💅 Who Needs Cupid? $200k Grants & Events

🏦 Finance Fix

Health Insurance and Time Off.

Being a business of one means wearing all the hats including the one that figures out how to pay for things like health insurance, time off, and retirement. So, how do you set a rate that doesn’t just pay you, but supports you?
 

✅ Step 1: Know Your Target Income
Set a net income goal that makes sense for your expertise. Let’s say $100K per year.
 

✅ Step 2: Add Expenses & Taxes
Factor in business costs ($20K), estimated taxes (28%), and health insurance.
 

✅ Step 3: Calculate Your Billable Hours
If you want four weeks of vacation and work about 6 billable hours per day, you’ll have roughly 1,398 work hours per year.
 

✅ Step 4: Set Your Hourly Rate
Use the formula:

(Income + Expenses + Taxes) ÷ Billable Hours = Hourly Rate
 

For our example:
 

($100K + $20K + $28K) ÷ 1,398 = $106/hour
 

💡 Pro Tip: Tax rates vary based on your location, deductions, and business structure.

🎯 Grants for solopreneurs and small businesses

👩🏾 $100,000 for Female & Founders of Color
The Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator is awarding $100K to founders of color and female founders innovating in any industry across the U.S.

📅 Apply here by February 23, 2025
 

🚀 $25,000 for idea stage entrepreneurs

L'atitud Fellowship offers $25,000 for ideation-stage founders looking to grow their business.

📅 Apply here by February 16, 2025
 

🎯 $25,000 for nonprofits

Jordan Community Grant Program offers $25,000 for nonprofits, aimed at promoting social change.

📅 Apply here by February 16, 2025

🌍 $10,000 for climate-focused startups

Halcyon Climate Fellowship offers $10K for startups focused on climate change.

📅 Apply here by February 16, 2025
 

🚚 $35,000 for small businesses

UPS Store Small Biz Challenge offers $35K prize funding for small business owners + a free feature in Inc. Magazine and expert mentorship.

📅 Apply here by February 19, 2025

💡 Need funding tailored to your biz? Just ask our helpful chatbot Vestie!

🗞️ Making Headlines

The beauty industry has spent years convincing us that "perfect skin" is the goal. Olamide Olowe built Topicals to prove that real skin, textured, pigmented, and uniquely ours deserves the spotlight too.

At 26, she became the youngest Black woman to raise $10M in VC funding but she didn’t just build a skincare brand, she built a movement.

3 Lessons from Olamide:

• Create What’s Missing : Growing up with chronic skin conditions, she was tired of boring, clinical treatments. So she built science-backed products that actually work and made them fun to use.

• Your Story is Your Strategy: Before Topicals, she co-founded SheaGirl (later acquired by Unilever). But her own skin struggles made Topicals resonate. Your lived experience is your business advantage.

• Community Over Everything: Topicals isn’t just skincare, it's a space where people talk about their skin, openly and honestly. Customers don’t just buy from brands anymore. They join them. Bumble Bizz. Because when people believe in your brand, they’ll follow you anywhere.