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Grammy-award winning Cherry Martinez offers free commercials to minority-owned businesses

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Grammy-award winning publisher and radio mogul, Cherry Martinez offers free commercials to minority-owned businesses in light of global coronavirus pandemic. The New York-based Afro-Latina founder of FMHipHop will provide air-time for businesses in need of advertising as a result of the effects of COVID-19

Legendary New York radio DJ and media personality, Cherry Martinez announced today that she will provide free radio commercials for minority-owned businesses negatively affected by the novel coronavirus.

Cherry Martinez is a hip hop radio veteran, New York DJ, media personality, and philanthropist. She is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. Martinez started her career at WILD 1090 AM giving entertainment reports (thanks to the highly talented Stephen Hill) and for many years, hosted “Sexy in the City,” Power 105.1’s #1 rated evening show.

The advertisements will be featured on her 24/7 radio show, FMHipHop.com, the growing destination for hip-hop, trap and R&B news, culture and music. The spots will also be syndicated on the show’s other streaming sites, TuneIn and Aha Radio, completely charge-free.

This philanthropy initiative comes at a crucial time for minority-owned businesses.  As a result of the virus, they have been hit hard. In two recent surveys, only 12% of Black and Hispanic business owners reported that they received funding they had requested. Also, 45% of minority business owners reported that they expect to permanently shut down in the next six months.

“We know that many budding entrepreneurs and small businesses would benefit from any type of free promotion during this pandemic-induced economic shutdown,” explains Martinez. “This is my community and I want to help as much as I can.”

HOW TO GET YOUR FREE SMALL BUSINESS COMMERCIALS
  1. Follow us on Instagram @FMHipHop!
  2. Repost our commercial to your Instagram page
  3. Tag 5 minority businesses under your post
  4. Email your 30 sec MP3 commercial to FMHipHopRadio@gmail.com! Be sure to include your Instagram username!
HOW TO RECORD YOUR MP3 COMMERCIAL:
  1. Download the Voice Record Pro app from the App Store on iTunes, or the Voice Recorder app from Google Play for Android.
  2. Save audio file then send by email!
free commercials to minority-owned businesses

Cherry Martinez, founder of FMHipHop (Photo Courtesy Cherry Martinez)

FMHipHop will air up to 50 free small business commercials repeatedly on their 24/7 radio show throughout the summer. For more details, head to FMHipHop.com.

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FMHipHop is a digital radio station rapidly becoming the #1 digital destination for what’s happening in the world of hip hop, trap and rnb. What sets FMHipHop apart is our lean toward edgy, modern hip-hop compared to traditional stations. Their growing audience will be introduced to new songs they haven’t heard before as well as popular hits they know and love already. FMHipHop has something for everyone: commercial-free mix shows, talk shows, celebrity interviews, and the latest gossip, news, and trends in the music industry.

Today, Cherry’s businesses include CherryOnTop.com, a marketing platform, Code Media and FMHipHop.com. Cherry’s Code Media published Grammy winning song “Focus” by H.E.R. and helped Fetty Wap by contributing to the radio version of seven time Grammy nominated “Trap Queen” which has sold 10 million copies units and is certified Diamond.

women of color lack of access to capital

AMEX reports record of women of color starting new businesses

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Women of color have started businesses at an unmatched rate since 2007, an American Express Report concluded. While the number of women-owned businesses grew 58% from 2007 to 2018, firms owned by women of color grew at nearly three times that rate (163%). As of 2018, women of color account for 47% of all women-owned businesses. An estimated 5,824,300 women-of-color-owned businesses employ 2,230,600 people and generate $386.6 billion in revenues.

women of color lack of access to capital

The number of firms owned by minority women has grown 163% since 2007

More specifically, numbers for Latinas and African Americans grew faster than the average rate for businesses owned by women of color: 172% and 164% respectively, equaling 2.1 million Latina-owned and 2.4 million African American women-owned businesses in 2018.

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Asian American and Native American/Alaskan women-owned businesses grew slower than for women of color in general but faster than overall women-owned businesses. There are 36,800 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander owned firms, representing 146% growth since 2007. Asian American women-owned firms grew 105% corresponding to 1 million firms and Native American/Alaskan women-owned firms grew 76% to 169,500 businesses.

The report estimates that if revenues generated by minority women-owned firms matched those currently generated by all women-owned businesses, they would add four million new jobs and $1.2 trillion in revenues to the U.S. economy.

 

 

Geographic trends for U.S. women-owned businesseshttps://youtu.be/F3BO8V0gxwk

Women started an average of 1,821 new businesses per day in the U.S. between 2017 and 2018, according to analysis in the 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express (NYSE:AXP). This level of new business formation by women is greater than the daily average during the pre-recession period from 2002 to 2007 (714), the recession and recovery period between 2007 and 2012 (1,143), and the post-recession period between 2012 and 2017 (952).

New this year, the report explores data back to 1972 – the first time the U.S. Census Bureau provided data on minority-owned and women-owned businesses. The analysis shows that over 48 years the number of women-owned businesses increased a dramatic 31 times from 402,000 to 12.3 million in 2018. During that time, employment for these firms grew 40-fold from 230,000 to 9.2 million, and revenues rose from $8.1 billion to $1.8 trillion– 217 times greater.

women of color Rosario Gamboa

Rosario Gamboa, Canela Bakery

“This new data demonstrates not only the remarkable impact women entrepreneurs have on our economy when it comes to creating jobs and generating revenue, but also the growing role of women-owned businesses in our communities,” said Julie Tomich, SVP, American Express Global Commercial Services. “Over the past 11 years, we’ve seen women’s entrepreneurship and economic impact increase – especially among the growing number of women-owned companies that generate more than $1 million in revenue.”

Notably in 2018, women-owned businesses that generated revenues of more than $1 million increased 46% over the past 11 years vs. 12% of all U.S. businesses. While these high-earning firms make up only 1.7% of all women-owned businesses, they now account for 68% of total employment and 69% of revenue among all women-owned businesses.

Over the past 11 years, the ratio of women-owned businesses to total businesses in the U.S. increased much faster than their employment and revenue growth. While the share of women-owned businesses leapt from 29% in 2007 to 40% in 2018, the proportion of total employment and revenues for all businesses grew by only a few percentage points. Over this period, the total proportion of employment increased from 6% to 8% and total revenues increased from 4.0% to 4.3%.

Geographic trends for U.S. women-owned businesses

women of color Keyla Sanders

Keyla Sanders, Photography

The report analyzes geographic trends for all 50 states (including District of Columbia), as well as the 50 most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S.

The states with the fastest growth rate in terms of the number of women-owned firms between 2007 and 2018 are:

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Michigan
4. Tennessee (tie)
4. South Carolina (tie)

This report examined economic clout, a measure that includes the growth in the number of women-owned firms, employment and revenues. The states where women-owned businesses most increased their economic clout between 2007 and 2018 are:

1. South Dakota
2. Texas (tie)
2. Utah (tie)
4. Delaware
5. North Dakota (tie)
5. Tennessee (tie)

Aracelli Fullem

Aracelli Fullem, International Protocol Consultant

The top metropolitan areas where women-owned businesses increased their economic clout from 2007 to 2018 are:

1. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area, NC/SC
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Austin, TX
4. Indianapolis, IN
5. Miami, FL

The states showing the highest employment vitality – a measure of employment growth rate from 2007 to 2018 at women-owned firms and their average number of employees are:

1. Minnesota
2. Maine (tie)
2. North Dakota (tie)
4. Iowa
5. Delaware (tie)
5. Virginia (tie)

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A look at U.S. women business owners of different ages

New this year, the report examined generational trends among women business owners. Nearly half of women business owners are between the ages of 45 and 65 (48%) and two thirds (67%) are 45 or older. The next largest age group, 25-44 years old, account for 31% of women business owners.

Cecilia Arce, Verde Cleaning Services small business week

Cecilia Arce, Verde Cleaning Services

Distinctive trends emerge when racial and ethnic groups are analyzed by generations:

  • African American women business owners tend to be younger: four out of ten (39%) were millennials or younger generations (under 35).
  • Gen Xers (ages 35 to 54) represented the highest concentration of Latina business owners (53%) and Asian American women-business owners (54%).
  • Native American/Alaska Native business owners were more likely to be older, between the ages of 45 and 64 (47%).
  • Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander women business owners were more evenly divided between age categories ranging from 25 to 54 (70%).

Explore the 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, here.

pneumonia children with asthma

Latina entrepreneur combats infants’ pneumonia deaths with biotech

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Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs and is the number one infectious cause of death among children under five years of age. Through Nopneu, Temiloluwa Adeniyi is developing a revolutionary tool that works like a pregnancy test to diagnose pneumonia in a simple and quick way. 

pneumonia children with asthma

One million kids die each year from pneumonia according to UNICEF

Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs and is the number one infectious cause of death among children under five years of age. More children die from pneumonia each year than measles, malaria, and AIDs combined. That’s close to 1 million children annually.

According to UNICEF, death caused by childhood pneumonia is usually linked to poverty-related factors such as: “undernutrition, lack of safe water and sanitation, indoor air pollution and inadequate access to health care.” The American Thoracic Society says, “Pneumonia does not have effective advocacy…. It does not get the attention it needs from biomedical scientists or from research funders. More effort is needed now.”

Attempting to tackle this issue is biomedical engineer, Temiloluwa Adeniyi, with her biotech startup, Nopneu. Through Nopneu, Adeniyi is developing a revolutionary tool that works like a pregnancy test to diagnose pneumonia in a simple and quick way using color coded results obtained from saliva swabs.

This process cuts back on the time lost through the current standard diagnosis method which is a chest x-ray– time which is often critical in whether a child lives or dies. In many countries and communities where childhood pneumonia deaths are so prevalent, access to equipment such as chest x-rays and specialized staff members who can operate these machines are often scarce.

A passion to help since childhood

pneumonia

Nopneu LLC founder Temiloluwa Adeniyi (courtesy Nopneu)

This Dominican/Nigerian engineering scholar formally began her startup in 2016, but she’s had a passion for science and humanitarian causes since childhood. She reflects on the formative experiences that helped her developed these passions.

She remembers watching shows such as The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye the Science Guy, which nurtured her interest in science. Commercials for organizations such as Save the Children and The Red Cross also impacted her as a child. “I would watch the commercials time after time and wonder how I could help the people those organizations served,” Adeniyi explains.

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Her mother was also a crucial influence, always volunteering and helping out within her community. She also encouraged Temiloluwa’s passion for S.T.E.M. by enrolling her in science enrichment programs and driving her to science museums for weekend excursions.

“All these childhood experiences have made me really passionate about driving social change with engineering.”

When pneumonia became a real challenge

pneumonia

Nopneu LLC founder Temiloluwa Adeniyi recently received a (courtesy Nopneu)

Temiloluwa took these passions and went on to study Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati where she began working on what would eventually become Nopneu.  

Her early project was an algorithm for a class that could determine when an infant was susceptible to pneumonia and the onset of the disease. After the project was completed Temiloluwa could not forget the 1 million children who continued to die yearly from the disease. “This fact was unacceptable to me,” she said.    

She cites her spirituality as an important factor in starting her business. “I felt God urge me to keep working on this project, and finally I accepted the challenge.” She formally began Nopneu in October of 2016. From there she began her journey as an entrepreneur, navigating the various challenges of entrepreneurship.  

The challenges of entrepreneurship and pneumonia

“One of the biggest challenges for me has been doing things for which there are no models….There aren’t many people of color in S.T.E.M and there are even fewer who are leading change in biotech…especially Afro-Latinas.”

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Finding supportive groups such as the National Society of Black Engineers and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Student Entrepreneurship Program have helped her access great opportunities and meet other like-minded individuals.

Another challenge has been raising money for her startup. “Many entrepreneurial resources…suggest first raising money from friends and family.” This may be an easy strategy for upper class entrepreneurs, but for those who come from working-class backgrounds like Temiloluwa, it is not so feasible. Instead, she has applied for grants and pitch competitions along with also setting up a GoFundMe page.

pneumonia

 

Her Latina background has been her strength in navigating these challenges. “When you come from a working-class background, like me, you learn how to make amazing things from a small amount of money.” She has implemented innovative strategies to work with her limited funds and make big changes. “It’s no different than what I …and what so many other Latinas see their Moms do. With a few simple ingredients and a small budget you could have a fabulous meal. I’m doing the same now, only with biotech.” Without her Latinas background, Temiloluwa believes she wouldn’t have the same strengths and approaches to problem solving and innovation.

Because of this, she urges other Latinas to utilize their strengths in their own endeavours.

“What the world perceives as our disadvantages can be our superpowers if we decide to see them that way, and leverage them to our full ability.”

 

Please help this Latina entrepreneur fulfill her dream visiting her GoFundMe page.