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B Usiness C Ulinary a Rchi Te Cture C Ompu Te R G B u s i n e s s C u l i n a r y A r c h i t e c t u r e C o m p u t e r G e n e r a l I n t e r e s t C h i l d r e n L i f e S c i e n c e s B i o g r a p h y A c c o u n t i n g F i n a n c e M a t h e m a t i c s H i s t o r y S e l f - I m p r o v e m e n t H e a l t h E n g i n e e r i n g G r a p h i c D e s i g n A p p l i e d S c i e n c e s P s y c h o l o g y I n t e r i o r D e s i g n B i o l o g y C h e m i s t r y WILEYe WILEY JOSSEY-BASS B O O K PFEIFFER J.K.LASSER CAPSTONE WILEY-LISS WILEY-VCH WILEY-INTERSCIENCE Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page i Black Enterprise AGAINST ALL ODDS Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page ii Black Enterprise Books provide useful information on a broad spectrum of business and general-interest topics, including en- trepreneurship, personal and business finance, and career devel- opment. They are designed to meet the needs of the vital and growing African-American business market and to provide the information and resources that will help African Americans achieve their goals. The books are written by and about African- American professionals and entrepreneurs, and they have been developed with the assistance of the staff of Black Enterprise, the premier African-American business magazine. The series currently includes the following books: Titans of the B.E. 100s: Black CEOs Who Redefined and Con- quered American Business by Derek T. Dingle Black Enterprise Guide to Starting Your Own Business by Wendy Beech The Millionaires’ Club: How to Start and Run Your Own Invest- ment Club—and Make Your Money Grow! by Carolyn M. Brown The Black Enterprise Guide to Investing by James A. Anderson Against All Odds: Ten Entrepreneurs Who Followed Their Hearts and Found Success by Wendy Harris The following book is forthcoming: Take A Lesson: Today’s Black Achievers on How They Made It and What They Learned Along the Way by Caroline V. Clarke Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page iii Black Enterprise AGAINST ALL ODDS ❖ Ten Entrepreneurs Who Followed Their Hearts and Found Success Wendy Harris John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page iv This book is printed on acid-free paper. ➇ Copyright © 2001 by Wendy Harris. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per- copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: [email protected]. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Harris, Wendy Beech. Against all odds : ten entrepreneurs who followed their hearts and found success / by Wendy Beech Harris. p. cm. — (Black enterprise books) Includes index. ISBN 0-471-37472-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Businesspeople—Biography. 2. Entrepreneurship— Biography. 3. Black business enterprises. I. Title. II. Series. HC29.H37 2001 338′.04′092396073—dc21 [B] 00-043584 Printed in the United States of America. 10987654321 Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page v To my husband Jonathan, for his pep talks during the rough times and encouragement to always focus on the Lord to bring me through. You are my heart. I love you. Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page vi Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page vii CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1. Sylvia and Herbert Woods 1 Sylvia’s Restaurant The Queen and King of Soul Food 2. Effie Booker 21 Cabana Car Wash The Queen of Car Washes 3. Vivian Gibson 47 The MillCreek Company, Inc. The Hot Sauce Specialist 4. Lorraine Carter 71 Caption Reporters, Inc. A Woman of Her Word 5. Alonzo Washington 93 Omega 7 Inc. A King of Black Comics 6. Frank Mercado-Valdes 113 African Heritage Network He’s Mad about Movies vii Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page viii viii Contents 7. Roscoe Allen 143 Roscoe Allen Company The Other Mr. Peanut 8. Vera Moore 163 Vera Moore Cosmetics Madame Makeover 9. Renée E. Warren and Kirsten N. Poe 181 Noelle–Elaine Media Consultants PR’s Dynamic Duo 10. Albert and Odetta Murray 203 Hillside Inn Mr. and Mrs. Hospitality Index 229 Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, words cannot express my thanks for the talent you have blessed me with to complete such a project. I thank you for the gift of writing, for moving around circumstances in my life and putting certain people in my path to use as instruments for giving me the opportunity to author this book. First and foremost, I give all glory and honor to You. To the entrepreneurs profiled throughout these pages, I give heartfelt thanks to all of you for spending days talking with me and for allowing me to tag along all over town, to your meetings and events, so that I could capture the true essence of your oper- ations. The experience was instructional, enlightening, motivat- ing, and just plain fun. My thanks and prayers go out to Sylvia and Herbert Woods, Vivian Gibson, Effie Booker and Dr. Jean Morency, Lorraine Carter, Alonzo Washington, Frank Mercado- Valdes, Roscoe Allen, Vera Moore, Renée Warren and Kirsten Poe, and Albert and Odetta Murray. To my family for encouraging me to press on, every day, even when I didn’t feel like it. Thanks to my husband Jonathan, my mother and father Wallace and Ernestine Beech, my brother Kevin, and my sister Cathy. To my Black Enterprise family, who continue to have confi- dence in my ability and desire to chronicle the achievements of small black businesses, I appreciate your support, guidance, and patience. To Caroline Clarke, editor of BE Books, I extend a special thanks for remembering my interest in wanting to participate in such a phenomenal project months after I had already left a full- time position with Black Enterprise magazine, and then giving me the chance to do so. ix Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page x x Acknowledgments Ruth Mills, my former senior editor at John Wiley & Sons and an original player in the development of the BE Books, I enjoyed working with you and I thank you for your editorial expertise and for the suggestions that made this and my first book in the series worthy reads. Airié Dekidjiev, my new editor at John Wiley & Sons, I am grate- ful for your keen eye and direction. And last but not least, to every editor, copyeditor, typesetter, and proofreader under the direction of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., who spent hours poring over this manuscript, I say thank you for seasoning my words and making them better. If I have forgotten anyone who has made this book possible, please charge it to my head and not my heart, for I appreciate each and every one of you. Until next time, God Bless. W.H. Harr_0471374725_fm.qxd 10/3/00 9:01 AM Page xi INTRODUCTION How many times have you said to yourself, on January 1, “This is the year that I will start my new business”? But by the next December 31, like every armchair entrepreneur, you’ve talked and talked and talked and TALKED about your idea so much that you have talked yourself right out of getting started. If you fit this description, don’t worry: You’re not alone. Thousands of great ideas never get off the ground—for one simple reason: fear of failure. Starting your own business is risky and, for some people, ter- rifying. Why give up a steady paycheck and good benefits, and take on the challenges of being your own boss when you know the perks will not be quite as perky—at least not at first? You mull over this question and you let it echo through your head until you’ve convinced yourself, once again, that the time is not right.
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