Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

Dr. Diarese George | Chief Executive Officer

I have experienced racial isolation in education my entire life. I was identified as gifted and talented early in my K-12 experience, so I spent most of my childhood in classes where I was the only Black Boy. Fast forward, as an adult and former teacher, I taught as the only Black man in the school building for nearly six years. Read more>>

Shadale Smith | Artist/Visionary

Lanae Bloom was developed from my personal experience, overcoming depression through activities like reading, writing, and painting. I wrote scripture affirmations on sticky notes and scattered them around my house. One day, I felt inspired to create color pages, which eventually became a coloring book.  Read more>>

Chinelle Gwartney | Cofounder & Lead Investigator

The idea to start Elite Vixen Paranormal was envisioned from the founders’ tenure investigating with a male and female team. During this time, Sam and Chinelle realized there was a lack of equality among the team members, and even though both ladies were considered “admin” on the team, they were not being treated as such. Read more>>

Tracy Wyant | Vice President

Lisa Hill, founder of Senior Dog Lodge and Animal Rescue and I crossed paths and together we co-founded MoCo Mutts Rescue Center for Morgan County. There is NO County Shelter and we saw a much needed service for the amount of stray and abandoned animals in our community. Read more>>