The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 41

Diane Speaks: " When Black
business closes, a light in
the community dies. "
TRISH WHITE-BOYD
BLUE RIDGE SENIOR SERVICES
Trish White-Boyd has a lot of employees who
depend on her home-care business. She won't
be specific because " the number is variable, "
but COVID cut those numbers by a good bit,
at least for the short term.
When she opened Blue Ridge Senior
Services 16 years ago, there were few home care
businesses operating in the Roanoke Valley.
There are a lot now. She has to depend heavily
on referrals and that depends almost entirely
on reputation, she says. " Black businesses have
to dot the 'I' and cross the 'T', run a tight ship
and we have to be better. "
Her experience is that " Roanoke is more
DIANE SPEAKS
SHE'S INTERNATIONAL BOUTIQUE
Diane Speaks, 68, was an airline flight attendant
for 35 years, but when 9/11 scorched the
earth and the airline cut her salary substantially,
" Plan B was born. With the experience of traveling
all over the world and visiting countless
fashion districts, I created She's International
Boutique to house exquisite international fashions. "
Money from family members helped her
kick-start. " I don't think [generational wealth
is] something people of color have access to in
most cases, " she says.
Her personality and contacts led to nearlyimmediate
success. She's been at it for 16 years
now and " I have needed to keep reimagining
She's International, keeping concepts fresh. I
put on dinner parties, fashion shows, art parties,
luncheons and more parties. My employees
helped me establish a website. My young high
school girls helped me stay on social media. A
small business owner means working 24/7, and
sometimes more. "
She's had help through the trying pandemic.
" I am a survivor. I must survive. It's a year and
a half later, and so far, I'm still here. I have lost
a substantial amount of revenue. I would not
be here if it weren't for government assistance.
I'm not ashamed to say that. There are countless
other stores who are here because they also
received government loans and grants. "
TheRoanoker.com
difficult " to do business for African Americans
because " it is so segregated, although it is
progressive in many ways. " It is sad, she says,
that " educated Black people are hard to get
here and most don't stay when they come.
Many of us do the best we can to involve new
Black professionals because we aren't growing
them. They move here. There is just so little of
the grow up, start a business, be successful " in
Roanoke.
Trish White-Boyd:
" Whatever happens,
we have to make it
happen. "
Baraka Kasongo: " When people
talk about struggles, no matter
how painful, that is a start. "
BARAKA KASONGO
VOLATIA
Baraka Kasongo opened his interpreting business,
Volatia, with two strikes against him. He
is Black and he is an immigrant from Rwanda.
He worked for education, eventually earning
an MBA and he opened his business in 2003.
At 35, he has clients all over the country and,
he says, a combined 1,099 employees on call.
Volatia offers translation of 286 languages
all day, every day to lawyers, medical personnel,
schools, government, emergency services, etc.
Kasongo, who spent years in a refugee camp
as a child, speaks five languages, and he insists
that " I didn't set out to become wealthy. I am
driven to make an impact. "
He is not at all naïve about his color affecting
success. " It is a major frustration due to the
enormous cost involved, " he says. " I have to
work two or three times as hard to do what half
what my counterparts [who are white] do. I ask
no favors, just an equitable opportunity. Where
equitable doesn't pass, equal will do just fine. "
He often sees that " the hatred I ran from
[in Rwanda] has clearly followed me. Still, this
is far better than the refugee pens " and " I see
improvement. There must be improvement.
When people talk about struggles, no matter
how painful, that is a start. "
And for these owners, a start is a good place
to begin. I
JAN/FEB 2022 41
DAN SMITH / COURTESY OF TRISH WHITE-BOYD
http://www.TheRoanoker.com

The Roanoker January/February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker January/February 2022

The Roanoker January/February 2022 - Cover1
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - Cover2
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 3
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 4
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 5
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 6
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 7
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The Roanoker January/February 2022 - Cover3
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - Cover4
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife1
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The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife84
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The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife86
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife87
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife88
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The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife90
The Roanoker January/February 2022 - VBRLife91
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