Karibu Grocery & Deli
Our panelists from Karibu Grocery & Deli was gracious enough to provide their answers to the questions we prepared for the panel discussion.
How has the history or structure of your family influenced your experience as an entrepreneur and vice versa?
The history of our family starting business has not been an easy task but because we work collaboratively, it made us stronger to do and become more. We came to the US 20 years ago and lost our dad due to cancer in our first few years living in America.
My mom had to raise basically 8 children herself in a country she knew very little about. My brother had to become the man of the house at a young age and become the first of our family to graduate from high school and college with a business degree and set good examples for us to do the same. Fast forwarding to today, 7 of us have graduated from college and the youngest is currently a junior at the U of M. So yes, I do believe the structure as an entrepreneur because everything must have a foundation in order to be strong.
In the past, Mayor Melvin Carter has mentioned that diversity should be viewed as more of an asset to Saint Paul than a challenge due to the immense cultural, social, and economic value it provides us with (paraphrased)… Do you agree with that perspective?
Yes, we do agree with the statement of mayor Melvin carter that diversity should be viewed as an asset rather than a challenge because diversity introduces a fresh breath of air to our communities. Diversity is what makes a community in my opinion. Looking down Payne Ave would be a great example, we have so much richness in culture on this street alone. A good example is how we introduce our East African dishes to our customers who might’ve never tried it ever but now it’s a weekly thing for them.
Should there be more entrepreneurship in the African-American community? If so, why and what things are needed for it to increase?
Of course! I believe there needs to be more African American entrepreneurship and also even more diverse entrepreneurs and more family owned entrepreneurs in our community. We have come across so many intelligent and business-minded people but just lack the funds.
The things that are needed to increase this, I would say, is to put out more resources out there for the people. We have so many resources that we can take advantage of but we don’t even know it’s out there because nobody is informing us. I believe we need a way to help fund the ideas of people, and also educate them at the same time on how to run a successful business in our city.
Do you have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial? What are some things that families can do to become more entrepreneurial or support entrepreneurial activity?
No, I don’t think you have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial. You can be creative and imaginative and be entrepreneurial. Some things families can do to be entrepreneurial are first, making sure you all are on the same page with the same goals. What made us stronger as a family to run a business is that we always relied on each other when things got hard. For example, when this pandemic hit, we made sure that whatever happened, we would stick together and ride it out. Working with multiple brains is always better than one or even two. Don’t be afraid to be innovative and always make sure you have something to keep you motivated/challenges throughout the week.