JJ Lee and Chris Lord enrolled in the Individual Development Account program with CAMEO member Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) in Los Angeles with the goal of launching a music production company. Upon completion of their required savings and education trainings, they were able to secure capital for equipping their home-based production studio. Overtone
Category: Success Story
Ginger Elizabeth Hahn, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates
Fascinated with chocolate and its beautiful and complex characteristics, Ginger Elizabeth Hahn had always dreamed of opening her own chocolaterie. A formally trained American chocolatier, Ginger Elizabeth began learning her craft at age 16 at a truffle class in Sacramento at the Learning Exchange. From there, she took classes at the Culinary Institute of America
Elizabeth Pond, Financial Health Services
Elizabeth Pond received training from UCSB to get her small business off the ground, then joined Women’s Economic Ventures in order to help other entrepreneurs.
Johneric Concordia, The Park’s Finest
The Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program helped Johneric Concordia find the $12,000 he needed to open The Park’s Finest.
Simonida Cvejic, Bay Area Medical Academy
When Simonida Cvejic came here from former Yugoslavia in 1996, she never thought she’d find herself wanting to start her own business. She had a job in the financial industry when, in 2004, she became a single parent. She realized she would have to make some changes in her life to accommodate her new situation. “I was looking for some way that I could be more available to my kids and have a flexible schedule and the ability to generate income,” she says. She was scared of the uncertainty until her mother said something that made her look at things from a new perspective. “Now you can do anything because you’re not tied to anything,” her mother said. So Simonida shook her fears and got to work.