Legitimize Your Hustle: SEMO, 20 North Pacific extend outreach to local women, minorities

From handmade jewelry, art or candles sold online to people offering photography or copy editing services — and sometimes, for below-market prices — it seems almost everyone has a side hustle these days.

To help young entrepreneurs learn how to turn their skills and hobbies into a serious business idea, the Economic Engagement Center at Southeast Missouri State University partnered with 20 North Pacific art gallery to offer Legitimize Your Hustle workshops throughout October.

The workshops will act as a "masterclass" warm-up to LaunchU, a longstanding university program and business competition consisting of a 20-plus-hour facilitated course that coaches aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, followed by a pitch competition.

Christy Mershon, assistant director of continuing education at Southeast, said through LaunchU, the university hopes to break down some of the barriers young entrepreneurs face when starting a business.

The idea for the partnership and the Legitimize Your Hustle workshops came from a conversation between Mershon and Paris Newson, co-owner and CEO of 20 North Pacific, about the barriers women and minority small-business and start-up owners face in our local community, Mershon said.

This made Mershon and Newson realize the barriers may not be the same for everyone in the community, but they could start breaking them down through the workshops.

"We really wanted to encourage people to use the resources around them, and, in an effort to create some new opportunities here you have to provide access, which comes from utilizing a good network of people," Newson said. "So, Legitimize Your Hustle is going to expose those participants to those resources because, to create opportunities, you have to eliminate the barriers, so we tried to make it relatable and understandable with a very relaxed approach."

Mershon said in addition to creating a relaxed and relatable atmosphere, they tried to make the event appealing to all by changing the name of the workshop to something less formal than previous years and moving the location off-campus.

Since 20 North Pacific is leading the workshops and the university is providing the curriculum, Newson said another thing she's tried to do is find local business owners to present at the workshops who represent a wide range of demographics so everyone can hear from someone who looks like them.

"The beautiful thing that Paris' idea has given us is a way to create a community before they come in a room and compete," Mershon said. "We know community is so important, and if you come into a space where there are other awesome people who are probably asking themselves the same types of questions that you're asking yourself, we think people will be more likely to talk and brainstorm and just work together."

Newson said a "scarcity mindset" is a barrier most young entrepreneurs face, but especially women and minorities.

"I want to encourage people to get rid of their scarcity mindset, which is a way of thinking that you can't do things or you can't have things even though a bunch of others do — it feels like we just can't," Newson said. "But there's always a way to do everything when you put work into it, and I want people to know we have resources to help them and that they can do it because I did it -- I'm a Black woman in Southeast Missouri and I did it, so I know it's possible."

Legitimize Your Hustle workshops will be held at 20 North Pacific, 20 N. Pacific St. in Cape Girardeau, and include Build Your Hustle on Oct. 10, Fund Your Hustle on Oct. 17 and Legitimize Your Hustle on Oct. 24.

For more information, or to register for a workshop, visit www.20npacific.com/events. For more information on the LaunchU portion of the program, visit www.engage.semo.edu/launchu.