Bad Girls of Cleveland Business By Julie Cajigas While women own 50% of privately held companies and earn 60% of all Bachelors degrees, they only have access to 5% of traditional capital. Candace Klein, an attorney, and the founder of Bad Girl Ventures (BGV), noticed the disparity and hatched a plan to help. In addition, she saw her own female legal clients signing bad contracts or getting involved with the wrong contractors — from there, an idea was born. Klein turned her inspiration into a start-up non-profit in Cincinnati, and from there it has quickly grown to a unique micro-lending program with classes in two major cities (Cincy and CLE), with more expansion on the near horizon. On Thu 1/5, the first Cleveland Class of BGV entrepreneurs will graduate and a $25,000 micro-loan will be awarded. If you are interested in learning more about this organization and getting involved, a great way to get started would be to attend the graduation and meet the extraordinary business women in Cleveland’s first class. RSVP for the graduation event today by clicking here. Bad Girl Ventures aims to offer women entrepreneurs access to funding, but its unique model offers them much more. Women interested in being part of the BGV program submit applications, not for a low-interest-loan directly, but to become part of an eight-week business boot camp that not only gives them the tools to succeed, it also gives BGV the chance to evaluate each candidate. At the end of the eight weeks, one of the entrepreneurs who has completed the program is awarded a $25,000 low-interest loan. One of the major sponsors making this micro-loan possible is Key Bank. The courses that are part of the eight week program include seminars on how to repair damaged credit, how to write a business plan, understanding marketing, legal structuring, social media, pricing your product or service, cash flow, accounting and understanding the right financial tools. During the coursework, BGV not only ensures their loan recipient will have the tools to succeed; they also evaluate the behavior of each potential candidate. While only one of the entrepreneurs is awarded the $25,000 micro-loan, all of the women formally accepted into each Class attend the courses and get the opportunity to work with business coaches and mentors. In addition, the program helps those who do not receive the BGV loan connect with potential funding sources. One of the best parts of the program is the camaraderie between the attendees. Though the program leads up to the awarding of one micro-loan, the women in the program work together and mentor one another throughout the process. Women who aren’t one of the eight to ten entrepreneurs chosen for a particular class can still benefit from the business seminars, which are offered to the public for a small fee. For more information about attending business seminars, visit http://BadGirlVentures.com.
Cleveland Class 1 includes 10 women entrepreneurs who plan to take the city by storm. Learn a little bit more about their businesses and brands below, and plan to attend their graduation, meet them, network and get involved in a great venture –- Bad Girl Ventures. Paula Hershman – Storehouse Tea Company Paula Hershman is the owner and founder of Storehouse Tea Company and a certified tea blender, specializing in creating artisan organic and Fair Trade loose-leaf tea blends. What makes her business unique is that they use certified organic, hand picked, fresh tea leaves to create 30 small batch hand-crafted blends. If you want to learn more about this local business, visit http://StorehouseTeaCompany.com orhttp://StorehouseTea.blogspot.com. Micheal Lane – Micheal’s Mobile Oil Micheal’s Mobile Oil is a company that provides oil changes that “come to you.” Their service professionals come to your home or business and change your oil on-site to make sure your oil change is easy, convenient and hassle free. For more information about Micheal’s Mobile Oil, visit their website at http://MichealsMobileOil.com or follow them on Twitter at @MichealsMobileO. Kelly MacLean – College Recruiting Specialists College Recruiting Specialists, LLC uses a multi-faceted approach to guide students, especially student athletes, through the entire college admission process. From identifying potential schools where students are likely to be successful academically, socially and athletically to marketing the students to college coaches, College Recruiting Specialists draws on Kelly MacLean’s experience as a high school coach and admissions professional to help students and their families take the recruiting process into their own hands. To learn more, email Kelly at collegerecruitingspecialists@yahoo.com. Jessica Mann – Ramcryptor Ramcryptor, LLC is an organization that is currently developing technology to be incorporated into the processor hardware of a computer, which will add a layer of encryption between the processor and the memory. This will protect the owner of the computer from a “cold boot attack” should their computer be stolen. Even an encrypted computer’s data can be stolen if the computer is on when the thief steals the computer and attempts to break in and retrieve it. Jessica Mann, the inventor of this technology is a partner at LaunchHouse, a business accelerator in Shaker Heights and can be contacted through their website at http://www.LaunchHouse.com. Nichelle McCall – Community Strategies Consulting Community Strategies Consulting, LLC partners with organizations to develop, implement and assess practices and policies for supporting underserved youth and helping them to attend and graduate from an institution of higher learning. Current clients include the Ohio STEM Learning Network, The Business of Good Foundation and the Eastern Ohio P-16 Partnership for Education. You can learn more about Community Strategies Consulting at http://www.CommunityStrategiesConsulting.com. Kimberly McCune-Gibson and Ann Marie Larrance – The 1815 House & Hungry Bee Catering Kimberly McCune-Gibson and Ann Marie Larrance are planning to open a “sandwich shop meets ice cream parlor meets coffee house” in the most historic building in the town center of Aurora, Ohio. The restaurant will showcase the culinary talents of Chef Kimberly McCune-Gibson with an earth-to-table menu, supporting local growers. The 1815 House will also serve as the base of operations for Hungry Bee Catering, the duos event planning, personal chef and catering business. Learn more about Hungry Bee Catering at http://www.HungryBeeCatering.com. Gina Morris – The Brunch Project The Brunch project has a simple mission: “See your city – and brunch – in a new way.” The concept is to bring together people in an unexpected, vacant space to watch and eat a “brunch throw-down” prepared by local area chefs. The project will showcase the potential of uninhabited space, sparking development interest, while bringing notoriety to local chefs and a fun activity to the community. The even will also include an opportunity for brunchers to learn the history of the venue and facts about the property. For more information, visithttp://www.TheBrunchProject.com or follow @brunchproject on Twitter. Mimi Puro – The Original Shutter Covers The Original Shutter Covers (OSC), decorative covers for outdoor window shutters, have been featured on Oprah’s Search for the Next Big Idea, in May of 2007 and are currently being sold in Target and Home Depot. There are currently over 403 million sets of OSC on windows throughout the United States, but the business is still growing. Owner Mimi Puro is working to create an infrastructure for her business that can support its rapid growth into the future. Visit http://www.OriginalShutterCovers.com to learn more. Mickie Rinehart – Hops Drops Hops Drops is a line of flavorings developed to specially enhance and compliment the taste of beer by allowing customers to customize the flavor of beer to suit their own tastes. Available in single-serving sizes, 4oz squeeze bottles and 1-quart pumps, and in flavors like lemon, lime, blueberry, raspberry, cherry, apricot, chocolate, coffee and hops, Hops Drops give options to craft beer drinkers when only mass-produced options are available. Hops Drops can be used by bars, restaurants or caterers to create signature flavors, or by individual users. To learn more, visit @HopsDrops or http://Facebook.com/HopsDrops. Angelia Watley – Tonja’s Tranquility Inn Angelia Watley noticed the plight of the families of patients who are admitted for extended stays in Cleveland hospitals. They have a difficult time affording lodging close to the hospital, especially if they need to be there during a loved one’s extended illness or recovery following an accident. To help these families, she hopes to purchase a large English Tudor home with ten bedrooms and transform it into a bed and breakfast with transportation to the hospitals. To be named Tonja’s Tranquility Inn, she hopes her location will offer a place to rest, relax and rejuvenate at an affordable cost for these people who are dealing with a difficult time in their lives. Angela can be reached at TTINN1@aol.com. Congratulations Cleveland Class 1 – and best of luck with your future ventures, from all your friends at Cool Cleveland. Bad Girl Ventures Cleveland Class 1 Graduation is Thu 1/5 from 5:30 – 8:00 PM @ Rosetta at 629 Euclid Avenue, 15th Floor, Cleveland. Purchase your ticket here. To learn more about BGV, visit their website at www.badgirlventures.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/BadGirlVentures.
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Julie Cajigas is a Cleveland girl who grew up on the East & West Side and now lives near Akron – she’s got the whole town covered. Cajigas holds Bachelors Degrees in Communication and Music, along with a Masters in Applied Communication Theory and Methodology from Cleveland State University, and currently serves as a visiting lecturer in the The University of Akron’s School of Communication.