Hand and Stone featured in BusinessNewsDaily

Hand and Stone was featured in an article in the BusinessNewsDaily entitled, “Minority Business Owners Carve Out Equal Opportunities,” which published yesterday, January 17, 2011. The article was written by Cynthia Bunting and built from several interviews, including one with California’s first Hand & Stone franchisee and Area Developer, Shahira Raineri, who weighs in on what it means to be a minority business owner, from a firsthand perspective. Shahira Raineri's contribution to the article is below.

Minority Business Owners Carve Out Equal Opportunities
By CYNTHIA BUNTING

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day to remember the impact King had on precipitating change and fighting for equality in America. While images of King often show him marching or delivering his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, the lasting changes his efforts delivered are also playing out today in schools, neighborhoods and boardrooms across America.

King's efforts helped to pave the way for those who later fought to create opportunity for themselves — including women and individuals of all races, sexual orientations and other groups struggling for equal rights. In some cases, that equal opportunity includes the dream of owning their own businesses.

BusinessNewsDaily asked small business owners who consider themselves to be members of a minority group to share their thoughts about how who they are has affected their businesses.

I do define myself as a minority business owner. I continued to be frustrated by how my darker skin and eyes seemed to overshadow my know-how and intelligence. But I learned how to work with this stigma and used it to surround myself by people who value diversity and recognize that differing and various perspectives make for a much more successful workplace. I also learned that being a woman meant that I had to work much harder, much longer, much smarter. A minority business ownership will be what you make it. If you set out thinking that the world may have become more hospitable, then you might overlook a bunch of traps or people that could be trying to take advantage. If on the other hand, you set out to be successful with a mindset that you will be successful because you have the skills and leadership qualities to overcome inhospitable people or circumstances, then you will triumph! Here's to it!
- Shahira Raineri, handandstone.com.