Tania Speaks Brow Boost

AUTHOR Crystal Chunnu

Growing up, Tania Speaks faced problems due to her naturally bushy eyebrows. No matter where she went, her bullies would taunt her, lowering her self-esteem while poking at her insecurities. “I would cry every day to my mom and tell her that I wanted to cut my brows,” Speaks said. “She would just tell me to embrace them and then one day someone’s gonna love your eyebrows.”

But Speaks wasn’t convinced by her mother’s words. She took a razor and decided to cut her own brows, by herself, without any assistance. The path to beautification took a bad turn. 

“I was bleeding really badly and I had to go to the hospital and get stitches. I really thought I knew what I was doing,” she said. “I actually didn’t understand how sharp the razor was, and after that, I went to school with cut-up brows and I was still bullied.”

She had enough. “I knew that there was nothing I could do to change myself to stop the bullying, so I changed the way I saw the situation,” she said. Thus, Brow Boost, the organic eyebrow gel company Speaks started at 15 years old, was born. 

The majority of eyebrow gels on the market during her childhood weren’t organic and Speaks feared that if she used any of them, she’d eventually get bullied for rashes and pimples as well. This prompted her to research organic ingredients and create her own “secret sauce.” 

Her bullies stopped and people envied Speaks’ new brows and Speaks knew she could capitalize on this opportunity. She brought her eyebrow formula to school, put a sticker on it, and sold one for $3 and two for $5 in her high school bathroom. All of a sudden, her label as “the brow girl” went from an insult to praise.

 “My mission is to make Brow Boost a part of women ages 24-38 and adolescent girls’ beauty routines who need a little help redefining how they feel about their brows,” Speaks explained as the company’s mission statement today. “When you look good, you feel good.” Her tenacity, resilience, and story got her featured in Forbes, Black Enterprise, and named one of Time Magazine’s most influential teens. Her infamous eyebrow gel was also seen in NY Fashion week. 

Today, Speaks, now 18 years old, spends part of her time giving speeches to aspiring entrepreneurs advising them of the power of turning “pain into a booming business.” 

She has four pieces of advice for the up and coming entrepreneur. The first is research. According to Speaks, entrepreneurs need to do three types of research — a quick search, a competitive search, and a legal search. A quick search is a broad search typically done on Google where she learned about organic ingredients she could use for her brow gel. 

A competitive search targets other companies that are offering similar products to yours in order to identify what makes your product unique. “I attached my story to it. It’s not only a brow gel. It’s about me, what I overcame and how I overcame it. When you’re looking at these competitors, you need to be able to attach something to what you’re offering,” Speaks said. 

The third search is a legal search where entrepreneurs will meet with a lawyer to find competitors they didn't know existed. “Don't start with that because that will easily discourage you … You do that towards the end, because after you’ve already started, you’re not going to look back.”

The second piece of advice was to ask for trusted options. No matter what product or service you’re bringing to the market, Speaks advised entrepreneurs to test it on people whose opinions they value, and listen to the feedback and criticism they give for product improvement. 

The next and most unique advice is practicing “instamicacy” or “instant intimacy,” a concept Speaks identifies as the tip to discovering your company’s purpose by making a connection with someone based on sharing an experience. Speaks explained that to practice instamicacy, you need to pick a group of people you regularly interact with, and choose three feelings you’ve felt recently towards them. After writing what triggered those feelings and why it was significant to you, come up with a business idea that resolves those negative feelings. 

Writing down your emotions helps us release negative feelings, reflect on our personal growth as humans, and discover creative solutions. “A lot of times we just keep going, going, going. We kinda forget about what we’re going through,” Speaks said. 

Lastly, she advised entrepreneurs to do the hardest thing: start. Get out there and make yourself known. “How are you going to start a business and nobody knows who you are?” she said. “I was 15 years old and didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know who to talk to, where to go. But now, I learned from just putting myself out there, I was able to get recognized from these big names,” Speaks said, referencing the publications that recognized Brow Boost’s success.  

“You need to start. Today. Whatever you’re thinking about, do it today.”  

A New Kind of Bodega

AUTHOR Katherine Hernández

When Puerto Rican immigrants started opening small shops on street corners in the 1950’s and 60’s, they probably didn’t know they were setting up landmarks and traditions for centuries to come. Bodegas are integral parts of New York City identity, economy, and community, but Bronx born entrepreneur Dinorah Peña added another level to the term bodega. 

In Bodega 7 you won’t find one dollar Arizonas or a bodega cat, because it is a talent management company led by powerhouse native Uptowner, Dinorah Peña, who is dedicated to the progress of her clients’ career. “Bodegas are part of the community,” says Peña, founder and jefa of the organization. “I remember going to one every single day before and after school.”

Born to Dominican parents in the Bronx, Dinorah Peña founded Bodega 7 to correct how talented people of color are represented in the media today. With that mission in mind, some may ask why a bodega? To that Peña says, “A bodeguero saved my life”, while recounting the time when a bodega owner saved her from a bad encounter. “I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I had like a mob of people coming after me. So I rushed into the bodega and the bodeguero saw that I was in trouble and kept me in back.” 

The bodeguero sent the mob away and stayed with Peña, taking her all the way home until she was safe. Peña named her talent management agency after the same place that kept her safe, evoking that atmosphere in the space she created for her clients. 

“I’m a publicist, an agent, whatever my clients need. I go into meetings with their trust because I’m going to be representing them.” Peña clients range from YouTube influencer Franchelli Rodriqguez to actor and former NFL player Devale Ellis. Her interactions with each of her clients are tailored to their individual missions and goals. 

When asked how she can manage such diverse clientele, Peña replied, “Alignment.” She continued saying, “So long as we are focused on the same purpose and goal, we’re alright.” 

Peña credits both her faith and her experience in the field for her and her clients’ success. “Listen, I’m a loud and proud Christian. I know that this is something that God called for me to do and He has a way of building you up to what is He wants you to do. In my previous job, I was led by people who believed in their clients and would get into the work they do. It was contagious to be around people like that. ” And what job was that?

“SheaMoisture.” While working with Richelieu Dennis, founder of SheaMoisture, Peña felt his approach to his work spurred her in the right direction. “It was like God putting something in me that kept building and burning,” says Peña while describing the time that led up to Bodega 7’s birth. “You know, I would talk to my brother about this, how I felt like I didn’t have a talent. Like some people are singers or dancers – my brother looked at me and said ‘your talent is that you can see talent.’”

Since her time at SheaMoisture and while building Bodega 7 from the ground up, Peña has had her fair share of struggles. “There’s been countless times where I’ve not only been the only woman in the room, but the only person of color in the room,” says Peña talking about representation. “I’m going into these meetings knowing that this isn’t just about me.” 

Peña invests much of her time in the getting to know and accessing the needs of her clients. You’ll often see her in the Instagram and YouTube videos of them, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.  “Yeah, it’s not usually that common,” says Peña regarding the close relationship she holds with her clients, “But that how I work. I need to know you and see what’s your drive and purpose so I know if I can get behind you and help you get where you need to go. It doesn’t matter if we have different views or beliefs, so long as that alignment is there, we’re good.” 

Peña plans to continue the expansion of the currently bi-coastal organization, traveling between Los Angeles and New York City to work with clients in either location.

When thinking of advice to give women trying to get into business or pursue an ambition, Peña says, “God has not given you a spirit of fear. He’s given you everything that you need. So take it, and do it, fearlessly.” 

Pole to Pole Fitness

AUTHOR Kenneth Fremer

“I’d never thought I’d be able to have my own business in East Harlem,” admitted Jennifer Rivera, who recently opened the third location of Pole to Pole Fitness, a pole dancing fitness studio, in her home neighborhood. Her first location opened in Woodbridge, New Jersey back in 2005. Rivera first saw pole dancing on TV and realized that she could open up a studio of her own. “In the beginning, a lot of people had their reservations of what I was trying to actually do,” she explained. Though some people may not take pole dancing seriously, or don’t see the benefit of pole classes for fitness, Rivera has been able to expand her business to include locations in Staten Island and East Harlem.

“I grew up with a single mother and I’ve been around a lot of strong women, and pole dancing promotes that strength, both from a mental aspect and a physical aspect,” said Rivera. With Pole to Pole, she is able to pass on that strength to class attendees, regardless of their size or level of confidence. “Sometimes I have girls or men who are not too keen on wearing short shorts or showing skin, or have body image issues,” she explains, adding that having a bigger or smaller body type can enable you to accomplish your fitness goals in different ways. “As the months and years go by, they don’t care if they have stretch marks or if they’re too big or too small.”

After years of teaching pole classes and operating Pole to Pole, Rivera has been able to accomplish a longtime dream of opening a studio in East Harlem, where she grew up. Opening this studio has been difficult, largely because of high rent prices in the neighborhood. “The people that live here don’t have those opportunities to build their community,” she said, adding that a lot of the tax credits and aid given to entrepreneurs are often hindered by requirements that are too specific and don’t help most business owners. “They’ll advertise and say hey, we’ll give you a tax abatement, or we’ll do this for you,” she says, “but then there are barriers like it needs to be in this area, it needs to be a non-profit, it needs to be this type of business—it’s a lot of bullshit.” 

As a result of the many funding barriers, Rivera had to open the first Pole to Pole location in New Jersey, working full-time at a hospital while developing her business. “I had to fight for it,” she said, and though it’s been a long road to get to open up a studio in East Harlem, she is proud to finally be able to grow her business in the neighborhood she grew up in. “I’m starting to realize that fitness has a lot to do with community—that’s what Pole to Pole is, community.”

eeBoo's Toy Company

AUTHOR Crystal Chunnu

She started building her business in her basement, and worked at home with her children for several years until she was able to afford an office. Although eeBoo has no flagship stores, their toys are featured at 3,500 small specialty stores, gift shops, airport stores, museum shops, and retailers, such as Barnes and Noble. 

To promote eeBoo, Galison attended toy fairs and regional shows in New York and decorated her booth in the best way possible to get noticed. She even created a big robot holding a sign that said “thank you” for a trade show she attended. There was no doubt that her unique line of toys propelled her to success. 

“No parent ever put their kid in front of a TV and said they're going to become smarter,” Mia Galison said. “That was the novelty of eeBoo that made it do well when we first came out. I had no competitors at all ‘cause nobody was doing what we were doing.” For the past 25 years, Mia Galison has been the proud owner and founder of eeBoo, an eco-friendly toy manufacturing company that uses the original designs of children book illustrators to bring the imagination of children to life. 

After graduating college, Galison briefly worked in the film industry and was married to her husband, who was a figurative painter. Unfortunately, they were able to make ends meet on their salaries alone. 

“We had a baby and then five seconds later we had twins. We had three kids in less than two years and we knew it wasn’t a sustainable thing for me to have a full-time job out of the house because it was just not possible,” she said. She needed money fast, so she took a moment to examine her skillset and the marketplace. 

“I knew how to curate things and I knew a lot of painters and illustrators and I thought there weren’t a lot of nice children’s things in the market … it seemed practical and interesting to make really beautiful children’s products. There was just sort of a lack of specialty toy market for 20 or 30 years.” 

Galison, like most parents, was concerned about her children spending too much time in front of the TV which motivated her to create tangible toys, books, and products that revolved around free play, which she engaged with frequently as a child. “You don’t have to be Sigmund Freud or have a doctorate in child therapy to see the difference in kids that have the benefit of being read to versus the kids that don’t spend time with their parents and grow up in front of a screen,” she said.

Her mission was to have children participate in a screen-free environment with activities that foster visual creativity and literacy, problem-solving and cooperating, storytelling, quantitative learning, motor ability, social and emotional literacy, and social imaginative play as much as possible. 

When children spend time with their parents, they are more likely to develop greater emotional success and social intelligence. Allowing them to play with dominos, board games, conversation cards, is a good parenting technique and essential to eeBoo’s theme of “developing the whole child.”

They believe that some of the best tangible gifts children can receive are ones that can teach them—whether it be about natural history, weather, plants, animals, or the food chain—to get involved with and question the natural world around them. 

“I have a classic game called I never forget a face which is a memory game with kids’ faces … we've gotten so many letters from parents and I think people really love it” 

Galison noted that eeBoo has received recognition because it was one of few, or possibly the only company out of the 60-80 toy companies at the NY Toy Show that was women-owned and not couple-owned or family-owned.  

Galison received 201 Oppenheim Toy Awards—45 of which are platinum and 156 of which are gold—and publicity from magazines like Parents and Good Housekeeping. “They wanted to support me and I got a lot of free ads, free editorials, free everything because I was really an anomaly,”  Galison said. “People expect the guy to run the business and the woman to do all the fun soft stuff. I didn’t know any woman that runs a business”

Galison recently joined a female organization group two years ago and advised that young women thinking about going into business should also join national or local groups immediately for the camaraderie of connecting with others who share their plight—whether you are married and running a business or are a mother and are running a business, there are supportive groups. 

 “I should have done it 20 years ago. I wasn't thinking about it then, but that was the best thing,” she said.