1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,160 Tell me about your vision. 2 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:08,680 All right, so my vision is to create an organization 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:13,760 with so many resources for entrepreneurs out there, 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,520 entrepreneurs that are in underrepresented communities, 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,120 entrepreneurs that are defined as BIPOC, 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,640 Black, Indigenous, People of Color, 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,680 entrepreneurs that are immigrants, and so forth. 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:29,720 So to be able to provide resources to entrepreneurs 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,400 from all over so they understand the fundamentals 10 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,120 of running their own business. 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,640 That's a definitely unique vision. 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,720 Tell me more about them. 13 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,800 So E4ALL is an entrepreneurship organization. 14 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,160 We started in Lowell, Massachusetts. 15 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:55,920 Back then, we were known as the Merrimack Valley Sandbox. 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,320 And as an entrepreneurship organization, what we do 17 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,440 is we help or work with aspiring entrepreneurs 18 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,400 to help monitor their business through our Business 19 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,640 Accelerator program. 20 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,840 And each year, we work with about 50 to 55 21 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,040 aspiring entrepreneurs through our Business Accelerator 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:18,280 program. 23 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,160 And the Business Accelerator program 24 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:27,440 is run in two different languages, English and Spanish. 25 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:32,160 And so in the past 10 years, Entrepreneurship for All, 26 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:38,080 or E4ALL, has helped over 1,700 businesses launch. 27 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:42,680 In 2023, our E4ALL alums, the graduates 28 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,080 have gone through our programming. 29 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:51,800 The alums generated over $53 million in revenue. 30 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,840 And as a business owner grows and scales their business, 31 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,720 they will hire from the community. 32 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,520 And so our alums has also contributed to the workforce 33 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:04,960 by hiring from locals. 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:10,400 And they've helped to create over 2,000 local jobs. 35 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,040 And a lot of times, people will ask me, well, 36 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:14,520 exactly who do you work with? 37 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,200 Who are your entrepreneurs? 38 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,960 So to give you some stats here for my site, 39 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,800 my entrepreneurs consist of the following. 40 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,440 79% of the entrepreneurs I work with are women-owned. 41 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,360 72% are BIPOC-owned. 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,880 And 31% are immigrant-owned. 43 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,840 Our organization was designed on purpose 44 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,320 to work with underrepresented communities. 45 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,880 You'll find an E4ALL in communities that may not 46 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,880 have all the resources. 47 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,200 And that's what we're here for, is to be able to provide 48 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:56,760 those resources. 49 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,760 And in our case, is to be a resource to those 50 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,840 that want to open up their own business. 51 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,400 And in addition to our Business Accelerator program, what we do 52 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,120 is we pair each entrepreneur that's 53 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,560 in our Business Accelerator program 54 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,880 with a team of two mentors. 55 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,560 And the mentors will help guide them while they're 56 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,200 going through the program. 57 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,480 Because here's the thing that people don't realize, 58 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,720 is that you heard the stats of who my entrepreneurs are 59 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,920 earlier, right? 60 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:33,800 They're BIPOC, they're women-owned, 61 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,160 they're immigrant-owned. 62 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,760 They have the vision, they have the idea, 63 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,600 they have the passion. 64 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,800 But a lot of times, what they don't have 65 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,320 is the confidence to launch that business. 66 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,960 Where did this vision come from? 67 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,680 So that's such a good question. 68 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:58,440 So the vision actually came from a person named Desh Nishmandey. 69 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:00,240 He is a philanthropist. 70 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,440 And through the Nishmandey Foundation 71 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,120 is where we actually got the initial capital 72 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,120 to start E4ALL. 73 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,240 And this vision was a project that 74 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,040 was launched through the Nishmandey Foundation 75 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,520 and through the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. 76 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:20,760 So that's where the vision came from. 77 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,760 And the vision was really to help level out the playing 78 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:25,800 field. 79 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:31,120 So Lowell is a city that is known as a gateway city, right? 80 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,640 It's a city that is very high in numbers of immigrants. 81 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,520 It's a city where a majority of the people living 82 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,760 in the residence fall under the low to moderate income 83 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:43,800 bracket and so forth. 84 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:49,960 And so if you look at cities with that type of numbers 85 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:56,080 and stats, the income level, the home ownership, 86 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,640 it's not equal, right? 87 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,240 Maybe in comparison to other communities and so forth. 88 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,200 So how do you help a community, a city like Lowell, 89 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,560 for others to thrive? 90 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:09,920 Because research shows that if the majority of the people 91 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,080 in the city are doing well, the city 92 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,960 is going to be that much better off, right? 93 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,200 And so the house of vision was to level up the playing field 94 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,480 and really focusing on, again, underrepresented communities, 95 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,960 communities of color, low to moderate income families, 96 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,280 and so forth. 97 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:31,160 What is your goal for being on the show? 98 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:34,800 That's a good question. 99 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,000 I don't think I've thought about that before. 100 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,560 So I was just excited to talk about the entrepreneurs 101 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,160 we work with and the work we do. 102 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,840 I think the goal would be to share the message 103 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:49,760 about the world of entrepreneurship 104 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:55,360 and how it is a pathway that many do not always think about 105 00:05:55,360 --> 00:06:00,960 when we think about success, when we think about life 106 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:02,680 after high school, going to college. 107 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,320 Many of us knows about the college pathway. 108 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,680 We know about the post-secondary education. 109 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,280 And I think many of our parents will tell us to go to college 110 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:16,800 because we have been taught that this is linear pathway 111 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:18,920 to success. 112 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:24,920 And I don't think success is linear at all, especially 113 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:26,360 for people of color. 114 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,120 We need to break out of that cycle, out of that mindset, 115 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:34,720 thinking that success is only within the corporate space, 116 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,040 and those types of being an accountant, being a lawyer, 117 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,000 being a doctor. 118 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:40,160 There's so much more. 119 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,280 Not that there's anything wrong with being an accountant 120 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:44,480 and a lawyer, right? 121 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,680 But we need to show our children and we 122 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,920 need to show everyone else that there are other ways of success. 123 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,960 And even if you did take the linear pathway towards success 124 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,280 and you can climb in that corporate ladder, 125 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:00,480 it is never too late to change your career, 126 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,880 to change your mind in doing something different 127 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:04,320 and taking that risk. 128 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:05,960 At the end of the day, I think we 129 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,960 should all take whatever risk we think 130 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,840 is possible to make yourself happy 131 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,880 and to be able to also to give back. 132 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,080 So do something that you love, something that's impactful, 133 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,600 that will leave a positive impression in the world. 134 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,080 Thank you for being here today. 135 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,480 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 136 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,120 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions 137 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,320 as these episodes continue to move forward. 138 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,080 This is going to get more and more fun. 139 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:35,520 We'll have more and more engagement 140 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,000 as well, we'll invite people to participate in the show. 141 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,360 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 142 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,080 Have an excellent time building out your vision 143 00:07:43,080 --> 00:08:06,440 and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.