Brandy is a third-generation entrepreneur, determined to carry on the legacies of her hardworking mother and grandmother. Alongside her three sisters, entrepreneurs in their own right, Brandy feels that business ownership is in her DNA and takes the valuable lessons she has learned throughout her childhood to work every day.
“We are a very unconventional family. We are absolutely dreamers, but when we wake up from that dream, we move. What I learned growing up was if you believe in something within yourself, it sounds cliché, but you can achieve anything.”
For over four years, Brandy has owned a cleaning business which services residential and commercial spaces. She takes immense pride in using natural, high-quality products that she would trust in her own home to get a safe, deep clean.
“The loans I receive from Grameen America have allowed me to use the products that I believe in. My inventory of environmentally friendly products keeps my clients’ homes polished without ever compromising anyone’s health.”
Because of this immense time and attention she pays to her customers’ spaces, Brandy has built real bonds with some of the families that have been using her service for many years.
“The connection with my clients is absolutely one of the things I enjoy most about my businesses. Especially throughout the pandemic, I loved watching the expression on their faces and the relief and the laughter that followed when they came downstairs to a clean house. Because of my help, cleaning was one less thing to be worried or stressed about.”
As a busy mom herself, Brandy can intimately relate to the customers who use her service to accommodate hectic schedules and free up time for more pressing demands outside the home. In fact, this search for a more balanced lifestyle is what drove Brandy to entrepreneurship in the first place.
“My daughter actually has respiratory issues, and her health conditions have meant that a typical 9 to 5 job wouldn’t work for me and my family. I needed something that allowed me to have a flexible schedule so that I could be there for my daughter.”
What started as a side business to fund medical bills and accommodate her need for a flexible schedule has since become Brandy’s full time job. She is now wholly dedicated to growing her business by expanding her customer base and service offerings, a commitment Brandy credits to joining Grameen America just over one year ago.
“Grameen America has been a game changer. It's been the missing piece because as an entrepreneur, you can find yourself a little lonely or unsure of what to do next…Grameen has been an important stepping stone on my entrepreneurial journey. It puts a fire under me, and it keeps me moving.”
Brandy has enjoyed her experience in the program so much that she recently introduced her mother, Alesia, to her group. Since becoming a member herself, Alesia has been able to successfully grow her event planning business which she has owned and operated for the past seven years.
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