Starting a business, a successful and sustainable one, is not an easy feat. It takes a good idea, connecting with the right people, good money management, step after step of good decision-making, and even then – a good bit of luck.
For those coming from underserved communities or minority populations, the hurdles are even more challenging. Few in the Region are as familiar with that as Faith Spencer, president & CEO of IronWorkz, a nonprofit business incubator based in Gary. IronWorkz serves as a nucleus, guiding residents to the tools, people, and resources that can help launch their careers as entrepreneurs.
“IronWorkz was created to be a launch pad for entrepreneurship,” Spencer said. “It’s meant to give minorities an opportunity to learn what it means to be an entrepreneur. I was born and raised in Gary but graduated from Hobart, and that’s from the pure fact that my parents wanted me to have more opportunities and access to things I was interested in, so I recognize the resource gap that’s there. Why should I have to leave a community I grew up in to get more resources?”
While at school in Hobart, Spencer met Teacher Daniel Schultz, who teaches engineering and entrepreneurship classes at the school. He also encourages students to enter competitions such as Innovate WithIN, where students design, pitch, and build a business. That opportunity, and what she saw when she took it, birthed the idea of IronWorkz.
“I am an African-American woman, and I did not see anyone in that competition space who looked like me,” Spencer said. “To me, that was a problem, and that’s where the thought of IronWorkz started to form. I didn’t know what it was going to look like or what it was going to be, but I knew I had to figure out a way to get more people of color, more minorities in the space of entrepreneurship. We have the ability to create and sell products and services, we do that quite naturally all the time.”
That competition experience also introduced her to Domenica Hartman, intellectual property (IP) attorney and founder of Hartman Global IP Law. Hartman helped Spencer build an understanding of IP law and what ideas and images a business needs to protect, and continues to consult Spencer today – years later. Spencer also took inspiration from Hartman’s character and passion, for both her work and her community.
“When opportunities are there for someone to give back to the small business community, people like Domenica jump at those opportunities,” she said. “Professionals like her and those opportunities are so critical in the business development process. There are lots of things that you fail to recognize are critical or essential until you’re under hot water because you failed a compliance check or someone stole your idea. Hartman exposed me to all that, and helped me understand the complexities of being a business owner.”
IronWorkz, which Spencer co-founded with Emmani Ellis and Alex Termini, takes a broad approach to business incubation. It connects people with resources in ways both traditional and creative. They hold workshops for both students at schools across Gary and beyond as well as the community at large, introducing people to business and professional concepts that they might otherwise have never been exposed to. They also host community events and giveaways, providing both education and direct aid to entrepreneurs.
“We host our Back 2 Skool bash called I.G.N.I.T.E., where we celebrate that students are going back to school but also highlight young entrepreneurs in Northwest Indiana,” she said. “It’s a free event with vendors and resources related to starting a business, and last year we gave out $25 uniform vouchers for students, book bags, and this year we actually did a sneaker donation and gave out shoes to over 100 students.”
Spencer also sees it as a duty to help showcase the innovative and talented young entrepreneurs around the community that might otherwise go unrecognized.
“There are students here in Northwest Indiana creating products and services,” she said. “They are actively out here doing this stuff. Bringing awareness to that is a critical point.”
IronWorkz is still young, as is most of its staff. Spencer knows that a young team operating a business incubator might bring some skepticism. IronWorkz is meant to be a living model of the success of young entrepreneurs, a business that puts its values into practice and helps others do the same.
“Most people say, ‘How can you teach me about something that you just started a couple years ago?’” Spencer said. “It’s not about saying we know everything because we don’t, it’s about recognizing the power and strength of a network. We can connect people with those who focus on topics such as mindset or financial literacy, like local bank personnel, CPAs, and accountants. All of that is how we execute on the things we say we do.”
To learn more about IronWorkz and its upcoming events, visit ironworkz.org. For more information on Hartman Global IP Law, visit hartmanglobal-ip.com.