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Tag: business owner

Celebrating Small Businesses: Cuztumly Crafted’s Story of Perseverance and Positivity

Written by Mariel Hernandez on .

Even after Small Business Month has concluded, we continue to celebrate the incredible impact small business owners have on our communities and economy. Today, we’re shining a spotlight on Cuztumly Crafted, a San Francisco-based apparel company founded by Darius Coleman. Darius’s story is one of overcoming adversity, finding passion, and giving back to the community.

Darius’s journey hasn’t been easy. Growing up in poverty, he struggled with addiction and incarceration. But with the help of the city and his own determination, he turned his life around. He started Cuztumly Crafted in 2021, fueled by his passion for design and his desire to spread positivity.

“I didn’t have a very positive upbringing,” Darius shares. “My designs were initially a way for me to bring positivity into my own life. A way to create positive self-affirmations for myself. I put them on t-shirts and people started noticing.”

Spreading Positivity Through Fashion

Cuztumly Crafted is more than just an apparel company; it’s a vehicle for positive change. Darius’s designs are inspired by his own experiences and his belief in the power of self-affirmation. His clothing features uplifting messages and unique designs that encourage people to embrace their individuality and believe in themselves.

“I want my business to be spreading positivity throughout the community,” Darius explains. “I want you to feel important in society, no matter where you started.”

Overcoming Challenges with a MAF Business Loan

Starting a business comes with its fair share of challenges. For Darius, accessing the necessary resources was a major hurdle. But with the help of a MAF Business Loan, he was able to secure the funding he needed to purchase equipment like his heat press and embroidery machine, expand his inventory, and take his business to the next level.

“It takes money to make money,” Darius acknowledges. “MAFs Business Loan helped me get the equipment I needed to turn my designs into reality.”

Embracing Community: Giving and Receiving

Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Darius has found invaluable support from organizations like Renaissance, the San Francisco Small Business Administration, and the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA). These organizations provide mentorship, training, and resources that have been instrumental in his success.

“The city has been beyond supportive,” Darius says. “Programs like MEDA reach out to you and literally hold your hand through the process.”

Darius is deeply committed to giving back to the community that helped him during his darkest times. He partners with local organizations to feed the unhoused and donates a portion of his sales to charity. He also offers discounted prices to those who can’t afford his apparel, remembering his own childhood desire for designer clothing.

“I’ve been blessed to overcome a lot of struggles, and I have to give back,” Darius says. “I have to be that example, have to be something positive in the community.”

Looking to the Future

Darius’s vision for Cuztumly Crafted is to one day have a brick-and-mortar store where he can employ people from his community and empower them to chase their dreams. He’s also committed to continuous learning and growth, always seeking out new ways to improve his business and give back to others. His journey and experience has led him to have valuable insights to other inspiring entrepreneurs: “The greatest part about this journey is each level taught me to believe in myself more,” says Darius. His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to invest in yourself, ask questions, and never stop learning. He also emphasizes the importance of community support and giving back to those who have helped you along the way.

Celebrating Darius’s Achievements

During this Small Business Month, we celebrate Darius Coleman and Cuztumly Crafted for their inspiring story of perseverance, passion, and community impact. His journey is a testament to the power of small businesses to create positive change and uplift those around him. You can support Darius by sharing his story and checking out his business at cuztumlycrafted.com

On Food & Family: Isabel’s Story

Written by Mohan Kanungo on .


Isabel joined a Lending Circle to help grow her business. This summer, her restaurant “El Buen Comer” opened in Bernal Heights.

Isabel is a MAF client and entrepreneur who used Lending Circles to expand her already successful culinary business. She gave these remarks at the MAFter Party, a celebration of MAF’s national Lending Circles network that took place on October 27, 2016. Her new Bernal Heights restaurant El Buen Comer helped cater the event.

***

My love for food began as a young girl, when I was living in Mexico City, where I was born. My mother and my seven sisters used to cook for the whole family, especially for the holidays. Cooking always caught my attention.

So when my family moved to San Francisco in 2001, I began cooking from my home in the Tenderloin.

It was a way of creating community in a new place.

I prepared traditional foods that reminded me of Mexico: stews, beans and rice, and tortillas that I made from scratch.

In 2007, a friend recommended that I visit La Cocina, an organization that supports women entrepreneurs, so I could formalize my business. That’s how my business began to grow.

I opened a stand in the Noe Valley Farmers’ Market and began baking the bread sticks for Pizzeria Delfina in the Mission. We decided to call our business El Buen Comer. I dedicated myself to creating authentic Mexican dishes. To this day, I still use my mother’s recipe for mole verde.

At first, it was hard. I had to invest so much — first in a truck, then in paying for permits for my business — that I didn’t have any profits at all. I felt discouraged – I remember commenting to my husband, “ I don’t know if I want to keep doing this.”

But my family supported me. One of my sons started writing me notes with positive messages to encourage me. I was determined, and I didn’t allow myself to give up.

I needed to buy an industrial steamer to sell my tamales in the Farmers’ Market, but it cost $1,400, and we just didn’t have enough saved. It was in that moment that I heard of MAF through a friend who had participated in Lending Circles with MAF. I joined my own Lending Circle, and for the first time, I had a safe, reliable way to save money.

In June, I opened my restaurant, El Buen Comer, on Mission Street in Bernal Heights. My husband, sons and I run the business together, and my husband still works at the Farmers’ Market on Saturdays.

Even though the business isn’t physically in my home anymore, the restaurant practically is my home. I spend more time there than in my own house!

We decorated the restaurant with Mexican crafts, and also with the toy cars my sons used to play with when they were little.

This helps us remember how and where our dream began.

Lending Circles were our first financial door – they gave me access to loans to open my own restaurant, which is something I could never have imagined. But more important than that, they helped me learn to manage the financial system to open even more opportunities in the future.

My dream continues. We’re planning to form a Lending Circle within our family to keep building credit and help us realize our next dream.

Celebrating the Many Moms of Our Community

Written by lending8 on .


This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating all the “MAF Moms” working hard to create better lives for their families through Lending Circles.

This Sunday is a day dedicated to the strong, wise, generous, and caring mothers in our lives. In the spirit of Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating a few MAF clients who are working hard to build bright financial futures for their families.

Three Generations of Chefs

For Guadalupe, cooking authentic Mexican cuisine has always been a family affair. As a girl, she and her mother made the tastiest tortillas from scratch, and now she and her daughters do the same. She used her Lending Circles loan to buy equipment and help pay for a van to expand her catering business, El Pipila — which she runs with her daughter to support their family.

When we last shared Guadalupe’s story in 2014, she dreamed of opening a small, brick-and-mortar food stand. Now, she’s a food vendor at The Hall in San Francisco and a food truck regular at Bay Area festivals. Guadalupe’s family is key to her success. “I am doing this for my daughters. I want to make sure that neither of them has to work for anyone but themselves”.

A Mom on a Mission

Helen, a single mom from Guatemala, came to MAF with a simple dream: to have a safe home for her children. Because she couldn’t afford the hefty security deposit and didn’t have a credit score, she had no choice but to rent rooms in shared apartments — including one with families living in hallways.

After joining a Lending Circle, Helen saved up enough for a security deposit and built her credit score. Now, she has her own three-bedroom apartment for her daughters, and even bigger dreams.

Whipping Up Cupcakes with Her Son’s Support

Elvia’s son ignited her passion for baking with a simple question: “Mom, what do you love to do most?” After building a reputation for having the best desserts at parties, her family and friends encouraged Elvia to start a bakery.

She used a $5,000 loan from MAF to invest in a fridge, business license, and a number of necessities to grow her bakery, La Luna Cupcakes. She now has a cupcake shop in Crocker Galleria in San Francisco, and her children continue to be her North Star. “I always taught them if you want something, you can do it! Believe in your dream!”

Thanks to Lesley Marling, MAF’s newest Partner Success Manager, for her contributions to this post.

Veronica: A Visionary Restaurateur

Written by Aparna Ananthasubramaniam on .

Veronica reached her dream of owning a restaurant after participating in a Lending Circle.

An immigrant from Mexico, Veronica came to Mission Asset Fund with a dream of owning a restaurant to serve her Mexico City favorites: gorditas, huitlacoche, huaraches, and pozole. With ingenuity and help from a local food entrepreneur incubator program, Veronica’s business grew from small time catering to a traveling food truck. She even won a developer’s contest for a new storefront space. But without a credit score, Veronica could not qualify for the business loans she needed to supply her new restaurant.

But without a credit score, Veronica could not qualify for the business loans she needed to supply her new restaurant.

After joining the Lending Circles program, Veronica was able to pay down her debt and invest in her business. After two years of financial classes and zero-interest credit-building loans, she raised her credit score to 615. This enabled her to qualify for new lines of credit from wholesale suppliers to further invest in her business. Now, Veronica has 20 employees working with her at her new restaurant in Marin County, El Huarache Loco. Please check out Veronica’s new restaurant to enjoy her delicious food!