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Two local entrepreneurs win big at Boston Public Market competition
Lifebloom will sell its candles at BPM for one year.
The Boston Public Market recently announced the winner of a contest they held offering a small business a great opportunity — and that victor will be moving into their space.
The organization held its inaugural Entrepreneurship Forum incubator competition, and the prize went to Lifebloom, a Boston-based, small business that identifies as woman, Black, and immigrant led. The company is owned by Eric Kaweesi and Megan Schuler, who strive to bring nature into people’s lives through home fragrance candles. Customers can shop Lifebloom at the company’s website, and they can also find them at The Current in the Seaport through August, in addition to some markets, this summer. By winning the contest, Lifebloom will occupy a rent-free space in the Boston Public Market for one year, beginning September 1.
The Boston Public Market anticipates over 2 million visitors this year, a spokesperson told Boston.com.
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“For us, winning this competition brought up a lot of different emotions. The first [is] extensive gratitude for the opportunity to really continue to learn and practice what it means to be a retail company, in the context of having very low overhead cost,” Schuler said. She added, “We also feel a lot of support from the community.”
Three other finalists, Kay’s Curries, Really Just Shae, and Babes Handmade, will be able to open “in various capacities” at the Boston Public Market rent-free, for terms ranging from six months to a full year, according to a press release. They will open by the end of June, in early July, and in the winter, respectively.
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“As a Market on a Mission, supporting and developing local entrepreneurs is the cornerstone of what makes the Boston Public Market a unique, vibrant, and mission-driven institution in Downtown Boston,” said Cheryl Cronin, CEO of the Boston Public Market, in a press release. “This initial cohort was filled with savvy, special entrepreneurs that made our decision process very competitive and challenging!”
Kaweesi and Schuler participated in BPM’s Entrepreneurship Forum that launched in partnership with Citizen Bank last year. They spent time in a six-seminar educational series, and Citizens colleagues served as judges for a final pitch style competition. Of the 24-business cohort, 73% were women-owned businesses and 92% were owned by people of color.
Kaweesi said that Lifebloom was able to grow tremendously through participation in the Forum.
“During our first few months of starting our business, we were kind of in a silo, as new entrepreneurs. You’re working on your business from day to day, in a two bedroom apartment, not really getting that chance to connect with other entrepreneurs,” he said. “When the opportunity came to us to join the Entrepreneurship Forum at the BPM, we jumped at it right away, and the benefits began to show immediately.”
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Businesses are invited to apply to the second annual Entrepreneurship Forum, which will launch in the fall. Applications will open on July 15.
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