For Tonisha Roberts, a first-time business owner, the pandemic resulted in a temporary pause on her customized apparel company, Reality Effects Anybody’s Life (REAL).
“COVID-19 totally reset everything for everyone, whether you are a 30-year-old business or one that has been up for 30 seconds,” she says. “Not a lot of people were able to spend money given the financial circumstances. It was basically about providing and we, like a lot of people in the community, did not have a savings pot for COVID-19 to happen.”
Roberts and her fiancé launched the business three years ago to fund their growing mentorship program, which aims to provide basic life skills classes to families within the local Columbia, South Carolina, community. After interviewing select families, the curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of each child.
Terrencia Miller and her business
The pop-up shop event was an introduction to the campus bookstore’s new entrepreneurial space. Roberts sold both Benedict apparel as well as allowed customers to design their own shirts.
“It gave us the opportunity to have a place to offer our products without a huge overhead fee,” says Roberts. “The [community] loved the diversity and hands-on experience with their merchandise. You have vendors that you can actually talk to and bring your vision to life.”
Many of the other participating retailers were affiliated with the Benedict College Women’s Business Center (BCWBC), which was launched in 2020 to provide counseling, classes, feedback on business plans and other resources to female entrepreneurs. Roberts, for example, collaborated with BCWBC to onboard student interns to assist with her company’s social media, production and curriculum development.