Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholl Hunte.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I came to Houston in 2008. I noticed that there was a very large Caribbean Community here and I absolutely loved meeting all of the people from different countries. I was born and raised in Barbados and I came to America as a teenager back in 2000. Over the years, I realized that there was not a group that portrayed the positive and professional side of women from The Caribbean so I decided to start The Caribbean Women’s Expo in 2019. My goal was to highlight the businesses and also career paths of women from The Caribbean.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has definitely come with a few challenges such as spreading the word about who we are and what we do. Also, breaking through the Caribbean party scene has been quite interesting to say the least. Sometimes it seems like people prefer to party instead of attending events where we can truly bond together as a people and share different parts of our culture with the world. Separation between the different islands and people who only support cliques has also come up in the past. However, I am hopeful for the future.
We’ve been impressed with Caribbean Women’s Expo, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Caribbean women’s Expo mainly highlights, businesses and career paths of women from The Caribbean. However, we have a few different functions under our belt. We have two events per year, where we bring women together to network and do fun activities which may include making charcuterie boards and cocktails, making body butters, and perfumes. We have a small business incubator program where we award grants to businesses to start their LLC. We also partner with I Love Being Caribbean and Puma Business Creation to put on the quarterly Caribbean Craft Market. What set us apart from other businesses is that we create an ecosystem for not only people to get to know each other, we also have a place where they can sell their goods and services. We are extremely proud of the women who start with the Expo as a panelist or as an attendee , then start a profitable business or progress in their career. It is one of the best feelings in the world to see them flourish. With The Caribbean women’s Expo it is more than just networking. People create meaningful connections and collaborate with each other. Friends become family.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
In the next 5 to 10 years, we plan to travel to different states and different Caribbean islands. The goal is to empower women through teaching them about entrepreneurship and also about how they can use their skills in their careers to make a greater impact. This year, we gave away 2 grants; in the future we will be able to award many more deserving businesses.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caribbeanwomensexpo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17obSbPDci/
