Leading the Way

Multicultural Entrepreneurs You Should Know

Bol B. Maywal/

Bol’s Books

By Ryan Kouame

BOL B. MAYWAL is a scholar, leader, author, former United States Army officer and the founder of Bol's Books. Maywal was born in Khartoum, Sudan during the second Sudanese civil war and grew up in the U.S. where he currently lives in Charlotte.

Maywal recently published his first book, “A Mother’s Promise,” to offer love, hope, tenacity and a fresh perspective on the American dream. The book is based in an idyllic village in southern Sudan where his mother fled from during the second Sudanese civil war to the United States where she found refuge. Maywal paints a vivid picture of his mother whose faith, hope, and love overcame every hardship and adversity that she encountered.

Maywal established Bol's Books LLC last August, and people can purchase his books from his online bookstore, Bol's Books LLC (www.BolMaywal.com). Buyers will receive authentic autographs from Maywal and his mother.

Maywal served 12 years in the United States Army as a deputy commander and NATO Peacekeeper in Kosovo working with disadvantaged families and community leaders to help build partnerships and alliances between the locals and NATO. As a leader, Maywal has spoken at numerous schools, rotary events, and other events to inspire people and provide an environment of peace, security, freedom and growth for generations to come.

Maywal earned his bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in military science from Belmont Abbey College and his master’s degree in peace, conflict and development at the University of Bradford in England. He also holds a certificate in economics and peace from the United States Institute of Peace.

Kevin Gatlin/

Playtime Edventures

Photo courtesy of Playtime Edventures By John Burton

KEVIN GATLIN, 49, sits at the helm of Playtime Edventures, a Charlottebased company seeking to lift the spirits of sick children everywhere one bed at a time. Playtime Edventures creates children’s bedsheets and slumber bags imprinted with interactive and educational games. The idea began in 2012, after Gatlin visited a friend’s son in the hospital who spent many hours in bed. “What if that was my child?” Gatlin asked himself as he drove home. After researching and consulting with local educators, Gatlin launched Playtime Edventures in 2014. The interactive bed sheets come in three colors, five different languages, and have more than 60 games for kids to explore, play, learn or sleep with while they heal.

The North Carolina State University alum’s product has resonated with the masses. Playtime Edventures has been featured on HSN, QVC, CNN and Good Morning America’s “Deals and Steals” segment when they filmed in Charlotte. During GMA, Gatlin received a $10,000 check on behalf of Vistaprint to fulfill his mission of putting Playtime bedsheets in children’s hospitals and other organizations across the country. Playtime Edventures has amassed more thanr 30 million views with stories making them a viral sensation.

Still, Gatlin’s solitary goal is to get bedsheets for children in hospitals. “I want to reach all children but especially those who are ill or even displaced,” he said. After an initial donation of 64-bed sets to the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope shelter in Charlotte, Playtime Edventures has expanded to 25 hospitals, four children’s shelters, hospices and orphanages in and out of the U.S.

Nesha Pai/

Pai CPA

By Lelita Cannon

NESHA PAI launched Pai CPA, an accounting firm serving the small business sector, in 2011 when she was 40. Her clients include independent entrepreneurs to companies with up to 50 employees. She set out to create a team hiring stay-at-home moms with a model built on remote work, and her company is thriving! Over 40 businesses rely on her practice for their accounting needs.

Pai, who is a certified public accountant and earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting, was recently honored as one of the most influential women of 2020 in the Mecklenburg Times. Two of her mentors nominated Pai for the award, and she was selected based on her professional accomplishments, as well as her performance as an effective leader. “In these 10 years, I’ve accomplished a lot, and I deserve this award,” she said. “It was the right time to be awarded to me because I realized I earned this.”

Her vision for the future includes selling her firm in 10 years, ramping up her speaking engagements, touring with her book and spending time on the beach.

Pai believes that women can continually reinvent themselves, and she has done just that. Her book “Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles,” is based on her personal journey of being a firstgeneration Indian woman born in the South. The book is available on Amazon.com or her website neshapai.com.

Photo courtesy of Rae Images and Ebony Stubbs Fabi Preslar/

SPARK Publications

By John Burton

ACCORDING TO THE Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (2016), there are approximately 1.1 million womenowned businesses with employees in the United States. Fabi Preslar, owner and president of SPARK Publications is among those enterprising entrepreneurs.

Founded in 1998, SPARK Publications is an award-winning, independent publishing firm that specializes in custom design for magazines, catalogs and books for print, digital and interactive formats. After moving to Charlotte when she was 17, with no car, money or acquaintances, Preslar was rich with determination. She enrolled and successfully completed CPCC’s graphic design program while working three jobs and living in a boarding house with 60 other female students. Armed with resilience and independence, Preslar launched her first business. The entrepreneurial spirit ran in her family as her parents were once business owners. Unfortunately, their business failed, but their misfortune propelled Preslar to succeed. Regrettably, Preslar lost that business after six years.

While recalibrating working for others, Preslar realized she yearned for more family time with her husband Larry, and their daughter Sofi. These longings coupled with her life lessons fueled Preslar to take the entrepreneurial leap once more and that’s when she launched SPARK Publications. Through SPARK, Preslar and her creative team, also known as The SPARKlers, have helped many clients bring their concepts to life. “I love the strategy session part of our process,” Preslar said. “It’s the part that taps into a future author’s soul and brings their goal and purpose to the forefront of everything moving forward,” she added. Now, 23 years and several accolades later, Preslar has proven that perseverance pays off.

Keisha Rivers/

The KARS Group

By Lelita Cannon

THE FIRST ENTREPRENEUR in her family, Keisha Rivers started The Kars Group in 2005 in New Orleans. As a Hurricane Katrina survivor, Rivers had to rebuild her business after being lifted from an attic amidst insurgent flood waters during the horrific hurricane.

Moving from New Orleans to Georgia to Charlotte, Rivers, who has been living in Charlotte for seven years, was determined to make her business viable. “My life had been a masterclass in change,” she said. “I’ve always managed to take stock of where I am, look at the opportunities that are in front of me, figure out what my vision of success was going to be and then move forward in making my way.”

Rivers earned a Women in Entrepreneurship Certificate from Cornell University, a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of New Orleans.

For the past 15 years, Rivers has worked with small businesses, nonprofits, school systems, cities and municipalities doing transformative work. “My focus is on change and equipping people to embrace and manage change,” she said. Rivers works with organizations in three primary areas—engagement, learning and leadership. These days, Rivers has taken on more diversity and inclusion work stemming from the murder of George Floyd.

Rivers is optimistic about the future of The KARS Group. She visualizes her brainchild as a global company working to create opportunities for individuals to tap into the hidden potential that exists in their businesses and personal lives.

Her book, “Equipped for Change,” is available at karsgroup.com/bookstore.

Camillya Masunda/

Ebony Wine & Spirits

By John Burton

Photo by La’Nayah Miller

NORTH CAROLINA IS HOME to more than 500 vineyards and nearly 200 wineries. Black consumers make up about 11 percent of wine drinkers in the country. Still, fewer than 50 out of 10,000 wineries are Blackowned, making Black winegrowers and winemakers a minority in the industry, according to the Association of African American Vintners. In recent years, the industry has been evolving, thanks to Black women like Camillya Masunda.

In September of 2020, Masunda, 33, launched Ebony Wine & Spirits. Ebony has the distinction of being the only Black-owned wine and spirits company in Charlotte. Developing a palate for wines while attending Johnson C. Smith University, Masunda decided to turn her penchant for wine into a true business. “Whenever I would walk down the aisles in stores and look at the wine labels, I rarely saw Blackowned companies,” Masunda said. After doing lots of research, the firstgeneration entrepreneur of Congolese ancestry aimed to produce an exceptional label that would resonate with Blacks across the Africana diaspora globally.

Ebony currently offers four distinctive varieties — Moscato, Red Fusion, Riesling, and Sparkling Brut Rosè. The selections are available in various shops and restaurants in Charlotte, across the southeast and online. Launch dates in New York and Texas are forthcoming. Masunda sees Ebony as a true family affair. The single mother and her daughter, La’Nayah, who serves as Ebony’s creative director, have jointly been building the unique brand.

Ebony is tailored for all, the true connoisseur and the novice, because Ebony is all about the attitude, Masunda said. “We’re the culture wine. We wine different.”

Carolina Aponte/

Caja Holdings

By Lelita Cannon

A NATIVE OF VENEZUELA, Carolina Aponte, emigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was 13. But when her dad, a business owner, went bankrupt and lost the family’s primary source of income due to an economic crisis in Venezuela, they were forced to return.

When Aponte returned to the U.S. at 20, she worked as a bookkeeper and then at a software company. She enrolled in an undergraduate degree program to pursue her interest in accounting and eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Nova Southeastern University.

Ten years ago, Aponte founded Caja Holdings, a fullservice accounting firm providing outsourced bookkeeping, fractional CFO services and comprehensive financial and growth strategies in Indian Trail, NC. She serves a diverse range of clients, including law firms, independent health practitioners, consultants and manufacturing companies.

Her many accolades include being named one of 50 Most Influential Women in the Charlotte region by the Mecklenburg Times. She is also the 2020-2021 President of the Charlotte National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO Charlotte) and a NAWBO 2019-2020 Woman Business Owner of the year finalist.

Aponte wants to continue utilizing her platform “to help other minority women see the reflection of the things that are possible and that we don’t have to let other people determine our future,” she said. “We get to determine that.”

She’s currently developing a workshop on mindset growth and cultivating success. Her book, “Pave Your Own Way: 13 Skills to Create Your Professional Success,” is available on Amazon.com.

Ranjit Deora/

Charlotte Meditation

By Ryan Kouame

GURU RANJIT DEORA is a meditation master teacher, yoga instructor, corporate wellness expert, life coach and the founder of Charlotte Meditation. He founded Charlotte Meditation in 2004 to help individuals and organizations in the Charlotte area increase focus, reduce stress, and relax the mind through meditation. Guru Ranjit is a native of India and has been teaching mindfulness meditation for over 25 years, helping over 6,000 students and teachers experience emotional freedom, physical healing and increased spiritual consciousness.

Meditation is a simple, natural technique that settles your body into a state of profound rest and relaxation. Meditation is a philosophy that began in India over 5,000 years ago to provide a space and framework for spiritual growth and mastery over the physical and mental body. Researchers worldwide have discovered that meditating daily can have powerful effects on your holistic health such as: • Reducing stress, anxiety, anger, depression, and blood pressure • Increasing emotional health, selfawareness, and focus • Improving sleep, memory, creativity, and mindfulness

Guru Ranjit and his partners at Charlotte Meditation teach classes in his studio and throughout the community with organizations across all industries as well. Whether you are a beginner in meditation, seeking mental health help or just looking to take your spirituality to a new level –– they help find what suits your individual nature, personality, body type, and daily lifestyle.

Charlotte Meditation established Youth Meditation, a non-profit outreach program committed to improving the quality of life of children, teens, and teachers through whole mind, body, and wellness education and meditation.

“It is our belief and goal in life to share that peace is within –– seek not elsewhere,” said Guru Ranjit.

Renate A. Moore/

Lady Ren’s Bakery & Books

By Ryan Kouame

RENATE A. MOORE is a wife, mother, author, gourmet baker, chef, human and animal rights activist and the founder of Lady Ren’s Bakery & Books. Lady Ren’s Bakery and Books is dedicated to enhancing people’s lives with harmonious foods and education for a healthy, literate and productive future.

While facing the challenges of relocating from New York to North Carolina, Moore decided to create a business combining a gourmet bakery after many requests for her recipes and a bookstore in response to listening to parents express concern about poor reading skills.

Moore’s pastries, cakes, and cookies are made fresh from scratch with wholesome, natural, and organic ingredients containing no genetic modified organisms (GMO). Her recipes are a guide to living a healthy and robust life using pure and simple ingredients.

Moore, who earned a degree in writing for children and teenagers from the Institute of Children’s Literature, wrote her first cookbook “JUST EAT: Pure and Simple Cooking,” filled with recipes from her culinary journey around the world, drawing from her own rich South American heritage. Her cookbook won the 2019 Platinum International MarCom Award and Moore now has her own cooking show “Let’s Cook & Just Eat,” where she invites audience members into her kitchen to show how simple it is to prepare tasty and healthy meals.

Moore is a frequent guest of Charlotte’s WBTV where she talks about healthy living. She also works closely with the United Negro College Fund and the Charlotte Humane Society, where she was nominated for the Women for Animal Welfare award. P