Bringing innovation and incubation to North Philly

By Kiara Santos

An in-depth interview on entrepreneurship during Women’s History Month withTanya Morris, the visionary behind Mom Your Business (MYB), Whitney Frederick, founder of It’s Seasoned, details their inspiring journeys of entrepreneurship and grassroot efforts to bring innovation to an area of Philadelphia not often thought of as a hub of entrepreneurship. 

They focused on the growth and impact of MYB Hub North for Black and Brown women alike in the lower north sector of Philadelphia as an effort to alleviate poverty through supporting entrepreneurship on Reality Check with Tonya Pendleton.

Although Mom Your Business was helping roughly 600 organizations and businesswomen, the inception of the non-profit MYB Hub North was created to fill a void after Temple University moved its small business development center closer to Center City. After crowdfunding, grant support and hiring key staff members, MYB was able to establish itself at 1913 W. Lehigh Ave.

“We’ve received some grant support as a part of our nonprofit organization. We’ve also been able to access a small loan through the neighborhood progress fund,” Morris said. “We want to walk the talk that we do with our founders. Our mission is simply to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship by equipping Black and Brown women with the resources, tools, and capital to create success in both their professional lives as well as socially and economically.”

The struggle for funding resonates with Morris and Frederick as Black women. They discussed their experiences as entrepreneurs who often face systemic barriers to accessing capital and resources.

However, initiatives like MYB Hub North are shedding light on available resources and fostering a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurial endeavors – like Frederick, and MYB-beneficiary whose business supports nourishing diets with tailored spice blends. She called MYB a “safe” place to ask questions and learn how to scale a business. Frederick shared her insight on the importance of community support.

“Surround yourself with people who are going to uplift you, that can pour into you and you can do the same for them. Because this is not something that you can do alone, but once you find a network of people that are willing to help you, willing to root for you, you can definitely get it done.” Frederick said.

Frederick’s thoughts on community support encapsulate the ethos of MYB Hub North, which seeks to address the situation Black women are in as they face limited opportunities and resources, according to a Nonprofit Quarterly article. 

“Female nonprofit leaders are, especially in the wake of all of the attacks on DEI, facing many of those same challenges. And so that’s why it’s important to have partners that believe in this work and support the work that we’re trying to do to not only empower our founders, but also understand that Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, yet the least funded and being able to support those businesses,” Morris said. 

However, a silver lining is being paved with initiatives like MYB Hub North that are altering the landscape of entrepreneurship as it evolves to provide expansive resources, funding and community for Black and Brown women entrepreneurs to achieve their own.

Morris concludes the segment declaring herself a long-time, evolving learner and stresses the importance of a communal mindset for people like her and Fredrick. 

“It’s all about learning, the resources and being really a lifetime learner. Every opportunity that you see, or at least taking that step to inquire about it and whether or not it benefits you. And if it can’t, pass it on to the next person,” said Morris.