learn about limitless income options,” she added. She hopes that, through the expo, these Kidpreneurs will inspire each other and form a strong, lasting community.
Saturday, the Boys and Girls club bustled with the lively activity of an extended family gathering. Small children—both business-owning and customers—ran around, parents chasing behind them. Families ate lunch provided by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and music boomed from a large speaker at the heart of the expo.
The businesses in attendance included a bouquet-making table, jewelry stands, a hand-designed notebook booth, and one Bridgeport-based vegetarian snack company.
At a table for Plant Pals Vegan Delights, Naeem and his mom, Carlene Obot, sold sorrel lemonade and snickerdoodle snack mix and health bars. Nse Obot, Carlene’s husband, chatted amicably nearby and encouraged visitors to sign up for fitness classes.
Naeem and Carlene talked about how Plant Pals began as a way to accommodate their vegetarian lifestyle while making it fun and exciting for other kids. Their sorrel lemonade, for example, is an homage to their Jamaican background and also provides health benefits.
Plant Pals is but one branch of the family business. Carlene runs Kayjun Katering, a vegetarian-friendly Caribbean soul food operation, and her husband offers customized fitness lessons through FitTree4Family. Like the lemonade, all of their businesses stem from their family dynamic and background.
The family has been running its respective businesses for three years, since Nse and Carlene moved to New Haven from New York in order to give their children a less hectic environment to grow up in. The most recent addition to their business model was Plant Pals, which Carlene said began as a way to maintain her relationship with her son.
From early on, he expressed a desire to spend time with her in the kitchen, she said. “I got him one of those kid-safe knives,” and their business partnership blossomed from there.
The businesses at the expo all displayed a similar kind of personal investment from the people who ran them, investment that CWMP explicitly looks to foster. Almost all of the booths were run by families of color, all local to New Haven. Creating space for that kind of active community engagement is crucial to CMWP’s mission. Their programming ranges from discussion panels for woman-owned small businesses to networking events to an upcoming flash mob.
Like a poster from Lilo and Stitch that read “O’Hana means family. Family means no one gets left behind,” each of the kids running their booth spoke of their parents’ encouragement.
At the booth for a hand-designed notebook business, Kiera Santos of Kei’s Artz said she began drawing because her grandmother did. Eleven-year old Donny Williams launched a jewelry business selling Cuban chains and rings that his parents had encouraged him to start.
“It makes me feel independent,” he said, still high-voiced but assured as he generously handed out business cards.
At each stand, each child aimed to share their interests with their community, but they did not do it alone. Whether bids for independence or extensions of family passions, the businesses represented ambition, but also the intertwined support it takes for local businesses to flourish. With its lively conversation and eager exchange of ideas, the Kidpreneur Expo was, above all, a testament to a community supporting each other.