 And what's the need space and what's your hope for it? Here in Atlanta, people have to drive far to get these healing and this wellness. I want to be able to have that accessible for my people, for black people. America has always been associated with making it, but is this opportunity accessible to all? Atlanta was built to include everyone, but so many people are still being left behind. I'm Scott Shigeoka. Go Daddy's Entrepreneur in Residence. And I'm on a journey across the country meeting the people who are building it. I want to break that stereotype. I want to see this through for the sake of my family. They're defying the odds and their stories show us what it means to be made in America. This is my favorite place. This is where I get all my products. And this is what I make my lettuce toner called Let Us Face It. Yolanda is a type of person that you immediately gravitate towards. She is the owner of Iwi Fresh in Atlanta, which is a farm to skin spa. And she's got her own products. And then I use my herbs for my herbal mixed toner. So, you know, my grandmother, she was a home remedy queen, we called her. She had a little bitty house and the streets wasn't even like paved, but she had a little backyard and she would literally take seeds. Just kind of throw them out and stuff would grow up. So, this is my garden. This is my secret garden. Yolanda! Hey! Tell me more about how you started Iwi Fresh. You know, I realized as I got older that things were very processed, chemical based. And my son had eczema at the time. So I'm going to have to create some grandma recipes. I went back and became an esthetician. I took some herbal classes, some nutritional classes, and started testing on all my friends and my family members. And I came up with Iwi Fresh, which stands for it is what it is. If it's carrots, it's carrots. If it's squash, it's squash. It is what it is. I was a single mother with three children. Before Iwi Fresh, you know, I was corporate America. Being a black woman as an engineer, I was around a lot of white males. I was always having to prove that I was smart, that I knew my stuff. I knew there was more to me than four walls. My bank account did not say it was time to go. My bills did not tell me it was time to go. But spiritually and emotionally, I knew it was time. I turned in my two weeks notice. It was times where it was hard for me to pay my mortgage. The car got repossessed. I had to learn how to reach and ask people to help me. And some people couldn't do it. Some people could. It's about showing the mutuality, the interdependence. We're like a community. All the entrepreneurs We're small business owners. And we all support each other. Y'all come on out today. We'll be here till five o'clock. Just come on by Iwi Fresh. We got Maddie Petty Kits, Facial Kits and Hot Shave Kits. Only $25. We've applied for a lot of grants and loans that are now kind of starting to come through. So that's been very helpful. What I've learned through this is that I really need to put more energy in my online sales, my online products. Even when the doors open, I got to have that. I want to know about the new space that you got going on. Is it still in progress? What are you opening up? My concerns were always about me being in the middle of starting something. Because I already have a store that's already existing. So we were like, okay, we got to rebound from that. So I'm thinking through that. But then you have this new store that hasn't even opened yet. And it's like, whoa, how is this going to be? The new Farm Oasis Iwi. Yay, look at that. So here I am on this beautiful Saturday morning. Right here, you can see there's a lot of work. There's still construction going on. How long have you been thinking about opening up this location? I always wanted to open up a healing space in the community. That's been my passion. You know, here in Atlanta, people have to drive far to get these healing and this wellness. When I say the word community, I'm talking about the inner city black community. This is where I grew up. And there's no accessibility to healing and wellness on the level that I want to present it with Iwi Fresh. I mean, I want to see brown girls like me to be able to go across the street and take a yoga class. To go across the street and do meditation. You know, I want to be able to have that accessible for my people, for black people. In Atlanta, there's been a huge economic disparity between the poorest and the wealthiest. One of the things that Atlanta has that it's very inspiring is that their level of safe engagement by business leaders in Atlanta to get involved in solving issues is very powerful. And it's what drives the community. Last year, I found this old church schoolhouse right in the community. It was just a perfect space. And so then I just started working towards it. You guys want this? Y'all need that? We're still going through inspections right now. It's a pandemic, so it's going to be a slower pace. We got to get time to move in. We got to paint. Are we going to open? When are we going to open? And if we do open, what are some of the safety practices we need to do? So one of the things that COVID-19 has highlighted is just how important it is to not have underlying health conditions. People of color led companies who are bringing healthy solutions, whether it's wellness products or food to communities. It's supporting communities in that journey towards health. Why is wellness and spas as a business? Why are they thriving right now? We are in a pandemic, and I feel like health is on everyone's minds. And I think we're not taking our health and our wellness in particular for granted. Hi! Come on back! So today I'm here to see Dr. K to get my vitamin C infusion. And nothing new popping up? Any concerns? No, everything seems to be really good. Okay, very good. During this journey of me opening up my healing center, I was diagnosed with cancer. One day I got this sharp pain on my left side. I didn't know what it was for. Went to the hospital and the doctor says we're going to have a due emergency surgery on you. I was blown away from it. I was like, really not expecting it. I really was not expecting that. And I was like, I have to do chemo? She was like, yeah. And what kept me going was my staff. I have to be there for them because I think about their families. I got up and I'm like, okay, we're going to get through this. We're going to make this happen. Yeah, so today she's getting her nutrient cocktail. And I made a choice and pivoted to more holistic and all natural. And it's been working for me. I feel good. We are in my neighborhood where I grew up. I went to a school called Harper High School. A lot of people, when you say you went to Harper, people are like, you went to Harper? And I'm like, yes. They're like, oh my God, you don't look like you went to Harper. It's really in the hood and it's real. There's a lot of craziness that goes on in Adamsville and at Harper High School. This is my room. The first window right there next to the door. That was my bedroom right there. People see you and they have these stereotypes or these expectations about what's going on in your life. But we never really know what someone's story is. You never really know what their story is. And I want to break that stereotype. The first base was right here. We played kickball on the street. I mean, literally, we was kickballing the ball up here. And then you had to tag this mailbox because this was first base. I'm very passionate about speaking to young black girls and really showing them another way. I'm the first entrepreneur in my family. I bootstrapped my way through. I was in corporate America, but I took my 401k and I just made it work. My family were like, wow, you made it. You graduated from college. You got a degree. Now you're good. You're successful. You made it. And I'm like, no, I haven't. I really have to really pursue what I really am. Today, my business, even Fresh Farms in Spa, is reopening. It's been, what, three months? Wow. I'm excited about opening. When I decided to open up, I had made sure that it was not my decision only and that I had to get my staff involved because I really care about them. One of the things that I love about being a small business owner, an entrepreneur, is that I get to employ a lot of different people. Y'all ready to get into a huddle? I can employ my own children and then I can employ other people in the community. That really warms my heart. I think my first check was about $20. And I was like, I was so happy. I got my first bank account. Yeah, Amy taught me a lot. It's cool that she got the idea for my great grandma. They like to have her, you know, really start my mom's vision. Congratulations on reopening. We're open. We're open. I can see the background. What's going on? Okay, well, I'm going to give you a tour, okay? This is our farm to skin chalkboard. This is our massage oils. That's our brown sugar scrub here. And you have different toppings. You notice we have social distance away because normally somebody is sitting right here. We're doing a waterless pedicure and manicure, which is more sanitized. My clients came in and they were like, we were excited about coming. We knew that you guys were going to be safe. What do you think about the waterless? Great idea. So she thinks it's a great idea. I love it. I love that you're engaging with the customers. And that's the waterless too. I know you got tons of stuff you got to do. Good luck on your opening day. Okay, thank you, Scott. Hope you got some points soon. I don't got dishwashers, like all those fancy people. I was born and raised, so I washed my hands. Hey! Got a cool package from Eewee Fresh. Do I like that the first thing I see is Eewee Fresh branding. So this is a 14 karat glow face cream, which I've heard a ton about. This is charcoal bentonite clay and turmeric. Dang, that's cool. So I squash it out, face cleanser, lots of stuff in my face. What's you trying to say, Yolanda? That smells good. Is that lettuce? Yeah, it is lettuce. Okay, Yolanda! So tell Scott I'm twirling for him. Hey, Yolanda. How are you? Good to see you again. Oh, yes! Hey! I met you in the class. Absolutely, absolutely. I'm excited to work on improving your site. Tell me, what are your goals for your website? Our pivot was to really sell more. So we really wanted our website to be more e-commerce driven so that we can sell more products. And I think our product sales have been behind and they need to be on the front. There's a few ways we can do that without being super aggressive or in their face. We can work with you to find that balance. That'll be great. You know, as I'm in the middle of this right now, you know, with my existing store and with the new store coming up and then with this new wave of COVID, what advice could you, you know, give me as a business owner? So especially during this time when people are looking for wellness, I would say, like, lean into that, you know? Show them that you have something that they care about. I like that. Also, don't lose sight of who you are, you know, because we are not just buying this, you know, product. We're buying into the love and the spirit that you have. The new space is really coming along really good. Come on, come on, give me some dance movement. Y'all on camera, come on. So what's your timeline on all of this? Everything continues to go the way it's going. August 1st will be our soft opening. It's going to be membership day. Very cool. So it's coming up and just around the corner. Yes. Real quick. Like, really around the corner. Being an entrepreneur is so difficult for a lot of different reasons. And that takes immense grit. And that's exactly what Yolanda has been doing for years. Oh, my God! We are seeing her open and expand into new stores even in the midst of a pandemic. Oh, look at this. This really gives me chills to see my vision come to life because this is what I want people to feel when they come in. She has to get the permitting, also the decorating, getting furniture in, hiring people, getting them into the space. There's a lot that needs to get done. That's a pretty tight turnaround. To me, her journey and her story is about what can happen if you continue to persevere. I feel excited to see what happens in this coming month. I'm excited to see the new space. I'm excited to see how her vision comes to life. So in the next episode, Yolanda is going to be opening up her second location and we're going to stay updated with her on that. And the Robinsons are expanding their business right now and they're making some really exciting moves towards retail and new ways to sell their product. I hope you join us.