Sandy Delgadillo (www.nellies.com) was born in Uganda, but in her teenage years, she and her family were forced out the country because of political turmoil. She came to the United States eventually attending Hollywood High School. Sandy started her career in the banking industry, where she met two very important people: Her future husband (David Delgadillo), and the owner of Nellie’s Exercise Equipment. The owner of Nellie’s told Sandy that he wanted to get rid of his business and asked her if she was interested in purchasing it. Initially declining the offer, David coaxed Sandy into taking another look at the business. The store was in poor condition, but generated a fair amount of customers. Sandy and David purchased Nellie’s Exercise Equipment because they saw the opportunities for improvement and expansion. Since purchasing the store, they have opened seven additional locations across Southern California and increased their staff from zero to 20 people. Today, their customers include healthcare and rehabilitation facilities as well as home-use clients. They also donate machines to local groups in need of fitness equipment. Nellie’s grosses $2,000,000 in sales a year. Sandy counts many celebrities as her clients.
Cynthia Tucker’s passion for owning a business comes from a long line of family entrepreneurs. With all of this influence and experience among entrepreneurs in her family, it was only fitting she follow in her family’s footsteps. Ladybug Productions (ladybugevents.com) is a company that specializes in the planning and coordination of social events. The company has a list of vendors it works with to help coordinate the functions. The name “ladybug” has special meaning to Cynthia because it was her nickname as a child. The idea to start a company that focuses on event coordinating came from her years at Walt disney. Since then, her idea has blossomed into a well-established company that is known for its credibility among the entertainment industry as well as the private sector. Today the business is moving along the path Cynthia envisioned for it. With last year’s profits exceeding $50,000 she hopes to take the company along a five-year stretch that will guide it into an office space as well as a full-time assistant working alongside her.
Finding a niche is essential for any business startup. For Dackeyia Q. Simmons www.entertainmentpower.com ) that niche was a business directory for individuals pursuing a career in the Entertainment industry. The immediate idea was a book, but the process to get a book published is full of struggles and endless possibilities. Publishing houses exert great control over the layout, content and vision of a book, and that led her to a risky but rewarding decision: Self-Publishing. But it took her eight years to get her business KEY QUEST PUBLISHING and her book Entertainment Power Players in the market. The struggles were many but her determination was unshakable. Hundreds of rejections letters from advertisers, death within her family and circle of friends, maintaining steady employment, researching material for the book, and creating a business plan obscured her vision, but she never lost sight. Today, her book is found on 80 campuses, 30 libraries and in 10 bookstores nationwide.
"BUILDING AND BANKING (BANK OF AMERICA DEDICATED)"
Episode #499: Roland Wiley
Roland Wiley (www.rawinternational.com) was a top architectural designer at an established firm in Los Angeles. However, he realized there would not be anymore growth opportunities for him in the company. This convinced him to leave the prestigious position to become an entrepreneur. He formed a partnership with Steven Lott and created an architectural company called RAW INTERNATIONAL, INC. in 1984. And later, a third partner also joined the firm. Roland was filled with passion for the business but needed more capital in order to succeed. He secured a $250,000 loan from Bank of America, which significantly strengthened the company’s financial position and enabled it to grow. Over the next decade, Raw International would design for clients such as Dreamworks Studios and Compton Community College. However, one of his partners, Steve Lewis, left the company to pursue a government career in 2004. To aggravate the situation, Raw International lost 50% of its business in the same year when its biggest client, Los Angeles International Airport, did not renew their contract. Nonetheless, Roland is committed to overcoming these obstacles. He is currently working with Bank of America to help Raw International rebound financially.
Karl Kani got his start in the Brooklyn projects, peddling logo-emblazoned tees and baggy linen suits sewn by his father’s tailor. In 1999, he developed a business plan with his accountants to start his own urban sportswear company, Karl Kani, which currently has revenues of $65 million worldwide. He left the urban market to start a contemporary denim line, LIVE LIFE LOVE DENIM. He connected with Fame Church in Los Angeles, which has an investment fund to help local businesses. With the church’s help, he raised enough money to develop the contemporary denim line. He embraces the challenge of following trends and takes care to not saturate the market so that his jeans are always in demand. His jeans are made from Japanese denim and are produced entirely in California so that he can control the product quality. His celebrity clientele includes Mischa Barton, Jessica Simpson, and Ashlee Simpson. He hopes to triple his revenues as he distributes his denim line to major department stores.
