Ray Lamboy, LAEDA’s President and Chief Executive Officer concluded the session by bringing back the first day’s conversation and asking the class to reflect back on what they have learned.

What are the next steps from here? Ray lists many valuable steps to take onward:

• Finish your business plan
• Apply what you learned; this is the beginning of your future
• Be a life learner
• Work on your skills
• Protect your investment
• Success is a journey it is not a destination so keep on working toward your success and take advantage of information, resources and professionals around you.

Ray asked what were some of the challenges and what were some of the highlights of this program. The most essential challenge for this session was in accounting and getting good with numbers. However, with the one-on-one’s that LAEDA provides the students were able to get the best of what they needed more help and guidance in.

Our Networking Queens, alumni Barbara Hall-Bryant and Crystal Lewis from I Say Yes Salon & Spa, LLC joined the class to share their experience as business owners and being part of our alumni family since graduating in October 2012 as a part of EDTP Session 62.

Barbara Hall-Bryant and Crystal Lewis have been in business for 30 years and they opened the room to vital information and shared their valuable experiences to help the entrepreneurs in the class.

Barbara Hall-Bryant opened up the discussion even more by asking everyone in the room to introduce themselves to her and stating their why:

(1) Izelle Tomlinson with Exquisite Catering LLC, “My why is because my family motivates me and I grew up in Camden and I see the potential that this city and I wanted to bring unique food to people of this city. LAEDA is a family, we support one another and we build each other up.”

(2) Nicole Edmond with Nikki’s Pleasure Palace LLC, “My why is because it is important to meet with and build customer relationships. I grew up in Camden and see that there’s a need for this type of service along with wanting to be financially stable.”

(3) Tashelle Ball with Specialized Quality Care LLC, “My why is because I understand my participants and I wanted to provide specialized care. Also, I wanted to educate myself more so I can continuously create a better foundation for my clients and provide them with better resources. I am really passionate about helping others.”

(4) Carla Clements with Gratitude Health and Wellness Consultants LLC, “My why is I wanted to share my gift of health care and science and make a positive difference in the lives of people in the health care area and help the community.”

(5) Linh Trieu with Trieu Beauty Spa LLC, “My why is that first of all I am the first in my family to start a business and I always did what others told me to and I just grew tired of that. Second, I wanted to do something for myself now and my children. Since I took this step, I am able to spent more time with my children.”

(6) Rochelle Barnes with Triple T Transportation Services, “My why to the business and joining LAEDA is that I was looking to start school to teach CDL drivers and because I wanted to build generational wealth for my family and friends.”

(7) DeAngelo Berkeley with 3Dee Media LLC, “My why is to expand my business so that way I can do more to take care of my family and relatives and help out as much as I can to make sure that the future is comfortable. I am doing okay right now, but I can always do better and that is my motivation.”

(8) Teair Ginlack with H.E.R. Beauty Services LLC, “My why is to make a difference in my family and community and I am the first out of my family to do something remotely and my goal is to make a difference and show my family something can be done and we don’t need to live in struggle.”

(9) Andrea Ferguson with The New Hope Training Center, “My why is to work for myself and make a difference in the world with my talents, especially because not many people recognize your talent or appreciate for your talent when working for someone else so I decided why not work for me. Moreover, I also wanted to create financial stability for my family and I.”

“The reason why I asked each one of you what is your why is because marketing is important and this is what you should use to tell your why,” Barbara Hall-Bryant explains, “Also stay connected to LAEDA and work on your business plan. Whenever I or Crystal had any questions about business or our business plan we always contacted LAEDA.”

Barbara Hall-Bryant and Ray Lamboy left the students with a really valuable business lesson, which is you have to know how to do business. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if you do not know how to do business then it will not benefit anyone.

LAEDA offers seminars and short-term courses in various counties of South Jersey throughout the year. A long-term course is also offered three times per year where entrepreneurs receive 72 + hours of training from industry professionals, business planning, and business counseling. The program is free, but you must qualify.