The post Sylvia Brown of Thought Leaders & Action Partners Ltd. appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

The post Tiffany Thomas of TMT’s Sweet n’ Treats appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

The post Whitney Easterling of Guidelines By WhitneyE appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

The post Denisha Cotton of The Vegan Hero appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

The post Kristin Stroh of Long Dog Art appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

A call to book a lawn appointment with Hezekiah Pierce is more than yard service. For Pierce, being amidst fresh air is conducive to doing God’s work. Tending to nature, God’s gift to humans, is a work that Pierce finds ultra-satisfying and noble.

Being free in nature has not always been the story behind this man, whose reputation as a master lawn technician precedes him. Decades ago, Pierce made decisions that cost him time and freedom, landing him in prison. An optimist, he used this time for quiet reflection and study of small business concepts. This inspired him to become a self-taught entrepreneur and upon his release, his path eventually led him to the Rock It! Lab.

Determined to create a new narrative for himself, Pierce gathered the necessary knowledge and formed a lawn maintenance business. Wanting to further his understanding and probability of success as a business owner, Pierce joined the inaugural cohort of the Rock It! Lab Business Incubator program in 2021.

Steadily over the 6-month program, the Rock It! Lab team noted Pierce’s fierce dedication and tenacity – he ended with 100% attendance and full participation, sometimes against all odds. Pierce stated that the Rock It! Lab’s engaging content and commitment to meeting participants where they are powered his belief of what was and is possible.

His lawn care business has gone on to generated repeat residential and commercial clients throughout central Arkansas since graduating from the Business Incubator program as the winner of the student pitch competition, landing him over $7000 worth of prizes and awards.

Pierce cites perfection as being a hallmark and lynchpin to his success. “I don’t know what it is, but when I begin to work, I just feel like I can work all day to get every job right – and perfect. I never get tired.”

This infectious energy is felt when sitting to visit with Mr. Pierce. One can’t help but feel immediate adoration for his positive stance and strength of purpose towards cultivating his small business and encouraging other young men to make wise choices. As he has proven to himself and others, time has been redeeming and this servant is being rewarded.

(Also, one can’t help but to wonder what local, state, and national policy officials are doing to abolish and revise antiquated mandates and laws that drastically limit Americans who’ve paid their debts to society and who have proven – and continue to prove – the fallacy in the outdated notion that once an offender always an offender.)

Perfection and perseverance pay off – figuratively and literally. What’s next for Mr. Pierce? “I am researching finance options to buy a new truck and advanced leaf blowing equipment that I read about. It will increase my speed and allow me to get more clients so that I can do more work. I love to work.”

Spoken like a true small business owner.

The post Tenacity is the name of the game for Hezekiah Pierce appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

Vivian Brittenum is a small business owner by accident. Although her path to entrepreneurship was never planned, it is certain, solid, and real. Brittenum never imagined she would one day call herself an entrepreneur, yet while engaging in visioning exercises through the Rock It! Lab, a notion became her reality.

Today, Brittenum, owns and operates Rock City Staffing Agency, a boutique placement firm that secures temporary, full-time, and contractual roles for out-of-work individuals across Little Rock and central Arkansas. Her unexpected expertise in human resources afforded her opportunities to partner with businesses of all sizes and industry.

Vivian admitted she often felt fear and intimidation because she never thought of herself as an entrepreneur, but the village of the Rock It! Lab surrounded and supported her during times of self-doubt. She was a student in the very first Business Incubator Cohort, the Rock It! Lab signature 12-week business program that provides participants with the necessary skills to create a viable business model and sets them on the path to success. Together, fellow cohort members inspired, pushed, and challenged each other to put in the necessary hours of hard work, exhaustive thought, and refinement to create a plan that would meet the standard of her team – and herself.

Much like the companies Brittenum now calls paid clients, one lesson that Vivian has learned from the Rock It! Lab team is that no one business is the same and starting a business has no standard blueprint – a one size fits all model is nonexistent.

“I often doubted myself. I didn’t know if I had the skills or resources to begin my entrepreneurial journey. (However), I continued to work towards my dreams of opening Rock City Staffing Agency! Failure was not an option, and with the support of the Rock It! Lab, I know I and my business will continue to be a success!”

The post Entrepreneurship, the unlikely path that Vivian Brittenum found herself on. appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

The River Shop serves for some as a soft entry into retail and direct to consumer markets. Housed inside of the former Cox Building in The River Market district, The Rock It! Lab, cohort participants benefit by understanding the true retailer experience.  Using nationally recognized curriculum and ultra-valuable, first-hand experiences from Rock It! Lab team members, participants study and eventually master the entire retail process – ordering, accounts payable, budgeting, accounting, merchandising, and all else. Participants have six months to merchandise their wares and obtain retail experience.

This was especially true for Nicole Janae, creator of Natural Joy by NJ. After a successful career in corporate America, Nicole began to experiment with wellness and personal care items – luxe moisturizing products for hair and skin. It began as a whim; Nicole participated in an outdoor marketing event hosted by the Rock It! Lab June 19, 2021. She was completely unprepared for what happened that day; a chance meeting with a Rock It! Lab team member led to a challenge that would double her financials earnings in a 1:1 match.

“At the end of the event, I was completely sold out of every product I brought. Every container of skin crème, slice of herb-infused soap, and bottle of hair product sold. I was so amazed and surprised that people would want to buy from me! And the unexpected challenge motivated me to work harder because I felt it was issued because of the belief in me as a new entrepreneur. I am so thankful.”

Through 1:1 business coaching, networking with other start-ups, and taking meetings in the co-working space, Nicole has expanded her presence by merchandising at The Green Corner Store, a local natural mainstay in the SOMA district of Little Rock and by using an e-commerce platform, www.naturaljoybynicolejanae.com. Yet she still calls The River Shops home.

To qualify for residence in the River Shop, retailers must be enrolled in or have successfully completed the 12-week intensive incubator program. During the 12 weeks, participants incubate, meaning they are introduced to and actively practice proven, tested, tweaked, and perfected business strategies. Each strategy is tailored so that each business owners’ products and services make their way into the minds and hearts of consumers.

The River Shop is open to the public every Saturday from 10:00 until 2:00 or by appointment.

The post The River Shop is home for Nicole Janae appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

For Adrianna Jones, the spark happened in a most unexpected way. Approaching 30 and experiencing feelings of incompleteness and wonder, she knew there was more – an addition to the already good work she’d done as a master’s level, professional social worker. She’d dealt with people and behaviors, yet she hadn’t quite put in the time to dial into her own thoughts about why she felt slightly unfulfilled. She enjoyed her career, but still, something else was missing. Enter the Rock It! Lab team.

Jones began volunteering at the Rock It! Lab a few days a week, the idea of supporting entrepreneurship being intriguing to her. In a particularly inspired moment, a Rock It! Lab team member, a specialist in being closely attuned and responsive to human energy, emotions, and motivations, picked up on Jones’s energy. Although Jones was not an existing entrepreneur, the team member was able to see a spark in her that said she could be. She challenged Jones to complete a self-assessment survey that drilled down into 3 things: what she enjoyed, what she did well, and if there was a way to connect the dots and monetize any of the listed items. Communication – specifically writing poetry to be exact – emerged.

The exercise took a mere 30 minutes, yet the effects have continued. Jones continues to dare to dream about how her poetry could be an opportunity to generate income, inspire readers, and serve as a creative outlet. Never would she, like many young adults, have imagined exploring small business ownership as a part-time or full-time option. And now Adrianna is a published author with the imagination as her only limit.

Today Adrianna organizes her time at the Rock It! Lab to not only volunteer but to also learn vital business mechanics for laying a solid business foundation. “Learning alongside others who are realizing they can do and be more than what they ever thought was possible is a deeply satisfying and exhilarating feeling!” states Adrianna. She was invited to join the 2022 Business Incubator Class Second Cohort and Adrianna appreciates the Rock It’s Lab’s intentional assembly of unlikely founders. Among the cohort, she’s found tremendous value in the support given, hard lessons truthfully shared, and stories of daunting dreams frequently, if not always, dared.

It’s been less than a year, and Adrianna is still assessing her skills as a paid communicator/writer. Publishing her first book happened quickly, but she continues to dream through an idea that was always present, yet never in focus enough to be realized. With support from experienced and compassionate mentors at the Rock It! Lab, Adrianna J. Jones Speaks, LLC is now a reality.

The post Adrianna J. Jones Speaks, LLC appeared first on Rock It! Lab.

She was born of a man, an Army veteran, nicknamed “Sarge” who worked hard and provided, the model that shaped Boson’s work ethic and resolve. After experiencing a life debilitating health crisis, Benson yearned to “do something” to independently support herself and her family. When the challenge arose, Benson rose to meet it; and that is just how Sarge’s Famous Pickles was created.

Boson began to produce uniquely flavored pickles as a means to an end. The pickles always sold out completely within hours. Within months, word spread about Benson’s ability to connect with customers and to create interesting flavor profiles that appealed to palettes and taste buds across the board. Opportunities to demonstrate production methods and merchandise the products grew to include national retailers like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma.

Boson began to work with the Rock It! Lab team to collaborate on best practices to grow and scale. The first order of business was to understand legalities to protect her brand and recipes. The Rock It! Lab team, who are all equipped with first-hand experience in advanced business development activities, assisted Boson with arranging meetings with intellectual property attorneys to protect not only her recipes, but more importantly, The Boson family’s financial future.

“The pickles, for me, are a vehicle to build wealth for my family. I used to view this work as just creating and running a business, but after rethinking how business ownership can really shape personal finances, I now view it as a path to wealth creation.”

In fall of 2022, the Rock It! Lab connected Boson with a statewide bus tour, sponsored by the Black entrepreneurial support organization ReMix Ideas, that introduced her to other business mavens in Arkansas. Through this tour were days of exposure and networking, two critical components for growth in any endeavor, especially for new Black founders.

“The bus tour was life changing. I met so many amazing people and saw what was possible. People told me to keep in contact, and I have. The mentoring that I’ve received so far has been a blessing.”

Boson was so inspired during the week, that an evolved plan is now in the making for 2023; stay tuned.

For now, her current line can be found in: The River Shops, in the River Market downtown Little Rock; K. Hall Sons and Produce, Little Rock; and The Filling Station, North Little Rock.

The post Pickle enthusiasts rejoice for Serreta Boson’s pickles appeared first on Rock It! Lab.