Positively Pittsburgh Live! 5-24-10 Show Notes
YW Enterprising Women
The YW Enterprising Women Program began as a peer lending group that has evolved into a program at CCAC. The program trains women who want to have businesses, market their businesses and research their feasibility. YW Enterprising Women is run by the asset development division of the YWCA and directed by Alice Williams.
Today’s guests are 3 women that have been through the program:
Olafemi Mandley, Ola Appetit Catering Company
Myneesha King, Giddy Kiddie Daycare
Maggie Gould, Shenango Media
OLA FEMI AND HER CATERING COMPANY:
• Ola loves food and the hospitality industry
• She sees food as healing and as artistic expression
• Giving back to the community and planet earth are very important to her
• Her goals include a culinary school/cooking classes, a bed and breakfast and an upscale banquet house.
Ola Appetit Catering Company got started in 2009. The name of the business comes from her Yoruba name, Ola which means love and Appetit which is French for appetite. By combining the two the meaning is "LOVE FOOD/LOVE TO EAT". This love is what inspires her.
“My love of food has given me an advantage because I love baking. I believe food plays an important role culturally and socially.”
Ola Appetit offers ethnically diverse, expertly prepared, artistically presented, comfort food. Some dishes have been fussed to appeal to the American palate while others are created to appeal to the person with a taste for exotic and interesting foods. You can expect anything from Macaroni and Cheese, to Foo Foo(African Pound Yam), to Poulet basquaise(French Basque Chicken), to Asian Seared Shrimp Salad with our "Ginger Lemon Honey house dressing. We start with organic, all natural, local ingredients. Whether Hors Dourves, Small Plates, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert or Signature Drinks.......Ola Appetit Catering is perfect for all Corporate and Social Occasions.
“I feel the best way to give back is not to take away I hope my business would always be in the community embracing the green clean movement.”
My Contact Info Ola Appetit Catering Company
Olafemi Mandley Owner
oacatering@yahoo.com
(412)466-2204 Office Telephone
(412)462-6327 Fax
MYNEESHA AND HER DAYCARE
Myneesha King is a stay at home mom with 2 boys and a wife. She received her BFA degree at North Carolina A&T State University where she studied Professional Theatre. Her passion and love for theatre and children has always been a motivation for serving and influencing others with her God given talents and abilities. Myneesha has performed in many main stage and professional productions in N. Carolina and here in Pittsburgh. Her most recent project is with LifeLine Film Productions in "Silence the Voices." Myneesha is committed to starting a business in the Pittsburgh Metro area that will provide infants and toddlers with a lifetime of success by incorporating fitness, creative arts, and early childhood education. Her next steps include seeking out a business mentor, finding investors, and creating an advisory team.
Myneesha found the YW Enterprising program to be very beneficial for the following reasonss:
• The quality presenters
• The resources provided
• The effectiveness of the curriculum
• The support of the staff and their expertise
• The confidence and knowledge she gained specific to the world of business
• The continued support and resources
MAGGIE GOULD AND SHENANGO MEDIA
• Maggie Gould is the owner of Shenango Media, LLC, based in New Castle, PA.
• She has worked in media and private research
• She has also spent 12 years as a stay at home Mom
• Maggie is married to her high school sweet-heart, Will, and they have 4 children
• She has a certificate from Temple University as a Special Education Advocate
• As a volunteer Special Education Advocate, Maggie served on the Federal Interagency Coordinating Counsel for the Department of Education.
• She was later appointed to the Federal Autism Interagency Coordinating Counsel.
• She is also a volunteer for Pennsylvania Consortium for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs
• Maggie has been recognized by the governor of Pennsylvania as a certified presenter for the Survivors Speakers Bureau.
Her current project is a 32-page children’s book, Feeling Safe by Autumn Grace and Mom. To teach valuable healing and safety skills. Maggie, working as a co-author for her 12-year-old daughter and illustrator Autumn Grace, delicately shares their family’s personal experience of dealing with sexual abuse in kid-friendly terms. Their book promotes the wellbeing of children as it bridges the emotional gap between sexual abuse victims, healthcare, education, the legal system and survivorhood. You can learn more about their efforts by visiting their website, www.autumngracecreations.com or join their Facebook Fan Page or Twitter titled Project Tell.
Shenango Media has been a long time goal of mine. I have played with different ideas as how to form a media group to serve the small communities in Lawrence County. When Autumn asked me to find a publisher for her book I began to call on old friends to present the book to them. After 23 reluctant turn downs, because sexual abuse is so hard to market, Autumn suggested that I just publish her book. My husband had recently been laid off from his job and the thousands of dollars needed to generate the book was not in our budget.
I thought that I was prepared for the books, but there was so much more for me to learn and I was really struggling to understand how to manage all of the business responsibilities. I had not even taken the time to create a business plan. I learned about Enterprising Women: Microenterprise Ownership Certificate Program.
• I found attending the program and working with the YWCA staff (Alice Williams and Tara Ellison-Jones) to be a tremendous asset to my developing business.
• The program was extremely quick paced and well organized.
• our class met with the guest speakers, who were already established women entrepreneurs, I began to find my nitch in the world of business.
• I was also very impressed with the quantity and quality of business start up services there are available in the city of Pittsburgh due to our governments stimulus package and community driven established business owners.
Future goals for Shenango
• Publish an E-learning tool that will include interactive games and a book reading by Autumn.
• Publish a book based on the life of a predator’s wife
• Focus on autism by developing a book and program for the blue collar families involved in the life of someone with autism.
You can learn more about their efforts by visiting their website, www.autumngracecreations.com or join their Facebook Fan Page or Twitter titled Project Tell.
You can learn more about us at http://www.autumngracecreations.com/ and http://www.ncnewsmedia.com/archive/2009/11November/Autumn_Gould/story1.htm and
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Project-Tell/270836930892?ref=ts
To hear this episode of Positively Pittsburgh Live in its entirety go to http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=360088&cmd=apop
Delana Flowers is a Positively Pittsburgh Live reporter, an independent writer and owner of Ingenuity by Delana Flowers ©, writing effective copy so you don’t have to. Services include copywriting for newsletters, blogs, ad copy, marketing pieces, articles, reviews, invitations, postcards, flyers and more.
