78 YEARS HEARTBEAT COMMUNITY

A BLACK LIFE, LLC
For budding businessman
Kaidi McMillan, the Entrepreneurship
Center Program is the perfect
resource and partner for helping him
grow his business. McMillan, oversees
a concern that publishes a business
directory, marketing and promotions
through social media and the
the promotion of his own company and services.
“The Entrepreneurship Center helped me with a few nonprofits.
Now, the have connected me with legal help, assisted me
with trademarking and helped me in developing a ‘steady contract.’
Contracts were killing me, because of the time it took to draw them
up.”
McMillan said Eldridge Allen at the Entrepreneurship
Center facilitated a meeting with Jazz musician, vintner and the
Entrepreneurship Center’s first Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Marcus
Johnson, a partnership he’s excited about.
“They have helped us a great deal, helped us to the next
level,” said McMillan. “And if there are people who need help, they
will push them my way. I’m offering a helping hand as I get help.”
McMillan said he’s committed to, and gets great joy from,
helping black businesses.
“I’m watching them grow while I grow,” he said.
McMillan said he always knew he wanted to go into
business.
“From the time I was five, my mom will tell you. It’s about
being your own boss, being self-motivated to do something
greater,” he said. “I’m motivated to do something, something
greater. You have people who want to be entrepreneurs but don’t
know what that means. Having a consultant is not really owning
your own business. It’s having capital to do something. I’m seeing a
lot of people who do this. A lot of them are my clients.”
GIST FAMILY CATERING SERVICE
At the other end of the scale sits Gist
Family Catering Service, an established business
and DC institution for more than 20 years.
Yvonne Gist, matriarch of this family-owned
business said she met with Allen to ascertain
how she could grow her business and also find a
new location.
She and her husband Willie started
the business in 1988 after working in the food industry for 30 years at
places such as Emerson’s Steak House, Wendy’s and Beefsteak Charlie’s.
From his first job as a bus boy Willie advanced to become a cook and
manager. Their first regular clients were Africare and the National Council of
Negro Women and Verizon.
“Willie and I started the business. He was the main cook,” Mrs. Gist
recalled. “We cater Southern cooking, fried and baked chicken, BBQ ribs,
potato salad, mac and cheese, string beans, yams and collard greens.”
Desserts are also on the menu to satisfy customers’ culinary tastes.
These include peach and apple cobbler, cookies and brownies, sweet
potato pies, pound cakes and cheesecake. Gist Family Catering also offers
customers a full, healthy and vegetarian menu.
Since her husband’s passing, Mrs. Gist said her sister-in-law,
daughters and grandchildren are carrying on her husband’s legacy. The first
order of business, she explained, is expansion.
“Eighteen months ago, when I met Eldridge Allen, we wanted to
expand the business. Eldridge and his team are helping me. They have
given me good advice, things to look at and examine – some very valuable
advice.”
Carol House, one of the counselors at the Entrepreneurship Center
has been instrumental in helping Mrs. Gist with advice, counseling and
direction.
Going forward, Mrs. Gist said, she envisions getting settled in a new
space, finalizing the expansion and enjoying all the benefits that accrue
from that.
78 Years as the Heartbeat of the Community
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