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November 11, 2022

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Shadiah Sigala co-founded HoneyBook, a $2 billion financial management software platform for small businesses, motivated by her ability to negotiate uncertainty while gathering information and making decisions.

When Shadiah was a child, her Mexican mother together with her two siblings moved to southern California. Despite most of her family members being unable to attend college, she was an honor student whose lifelong ambition was to acquire the greatest degree of education.

Shadia attended Pomona College for Latin American Studies and Harvard Kennedy School for public policy. As a result, she established a strategy for reaching goals she wasn’t sure about.

Before becoming an accomplished millennial, she finished her master’s degree and became the highest-earning member of their family as a project manager at Aetna, a health insurance company, where she learned about entrepreneurship, realized she is a “builder,” and thought starting her own company was the best option.

However, Shadia realized that she wouldn’t be happy there since she wouldn’t be valued. Shadia ultimately started a personal chef business in 2010, using her Pomona College alumni network to find well-off grads who wanted someone to cook for them.

In 2012, another realization occurred to her that cooking wasn’t for her. Shadiah then decided to move with her then-husband to San Francisco and found tech. She arranged informative interviews with everyone in the sector and learned that the problem she wanted to tackle was one she’d experienced as a business owner: no effective method to handle backend logistics like emails, payments, and bills.

With the three Israeli business people who have a similar concern as hers, they decided to digitize all these tedious procedures that micro small firms must complete to free them up to genuinely focus on doing what they love.

Using that concept, Shadia established HoneyBook in 2013 and worked there for five years according to CNBC.

As her most recent business, Shadia co-founded Kinside in 2018, a child-care marketplace that is available to employees that offers new parents a centralized location to look for daycare in their neighborhood, which has reached over $16 million, according to Crunchbase. 

Letting fear and excitement be one’s guide and being open-minded is what Shadia advises to other aspirants. According to her, opportunities that “feel like they are beyond your pay grade” are exactly how stellar is made.

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Software Engineer Turned Crocheting Hobby Into A Six-figure Business Takes $450k Deal on ‘Shark Tank’

Justine Tiu, a former Google Classroom software engineer, started crocheting to unwind after work. After realizing its appeal, she and her ex-Wall Street director husband, Adrian Zhang, launched The Woobles, a crochet kit company.

On Friday’s “Shark Tank,” the two explained the hobby’s vast appeal. The firm made $3.1 million last year and $5.3 million since launching two years ago.

All five Sharks quickly decided they wanted a piece of the company, and they showed they were willing to betray their business partners to get it.

The Woobles is a crafting kit company that offers patterns, step-by-step video tutorials, and all the materials needed to do amigurumi crochet, a Japanese fiber art form, even if you are a complete beginner. Once your kit arrives with all the materials, a login code gives you step-by-step written and video instructions to make your craft and helpful hints when you get stuck.

Tiu and Zhang ultimately received a $450,000 investment offer from sharks Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. In exchange, the company, which at the time of filming was on pace to generate $7 million in yearly sales, gave Cuban and Grenier a split of 6% equity.

Image Source: FOX5 New York

News

Manhattan’s Chinatown Receives $20M Funding For 11 Post-pandemic Revitalization Projects

Manhattan’s Chinatown is one of the neighborhoods that has been impacted the most severely by the pandemic.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled eleven transformational projects that would be part of the initiative to help the Chinatown community reopen corridors, restaurants, businesses, and cultural institutions. 

The projects include:

  • Renovating Kimlau Square
  • Beautifying the Park Row connection to Chinatown
  • Upgrading a section of Sara D. Roosevelt Park
  • Installing murals and light projection art throughout Chinatown
  • Expanding light-up Chinatown street lanterns
  • Opening a community health & wellness center
  • Reopening the childcare and family support center at Smith Houses
  • Creating a Building Upgrades Fund
  • Creating a Chinatown welcome arch/gateway
  • Establishing Asian Culinary Arts of New York
  • Establishing the Chinatown Cultural Welcome Center

“These critical investments will transform the neighborhood and create a more vibrant and inviting destination for locals and visitors alike while enriching the neighborhood by improving foot traffic, economic and cultural activity.” Governor Hochul said in a statement.

Image Source: K.M. Cannon / Las Vegas Review-Journal

News

Rochelle Nguyen Sits As The First Asian American Nevada Senator

Clark County Commission appoints Nevada’s first Asian American senator, Rochelle Nguyen, a state assemblywoman. 

“I plan on working hard to ensure we are adequately funding our public schools, that health care is affordable as well as accessible, and that all voices are represented,” Nguyen said, who will replace former state Sen. Chris Brooks for a job in the private sector.

Nguyen was nominated by Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas. The new Nevada senator’s appointment to the Finance, Judiciary, and Health and Human Services committees for the next parliamentary session was made public by the Democratic caucus. She will hold the position’s vice chair.

The caucus acknowledged her efforts on “landmark” legislation, which included reforming the criminal justice system, regulating short-term rental agencies, and advocating for victims of domestic abuse.

When Brooks was elected to the state Senate in 2019, Clark County made the decision to nominate Nguyen to replace Brooks in the Assembly. She eventually won the election for the seat in both 2020 and 2022.

Image Source: Vedant Fashions

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Vedant Fashions Founder Made It To India’s Richest List From Selling Affordable Indian Wedding Couture

Ravi Modi started Vedant Fashions in 1999 with the Manyavar brand, selling pajamas, saris, sherwanis(long-sleeved outer coats), kurtas, lehengas (ankle-length skirt), and salwar sets (trouser-and-tunic combination).

Vedant Fashions designs clothes but outsources bulk of the manufacturing. It currently has 590 outlets in 228 Indian towns and 13 in North America and the UAE. 

Manyavar is its flagship men’s line, while Mohey is its 2015 women’s collection. Both are mid-premium or affordable aspirational.

According to Forbes, Modi listed 15% of the company on the Indian stock exchanges in February—the basis of his $3.75 billion fortune that adds him to the ranks of India’s richest this year for the first time.

Modi grew up with three sisters in Kolkata. His father was a first-generation entrepreneur who opened a clothes company in 1975. Kolkata’s AC Market is one of the city’s earliest air-conditioned markets, including clothing, jewelry, and electronics retailers. 

The 45-year-old billionaire lives in a big bungalow on the outskirts of Kolkata where he grows his own fruits and vegetables. With 30 years of retail expertise, he provides a fresh perspective on money and career. “Earning wealth without earning time is meaningless,” he told Forbes.

Moreover, according to Forbes, he spends a quarter of his time on business, asset management, and philanthropy, and the rest on health, relationships, and learning. His daily activities include meditation, yoga, and studying strategies of retailers such as LVMH, Nike, and Uniqlo.