Luxury Wig Company Donates Thousands of Medical Supplies to NYC Hospital For COVID-19 Relief
The novel coronavirus pandemic has devastated cities and countries around the world and transformed into one of the greatest public health crisis in modern history. One hair entrepreneur is using her company to give back to healthcare professionals who are fighting on the frontlines to combat and contain the viral outbreak.
RPGSHOW, a luxury wigs provider, is teaming up with its sister company, MyFirstWig, to give back to the community with a donation of vital PPE materials to various hospitals in New York City and other areas battling COVID-19. The luxury wigs retailer coordinated a donation of nearly 7,000 masks to medical professionals in New York City. This also includes 1,000 highly sought after N95 masks, 5,500 regular medical masks, and protective eyewear.
Hospitals set to receive these materials include the NYU Langone Medical Center, Mount Sinai, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.
Black-Owned Businesses Cannot Be Left Behind In Coronavirus Economic Relief
The federal government is trying to keep small businesses alive with the passing of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, but black-owned businesses cannot be left behind.
According to the Brookings Institute, black-owned businesses are highly involved in the outbreak. Black-owned firms with paid employees generate over $103 billion in revenue annually. The largest share (about $17 billion) is earned in the healthcare and social assistance sector.
Almost 30% of all black-owned businesses are independent practices of physicians, or continuing care/assisted living and youth services. Another 10% are in the administrative and support services, such as call centers, temp agencies, collection bureaus, as well as recycling and waste management facilities.
These positions put black-owned businesses in the center of the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Contexts, a social research magazine, the median white family has roughly 10 times the amount of wealth as the median black family, meaning black-owned businesses generally have less cushion to overcome economic turmoil. Brookings also found almost two-thirds of white-owned businesses that existed in 2002 were still in business in 2011, compared to just under half of black-owned firms.
Even worse is when the economy reopens and money is moving again, potential black owners rarely get money to invest in new businesses. According to Brookings, before the outbreak, only 1% of black business owners obtained loans in their founding year, compared to 7% of white business owners.
Minority-owned businesses, in general, earn significantly higher ratings on Yelp than white-owned firms according to research by Brookings and Gallup.
African Americans and minorities are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. They’re more likely to have to travel to work and more likely to work around strangers putting themselves at risk. Even death rates due to coronavirus are higher in African Americans than any other race.
Many national companies are currently running coronavirus-related advertisements pushing unity in a time of crisis but what about when the virus is no longer a threat?
Smile Natural Products is Revolutionizing Vegan Hygiene Products and Creating Opportunities for Entrepreneurs of Color
What we put into our bodies matters. That realization, paired with a love for entrepreneurship, is what led Brian Mays to create a holistic lifestyle brand focused on building community and moving the culture forward, Smile Natural Products (Smile).
In 2017, Mays launched the company after becoming a vegan and not being able to find clean plant-based oral hygiene products. And in January, he opened the doors to the Smile Space, a retail concept store and community space headquartered in downtown Los Angeles. At the Smile Space, you’ll find everything from minority-owned brands, to community workshops, to pop-ups and other events. Additionally, Smile provides sustainable, organic product options across body, skincare, oral hygiene, and home essentials. A portion of every sale goes toward community initiatives.
We spoke with Mays about his journey and passion for wellness, community, and entrepreneurship.
Smile Natural Products
(Image: Smile Natural Products)
Tell us more about Smile Natural Products and where the idea came from?
I started Smile Natural Products in the beginning stages of my vegan journey after finding it very difficult to find plant-based hygiene products. Trying to live a vegan lifestyle, and being the nerd I am, I researched almost every ingredient in the products I used only to find many of the products I was using had animal byproducts hidden behind chemical compounds. And, the products that were plant-based still contained many toxic ingredients. At first, my main focus was on toothpaste being shocked to learn that most major toothpaste brands weren’t free of animal products and many also contained fluoride and warning labels. Prior to launching Smile, I was making my own toothpaste for personal use having researched which natural ingredients were most beneficial to oral health. After getting feedback from friends, I launched the brand with a product everyone needs, toothpaste. Around the time of incorporating my brand, I was reading about some of the Black Panthers programs and I was inspired by their free breakfast program to incorporate reinvesting profits into community initiatives.
What is the process for formulating organic products?
My process for developing products first starts with understanding what benefits consumers are looking to get from their hygiene products. From there we research clean, environmentally friendly and vegan ingredients to achieve the desired benefits. Next, we must understand how these ingredients interact with each other structurally and organically, and once we have our desired minimum viable product we begin testing. We test for shelf life, temperature tolerance, and get feedback from small groups based on their feedback in comparison to similar products. From there we go back to our recipes and make any necessary adjustments.
The Smile Space
You recently opened the doors of the Smile Space! Tell us more about how you were able to scale your online business and open the doors; securing the space; and your vision for the Smile Space.
While it was always a long-term goal to have a storefront, we stumbled upon the space by accident. While looking for a coffee shop with Wi-Fi in the downtown area to do some work I stumbled across a vegan, sustainable coffee shop called Earth Bean Coffee.
While enjoying my latte, I took a walk around the business complex and noticed a few vacancies. After getting the property owner’s number from the coffee shop, I moved into the coffee shop about a month later and began building the space out myself over the next few months. After painting and building all the product displays by hand we were ready for a soft opening with a handful of friends. In February we had our grand opening with a DJ, vegan snacks, and craft cocktails for our shoppers. We are currently still experimenting with the best way to utilize the space between renting our space for private events outside of store hours and facilitating community events and workshops. After we find the perfect balance of monetization and community utility, we plan to franchise the Smile Space concept regionally and then nationally.
Lessons Learned
Ebbs and flows are natural in business. Have you faced any challenges growing your business? If so, how were you able to find unique ways to overcome them?
Growing a business involves constant challenges. The most difficult aspect of responding to these challenges is often determining when to stay the course or being objective about when it is time to pivot. For instance, about a year into the business I reached the point where I was physically at my bandwidth between working a full-time job and managing most of the administrative and operational aspects of the business and unsure how to proceed to continue to grow. After getting some advice from some mentors and studying some of my business role models, it became apparent I had to sacrifice some of the company profits short term to be able to grow long term. The personal sacrifices I had to make to afford an employee paid off significantly and after getting them up to speed I was able to expand sales for an increased net revenue. Also, when we first opened the space, it was challenging to get the word out about the space so we went to the people and started vending at any vegan-focused or black-owned business event we could to drive traffic back to the store and increase our attendance at our workshops and events.
What are some of the business lessons you’ve learned so far along your journey?
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in business thus far is to be adaptable. Markets change, consumer preferences change, competitors change so you have to be forward-thinking in your approach to protect your business model and set quantitative measures to remove the emotion out of when it’s time to make some changes. Also, you have to understand that you can’t be an expert in everything nor should you try to be. Time spent to learn new skills takes away from time spent executing tasks you are an expert in; if time is money you have to understand in some cases while thinking you’re saving by not paying an expert you’re losing “money” by not having tasks done right and also the time it takes to redo them the right way.
Mays’ advice to other entrepreneurs is to focus on what is important early on in their business.
Former WNBA player Tamara Moore Becomes Head Coach of Minnesota Men’s College Basketball Team
Gender disparity in sports has always been an issue in major sports from salary and lucrative sponsorships to more publicity. However, that unbalanced view of men’s and women’s sports teams has begun to change as more women’s teams become more prominent in the media. With a shift in what a professional athlete looks like, this change is also affecting the coaching world as well.
Former WNBA star Tamara Moore is breaking new ground by moving away from being a prominent player in the league to coaching the future players of tomorrow. Moore was recently hired as the men’s basketball coach at Mesabi Range College in Minnesota. She is currently a girls’ high school coach in Minneapolis. The move would make Moore the only known men’s college basketball head coach in the U.S.
“Now, it’s time for me to show you guys and show people that women are just as knowledgeable as men to coach the game,” Moore told ESPN. Moore played in the WBNA from 2002 to 2007 after playing for Wisconsin from 1998 to 2002. She also took to Instagram to celebrate the achievement with her followers.
Amazon has announced it will hire an additional 75,000 workers at its facilities, the company said in a blog post on Monday.
For the retail giant, this is the second hiring campaign it has enacted since the coronavirus outbreak first hit US shores in February. Last month, Amazon said it would hire 100,000 additional warehouse and delivery workers across the country.
“We continue to see increased demand as our teams support their communities, and are going to continue to hire, creating an additional 75,000 jobs to help serve customers during this unprecedented time,” the company said according to CNBC.
Amazon has also raised employees’ hourly pay and doubled overtime pay for warehouse workers. Through the end of April, warehouse and delivery workers can earn an additional $2 per hour. Additionally, the company said it will continue investing in pay increases and safety benefits for employees. The company previously said it expected to spend $350 million on pay increases. Now Amazon estimates it will spend more than $500 million on those efforts.
Despite the good news, Amazon has gotten a significant amount of backlash for the way it’s treating employees during the crisis. Last week, a leaked internal memo showed executives discussing a plan to smear warehouse employee Christian Smalls, who was fired after organizing a walkout at a Staten Island distribution warehouse due to a lack of safety equipment.
Additionally, during a segment on HBO’sLast Week Tonight, John Oliver said that while Amazon has changed its policy to give essential workers paid sick leave if they feel sick or are infected with COVI-19, the change only came after 14 state attorney generals sent the company a letter saying their initial policy was “inadequate to protect public health.”
In response to the backlash, Amazon announced last week that it will provide face masks to every worker and conduct temperature checks for every worker at every warehouse location in the US and Europe.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Unapologetically Visited the Hairdresser Amid COVID-19
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot got her hair tangled in politics last week. The Hill reported that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot visited her hairdresser to get her hair trimmed which goes against the city’s COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandate. The mandate was instituted on March 21 by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and is effective until April 7. The closures of barbershops and hair salons were included in that mandate.
After receiving a haircut, Lightfoot was tagged in a Facebook post (which included a photo) being thanked by her stylist for her leadership and support, which caused people to raise an eyebrow.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told Chicago residents, “getting your roots done is not essential.” Yet as a public figure, Lightfoot stands firm on showing up as her best and most presentable self.
In a public response, Lightfoot said “I’m in the public every day and candidly, my hair was not looking the way it did,” she said. “I thought I would do it myself but I thought it would be a disaster. So I got a haircut.”
Lightfoot also assured people that the woman cutting her hair took safety precautions by wearing gloves and a face mask.
She went on to say, “I’m the public face of this city,” she said. “I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye. I’m a person who takes their personal hygiene very seriously.”
Due to COVID-19, many businesses and employees have been impacted by the shift to the economy, people have lost their lives, and millions of people are adapting to their new normal. And Lightfoot believes that those disparities should remain the focus.
“We’re talking about people dying here. We’re talking about significant health disparities. I think that’s what people care most about,” Lightfoot said.
And while most agree, there are others who are watching and criticizing Lightfoot’s every move.
A known critic of Lightfoot, Alderman Carlos Ramirez tweeted, “She is under no obligation to look good on national TV. She is under no obligation to book national interviews. But she is under an obligation to follow and promote social distancing in order to save lives. This is a bad example for our city.”
Whether you agree with Lightfoot’s decision or not, practicing social distancing is in the best interest of America as healthcare workers work to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
To read more about how COVID-19 is impacting the community, click here.
After suspending his campaign last week, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has announced this afternoon that he is endorsing former rival and Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Today I am asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse,” Sanders said to Biden via live stream, according to USA Today. “We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president and we need you in the White House. So I will do all that I can to see that that happens.”
Sanders officially ended his presidential campaign the day after the Wisconsin primary last week. While his campaign started strong with an emboldened fan base, Biden took the lead winning the previous Democratic primaries such as South Carolina.
“I appreciate your friendship, and I promise you I will not let you down,” Biden said to Sanders, according to NPR. Biden went on to post a message about Sanders’ support and endorsement on his Instagram page.
PBS Atlanta CEO Wonya Lucas Works Hard at Following Her Own Path
Featuring a broad cross-section of women who have distinguished themselves across a rich variety of careers, our Portraits of Power series is a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Black Enterprise, and of black women. It’s a place for today’s businesswomen to share their own favorite images and their own stories, in their own words. Today’s portrait is public broadcasting executive Wonya Lucas.
Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari: Ongoing Shutdowns Are Likely for 18 Months
Neel Kashkari, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, told CBS the country is looking at an 18-month strategy of rolling shutdowns to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
“We could have these waves of flare-ups, controls, flare-ups and controls, until we actually get a therapy or a vaccine,” Kashkari said on Face the Nation Sunday. “We need to find ways of getting the people who are healthy, who are at lower risk, back to work and then providing the assistance to those who are most at risk, who are going to need to be quarantined or isolated for the foreseeable future.
“We’re looking around the world. As they relax the economic controls, the virus flares back up again,” Kashkari added.
Additionally, the Federal Reserve’s St. Louis district estimated 47 million, or more than 30% of citizens in the U.S., could end up unemployed by the time the outbreak ends. Kashkari also warned that unless a vaccine or effective therapy is developed in the near future, a fast reopening of the government is impossible.
“It’s hard for me to see a V-shaped recovery under that scenario,” Kashkari said.
The federal government has stepped in, passing a $2 trillion response bill, but funds are running dry and another response is currently in the works.
Cleveland Fed Chief Loretta Mester said Friday that the central bank was “likely not done” in seeking ways to keep credit flowing in the economy.
“We’re always looking for things where if we have a tool to be able to do it, and if we think it’s needed, we’re going to do it,” she told an online forum hosted by the City Club of Cleveland.
Fox News Sued For Claiming COVID-19 Pandemic is a ‘Hoax’
The network that claims other networks report fake news is being sued for the exact same thing, according to Mic.
Fox News has been slapped with a lawsuit on its coverage of what they once termed a “hoax” regarding the coronavirus. Based on early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox News had initially covered the news as a hoax by the Democratic Party to use it as a tool to attack President Donald Trump. As the virus started to spread, the network shifted its focus and started to praise the president’s response to the pandemic. To add insult to injury, Fox News claimed that it was the Democrats who were slow to act.
Last week, the Washington League for Transparency and Ethics (WASHLITE) sued the network, claiming that it had intentionally misled people and in doing so, it allowed the coronavirus to spread.
“Defendants knowingly disseminated false, erroneous, and incomplete information, which was reasonably relied upon by the public and which had the effect of delaying and interfering with the implementation of effective mitigation and countermeasures against the virus,” the League said in the complaint. “Defendants’ actions created an ongoing uncertainty amongst some members of the public as to the dangers of the virus and the rapidity with which the virus spreads.”
WASHLITE also is alleging that one of its members contracted the virus; due, in part, because Fox minimized the COVID threat by the malfeasance of the network. “The defendants have created an epidemiological hazard,” WASHLITE said in the lawsuit. “A subset of the population has and will continue to ignore or resist reasonable and necessary efforts to control and mitigate the virus and prevent mass death.”
The Fox News network has dismissed the lawsuit as a frivolous one. “Wrong on the facts, frivolous on the law,” said Lily Fu Claffee, general counsel for Fox News Media. “We will defend vigorously and seek sanctions as appropriate.”
Amanda Martin, a media lawyer at the firm Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych, tells Mic: “Generally speaking, the First Amendment protects speech, even some false speech,” explaining that “protections are even stronger for statements of opinion, such as saying that the ‘liberal media were motivated by desires to harm President Trump.'”
Martin also stated that false claims in advertising can “give rise to liability,” but media organizations have stronger First Amendment protections than does commercial speech.
“Over the years there have been a few cases against media, claiming that a broadcast or publication led to someone’s death,” she says. “Those claims usually come in the form of a negligence claim, and they almost always fail. It is very difficult for a plaintiff to establish that the media have a generalized ‘duty of care’ to an audience and that they failed to meet that duty.”
