BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
For a group of entrepreneurs in Bradford County, the bottom line isn’t how much is made in sales. It’s simply to let the community know what exists right at home as well as being an encouragement to each other and other small-business owners.
April Acosta, Rosalyn Baker, Tahlesa Bernstein, Jill Johnson, Gabrielle Luke, Yulonda Peques and Yolanda Thomas have formed a group they call “BizNass.” They get together at Let’s Do It Production (210 E. Call St.) in downtown Starke for monthly vending showcases, allowing the public to come and see what products and services the women offer and to meet them personally.
“It’s nice for people to come in and see bright and smiling faces, people who want to engage with them and who are positive,” Baker said.
Acosta said, “The customer service you’re going to receive from any business that is in here with us — it’s Chick-fil-A, Publix level.”
The vending showcases are more than just the chance to meet people and to perhaps gain new customers. It’s a chance for the entrepreneurs to support each other and to have a good time.
“As small business owners, you have your ups, you have your downs,” Baker said. “Sometimes it’s good to be around other people who know that, who know that you have your ups and your downs. We can encourage each other and say, ‘Hey. It might be down now, but you’ll be up soon.’”
A spotlight for small-business owners
Peques had the idea of starting such a group, inspired by vending event that was hosted by Let’s Do It Production. She said following that, she said to herself, “Let me try and reach out to some small-business owners and see if they would like to come together as a group.”
The business owners she reached out to “jumped right on board,” Peques said. They all knew they had made the right decision when they hosted the first BizNass vending event. Peques said, “Once we got in here and got together, we realized we were a perfect fit for each other.”
Peques is the owner of Jewels by Dazzling Divas. She’s the only BizNass member with a physical storefront (5121 N.W. 177th St. in Starke). Her business began when she and her sister became involved with selling Paparazzi Accessories in 2019.
“That’s why it’s Jewels by Dazzling Divas,” Peques said, referring to the plural form of “Divas.” “She’s still one of my partners, but she’s silent now.”
Acosta and her husband, Julian, have a business called Chill N Art, which provides painting parties at a locale of the customer’s choosing.
“We will provide all the supplies,” Acosta said. “It’s like Painting with a Twist, except we come to you.”
Chill N Art is also an outlet for Acosta’s husband, who uses as art as post-traumatic stress disorder therapy.
“He loves it,” Acosta said. “It’s just something he enjoys doing.”
Besides Chill N Art, Acosta also has a personal blog on various social-media platforms called Real Life with April. She said she talks about life, but “with a dash of laughter.”
Baker is an independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay. She said she first got involved simply because she loves makeup, but she enjoyed learning about founder Mary Kay Ash and how she began the business as a way of empowering women.
As Baker put it, “When you feel good inside and out, you’re a different person.”
“Once I started getting into learning the product and learning about Mary Kay herself, I thought, ‘This is a really powerful ministry for me. I can serve the community and make women feel important.’ That’s our goal, to make women feel important and to make them feel loved,” Baker said.
Bernstein has an at-home cake business called K3 Bakery. She brought bakery experience with her when she moved to Bradford County from Albany, New York. Her experience, though, goes back to when she was child, helping her Nana in the kitchen.
“I started with my own Easy-Bake Oven as a baby,” she said. “Now, I’m here making real-deal cakes and memories from some of the best customers a cake lady could ask for.”
Johnson is the owner of Jill’s N the Ville Southern Cooking and Elite Upscale Travel. She also provides concessions for events. Liza Mosley, who is Johnson’s sister and represented her in the interview for this story, said Johnson has been cooking for approximately 25 years.
“She was the one who was always in the kitchen who liked to cook,” Mosley said. “We always called her the nosy one because she was in the kitchen, seeing what was going on with everything.”
As for Johnson’s travel agency, Mosley said, “She can get you where you need to go, She is not one of those who is going to leave you hanging. If you’ve got a problem, she is going to be right there with you.”
Luke is the owner of LoveLee Mobile Massage. The licensed therapist has a background in chiropractic care, sports, prenatal, children, etc., and is in her second year of proving mobile massage and event services to several counties.
Thomas is the owner of Faith LifeT’s, but the business, which started in 2020, is about more than T-shirts. It promotes faith on items such as canvas bags and drinking glasses/mugs as well.
Despite the fact BizNass is currently composed of nothing but female entrepreneurs, Peques said, “We don’t want to say it’s like a sisterhood because we do want to have men in this group.”
Acosta said, “This group — it’s not about just women. It’s definitely about uplifting each other and building our little community.”
The BizNass members want to welcome more small-business owners into their group. Thomas said, “We do want to grow into a bigger space so we can support more vendors.”
As the group grows, perhaps it can do more things for the community. For example, the group gave out 20 free backpacks filled with school supplies at one of its vending events.
“That’s just the beginning of what we would like to do for our community,” Peques said.
Fun and fellowship
The BizNass members, of course, are happy if they make sales during their monthly showcases, but if they don’t, that’s OK. They enjoy each other’s company.
“For us, it’s the camaraderie of it — the fact that we can fellowship together and laugh,” Peques said, adding, “Because we get along so well, we look forward to getting together.”
Thomas said the showcases are always a chance to laugh with each other and even buy each other’s products. She added that good food is always available, thanks to Jill’s N the Ville Southern Cooking and K3 Bakery.
“There is no competition between any of us,” Thomas said. “We just have a good time.”
Acosta said, “It’s cheaper than dinner and drinks.”
The fact that Acosta attends the showcases proves how much fun she has since she doesn’t have actual products to sell.
“It really is just hanging out with my homies,” she said.
Baker said, “She provides the comic relief,” to which Acosta replied, “Somebody’s got to do it.”
The showcases offer fun as well as helping people get back into the habit of getting out and about. Baker said weekly town-hall meetings she attends reveal that people still haven’t re-connected with the community since the covid pandemic.
“That’s what we want to do — get people back involved with the community,” Baker said. “There are even some great businesses right here on Call Street. Come on out and visit with them and see what’s out here.”
Some people may be surprised at the number of small-business owners “out here.” Thomas is, especially when she thinks about her days as a youth in Bradford.
“I don’t recall when I was growing up that there was this level of small businesses,” she said, adding, “I see so many small businesses within Starke that I never knew existed.”
If those small-business owners want to enjoy some fun and fellowship as a part of BizNass, they are welcome to contact Peques at 904-769-2037. In the midst of having a good time, they just might find some valuable resources and the encouragement they need on those days when things aren’t going so well.
“There are so many things between all of us that we have learned,” Thomas said. “We can ask a question in our group chat. One of us probably has an answer or at least an idea or a resource to find out.”
Baker said, “It creates a network for all of us.”
