We were lucky to catch up with Ines Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ines, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My Nonprofit Organization BeYOUtiful Minds was an idea that I had for about 6 years to Assist Minority Women owned businesses First changing the Narrative on how African American Women treat one another in life and Business
To build a Solid Foundation of Sisterhood and Support
& Providing the tools and resources to elevate their company

I got the Vision and made it plain, but it wasn’t the right Timing to Launch

So my Idea went from a Vision to Execution when God said it was Time June 2021 I got to work
And when he said Go, He showed me step by Step on how to execute it and what people I would connect to so that the Mission and Vision will be fulfilled

My steps to Start a Nonprofit Organization was creating my Mission Statement, and the Vision of the Organization
Building a Team to be the Board of Directors
Filing the Paperwork to get our 501c3
Building an Outline and Programs for the Organization and building Membership
I chose a Co Founder and we both brought in 2 Women that owned businesses and we collectively started building the Organization Organically

Our Launch date was 10/17/21 and we have issued out over 10,000 in In-house Grants to assist our Members with their businesses

Ines, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Los Angeles Native, Mother of 4 adult children and 1 Grandson

I became a Chef in 2008 and started my own Catering and Event Planning company

There was so much that I didn’t know about starting a business and there was a lot of Trail and Error

So that is how the Vision of my Nonprofit Came to fruition

I wanted to Create a Support System for Black Women Entrepreneurs no matter where you are at in your Entrepreneurial Journey
I went through so much over the course of the last 10 years trying to build my brand
My desire was to create a Space for the Business owners, even if they were just getting started or didn’t know where to start
Building a Resource Hub, of Information that all businesses owners need
Having Problems and Seminars to assist these Women and turning their hobby into a business

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Minority Women Owned Businesses is a very Underserved Community

So My Reputation was built within my Market because I Created a Sisterhood of over 40 Los Angeles Based Women Owned Businesses and Created a Sisterhood of Support and Resources

Having Yearly Networking Mixers, Monthly Business Seminars and giving out Quarterly Grants to our Members

I’m known to Build and Support my Sisters in Business and have Created a Safe Space for these Women to truly Shine

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Last year in 2022 I lost 3 of my Board Members, and with this being my first Nonprofit I wasn’t aware that Board Members can Change I was Completely Devastated and hurt

But I had to learn a valuable lesson, on how to Separate Business from Friendship

And it pushed me to have a Re Birth of my Organization and restructure our Organization’s Outline

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BeYOUtiful-minds.com
• Instagram: _beyoutiful_minds
• Facebook: BeYOUtiful Minds