We get to the heart and soul of entrepreneurs, connect them with resources to grow their businesses and teach them how to balance work, life and play!

We focus on the health and wellness of your business!

Our work life balance trainers help clients project manage their busy lives and get to the heart and soul of their business and their life! We help clients execute well so they can escape back to what makes them feel great! Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc….the ”just ask us” therapists!

You talk, we listen. We share, we collaborate, You breathe! 

Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc., a Certified NYC & NYS Minority Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) 

Stay connected with us for us via our website, www.aerobasoul.com, email or social media!
Happy MWBE Monday to our Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc. Community Family!

We hope that everyone is safe, healthy, “surviving” and “thriving” through the icy, chilly weather and the increase in Covid-19 and Omicron Variant cases. Let’s all continue to do our best to remain safe. 

Click on these helpful links to stay informed and up to date on this ever-changing global pandemic.
We're All In Campaign - Expanding Rapid Testing and Vaccination Sites in Mount Vernon
A new state-run testing site is now open in Mount Vernon, NY located at Grace Baptist Church (52 S 6th Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY, 10550) and operate from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm. Rapid antigen testing will be available at the site. Test results are sent following the appointment through email or text message. New Yorkers are strongly encouraged to make appointments here. Walk-in appointments will also be available.
Hurricanes, storms, the global pandemic and so much more led to many minority and women owned businesses (MWBEs) to fail in 2021. However, many MWBEs did quite well last year and forecasting to do well in 2022!
Some MWBEs:
  • generated new business turning their business into a virtual business
  • took on part-time jobs to supplement their revenues
  • temporarily went on unemployment and received the extra “pandemic unemployment”
  • tapped into their networks to “repivot” their companies
  • collaborated, teamed and or subcontracted with Prime Contractors and or other MWBE to capitalize on government, non-profit and corporate contracting opportunities.
  • received grants and loan.
Thanks to and congratulations to everyone who did what they could to keep MWBEs open last year and this year! You are the true VIP’s!
Book your appointment today with the Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc. Team to get your business
Back on track in 2022! We business coaching, workforce development training and help MWBE’s get certified as they navigate the government and corporate procurement process! MWBE’s, Government Agencies and Non-Profits are our favorite clients! 


KEEP THE FAITH!

Even though many MWBEs may not have reached their targeted revenues, they found a way somehow to keep the doors of their business open. They “tapped into their power within” to become resilient and to persevere through last year’s numerous obstacles with a little bit of help from family, friends, clients, grants, loans, etc. 

Many tapped into the network to turn contacts into contracts. Networking is a socioeconomic business activity by which businesspeople and entrepreneurs meet to form business relationships and to recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities, share information and seek potential partners for ventures.

When life knocks you down, get up! Believe that you can, and you will! Don’t embrace that you are a failure. Everyone can be a success! Don’t let others define or label you!  
Last week, we lost one of the world’s greatest actors and humanitarians who refused to be labeled, Sidney Poitier.
 
SIDNEY POITIER – Trailblazer, Actor, Director and Humanitarian dies at 94
In a groundbreaking film career that spanned decades, Poitier established himself as one of the finest performers in America. He made history as the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best actor and, at the height of his fame, he became a major box-office draw.

Poitier, who rejected film roles based on offensive racial stereotypes, earned acclaim for portraying dignified, keenly intelligent men in 1960s landmarks such as “Lilies of the Field,” “A Patch of Blue,” “To Sir, With Love,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
He said he felt a responsibility to represent Black excellence at a time when the vast majority of movie stars were white and many Black performers were relegated to subservient or buffoonish roles. He came to be seen as an elder statesman in the film industry, celebrated for his social conscience and admired for his regal bearing.

Sidney Poitier (February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, and ambassador. In 1964, he was the first African American and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.[2] He also received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Poitier's family lived in the Bahamas, then still a Crown colony, but he was born unexpectedly in Miami while they were visiting, which automatically granted him U.S. citizenship. He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved to Miami at age 15, and to New York City when he was 16. He joined the American Negro Theater, landing his breakthrough film role as a high school student in the film Blackboard Jungle (1955). In 1958, Poitier starred with Tony Curtis as chained-together escaped convicts in The Defiant Ones, which received nine Academy Award nominations; both actors received nominations for Best Actor, with Poitier's being the first for a Black actor. They both also had Best Actor nominations for the BAFTAs, with Poitier winning. In 1964, he won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actor[3][a] for Lilies of the Field (1963), playing a handyman helping a group of German-speaking nuns build a chapel.[4]

Poitier also received acclaim for Porgy and Bess (1959), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), and A Patch of Blue (1965). He continued to break ground in three successful 1967 films which dealt with issues of race and race relations: To Sir, with Love; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night. He received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his performance in the last film and in a poll the next year he was voted the US's top box-office star.[5] Beginning in the 1970s, Poitier also directed various comedy films, including Stir Crazy (1980), starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, among other films. After nearly a decade away from acting, he returned to television and film starring in Shoot to Kill (1988) and Sneakers (1992).

Poitier was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974.[6][7] In 1995, he received the Kennedy Center Honor. From 1997 to 2007, he was the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.[8] In 2009, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.[9] In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for outstanding lifetime achievement in film.[7] In 1999, he ranked 22nd among male actors on the "100 Years... 100 Stars" list by the American Film Institute. In 1982, he received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and in 2000, he received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.[10][11] In 2002, he was given an Honorary Academy Award, in recognition of his "remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being".[12]

Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc.’s CEO Kecia has the honor and privilege to meet the great Mr. Poitier at his book signing on May 26, 2000 at the black owned business, The Blackberry Shop, located in the basement at Macy*s Herald Square. The Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc. team thanks Mr. Poitier for his excellence in all that he did. We stand on your shoulders as we move onward and forward into our own greatness. We are all human beings regarding of race. Like Kecia, Mr. Poitier is also a former proud Mt. Vernon resident.

Sidney Poitier was one of Kecia’s favorite actors and directors. She lives by his quote:
“Living consciously involves being genuine; it involves listening and responding to others honestly and openly; it involves being in the moment.”
~ Sidney Poitier
MWBE MONDAY RESOURCES
Below are some networks and resources that Minority Women Owned Business Enterprises and small business owners can connect with to help them get through these challenging times. We’ve got your back!
Many minority and women business enterprise entrepreneurs use their local, County and State Agencies to stay current and tap into potential resources and procurement opportunities for their businesses and their communities. Getting MWBE Certified and procuring government contracts can help MWBEs build their businesses! Grants and loans are also parts of MWBEs portfolios to grow their businesses.
New York Women’s Chamber of
Commerce – Upcoming Workshops and Grant Programs With Community Partners
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST
SBS-PTAC: Selling to
Government - Identifying Opportunity
Webinar
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
10:00 AM EST
HCDC: Taking Your Pitch From Good To Great
Webinar
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST
NYC SBS: M/WBE Mentors - Perfect Your Business Pitch
Webinar
Apply for the State’s Grant for Small Businesses Now!
New York State's $800 million COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program was launched in June to provide grant assistance to small businesses in the State of New York who experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New York Women's Chamber of Commerce has been working with the State to assist applicants submitting their applications. 
 
Applications will only be accepted for as long as funds are available, and now the program has been running for several months. Funds are still available but if you have not applied for the Small Business Recovery Grant yet and you are interested in applying, we strongly recommend that you do so soon. Contact us for assistance before funds run out!
 
Please contact Steve Paguay at spaguay@nywcc.org for more information and how to apply.
Have a safe and great week! Stay connected with us so you stay connected! Follow us on our social media! We will get through 2022 together! We thank each and everyone of you for your continued support and business!

Stay safe and continue to reach for excellence! Special shout out to our parents, family and friends for your continued love and support to us!
See you on Philanthropy Thursday!
Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc! We help MWBEs focus on the health and wellness of their business! Let’s us help you make your dreams, business and professional and goals come true in 2022! We are here for you! Just give us a call at 914-737-7237 or schedule a consultation with us at www.aerobasoul.com. You’ll be glad that you did!
 
Sincerely,
 
Kecia and Kevin
Contact Kecia with questions about
starting or growing your business!

At Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc. we bring dreams to life with heart and soul! Like a trusted friend and confidante, our personal project managers tap into their vivid imaginations, hearts and souls to analyze clients’ projects, processes and people training. Stop suffering in silence! Rent our brainpower and we will connect you with the resources and technical assistance to address your needs and build your business.

Entrepreneurs and non-profits constantly juggle projects and their own self-care. Breathe! We can relate! We are small business owners who have survived and thrived by collaborating with a “think tank” of other socially conscious businesses/community partners! Our work life balance trainers help clients project manage their busy lives and get to the heart and soul of their business and their life! We help clients execute well so they can escape back to what makes them feel great! Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc….the ”just ask us” therapists! You talk, we listen. We share, we collaborate, You breathe!

Our services include:
  • Business Management Consulting Services
  • Life Coaching
  • MWBE Consulting/Prepare NYC/NYS MWBE Certification Applications
  • Public Speaking
  • Project Management
  • Training
  • Career Preparation
  • Customer Service
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Leadership
  • Networking
Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc.,
a Certified NYC & NYS Minority Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE)
Kecia Palmer-Cousins, MBA

Aero-Ba-Soul, Inc.

Office: 914.737.7237
Cell: 914.512.4373