Invisible Recovery-Save Margie's Job & Business

Margie Haywood is organizing this fundraiser.

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I WANT TO TELL THE TRUTH..NO MORE PRETENDING...MY MASK IS COMING OFF!

While Covid paused the world and all income for most, we all know personally it didn’t pause debt, commercial rent or expenses. They still accrued for over 2+ years with no bailouts.

I’m asking for any type of help! It can be donations, direct bill pay, using my services, referrals, gift cards, travel points, scholarships, corporate sponsorships, etc. Just to have some basics.

$25,000 is a lot to some but would save a business which is my employer and employment for others while helping close a generational gap that keeps my family on track to uplift other people.

The 1st Phase of Money goes towards:

- Our business is solely family operated. Basic food, gas and living expenses, past due mortgage and bills to avoid homelessness and shut off

-paying off back commercial rents and extra deposits required to catch up to keep the business which provides income and solves a problem for the community

-mounting medical travel, gas and food expenses for 2 sons in treatment and 4 types of rehab for their brain injuries, mental health and trauma counseling for living with the accident and mounting fees for recreational activities to support their recovery

-working capital to remarket, rehire and retain employees that were laid off

2nd Phase of Money:

-Get out of a subtenant lease into my own due to the landlord mistreating me unfairly and discriminating against me for not being the primary tenant and not providing basic tenant rights

3rd Phase of Money: Pay it Forward

-Space expansion which provides space for our Social Initiatives

-scholarships, resources and funding for other entrepreneurial ventures

My story is like so many in the world. Here I am a business owner with my Masters degree and a business plan, which is supposedly the key to preventing poverty and reducing business failure.

Yet….

I’AM AT RISK OF HOMELESSNESS AND JOB LOSS. SILENT SUFFERING AND TRAUMA HAVE HAD A DOMINO EFFECT THAT IS KEEPING ME DROWNING WITH NO INCOME, SEEKING GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE, MOUNTING BILLS, PAST DUE AND SHUTOFF NOTICES, SCRAPPING FOR FOOD AND GAS, ONGOING MEDICAL BILLS FOR MY BOYS LIVING WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES, LACK OF FUNDING OPTIONS AND CONSISTENTLY RECYCLING INCOME TO FILL THE HUGE HOLE CREATED BY 2 PLUS YEAR SHUTDOWN. I AM FAKING IT TILL I MAKE IT AS A BUSINESS OWNER.

A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research cited that Black-owned small businesses were hardest hit, suffering the steepest decline (41 percent), followed by Hispanic and Asian-American-owned small businesses. In addition, according to a study by the National Association of Women Business Owners, women-owned businesses have been growing at only half the rate of those run by men, namely because women struggle to access capital and other resources to help them succeed.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

I don't want to be a catchy news headline. "Another Black-woman business failed" or "Owner Margie Haywood and her family are losing their home and everything that the vehicle of business has helped them overcome" or even, "Work and Play Lounge is closing its doors due to disparities in funding distribution" and/or "COVID-19 erases another space designed to bring communities together" All these headlines are my very real and current trajectory, but with your help as ambassadors of change, this doesn't have to be the outcome. You can pitch in, be a part of and collaborate with me while I use Work and Play Lounge to pay it forward to the community.

You can "own" a business and "own" nothing at the same time, don't let the cover of the book fool you. If not given a fair start, resources, visibility and intentional consumer spending, small businesses will continue to systemically fail.

I hope my story helps someone be free to fall in love with themselves, their story, imperfections, and dreams so that they can pay it forward and help lift others going through similar circumstances of loss, grief, anger, and trauma.

I am sharing my story because hiding and pretending for image, socials and opinions have not had any return on investment and false pride has caused more damage to those suffering silently.

Coworking with my babies and amazing professionals

I can’t overcome this hole without you. Come on this journey with me and watch this video to learn more about how I am using business and space to drive change for others and how your contribution helps close these gaps.

As a proud mother and advocate, looking to close economic disparities for all, I am seeking to not only survive but also to thrive and pave the road for fellow small business owners.

Work and Play Lounge Ambassadors

Here's my timeline of traumatic events that created barriers to successful business ownership that has me at risk of closing.

The Day Life Was Flipped Upside Down

On August 20, 2015, when my first-born children were 1 and 2 years of age, they fell out of a 30-foot-high window together, a major accident together that resulted in life-threatening injuries, some that would heal with time (skull fractures, broken bones) and some that would be a lifelong journey to recovery (Traumatic Brain Injuries, chronic headaches and trauma). This not only flipped my life upside down, but my finances took a hit due to sudden unemployment because I had to care for and rehab my children 5-6 days a week. Fast forward to 2023, 7 years after their injuries, we have entered the 2nd round of rehab, going to hospitals and therapies 2-4 times a week, and this is now a new expense for my family.

Try getting a business loan and commercial space while being black, a woman and a startup

2016-If you just google the statistics and data-driven disparity reports, that will pretty much sum up what I have continued to experience. The numbers don’t lie and I too have been a victim of institutional racism regarding my interactions with banks and real estate owners. Despite good credit, assets, cash and a viable business plan, I was consistently denied, because the gatekeepers in charge said they didn’t “understand my business model” but no feedback or attempt to understand it was made and no resources were provided to help me further explore business ownership.

Pictures from my first space in Bellevue, WA, 2018

Victim of discrimination and predatory commercial leasing

2018-My only hope to overcome the funding and commercial lease barriers was taking the self-funded route using my cash and assets and finding a sublease with fewer obstacles to open a brick-and-mortar business. I went from celebrating my first space in 2018 to the unexpected loss of it in 2019, while 6 months pregnant. I was blindsided by a sudden business bankruptcy filed by the subtenant landlord. Of which I was the only creditor of color, I was left off her list of creditors submitted to the court and the only creditor not informed of the filing. This person knowing that she was in financial trouble, knowingly engaged in predatory leasing as well as racial targeting, as she consistently pointed out that she was looking for a black-woman tenant because she wanted to “help them be an example to her kid who was half black. Double blindsided by the owning landlord’s reluctance to offer me a direct lease initially, and then only by request, reluctantly offered a direct lease with an attached 6–8-month deposit, again! Both landlords had the power, resources and authority to prevent me from displacement with little notice and loss of business. After a long battle in court, I was entitled to damages, but no money was left over to pay me. Overnight, my family lost all deposits, tenant improvements, income, and everything we had built. Wish I can say it stopped here but the ongoing challenges of my new subtenancy since 2021 have frustrated my hope that I can overcome barriers in commercial real estate leasing without the intervention of policies.

COVID-19 and its crippling impact on my creditworthiness as a business owner

2020-Many of these reasons existed far before the COVID health crisis but have only gotten wider since the COVID shutdown. Unfortunately, like many in my community, I lack the financial resources to recover, such as bank savings, access to a line of credit, or the ability to borrow from family and friends. As a business owner, it has been discouraging to learn that systemic policy failures kept pandemic aid from reaching most black businesses in America, including here in Seattle. I found that my perception of my pandemic hardships mirrors the realities of the disparities that recent data reports revealed at the city, state and federal levels. My personal credit scores took a hit during the pandemic as a result of no income and late payments. This has now become an even bigger barrier to commercial space, loans, and other sources of institutional capital.

WHAT IS WORK AND PLAY LOUNGE?

Work, meeting, and event space with amenities for all to work and play together outside of society’s racially divided boxes. We uniquely provide work, podcast recording studio, branding photography, safe mental/emotional support, and kid-friendly spaces for work-from-home professionals, parents, entrepreneurs, and creatives. We offer wholistic business solutions, mentorship, resources, and tools that support, prepare, and inspire people to entrepreneurship and small businesses and economies to thrive.

Here are the growing initiatives

ABOUT ME

Hello! My favorite job is being a mom and bridging gaps in whatever I do. I love to host events that build community, relationships and collaboration! Join me at any upcoming events and make sure to share with friends and family!

Quick Bio

“I am not just a business owner but an encourager of change and love" Let's be friends, connect here!

MEET THE BUSINESS KIDS BEHIND THE DREAM My children have inspired me from the beginning of this dream and beyond. I now have 3 boys and a beautiful baby girl! They were with us every day while we moved and built out the space, they are very good helpers! My hope has always been to build a platform to inspire youth entrepreneurship and social change early in life to provide them with the opportunities and resources to interrupt hate in our world. Learn more about My Sonshine Project here!

LET US SAY THANK YOU AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR KINDNESS

You are incredible! Let us reward you with a digital Postcard of Gratitude expressing our endless gratitude for your support and/or an Ambassador Profile Cover with you can share on social media to show how kind you are and a public acknowledgment for advocating for #smallbusiness!

PLUS.... you will be acknowledged on our community quilt of contributors that will be on display in the space, events and website. (You can always stay anonymous as well!)