Family business grows with help from Shell LiveWire

Tishia Boldene with daughter Kaylee and son Devaughn.

An accountant by trade who markets her financial expertise, Tishia Boldene felt like she had a pretty strong grasp on business and marketing even before she participated in the Shell LiveWire program. 

“The program taught us things I would have never even thought of,” Boldene said. 

Shell LiveWire is an initiative aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and meaningful employment to strengthen local economies. This is the third year the program has been active in Louisiana. The pillars of the program are education and coaching, through a partnership with the Louisiana Small Business Development Center, and also connecting participants with networking opportunities that can help each entrepreneur get ahead with their business. 

Boldene came across the program and realized it could present a great opportunity: she and her daughter began a fresh press juice business that offers healthy alternatives for customers, in the form of raw juices, smoothies, acai bowls and herbal teas. 

“It’s mostly my daughter rather than me … she’s a teen entrepreneur and I’m helping her,” said Boldene. “She started this when she was 13 – she’ll be 16 this month.” 

Kaylee was motivated by a desire to help her brother, Devaughn, who suffers from epilepsy. 

“She started researching brain food, anything that might be able to help him,” said Boldene. “She started mixing berries, kale, watermelon … she came up with this unique drink that he would drink all the time … it helps. And it’s what inspired her. She believes food is medicine for the body. 

“So, from trying to find different things for him, that’s how it came about. Then family members started trying it, and then we started branching out to the Farmer’s Market.” 

Boldene became aware of LiveWIRE and applied online to participate. 

“The program touched on so many parts of owning a business – especially with regards to customer service, how to treat people, how to market your business, hiring people. Relationships – hearing the stories and experiences of other people, and how they handle things you might go through. The program has been a big help,” she said. 

Becky Cooper, Shell Corporate Relations Advisor, said the idea is to teach entrepreneurs ways to sustain and grow their business. 

“These businesses are then able to grow in the communities they live in and operate in, boosting the local economy, creating employment and having a lasting impact on those communities,” Cooper said. 

Through various partnerships, Shell LiveWire is able to set participants up for eight weeks of classes that touch on topics like writing a business plan, marketing, finance and more. Shell LiveWire also sets up networking events throughout the year, bringing in specialists to speak on specific topics the LiveWire entrepreneurs have identified as points of interest. 

“We want them to learn the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur, so they don’t have to move to a big city to be successful – they can do it where they are,” Cooper said.

 

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