Continuity is a hallmark of Beyond Housing’s holistic services. All of its support programs—housing stability, career development, financial empowerment, health, entrepreneurship, homeownership, and more—are designed to be accessed as they’re needed along families’ journey toward stability and economic mobility.
Two of the entrepreneurs selected for the 2025 Biz Smart Start cohort exemplify the value of this approach. Jazmin Wright and Naila Lacey both participated in the Viking Advantage college savings program as high school students, and now their small businesses are on a trajectory for success thanks to the classwork and coaching the founders received through Biz Smart Start.
Prioritizing Maternal Self-Care with The Jazmin Effect
At The Jazmin Effect, Jazmin Wright offers a full range of aesthetics services such as lashes, waxes and facials, specializing in pregnant and post-partum mothers.
When Jazmin Wright was studying to become a licensed aesthetician, her client base included many mothers of young children. “I would have conversations with them, and it would trigger what I went through as a post-partum mom,” said Wright. Her 6-year-old son, now a thriving kindergartener, experienced health complications as a baby, and Wright is all too familiar with the stress of parenthood magnified by working and caregiving.
“I relate to these moms who are always on the go with no time for self-care,” she said. “There’s a therapeutic aspect to what I do. I’m glad I can be the person who provides these services, because when I was going through a similar time, somebody cared enough to do these things for me.”
Leading up to her 2015 high school graduation, Wright was in honors programs and had saved money for college, with Beyond Housing matching the funds 3-to-1 through Viking Advantage. However, looking back, she realizes she wasn’t at a point in life where she could fully utilize the resources Viking Advantage offered. “It had an impact,” she said, “but it would have been more impactful with the knowledge I have now.”
Wright’s journey in the intervening years included becoming a mother in 2019 and experiencing loss and grief. “Being an independent single mom, I told myself, ‘I can’t sit down. I have to get up and make something of this,’” she said. She continued to build her business and started the 11-week Biz Smart Start course through Beyond Housing in the spring of 2024.
Biz Smart Start culminates in a community event where the founders are invited to share their pitches with an audience and a panel of judges. Wright had practiced extensively to build her confidence, but when the day arrived, “everything went wrong,” she recalled. The pitch session coincided with her brother’s military graduation at a base two hours from St. Louis. While her family stayed there to celebrate with him, Wright drove back through stormy weather to St. Louis.
She realized she had forgotten some of the supplies for her presentation, but she convinced herself the important thing was to share her message. Then things got worse. “The first five people didn’t have any problems with the projector,” she said. “But of course it gets to me and the projector starts messing up!”
Wright’s perseverance—both at the event and throughout the course—paid off. She earned the $2,000 third-place award, and the emcee praised her growth and improvement. “Receiving the third-place prize was a wave of emotion,” she said. “I sent the photo to my family, and it was a very proud moment.”
Wright credits the Biz Smart Start coaches and founders with helping her realize that the unique niche of serving expectant and new moms is her business lane. She has switched her major at St. Louis Community College from nursing to sociology, and after she earns her associate’s degree in the spring of 2026, she plans to transfer to Lindenwood University to continue her education.
“I’m at a full-circle moment where I’m back in school,” Wright reflected. “It took me five years to get to this point to be able to tell my story.” Her combination of strength and vulnerability struck a chord at the pitch session. “I had so many women coming up to me and saying my story made them emotional because it touched them on a whole ‘nother level,” she said.
Wright is looking for a more central location for The Jazmin Effect, which currently operates from St. Peters, and she would eventually like to offer a spa on wheels to facilitate mobile services for her clientele of busy moms. She continues to purchase equipment and engage with doulas and other health practitioners to build her customer base.
Bringing the Chef Front and Center with 5TwoFour Catering
Chef Naila Lacey has loved the science of cooking since childhood. At 5TwoFour Catering, she pairs healthy dishes with nutritional knowledge to motivate long-term lifestyle changes.
Naila Lacey comes from a family of entrepreneurs, including her sister, aunt, and father. Her mother holds a college degree in business. “Lots of the women in my family are business savvy,” she said. But she fell in love with food while watching Alton Brown explain the science behind recipes on The Food Network.
Through middle and high school, she took every home economics class she could. “By the time I made it to college, I had the basic culinary knowledge and I knew the kitchen brigade system,” she said.
She also had financial awareness thanks to her mother encouraging her to enroll in Viking Advantage. She specifically remembers the advisor, Gloria Brainsby. “She was just this bubbly person, and I was this quiet, shy kid,” Lacey said. Brainsby explained the program and the 3-to-1 matching funds in a way that resonated, and Lacey maximized her college savings account.
When Brainsby transitioned into the housing side of the organization—and coincidentally worked with Lacey’s mother on homeownership—James Moyamba took over at Viking Advantage. “He followed my progress through high school graduation to starting my LLC and to Biz Smart Start now,” Lacey said. She has even talked with Moyamba about enrolling her own daughter, a student at Lutheran North, in Viking Advantage.
Moyamba’s support was especially valuable 14 years ago when her daughter was born, while Lacey was still in high school. “Lots of people stopped believing in me,” she said. “That gave me the push to prove them wrong.” She came up with the name of her company in college, “for the person who gave me motivation, the little girl whose birthday is 5/24.”
5TwoFour Catering has been in business for seven years, and Lacey has gone from watching a cooking teacher on TV to teaching demonstration cooking classes herself. Beyond Housing has been one of her clients for a heart-healthy course for people with diabetes, and an employee who was impressed by Lacey’s knowledge applied on her behalf for the Biz Smart Start program. Lacey was one of the 10 participants chosen from 91 applications.
“Being a part of Biz Smart Start got me out of my comfort zone,” Lacey said. “Chefs are usually back-of-the-house people. We’re not outgoing. We show what we’re feeling on the plate. But Beyond Housing will get you all the way out of your shell,” she added with a laugh.
Beyond Housing also supported Lacey’s business by contracting with her to provide meals for the Wednesday evening sessions and food for the finale. “The pitch night was over and above our expectations, from the signate to the atmosphere,” Lacey said. “They made us shine.
Lacey said the coaches helped her be more intentional about the mission for her business. She has honed her focus toward customizable, affordable offerings that build mothers’ nutritional knowledge so they can pass down health-conscious lessons to their families.
Lacey also plans to offer seasoning blends, cooking oils, and marinades as well as massage oils and supplemental products to help with issues such as inflammation. She is developing a line of wellness kits for people who need a dietary “starter pack” for addressing newly diagnosed conditions like diabetes or hypertension. And her long-term plans include a boutique where all of these products and more would be featured.
“Beyond Housing putting me in the Biz Smart Start course was amazing because it allowed me to see my talent come full circle,” Lacey said. “I always have great things to say about Beyond Housing and Viking Advantage, and I believe in planting those seeds with each person I meet.”
About Biz Smart Start
For the third year, Beyond Housing offered the Biz Smart Start program to entrepreneurs in North St. Louis County. Ten participants were selected from 91 applicants, representing industries from culinary to coaching to construction.
“The volume of applicants this year was a testament to how many people out there want to make a change in our community,” said Financial Empowerment Specialist Kimberly Adeyinka, who led the program.
Adeyinka was a participant in the 2024 cohort, earning first place in the pitch competition for her prescription-ready eyeglass frame company Kimtique. She joined the Beyond Housing staff in early 2025 and continues to build her five-year-old business—and to learn alongside her fellow founders. “Although I ran the cohort this year, I was a student too,” Adeyinka said. “And I will be next year as well! You can always make small tweaks.”
Biz Smart Start participants are at various stages with their endeavors. Some are conceptualizing, while others are fully operational and looking to grow. “We accept these entrepreneurs right where they are. We use a comprehensive, well-rounded business model canvas and offer tangible tools that are proven to work,” Adeyinka said.
One change to the 2025 program involved the scoring criteria for the winners announced at the pitch night. Recognizing that some of the founders were uncomfortable with the competition format, the judging this year also included class participation, attendance, and homework, as well as the scores for the pitch.
The winners were Jazmin Wright of The Jazmin Effect in third place ($2,000), Katherine McHaynes of SEED (Sources Empowered to Emerge & Develop) in second place ($3,000), and Vonn Reed of Green Light Coaching and Mentoring Services ($4,000).
Other members of the 2025 cohort included Jason Brown of Show Me Pressure Washing, April Johnson of AJ Creative Writing Coach & Editor, Tiffany Garry of Coffee and Cream, Naila Lacey of 5TwoFour Catering, Lawanda Hamilton of Chai Please, LaRose Priest of Luxury Wicks Candles, and Nicholas Johnson of Contempo Construction.
“Watching the founders from Week 1 to Week 11, some really rose to the top, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Adeyinka said. “When you spent that much time together week after week, you become a little family.” She plans to bring all the cohort members together for networking and continuing education in the future.
