Fourteen years ago, Michaella Blissett Williams started working as a hairdresser in a basement studio in her brownstone apartment on Bergen Street in Brooklyn. Today, she’s about to open her fifth location. Her journey is a true ICIC success story as Williams’ business, [salon] 718, is a multi-year recipient of the ... Read More

Maria Ureña is a nurse by profession, but these days, she’s the CEO of a full-service auto repair shop. It’s an unusual journey but one that Ureña says has been a natural evolution as she and her husband, Cesar, have built King Automotive Services Inc., into a thriving family-owned business in ... Read More

Cooking is in Benjamin Smith’s blood. Following in the footsteps of his father, he spent many years working in restaurants and hotels, but it was the opportunity to help rebuild the community he loves that helped him find his life’s passion. “We had prostitution, drug activity, a lot of gangs,” Benjamin ... Read More

As a BIPOC, woman, and immigrant, Susana Robledo faced many systemic challenges on her path to entrepreneurship. Yet, the Founder and CEO of Miami-based Cube Care, did not allow those challenges to deter her determination to succeed. Susana was driven to create a business that not only prospered financially, but ... Read More

This story is the first in a series of Stories of Resilience that demonstrate the generosity, creativity and community-building spirit that countless ICIC alumni have shown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Blaisdell’s Business Products has been delivering office supplies and support to communities for over 70 years. What originally started as a small retail ... Read More