Neartown’s Rising Stars

Corrie Williams

Corrieagraphed was created as a social media branding agency because a friend of mine who owns a CPA firm liked my personal social media pages and asked me to come on board to be her Marketing Director. Because of the work, I was doing for her, I received inquiries from other entrepreneurs to assist them with their social media pages as well. From that, I decided that while I would still work with her, I would launch Corrieagraphed to take on clients and assist them with their branding and marketing needs. Recently, I added a new component to the business because I kept conversing with people who had these brilliant ideas but didn’t know how to go about actually developing them into a full-fledged business. I found myself on multiple occasions giving advice on what to do and which steps to prioritize, so I now have added business development to my list of services. Read more>>

Kevin Wilcox

My first memory of writing raps was at the age of nine. I started listening to music heavily around the age of seven, and it only took a couple of years before I arrived at the conclusion I could do it myself under the influences of the likes of Eminem, Ludacris, and DMX. Just a little over a decade later, I have just finished and released Kids of the Sour Patch. An LP that I would consider to be the dissertation to the musical career that I begun seriously when I arrived at Texas Tech in the fall of 2016. This project coincides with my graduation from undergrad and closes a chapter of my life, and now I’m on to bigger and better things. Read more>>

Josh Sol

I grew up in Sugar Land, Texas, raised by a single mother after my parents divorced at an early age, finished high school, and had a chance to pursue football at the college level in Minnesota. During that time, I pursued a degree in Kinesiology, but unfortunately, I had an injury during my sophomore year that ended my college football career. I moved back to Texas to attend college and pursue an exercise management degree. In true transient student fashion, I left Texas State after two more years to live in California, winding up in the Bay Area right outside of San Francisco, where my father lived, to try and rekindle a relationship. I worked as a personal trainer, developed my own fitness bootcamp business, all to finish my schooling at California State Eastbay. After college, I met my wife, Laura, and through her support, I transitioned from a trainer to begin a career in healthcare, as a Physician Support Coordinator. Read more>>

Anthony Watson

The name of the brand all started when my oldest brother was incarcerated. In a letter he sent to me, he wrote on the margins “Watson By Nature.” Us being from Houston, he was heavily influenced by Assholes By Nature (ABN), a former rap group consisting of Trae Tha Truth and Z-Ro. So that’s where the phrase came from and I took that phrase “WatsonByNature” and the acronym “WBN” and ran with it. When it came to making clothes, I had the idea in high school. One day, I just thought that I was tired of buying name brand clothing when I could make my own that would incorporate my family background since I’m a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult(s)). I designed and ordered a crewneck sweater and a hoodie for myself on Spreadsheet.com and sold only one shirt to one of my older cousins. The name of my brand at the time was called “Fly By Default.” However, I had clothing on there that was personally for me and for family members who wanted to purchase it that had ‘WatsonByNature’ on it. Read more>>

Adrienne Quillin

Growing up, I always knew three things. I loved numbers, hair and serving others. Very timid in my youth, I wasn’t quite sure how I would combine those passions or if I would even break out of my shell enough to pursue such a thing. I went through the motions in life: grade school, college, career. It wasn’t until 2017 when my vision started to manifest. I decided I would network myself as an emerging accountant and work with small businesses providing bookkeeping and tax services. The opportunity led me to individuals who would eventually introduce me to the Houston Area Urban League. While at HAUL’s Small Business University, my sister, Vanessa and I – who both share a love of hair – decided we would form a company that promotes healthy hair through education and resources. Our focus was geared toward that business, Mane Necessities. Near the end of the course, one eager woman named Loren Fisher raised her hand to ask a question about opening her own beauty supply store. Read more>>

Erin Batiste

I started modeling when I was 16 years old. Initially I would take my own pictures and plan my own photoshoots on my iPhone to learn my strengths and weaknesses when in front of the camera. Doing this helped me a lot because throughout my whole childhood I would be bullied for being “too skinny”, having two different color eyes, and on top of all of that I had crooked teeth. With practicing alone, I was able to grow my confidence back. When taking my own photos, I would always display my eccentric sense of fashion which attracted the attention of many photographers. In having my own personal style, which is heavily influenced by vintage fashion, soon more and more local photographers would reach out to me to not only model but to style myself for the photoshoots. With the support of my mom who allows me to pull from her archive of vintage clothing I am able to personify the history of the clothing through modeling. I am still learning what works best for me in modeling but throughout this journey I am learning how to love myself in all of my imperfections because that is what makes me, me. Read more>>

Richelle Richardson

I stumbled across the idea of making candles when I wanted to try something new and different. A good friend of mine passed away and I was in a dark place. It was hard for me to accept her death and I just wanted an outlet. One day I randomly googled “what to do in Houston”. Love Make candles popped up in the search engine. I signed up, went to the workshop and had a wonderful time. I was enlightened. I never thought about what the process of making a candle was before that workshop. I was in awe the whole time. I asked questions because I was intrigued and I’ve always been business minded. I use to make and sell handmade coasters with sport teams on them. So, at this workshop, I asked TONS of questions. Deep down, I was already wondering if I could make it a business. I found out I could. I went home did some more research, made a business plan. The idea of candles being lit and it being a source of light makes me feel connected to my friend in a way. Read more>>

Forward Thinkers, Inc.

Forward Thinkers is an organization of professional men, recent graduates from Prairie View A&M University, that have come together with a common goal in mind. Brandon Bilton, David Alexander Jr., James Turner III, Trevor Lewis, and David Brown Jr. met in college as friends and through the years they have continued to challenge one another in both personal endeavors and professional growth. The common goal they share is the ideological understanding that life is like laying one brick at a time; building oneself with love, truth, knowledge, and exposure. Forward Thinkers is a nonprofit organization that is working towards building the next generation of leaders such as ourselves. We have deep ties in the communities where we come from and have connections with the community leaders and business owners across the state. So, we use this network as leverage to carry out our method exposure through conferences and community events. Read more>>

Paula Dixon

I’m Paula. I’m a hairstylist turned interior designer and all things creative. Creativity is not something new to me. I remember playing with Barbie dolls when I was a young child and not having furniture for the Barbies. I decided to problem solve and use the resources I had. I took a VHS tape and washed cloth from the bathroom to make beds and couches for my Barbie’s. Growing up with a single mom helped me to develop the skill set, I needed to be a creative minority business woman. Being a self-motivated individual, I put myself through college by working as a hairstylist. After earning my degree, I started working in the home improvement industry with Houston’s pioneer, Marilyn Hermance. While working with Marilyn, I realized I truly enjoyed making homes aesthetically appealing and functional. Read more>>