Kevin Bryant, founder of Inkosi Advertising, knows all too well that entrepreneurs need a lot of support to get their ideas off the ground. That’s why at the launch of his first-ever Community Needs Expo May 11 and 12 there will be a panel of experts to teach entrepreneurs how to start and finance their business ideas.
“The panel is modeled after ABC’s show The Shark Tank, in which hopeful entrepreneurs try to convince rich investors to give them money,” Bryant says. “At the expo’s shark tank, investors won’t give money, but a high dose of transformative advice.”
Through the shark tank and expo-at-large, Bryant and a team of partners aim to empower people with vital resources – including job and health fairs, a veteran’s resource village – and vouchers to help reduce parking-ticket fines and electric bills.
“Having a big exciting event where people can improve their lives makes sense to me,” Bryant says.
Last November, Bryant joined forces with business and non-profit leaders to plan this free expo that will take place at the America’s Center.
“Whatever is going to heal this community is going to come from a groundswell of people,” Bryant says.
As a result, Bryant invited Terrence J of the hit movie Think Like a Man to host the expo’s youth rally and panel on Saturday.
Panelist Cedric Cobb, president of Edge Business Solutions, is excited to provide on-the-spot mentoring.
“There are a lot of topics not fully discussed with our young people,” says Cobb, 36. “So this is a perfect forum to talk and get guidance at a critical time in your life.”
Looking back at his own life, Bryant says he owes his development to a series of mentors, events, and youth programs in St. Louis that nurtured his ambitions. By age 20, Bryant was in college and feeling the rush of successfully selling his own ideas.
“I made and sold airbrushed shirts and my own art work,” says Brant, 40. “Later, I ran a youth program and fell in love with helping people.”
In St. Louis, Bryant has gone from owning a book store, then a lounge, to handling advertising campaigns for A-list clients such as rapper Nelly and non-profits including Grace Hill Health Centers.
After helping many non-profits and charitable organizations reach their target audiences, he realized he could do even more to connect charitable services to people who need them.
“There are more than 35 billion dollars of charitable funds raised every year in Missouri alone,” Bryant says. “The question is, ‘How do you get the charities to spend it on something that draws more people to their services?’”
Friday, the expo will answer this question – and kick off with amnesty for parking tickets and a job fair powered by Prudential insurance firm, Levy Restaurants, and SLATE, the city’s job training and employment agency. Humana, a health insurance company, will provide a special Veteran’s Village with more than 40 booths dedicated to veterans’ needs.
At the same time, people can learn about the Gateway to Better Health program which reduces co-pays for doctor visits. And a health rally Saturday will dive into Yoga, Zumba and a boot camp with mixed martial artist Jermaine Andre, who is also presenting a fight in honor of American troops Saturday night.
Throughout the expo, people can engage workshops on job preparedness, fundraising, credit repair, home ownership, and wealth development.
“This is really a call for altruistic people to come together,” Bryant says. “When we hook up and do something, that’s when we change the world.”
To learn more about the expo’s Shark Tank event and the Community Needs Expo May 11 and 12, call (314) 361 – 3984 or visit www.CommunityExpo.org.
