Black entrepreneurs, businesses thriving in St. Joseph

By Jenna Wilson

Many local areas where Black-owned businesses historically used to thrive now sit vacant, but that doesn’t mean that Black entrepreneurs aren’t succeeding in new ways in St. Joseph today.

People in town may know Will Woods as a State Farm Insurance agent, but that is just one of the many things he’s working to keep up with. Woods recently opened a barber shop, Kingdom Cuts, at 2824 N. Belt Highway.

While his passion includes financial services, he says nothing beats the environment of a barber shop and the relationship it allows you to build with your clients.

“What I’ve experienced is, when you come in to meet with your insurance agent, sometimes people have their guard up,” Woods said. “But when you come to a barbershop, people just open up and talk to their barbers. Even the people just sitting in chairs waiting, we’re just talking and we’ve talked about everything so it’s pretty neat to see how much people can be more comfortable just from sitting in a barber chair.”

Whether it’s through financial planning or just holding a conversation at the barber shop, Woods said his goal is to be a mentor for others.

Max Joe’s Daquiri Lounge serves drinks at 2013 S. Belt Highway Suite 1oo. Owners LaQuella Wilkinson and Daresha Brown both agreed that a daiquiri shop is just what the city of St. Joseph needed.

“The inspiration was to start something or bring something different to St. Joe, something that is not the usual and what people were kind of yearning for,” Wilkinson said. “We have a younger demographic coming into town and they’re looking for something different. So, it’s time for St. Joe to kind of keep up with the pace.”

They’ve been serving refreshments at the daiquiri shop for three years, and say they’re proud to have a business that’s continuing to do well.

“This experience has been more of a pride thing for us because we’ve accomplished something and we’re proud of that,” Wilkinson said. “We’re happy that we’ve been in business for that long as new business owners because a lot of businesses fail after the first year or so, and we’re still here.”

A family duo is maintaining the business scene Downtown on Edmond Street. Jhanee Mushatsi is the owner of Jhanee’s Heavenly Fashion at 508 Edmond St., a women’s clothing boutique. Just next door at 506 Edmond St., her daughter Joyeuse Mushatsi-Hayes owns a clothing boutique — Shabani Brand and Royalfeat — with her husband, Dillon Hayes.

“I have a lot of unique items from purses to shoes and clothing, all of it comes from different parts of the world,” Mushatsi said. “I have dresses I got from Israel, a scarf from Jerusalem, a purse from Chicago. I travel a lot and I make sure I always bring back items for my shop that I think customers will like.”

On the other hand, while Shabani Brand and Royalfeat offer clothing, they focus more on customization.

“I would say that’s something that kind of makes us stand out and sets us apart is just our overall customization process,” Hayes said. “We basically cater to whatever the customer needs within that. You can literally come up with any design or idea that you have and we’ll make it for you.”

While he doesn’t have a storefront yet, Antoine Wilkinson is an entrepreneur in St. Joseph who makes custom streetwear under his clothing brand “Unloved Clothing.” From his custom Kansas City Chiefs gear to Dennis Rodman graphic hoodies, each of his items have gained attraction from the community.

“I like to consider my type of clothing a streetwear brand,” Wilkinson said. “So sweatsuits, T-shirts, your oversize fits, some vintage looking tees and hoodies and hats, things along those lines,” Antoine Wilkinson said.

Though he aims to make clothing that’s appealing to the eye, it also has meaning behind it.

“The brand name itself starts a lot of conversation,” Antoine Wilkinson said. “A lot of people always say, ‘Oh you’re not unloved,’ and I’m like I know that, I know people love me, but it’s more so promoting being comfortable with who you are as a person regardless of who likes you and who doesn’t so, be okay with being unloved.”

Jamie Grayson is a former student-athlete at Missouri Western. He started the nonprofit organization ‘POAC’ — People Of All Colors, which aims to build diverse communities and promote equity amongst all people.

“It’s not always about Black or white, but more importantly, what we have in common,” Grayson said. “To, that’s the that’s the nature of POAC in itself is, what do we have in common and how do you build on those commonalities to create new relationships or deepen the current relationships?”

A popular South Side institution Ford’s Drive-in, owned by Cecil Bratton, is commonly known for its Reuben sandwich and all-American cheeseburger.

“I’ve been in this business 22 years strong and there’s not a lot of minority owners in the area and definitely no one in this business that works harder than me,” Bratton said. “I’ll go clean the trash, parking lots, bathrooms. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my business afloat.”

While many Black-owned businesses are thriving in St. Joseph, it doesn’t mean it’s always easy being a Black business owner.

“Owning a business in this town is harder for me, of course, with the language barrier, like three times harder,” said Mushatsi. “Some things I don’t understand or I don’t speak the language well enough and oftentimes I feel like I always have to play by the rules because certain things aren’t similar with my origin country. It gets overwhelming but I love my customers who do continue to support my business.”

Whether it’s a restaurant or a clothing store, local business owners encourage the community to support locally-owned shops.

“Support your local businesses, we want to see people stop by year-round not just one time out of the year,” Mushatsi-Hayes said.

“I know I’m not a McDonald’s and I know I’m not Sonic,” Bratton said. “I can’t raise my prices up to McDonald’s. I got to find what their prices are and stay way under what they sell product for. I try to know what my market is and it’s been successful for 22 years so far and I have to thank the community for that and hope they will continue supporting me.”