By Fletcher Word
The Truth Editor
TaShara Brown’s Confidence in a Cup held its fourth annual Business Brunch Vision Board Social Event on Saturday, March 9, at The Bay, a gathering spot at The Docks.
“Year four is about celebrating all of the entrepreneurs, their work is so very hard,” said TaShara B (Elysian Adore). “Our goal is to pour it back into them and celebrate their hard work. [We want to] see what we can do better and help make them more innovative and get the feedback we need to continue the workshops throughout the year.”
Saturday’s event began with a cocktail hour/meet and greet featuring music by DJ Stanley Knox, cocktails fashioned by Tierra “Tee” Mason, headshots taken by photographer Ambershaun Byrd and red-carpet interviews conducted by BCAN’s Toi Creel.
Marisha Raymond, a veteran of the modeling industry, was the event’s welcoming coordinator and, appropriately enough, offered a prayer and organized a mini-fashion show featuring a number of the well-dressed attendees.
Chef Michael Gaston, an Ohio native, is a private traveling chef, bringing his talents to numerous sites around the country. On Saturday, his talents were on full display as he presented guests with an hors d’oeuvres table that was as breathtaking to view as it was delicious to sample.
However, the chef did not stop there with his gastronomic delights. He and his sous chef manned a pasta station and guests were able to select choices of pasta with a variety of toppings and sauces.
After dining, guests were treated to insights by the evenings speakers who offered thoughts and advice on a variety of proven business practices and opportunities: Paul Pellioni, Score of NOW mentor; Mohamad Awad, president, Innomark Group, LLC; Olivia Holden, executive director, ASSAETS Toledo and Ebony Carter, VP of Minority Business Services, director of Minority Business Assistance Center.
The evening’s keynote speaker was Kathryn Tucker, senior vice president, regional manager of PNC. Tucker spoke of the steps she had taken so far in her career to achieve business success.
The highlight of the evening was the naming of the 2024 Who’s Who of Toledo Award. This year’s nominees were Rayford Tramain, founder/CEO of The Program, Inc, a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide fatherless boys to develop their social and life skills leading to deal effectively with the demands of everyday life; up and coming fashion mogul Darryl Brown, founder and creative director of Midwest Kids, Inc and Darryl Brown, LLC; Christina Rodriguez, executive director of Moms House.
This year’s winner was Rodriguez, who has spearheaded fundraising drives during her 16 years at the helm of Moms House to greatly enhance its services to young mothers and their children.
The evening concluded with a Vision Board/Network Social Hour.
