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Four small business owners faced big challenges during the pandemic. Here’s how they’re doing now.

Ninety-nine percent of America’s businesses are small, and they account for 50% of the country’s jobs. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, they keep them vibrant and give them character. In early 2020, the economy was strong, and these businesses were thriving.

Nobody could have predicted their fortunes would change overnight when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived at America’s doorstep in March of 2020. Business owners had to scramble as they faced lockdowns, employees who were afraid to return to work, and customers who were cautious about leaving the house.

It finally feels like the pandemic is turning a corner, and so are four small businesses that endured nearly two years of uncertainty and came out even stronger. These comeback stories show the heart of small business owners nationwide.


via Wells Fargo

JC Lofton Tailors in Washington, D.C. is part of a family tradition that began in the late 1930s. It’s owned by Julius “Eddie” Lofton whose late grandfather was the first African American to own a tailoring shop and tailoring school in the District.

Lofton and his experienced team of tailors have a reputation for making everyone in D.C. look sharp, from politicians to celebrities to nearby Howard University students. But when COVID-19 hit, the need for tailoring vanished as people began working from home and in-person events were halted. Even though demand was down he still had to pay his rent and employees. He focused on making masks to keep people healthy during the crisis.

He also worked hard to maintain a positive attitude during the down times to keep the spirits of his employees up. The man with tailoring in his blood also embraced technology by developing a new social media strategy to bring in new customers.

A $10,000 grant from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund through Local Initiatives Support Corporation, gave Lofton breathing room to keep up with his bills. Today, he’s hired back nearly all of his staff and his customers increase by the day.

Six hundred twenty-six miles south of Lofton’s shop is the Grant Park Coffeehouse in downtown Atlanta. It’s a place where locals can pop in for an organic fair-trade certified cup of Joe or more adventurous fare such as the Nutella Mocha or S’mores Latte. At lunchtime the place is famous for its wonderful chicken salad.


Atlanta coffeehouse powers through the pandemic with the Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund

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Rahel TafarI is the meticulous and hard-working owner of the coffee house who was inspired to open her business by her mother from Ethiopia. When the pandemic hit, the number of people in downtown Atlanta dwindled and the lack of foot traffic significantly hurt the coffeehouse’s finances. As the pandemic wore on, Tarfarl felt she ran out of options to keep her business alive, but never stopped coming back to work. “At the height of the COVID pandemic, I did everything I could, trying to figure out ways that we could sustain ourselves. By trying to find some loans, some grants, or anything. It was very hard,” she said.

One way she kept her business afloat was by becoming even more self-sufficient. “I started making some products on my own as the supply chain was creating challenges—chocolate sauce, lavender sauce, our own chai,” she said.

TafarI was able to get a $250,000 working capital loan through Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund from grantee Access to Capital from Entrepreneurs, and it helped her keep the coffeehouse open. “It was a lifeline to help us weather the storm,” TafarI said.

Ellen Bryant-Brown and volunteers via Wells Fargovia Wells Fargo

Another female business owner who faced challenges during the pandemic is Ellen Bryant-Brown, the owner of the Hope Rising Child Learning Center in Philadelphia.

Hope Rising provides early learning and education programs for ages 3 months to 12 years old. When COVID-19 hit, nearly every student at Hope Rising’s 52nd Street location left as parents were out of work and schools closed. The enrollment at the center went from 131 children to just 3.

“Faith drives hope,” Bryant-Brown said. “It’s taken a lot of the former to get to the latter these last couple years.”

Bryant-Brown got some support during the lean days through Wells Fargo and The Enterprise Center who donated a large collection of books as well as a grant for $15,000 to the center. She also received additional grants from both to support her business totaling $20,000.

As for the 52nd Street corridor, support arrived there, too. Launched by Wells Fargo, Hope, USA, a nationwide initiative to uplift small business districts in 16 cities across the country sent 50 tradespeople—all of whom were minority contractors—to the area to repair the damaged shops. They painted 12 storefronts, power-washed sidewalks, installed new exterior lighting, removed trash, improved the landscaping, and added new signage and awnings.

Hope Rising has seen a resurgence in recent months as enrollment is back up to approximately 82 children.

Martín D. Vargas, Jose Beteta, and Tamil Maldonado Vega of Raices Brewing Company

Much like Rahel TafarI and Julius “Eddie” Lofton, Jose Beteta also had to get creative to keep his business open during the pandemic.

Beteta opened the Raíces Brewing Co. a craft brewery in Denver, Colorado in 2019 with the help of a Small Business Administration (SBA) (7a) loan through Wells Fargo. “We did go to different financial institutions, where they just made that barrier a lot bigger and a lot higher. So, it was creating an impossible dream for us—until we came to Wells Fargo and they opened the doors for us.”

The brewery is a welcome addition to the world of craft brewing where people of color are underrepresented. “After researching it, I learned that less than 1% of the U.S.’s 8,000 craft breweries are owned by people of color—just 0.5% in fact. It represented this massive gap in the marketplace,” he said.

COVID-19 hit shortly after the brewery opened but Raíces was able to pull through by pivoting to an online ordering platform and curbside pickup.

Raíces means “roots” in Spanish and Beteta’s business was able to find new ways to operate during challenging times because it was firmly planted in the community.

“We are about community, culture, and cervezas,” he said.

There are many lessons to learn from the pandemic, but one of the most powerful was how resilient small business owners can be when facing strong headwinds. It also helps when they can get the support they need.

“Wells Fargo is striving to support as many small businesses as we can as they continue their journey towards recovery and a brighter future” said Derek Ellington, head of small business banking at Wells Fargo. “Beyond providing much-needed capital, the Open for Business Fund also empowers small businesses with technical assistance and long-term resiliency programs.”

The Fund has helped nearly 152,000 small business owners and protected over 250,000 jobs.

JC Lofton Tailors in Washington, D.C. via Wells Fargo

Now that the dog days of 2020 and 2021 are behind us, business is picking up at JC Lofton Tailors in Washington, D.C. “Now we are getting back to a somewhat normal time—people are going back to work, going on vacation,” he said. “I know…this pandemic caused challenges, but it gives me great pleasure to keep my grandfather’s shop open and thriving,” he told Upworthy.

The pandemic has taught Lofton to plan for the unexpected. “It is important to try to have a savings account for the future—to ensure that if something like this were to happen again, things would be manageable,” he said. But the future looks bright as Lofton eyes opening a second shop next year.

Rahel TafarI of Grant Park Coffeehousevia Wells Fargo

As business returns to downtown Atlanta, the number of customers is back to pre-pandemic levels at the Grant Park Coffeehouse and the business has expanded.

“We were able to open a second location during this pandemic because we never closed a day. We decided to stay open and continue to serve the community—the police officers, and medical staff. I just kept coming to work–sometimes by myself–spent the nights at work to make sure we could get through,” TafarI told Upworthy.

The pandemic was hard, but it taught TafarI valuable lessons like becoming more self-sufficient when the supply chain hit a snag. On a deeper level, she learned something about herself. “We are loved, needed, resilient and creative in so many ways,” she said.

Enrollment is back up at the Hope Rising Center and most of the employees have returned to work. The center was able to purchase two school buses and provide its employees with bonuses thanks to the support it received from Wells Fargo. Bryant-Brown has learned that she must be “prepared for a disaster at any time,” now that she’s made it through the pandemic.

Raices Brewing Company was able to survive the pandemic because of great timing and even better teamwork.

“Having started right before this pandemic happened —which nobody was obviously expecting—it was actually really good timing for us, as we were able to kind of get the feel for the market and adjust,” said Beteta. “We had hard times just like everyone else during COVID-19 closures and subsequent limitations on seating and spacing, but I think we were prepared to be able to handle those challenges.”

“The importance of working together as a team and bringing our different talents to the table, along with financial and business education, is what has made Raíces a formula for success,” Beteta added.

Wells Fargo believes that small businesses are the backbone of America. It put those long-standing values to work even more so during the pandemic by lending a helping hand. The last two years have been a struggle, but it’s made our communities tighter and our businesses wiser by showing how much we need one another and how important it is to adapt to unexpected challenges.

Learn more about how Wells Fargo is helping communities across America by addressing societal challenges.

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Sarah Michelle Gellar Was Incredibly Flattered That Billie Eilish Named Her As A Celebrity Crush

Like any good Gen G pop star, Billie Eilish is a master at connecting with her fans on social media. She’ll respond to questions and interact with them on social media, sharing tidbits about her life before and after fame, and chiming in on certain pop culture trends we’re all fascinated by and debunking internet rumors when they get weird and nasty.

So when a fan wanted to know who Billie’s childhood celebrity crush was, she happily obliged, sharing one that a lot of us probably relate to — Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I mean, come on, the woman was such an iconic character! For her part, Sarah Michelle was floored by the admission and definitely seems honored. She went so far as to repost Billie’s post, and added that she also has a crush on Billie right back.

“I’m dead,” Gellar wrote on Instagram, posting a screenshot of Billie’s response. “That’s all. I’m not a child anymore, but I totally have a crush on @billieeilish Ok… now that’s really all.”

So music video collab coming in the near future? Or we could get a Buffy reboot with Billie as a guest star, after all, she just showed up on The Simpsons so it might be possible.

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Post Malone Shared A Teaser Of His Collaboration With Robin Pecknold, ‘A Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol’

Anticipation around Post Malone’s next album is building, especially because the rapper finally confirmed a release date for the project earlier today. 12 Carat Toothache is slated to drop on 6/3, which is a little bit later than Post’s manager initially teased it would, but close enough to be in the general ballpark. Post also took to Instagram Live to let fans hear a bit of what he’s been working on, and true to form he has several collaborations in the works for the project. The most notable for indie fans, however, might be some harmonies from Robin Pecknold that show up on a song called “A Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol.”

Firstly, that’s one of the most relatable song titles I’ve ever encountered in my life, and secondly, Posty and Robin have already expressed a mutual admiration for each other over the years, so while it seems like a slightly strange pairing, it actually makes quite a lot of sense. Don’t forget that Post Malone has a country/folk streak within his own songwriting, and Pecknold, on the other hand, seems to be a pretty straight-ahead poptimist when it comes to melodies — and no matter what you think about Malone’s music, he’s got those done.

Check out the clip here, or clever fans who captured the whole thing on Youtube, above, and sped it up to double time to avoid copyright infringement takedowns. You can work around that work around by playing the Youtube video at half speed. For easier access, check out the shorter clip below.

@postmalone

Twelve Carat Toothache. June 3rd 🫀

♬ original sound – Post Malone

Post teased some of the song in an earlier post, which includes more of his verse and the harmonies are less clear, but it doesn’t seem like Robin contributes anything aside from the harmonies.

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Watch Japanese Breakfast Bring The ‘Jubilee’ Standout ‘Be Sweet’ To ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’

One of the best things about TV singing shows is the way different contestants have second and third lives after their initial appearances. One such former TV singing contestant who is now entering a new iteration is Kelly Clarkson, the very first winner of American Idol, who has become a bonafide pop star. And recently, since her days of releasing albums and touring have petered out a bit, the singer has pivoted to something we all knew she was great at — being on TV.

Hosting The Kelly Clarkson Show, this diva with the pipes to pull off all kinds of “Kellyoke” covers is also having other musicians on the show to perform from time to time. This week, she hosted Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, who is not only an award-winning musician and still touring behind her excellent 2021 album, Jubilee, but also a New York Times best-selling author for her memoir, Crying In H Mart. For her appearance on Kelly’s show, Japanese Breakfast was in full form as a performer, giving a rendition of “Be Sweet” that might just be the reminder you need to return to Jubilee for a few more listens. Check out her performance on the show up top, and a brief interview with Kelly below.

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The Warriors Survived A Monster Nikola Jokic Performance To Win Game 5 And Advance To The Conference Semis

The Golden State Warriors made a big move on Wednesday night, inserting Steph Curry back into the team’s starting lineup for Kevon Looney in Game 5 of their first round series against the Denver Nuggets. The move, unsurprisingly, paid off, and as a result, the Warriors picked up a 102-98 win to secure a 4-1 series win and a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals.

From the jump, Golden State looked like a team hell-bent on keeping the series from shifting back to Denver. The team took an egalitarian approach to offense in the first quarter — Curry had eight points while Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins all had six, with Draymond Green serving as the machine that kept the whole thing humming en route to a 30-25 lead at the end of the frame.

The issue they ran into was the play of Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. The former put up 12 points in the first, while the latter picked up six points and nine rebounds early on.

While the Warriors were able to lead for much of the second, they were never quite able to create enough separation in the event the Nuggets went on a mini-run. Denver’s size, in particular, gave Golden State trouble — while the former champions were able to get scoring all over the place, the size from Jokic, Cousins, and DeMarcus Cousins was a major problem, as the trio combined to score 35 of the team’d 48 first half points.

Towards the end of the quarter, Denver was able to rip off six unanswered points to take a lead, although it only lasted a minute thanks to a Thompson triple right before the break to send both teams into the locker room with 48.

Jokic had a double-double at halftime with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Gordon’s 15 led all scorers and Cousins provided eight off the bench. The Warriors, meanwhile, had 10 first half points out of Curry, nine from Thompson, eight from Poole, and six from Wiggins.

Over the years, Golden State has found ways to bury opposing teams at home upon coming out of the locker room after halftime, but on Wednesday night, the first big punch came from Denver. Thanks to a 16-6 run right out of the gate, the Nuggets were able to open up a double-digit lead on the road.

But stopping the Warriors in their own building has never been easy. Shortly after finding themselves in a hole, Golden State ripped off an 11-2 run to force a timeout after Curry pulled up from deep and got nothing but net.

That break gave Denver a chance to compose itself, and despite the fact that Jokic watched from the bench, the Nuggets closed the third quarter by scoring seven consecutive points — five of them by way of Cousins — to take a 78-70 lead into the fourth.

Golden State mounted a charge early on in the fourth, and while Cousins continued to bully their frontcourt, the team was handed a gift right before the 8-minute mark. Cousins was replaced by Jokic, and right away, Curry knew to attack the big man. It led to Jokic picking up his fifth foul of the game and heading right back to the bench. And eventually, a haymaker came, as Curry found Gary Payton II wide open in the corner for a go-ahead triple.

Jokic’s return to the floor gave Denver the firepower to respond whenever Golden State did anything, and boy, did Golden State do a whole lot of things. The two teams went blow-for-blow down the stretch, with Curry leading the Warrior charge and Jokic doing every single thing he could to will the Nuggets to a win.

And when it came time to win the game, an unlikely hero came up big for Golden State before their leader landed the knockout blow. Payton buried a look from deep to give them a five-point lead with just over a minute remaining, and while Jokic scored on the ensuing possession, a Curry layup made the outcome inevitable.

Curry’s 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals led the way for Golden State, while Payton and Thompson both had 15. Jokic was immense with 30 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks, and a steal, while Cousins’ 19 points marked a playoff career-high.

The Warriors will now kick up their feet and wait to see if they’ll take on the Memphis Grizzlies or the Minnesota Timberwolves in the next round.

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Jason Sudeikis Reportedly Didn’t Know Olivia Wilde Would Be Served Papers While On Stage At CinemaCon

On Tuesday, what should have been a moment of triumph for Olivia Wilde had a rude interruption. While on stage, the actress and filmmaker, presenting the trailer for her Booksmart follow-up Don’t Worry Darling at CinemaCon, was given a manilla envelope. It was later revealed that inside were custody papers from her ex-partner Jason Sudeikis. Clients have no control over how process servers go about their jobs, and that seems to be the case here.

“Papers were drawn up to establish jurisdiction relating to the children of Ms. Wilde and Mr. Sudeikis,” a source told The Hollywood Reporter. “Mr. Sudeikis had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have been delivered, as this would solely be up to the process service company involved, and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner.”

Sudeikis and Wilde started dating in 2011 and were engaged in 2013. Before parting ways in 2020, they had two children. After their split, Wilde began dating Harry Styles, who stars in her new film alongside Florence Pugh.

When Wilde was given the envelope during on the CinemaCon stage, she opened it, looked at its contents, and miraculously was able to compose herself and carry on with her presentation. The trailer was met with a rapturous response, and word of the risqué business between its two stars broke the internet, even though the only ones who’d even seen its images were those in attendance at the convention.

(Via THR)

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Quavo Lands A Role In The Upcoming Action Thriller ‘Takeover’ From Quality Control’s Film Division

Quavo has landed a few roles on the small screen throughout his musical career. Some examples include Atlanta, Narcos: Mexico, and Black-Ish. With that being said, Quavo has yet to land a role in a film, but all of that is going to change soon. Thanks to Quality Control, the label Quavo is signed to, and their new film division Quality Films, Quavo has just locked in his first movie role. According to Deadline, the Migos rapper will star in the upcoming action thriller Takeover, which will blend live-action scenes with animation thanks to help from Triscope who signed a co-production deal with Quality Films last March according to Complex.

In Takeover, Quavo will play a man named Guy Miller who is a former crook that is trying to get their life back together. Unfortunately, that attempt gets sidetracked by opportunities that make him return to Atlanta’s dangerous street racing scene. “I’m really excited for this opportunity, especially shooting in my hometown of Atlanta,” Quavo said about the film in a statement. “This film is an ideal opportunity to further delve into my craft, and I can’t wait to see how the action plays out in this animated environment.”

Trioscope’s Chief Creative Officer Greg Jonkajtys, who also directed Netflix’s The Liberator, will handle directing duties for Takeover. The film will also be written by Jeb Stuart (Die Hard and The Fugitive) and Brandon Easton will also contribute to the script.

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The Bucks Steamrolled The Bulls To Set Up A Second Round Showdown With Boston

The Milwaukee Bucks are headed to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Milwaukee played host to a shorthanded Chicago Bulls side that did not have the services of Zach LaVine or Alex Caruso on Wednesday evening, and in one of the most dominant performances we’ve seen in the postseason this year, the Bucks were able to pick up a Game 5 win, 116-100, to secure a 4-1 series victory.

Giannis Antetokounmpo set the tone from the beginning of the game. On Milwaukee’s first possession, the reigning NBA Finals MVP cleaned up a miss with an emphatic tip slam before spending the rest of the quarter imposing his will on the Bulls. By the time the first frame ended, Antetokounmpo had 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting, converted five of his seven attempts from the free throw line, and hauled in six rebounds and the Bucks had an emphatic 34-18 lead.

Milwaukee would go on to lead by as many as 29 points in the first half and took a 60-42 lead into the locker room. Antetokounmpo continued to to be unstoppable, as he eight of his nine shot attempts in the half and scored more points (23) than Chicago’s entire starting five (20).

Five other Bucks players — led by Brook Lopez’s eight — scored at least five points, while the team connected on 53.3 percent from the field. Chicago, meanwhile, had Patrick Williams score 12 and Coby White score 11, but there was simply a lid on the basket for everyone else, as the team went into the locker room shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from three.

While the Bulls were able to get some positive momentum going in the third by cutting the lead down to 11, Milwaukee was able to withstand those jabs and respond with haymakers. Immediately upon Chicago threatening to get things down to single-digits, the Bucks responded with a 13-2 run and kept them at arm’s length for the remainder of the game, leading by more than 20 points for lengthy stretches of the second half.

Six Milwaukee players scored in double-digits, led by a monster evening from Antetokounmpo. Despite checking out for the remainder of the game with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo went for 33 points on 11-for-15 shooting with nine rebounds and three assists. Pat Connaughton provided 20 points off the bench, while Bobby Portis couldn’t be kept off the glass, adding 17 rebounds to his 14 points. A 23-point evening for Williams and Nikola Vucevic’s 19 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists led the way for Chicago.

With the win, Milwaukee earned passage to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where it will go head-to-head with the Boston Celtics in a highly-anticipated second round matchup. The two teams split their four-game regular season series this year.

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Mitt Romney’s Sarcastic Joke About Student Loan Forgiveness Being A ‘Bribe’ Backfired Spectacularly

Since becoming president, Joe Biden has repeatedly kicked the can on when student loan payments, paused at the start of the pandemic, would resume. First it was early 2022. Then it was May. Now it’s September. But some have floated an idea popular with those who owe the combined $1.6 trillion in federal loans: Why not just cancel all of it? But when it was revealed Biden was finally considering doing just that — or something like it — Republicans came out in force against it.

One of them was among the more moderate and sensible members of the GOP: Mitt Romney. The Utah senator, former presidential candidate, and Ted Lasso ruiner has repeatedly split with his party, even coming out against ex-POTUS Donald Trump (as well as Marjorie Taylor Greene). But he joined them in condemning the potential move, doing so in sarcastic fashion.

“Desperate polls call for desperate measures: Dems consider forgiving trillions in student loans,” Romney tweeted. “Other bribe suggestions: Forgive auto loans? Forgive credit card debt? Forgive mortgages? And put a wealth tax on the super-rich to pay for it all. What could possibly go wrong?”

Every now and then, Republicans try to own their Democratic counterparts by inadvertently spouting something Democrats actually think is a great idea. So it was in Romney’s case. Auto loans, credit card debt, and mortgages aren’t the same as college tuition, which has skyrocketed over the last few decades, to the point where practically an entire generation can’t buy homes, buy cars, or contribute to the free market in any meaningful way. But if someone’s floating the idea of forgiving debt on those two? Many people thought Mitt Romney had a great idea.

Others pointed out that Romney cares more about the super-rich, like himself, than everyday Americans.

And others pointed out that he, too, is unimaginably, abstractly wealthy.

But at least his tweet put him in august company, which is to say the notorious Jim Jordan agreed with him.

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Pusha T Is A Double-Sided Menace In His Sinister Video For ‘Call My Bluff’

At long last, after a wait that lasted nearly four years, Pusha T delivered his fourth solo album It’s Almost Dry last weekend. The project presents 12 songs and guest appearances from Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert, Nigo, Labrinth, and Malice. It also flaunts heavy production from Kanye and Pharrell. In the spirit of promoting the new release, which could be his first No. 1 album, Pusha delivered a new video for “Call My Bluff.”

The track is one of the many Pharrell-produced songs on the project, and in its video, Pusha T finds himself seated at a table filled with what appear to be members of some mafia. Soon enough, we see the worst of Pusha as he seemingly orchestrates a heinous act, one that a pair of associates takes care of for him.

Pusha T dropped off the video for “Call My Bluff” after he shared updates on possible collaborations with Nas, The Weeknd, and Tyler The Creator. More recently, he was listed on the lineup for the 2022 Something In The Water festival where he will surely perform songs from It’s Almost Dry.

You can watch the visual for “Call My Bluff” above.

It’s Almost Dry is out now via GOOD Music and Def Jam. You can stream it here.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.