Among many things June is National Immigrant Heritage Month: a time to honor and celebrate the very wide array of contributions that immigrants have made and are continuing to make to our country. On the economic side of things it’s a time to, as this year’s ⁠White House Proclamation⁠ states, celebrate the fact that “Immigrants own approximately one in five businesses, create millions of jobs, pay hundreds of billions in taxes, and spend even more on American goods;” that, simply put, “immigrants keep our Nation strong and our economy growing.”

With that in mind we’re excited to publish an episode featuring our third VOLT Fund Series guest of 2023: Liliane Badawu, a native of Cameroon and the very proud owner of the ⁠The Braiding Palace⁠ in Glen Burnie.

We sat down with Lilly, not only a ⁠VOLT Fund⁠ loan and grant recipient but also a member of our first ⁠Inclusive Ventures Program⁠ (IVP) cohort, to discuss:

• How she decided to leave her day job and, following in the footsteps of her entrepreneurial parents, go all-in on opening her own business in Anne Arundel County.
• The biggest lessons that she learned from IVP – and why her cohort “felt like a family from the very first class.”
• How AAEDC’s VOLT COVID Relief Loan and Grant Program helped her business survive, and even grow, amid the COVID pandemic.
• What makes The Braiding Palace – aka “the place where hair dreams come true” – so special and successful, and what she has planned for its future.

So tune in to learn about an ArundelBiz – and an ArundelBiz owner – that’s all about the braids!