Founders & Builders
When Hakika Wise launched Kika Stretch Studios, she wasn’t just opening a business. She was creating a wellness movement built around freedom — freedom from tension, stress, and the physical wear-and-tear that weighs so many people down. Building a Stretch Revolution Kika Stretch Studios began as a single studio with a simple mission: help people feel better in their own bodies. As demand grew, Hakika realized something important — she couldn’t scale alone. “I knew that I couldn’t expand with the speed I wanted to on my own,” she explains. “Franchising allowed others to join me — and make a living doing something meaningful.” Franchising opened the door for entrepreneurs to step into a business model designed to be fulfilling, flexible, and community-centered. Turning Pain Into Purpose One of the defining moments in Hakika’s journey came when disaster struck: her first studio caught fire. Instead of closing, she moved operations into the basement of a church — and kept going. For nine months, her team showed up, served clients, and grew. The lesson? “I realized it wasn’t about me anymore. It was about showing up for the community that depended on us.” Persistence became part of the brand culture — and the studio came back stronger. Vision for Growth Today, Kika Stretch Studios continues to grow as a leader in assisted stretching — with a clear goal to scale significantly over the next several years, while staying grounded in quality care and client experience. Wisdom for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Hakika’s advice is simple, but powerful: Trust your potential. Tune out the naysayers. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. Never quit on your vision. “Surround yourself with people who believe in you — and never give up.” — Hakika Wise Creating Space for Black-Owned Franchises Hakika is passionate about seeing more Black entrepreneurs enter the franchise world — not just as operators, but as system owners and leaders. Education, she says, is key. Through her Instagram platform, @the_school_of_franchising, she teaches lessons, shares insights, and helps aspiring franchise owners believe in what’s possible. Says Hakika, “If I could build this, others can too.” And that’s the true heart of the Kika Stretch story — not just stretching bodies, but stretching possibility. Photo: Medium - Authority Magazine
Senior U.S. Judge Thomas Thrash has ruled that the Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm based in Atlanta, can continue its grant program exclusively tailored for Black women entrepreneurs. The judge said the lawsuit challenging the practice, which argued it unlawfully excluded individuals of other races, was unlikely to succeed. The Fearless Fund, while a relatively small player in the global venture capital market, has come to symbolize the broader debate surrounding corporate diversity policies. However, the lawsuit against the organization may set a precedent as discussions on race considerations evolve within the workplace, particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in June ending affirmative action in college admissions. Sign up for our Daily eBlast to get coverage on Black communities from the media company who has been doing it right for over 133 years. Edward Blum, an anti-affirmative action activist well-known for his involvement in the Supreme Court’s June college admissions cases, is the head of the nonprofit American Alliance for Equal Rights, which requested the preliminary injunction. Blum has expressed plans to appeal the decision, claiming that civil rights laws prohibit racial distinctions based on overrepresentation or underrepresentation. The Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards $20,000 to Black women entrepreneurs, remains at the center of the lawsuit. Blum argues that this contest violates a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which prohibits racial discrimination in contracts. He claims that members outside the specified racial category are excluded. Judge Thrash contended that the grants constituted “charitable donations” aimed, in part, at acknowledging the discrimination faced by Black women business owners. He asserted that such donations are protected as “expressive conduct” under the First Amendment. The judge criticized the alliance’s attempt to alter the fund’s intended message. Gilbert Dickey, an attorney for the alliance, pointed out that the grant program does not extend to other racial minorities, including Hispanics. He argued that privileging one race over others violates First Amendment protection. The Fearless Fund maintains that its objective is to remove the obstacles that keep companies run by women of color from getting venture capital funding. “We will continue to run the nation’s first venture capital fund that is built by women of color for women of color,” declared Fearless Fund CEO and co-founder Arian Simone. “We realize there is still a long road ahead, but today we remain fearless and steadfast in creating pathways that empower women of color entrepreneurs.” Data from the nonprofit advocacy group Digital Undivided shows that less than 1 percent of venture capital funding goes to businesses owned by Black and Hispanic women. Founded in 2019, the Fearless Fund conducts the grant contest quarterly, with eligibility criteria stipulating that a business must be at least 51 percent owned by a Black woman, among other requirements. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher law firm have supported the Fearless Fund in fighting Blum’s lawsuit. Prominent figures, including civil rights advocate Ben Crump, have rallied to defend the Fearless Fund against allegations of discrimination. The Fearless Fund has invested over $26.5 million in businesses run by women of color with the support of industry titans like JPMorgan Chase and Mastercard. They have also awarded grants exceeding $3 million to Black women-owned businesses. Jason Schwartz, a partner at Gibson Dunn, stressed the importance of offering grants to Black women small business owners to achieve economic freedom. Alphonso David, another of the Fearless Fund’s lawyers, president, and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, condemned Blum’s claims as baseless attempts to subvert existing law. He affirmed their commitment to defend the Fearless Fund and its crucial work vigorously. “Today, the playing field is not level – that is beyond dispute,” David asserted in an earlier statement. “Those targeting Fearless Fund want to propagate a system that privileges some and shuts out most. They want to pretend that inequities do not exist. They want us to deny our history.” This article was originally published by NNPA Newswire.
Dr. Rachel Laryea grew up as the daughter of a Ghanaian immigrant single mother — shaped by resilience, education, and deep curiosity about how people survive, thrive, and build. Her path took her from Goldman Sachs into the heart of global finance, and then into academia at Yale University, where she earned a dual PhD in African American Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology. She walked into Wall Street as both insider and outsider. And that tension — belonging and questioning at the same time — became the catalyst for her new book, Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What Is Possible. Laryea describes her early corporate experience as a kind of “culture shock.” Goldman Sachs exposed her to wealth, privilege, speed, and power — but also to contradictions. The environment raised more questions than answers and set her on a path of asking: How do Black people navigate an economic system that has often profited from our labor — while rarely inviting us to benefit fully from it? That curiosity didn’t push her away from capitalism. Instead, it pushed her deeper into understanding how it works — and how it could work differently. Challenging the Story: Are Black People Only Labor — Never Beneficiaries? Much of academic conversation about capitalism and race assumes one truth: that Black participation inevitably leads to exploitation. There is history to support that view — slavery, discriminatory banking systems, and a racial wealth gap that remains wide. But Laryea noticed something striking during her time on Wall Street: Black people — and people of color — were not only surviving inside the “belly of the beast.” They were navigating, negotiating, growing, and sometimes redirecting resources back into their communities. Their relationship with capitalism wasn’t simple. It was: complicated strategic layered sometimes contradictory That realization reframed her work. Instead of asking whether Black people “belong” in capitalism, she began asking: What happens when Black people learn to reposition themselves inside the system — intentionally, ethically, and purposefully — to create social good?
