CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More women are becoming entrepreneurs and Black women make up an increasingly large portion of this group.
According to a 2024 Wells Fargo impact report, there are about 14 million women-owned businesses in the country. That's up 14% from 2019.
The report also notes that black women represent nearly 15% of all women-owned businesses and are outpacing the market in growth rates for employment and revenue.
During the pandemic, Vonetta Mickens left the corporate world after 25 years and moved back home to Charlotte with the goal of starting her own business. Today, she has a team of employees, and she says she can better serve her community.
“I never thought I would have my own business,” Mickens said. “I really wanted to come to Charlotte to do that and thought what better way, give people jobs, and a fair wage and an opportunity to do something good in the community.”
Sarah Lathan Enterprises LLC, Mickens' business, which is named after her grandmother, is on the road.
“It grounds me,” Mickens said. “It really puts me in that posture of thinking about her and putting my best foot forward.”
Mickens, a third-generation Charlottean, is behind the wheel of this delivery operation. The business started with five vans and 10 people in October of 2021.
“I have grown to over 65 folks and a leadership of eight,” Mickens said.
“She cares about her people," driver Akisa Gowans said. "She is always on top of making sure we are safe and doing what we are supposed to do while we are out there."
Mickens was able to build her business with Amazon through its Delivery Service Partner Program.
“There’s been a lot that I’ve learned about insurance, whether that is health insurance or vehicular insurance,” Mickens said. “How to pay people from an ADP perspective … things I would have had to learn all by myself.”
About 70,000 packages are processed daily at Amazon’s Charlotte delivery station. Partners like Mickens and her team make sure those packages get to the right homes with the right support on their side.
“They receive infrastructure to include assistance to get vans, training for drivers to out on the road safely, world-class technology really all of the tools they need to be successful in delivering packages to customers,” Nelson Duckson, the Operations Manager for the delivery station, said.
Mickens’ advice to people looking to venture out and own a business is to be flexible, ask for help, and do something you love.
“My family is in this soil, my parents were born here, my grandparents were born here … and so it’s important to do it here,” Mickens said. “But for me, [it's also about] just making sure that my teams grow and that they are happy and that you can see the fruit of their labor that they take home to ones they love most every single day.”
Growing her business one mile at a time.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.