SEEing Change and Innovation in Employment Initiatives Through Social Enterprise with Brenda Palms Barber

We couldn't BEE happier to bring you this next episode of SEE Change! On this episode, we welcomed the amazing Brenda Palms Barber, Founder of Sweet Beginnings, Chicago, LLC and CEO and President of North Lawndale Employment Network for a fascinating discussion about honeybees, business, and how the social enterprise she founded almost 20 years ago is changing lives on the West Side of Chicago.

She talks us through how she identified the root causes of the extraordinarily high unemployment and chronic poverty levels in this part of Chicago and how she came upon creating this innovative job training and employment program through the art, science, and business of beekeeping and, over time, natural skin care products.

The best part about Sweet Beginnings is that it is a market-driven solution to a social issue so in addition to providing fabulous honey and skin care products, they are raising awareness for the issue of mass incarceration through something that is as simple and day-to-day as honey. 

Although before founding Sweet Beginnings, Brenda did not know anything about beekeeping, her can-do attitude, unwavering determination, and ability to seek out the good in people helped her create and grow it into something way beyond anything she could have imagined. It’s a BEEutiful story!

Sweet Beginnings now sells honey and skincare products under the name #BeeLove and can be purchased at Mariano's Supermarkets, as well as at hotels, airports, and online.

To learn more about Sweet Beginnings and Bee Love products, visit www.beelovebuzz.com.

About R. Seelaus & Co., Inc.

R. Seelaus & Co., Inc. was founded in 1984 by Richard Seelaus, originally as a municipal bond broker-dealer. The firm has since become a certified women's business enterprise ("WBE") and has grown into a full-service financial firm that is mission driven in its commitment to creating more opportunities for women in the financial services. R. Seelaus & Co., Inc. and its subsidiaries offer investment advisory, asset management, capital markets, brokerage, fixed income and equity trading, institutional sales, leveraged finance and insurance services. The R. Seelaus & Co., LLC subsidiary is a broker dealer registered with the SEC and member of FINRA, and the subsidiary Seelaus Asset Management, LLC, is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor ("RIA"). With various fixed income trading desks and more than seventy professionals, both entities serve individuals, families, public and private companies, non-profit organizations, and institutional investors. The firm has offices in NJ, CT, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, South Carolina, and Massachusetts.

For more information about R. Seelaus & Co., and its subsidiaries visit www.rseelaus.com