Trenelle Doyle, a woman entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon, is the founder of a Black-owned rideshare start-up called Go Girl Ride that aims to make transportation safer for women and others who identify themselves as LGBTQ.

Trenelle, who was a former rideshare driver, witnessed firsthand how female passengers would express their relief whenever she was their driver. She also personally heard experiences of her customers being harassed or assaulted by other drivers on the rides.That's when Trenelle thought of creating a start-up where women, and anyone who self-identifies as a woman, feels safe to travel through ridesharing. With Go Girl Ride, she wanted to ensure there would be no more incidents of driver impersonation and sexual predators so each one who applies as a driver undergoes a background check and interview process.
Moreover, the company also sold safety kits equipped with non-lethal weapons that passengers could carry for protection. The earnings from the safety kits help fund the platform which started in Portland but will soon be expanding nationally and even globally.
For more information about Go Girl Ride, visit GoGirlRide.com

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Meet Michele Hoskins, founder of Michele Foods Inc., a multi-million dollar business whose products are sold in more than 10,000 stores nationwide. Her line of syrup products has recently seen a huge increase in sales since the owners of Aunt Jemima decided to pull its racist brand from grocery store shelves.

​Michele is not new to the industry. She began manufacturing her specialty breakfast syrups in 1984. That same year, Michele secured the top two largest retail chains in the Chicagoland area, which took her out of the basement and into 400 retail chains. She went on to become the first minority supplier for Denny’s, the first minority supplier for Walmart, and over the years she has partnered with some of the most respected food companies in the world – General Mills and Sara Lee.

Michele laughs when she recalls her early struggles and countless mistakes. She overcame incredible odds to turn this family secret into a formula for success. In her best-selling book, Sweet Expectations, she comments, “There were no mentors for an African American female entrepreneur in the food industry in those days. I had to learn from my mistakes. Had I not been naïve, I may not have started this journey. All I had going for me was my goal and a commitment to making it work.”

Today, her products can be found in the top retail chains, more than 8,000 stores nationwide, including Kroger, Albertson’s, Jewel Foods, Publix, Safeway and more. The recipe that started it all is known as Michele’s Honey Crème Syrup, a rich, creamy confection made with honey, cream, and butter.

In addition to the original Honey Crème, her products are also available in Butter Pecan and Maple Crème flavors. These days the syrups are more than just for waffles and pancakes, they are used by cooks as condiments and in sweet and savory dishes.

Learn more at MicheleFoods.com or find her products on Amazon

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Samia Gore, the founder of a wellness and lifestyle brand called Body Complete RX has become the first Black woman to have a supplement line sold at The Vitamin Shoppe. In fact, her brand has launched the TRIM line in over 700 of the store's retail locations nationwide.

​Gore, who is a 40-year old mother of 4, started her own weight loss journey in 2014 when she gave birth to her last child and gained weight. She said it affected her health and emotions so she decided to eat healthier. But then she couldn't find any supplements that would actually suit her needs.
That's when the idea of starting out her own wellness brand came to mind. She started sharing on Instagram her own experiences, personal routine, and tips that led her to lose nearly 80 pounds. From there, she launched Body Complete RX in 2017.
Body Complete RX started from selling supplements to also offering other wellness products such as vegan protein powders, collagen-boosting powder, superfood bars, women and men's multivitamins, and many more. Since then, the company has grossed $10 million in sales.
Most recently, the brand partnered with The Vitamin Shoppe to carry its TRIM line, which features "exclusive plant-based, vegan weight management supplements" such as Boost Metabolism Drops, Renew Energy Drops, and Control Appetite Suppressant Capsules.
"We are so excited to be launching at one of the top retailers of nutritional supplements in the country because it's a true testament to the efficacy of our brand and products," Gore said. "As the first and only Black female-owned brand in The Vitamin Shoppe's weight management category, I am excited to make these wellness products more accessible to customers across the country and support their journey toward wellbeing."
For more information about Body Complete RX and/or to order online, visit BodyCompleteRX.com

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Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who made history as the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling for the United States, is determined to make her mother's dream come true as she uses her prize money to buy her a food truck hoping to start a business for her.

"She's always doing back-breaking work," Mensah-Stock said of her mother, according to People. "I've just seen her struggling ever since my dad died and I don't like seeing it."
She was in high school when her father, Prince Mensah, died in a car accident while driving home from a wrestling match. That tragic incident almost stopped her from pursuing her athletic career. But now, she said if her father had been alive, "he would have been the loudest one here. He would have been so proud."
Since then, her mother continued to support her in all her endeavors. In return, she made it her goal to make her mother happy in any way she can. So when she found out that a food truck would really gladden her mother, who has a passion for cooking, she made a promise to buy one for her someday.
Now, the 28-year old is fulfilling her promise using the $37,500 tax-free prize money courtesy of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Her mother would no longer have to cook on a portable grill, which she said is not really the best legal method for a food business, as she would soon become a proud owner of a food truck they'll call "The Lady Bug."
"It is going to be pleasant. It's going to be legal. It's going to be fun," she said.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday he will resign after a withering report from the state's attorney general alleged he'd sexually harassed multiple women, leading to calls from top Democrats, including President Joe Biden, that he step down.
"And I think that given the circumstances the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government, and therefore that is what I'll do, because I work for you, and doing the right thing, is doing the right thing for you," Cuomo said.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, will serve the rest of his term, and will be the state's first female governor.
"It is a matter of life and death. Government operations and wasting energy on distraction is the last thing government should be," Cuomo said. "I cannot be the cause. New York tough means New York loving. And I love New York and I love you. Everything I have ever done has been motivated by that love and I would never want to be unhelpful in any way."
Facing impeachment proceedings, which he admitted he would be unable to counter, Cuomo, 63, announced he'll leave office in 14 days while continuing to insist that he did nothing wrong.
Speaking to his three daughters, Cuomo said, "I want them to know from the bottom of my heart that I never did and I never would intentionally disrespect a woman, treat any woman differently than I would want them treated and that is the God's honest truth."
"Your dad made mistakes. And he apologized, and he learned from it and that's what life is all about."
After he was first hit with sexual harassment allegations earlier this year, Cuomo ignored bipartisan demands that he resign, and predicted the investigation he authorized state Attorney General Letitia James to carry out would exonerate him. Instead, the report alleged that he'd harassed 11 women — nine of whom were state employees — and subjected some of them to unwelcome touching and groping. His office also retaliated against one of the women after she spoke out about how she was treated, the report alleged.
In the wake of the report, the state Assembly had begun to organize impeachment proceedings. Local law enforcement officials also announced they were investigating whether criminal charges were appropriate.

The attorney general was asked if Cuomo should step down after she released the report last week. "That decision is up to the governor himself. The report speaks for itself," she responded.
Biden, a longtime Cuomo ally, was more blunt when he was asked about the report. "I think he should resign," Biden said.
The resignation caps a remarkable fall from grace for the third-term governor, who was riding high in public opinion polls last year after his public briefings about the coronavirus pandemic in his hard-hit state were lauded.

That reputation took a major blow in January, when James's office issued a report that found that the state Health Department had underreported the Covid-19 death toll in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent. A top Cuomo aide was then caught on tape telling Democratic legislators that the administration took months to release the full data about nursing home residents in part because of worries that the information was "going to be used against us" by the Trump administration.
The U.S. attorney in Brooklyn and the FBI began a preliminary investigation into how the Cuomo administration handled the data earlier this year.
Cuomo was then accused in mid-February of having threatened to "destroy" a Democratic lawmaker who alleged that the administration "covered up" the nursing home numbers. Cuomo denied there had been any cover-up.
That was followed by a string of sexual harassment allegations, including by some former aides. The first to speak out was Lindsey Boylan, who wrote an essay on the website Medium which described being subjected to "pervasive harassment" in her years of working for the governor.
Boylan said Cuomo made numerous inappropriate comments to her in front of other people, including once asking her to play "strip poker," and said he once kissed her on the lips when they were alone.
Cuomo's office called Boylan's claims "quite simply false," but they led to numerous other women stepping forward to say they'd been mistreated and to a flood of Democratic lawmakers calling for his resignation, including the vast majority of New York's congressional delegation.

Fighting for his political survival, Cuomo authorized James to investigate the harassment claims and predicted the probe would exonerate him — but it wound up substantiating all the claims against him in a blistering 165-page report.
In one case, he allegedly groped an executive assistant under her shirt, and in another, he fondled a state trooper, the report alleged. The governor "sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women," the report alleged.
Shortly after the report's release, Cuomo maintained "I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances," and vowed to focus on his job.
Cuomo intended to run for a fourth term, a feat his three-term governor father, the late Mario Cuomo, was not able to achieve.

​Source: NBC News