In this episode, your hosts Emmanuel Eleyae and Grace Eleyae talk with Ceata Lash - founder and CEO of the Puff Cuff. She talks about her background and why she decided to create the PuffCuff. She also talks about what advice she would give her previous self and how/why she feels successful. You’ll also hear them discuss the struggles that come along with having family in business and ways that she had overcome those struggles. In the Founder Rounder, Emmanuel talks about why businesses are struggling right now and ways they can improve their cashflow. Ceata also talks about what’s next for PuffCuff.  Timestamps:  Ceata’s Background/Why She Created PuffCuff (1:00) Ceata talks about why she invented the PuffCuff. She stopped chemically treating her hair and everything she used for a puff was causing damage to her hair.  (6:46) Ceata talks about her family life, wanting to adopt a child, and how her 99 year old grandmother came to live with her and in the same weekend they adopted a 4 week old baby. (13:03) Ceata talks about how her experience as a graphic designer allowed her to make a design for the PuffCuff and how she used connections at the community college and the Small Business Development Center to find a manufacturer and other things she needed to start her business. (15:44) Ceata talks about how she was able to find a manufacturer in the US. (17:07) Ceata talks about how she thought PuffCuff was just going to be another side hustle for her but her crowdfunding campaign showed that there was a demand for her product. Ceata’s Advice (20:42) Ceata talks about what advice she would give herself when she was just starting out - focus on the numbers and learn how to read them. (23:25) Ceata talks about why it’s important to know your numbers - it takes money to make money and you cannot successfully grow a business if you don’t know how to handle your money. (26:54) Ceata talks about how/why she feels successful. She talks about how it’s hard to feel proud of yourself sometimes and the difference between humility and ego and balancing the two. Business and Family (29:07) Ceata talks about the difficulties of being a married woman and a successful business owner as well as having her kids in business with her. (32:45) Ceata and Emmanuel discuss the difficulties of having a business with family - she talks about the need to have conversations that might be difficult and setting boundaries with family. She also talks about how she’s had to fire her son and how he works better with her husband. (35:35) Ceata talks about her philosophy when setting boundaries with people. (39:55) Ceata talks about how she’s had to stop mothering at work, work on saying things without hurting people, and stop trying to save people from themselves. Founder Rounder (44:08) Ceata asks for tips about new customer acquisition. (45:26) Grace talks about how many business owners are struggling with new customer acquisition right now with the state of the economy. She also gives encouragement - she says that as long as there is still revenue coming in, even if its not as much as before, there is still life in the business. (49:07) Ceata talks about how there is strength in numbers and black businesses need to do a better job supporting each other. (50:37) Emmanuel talks about how customers are being more frugal right now and many businesses are struggling right now, but there is still revenue coming in. He advises to focus on cutting costs instead of trying to raise revenue. (53:43) Ceata talks about the need to stop comparing herself and her business to others. (55:08) Emmanuel talks about how sales were artificially inflated during the pandemic and we should expect things to pull down now. His advice is to cut costs and focus on what works to bring in cashflow. (57:05) Ceata talks about what’s new for PuffCuff, they have HBCU brand ambassadors and HBCU coils and care kits, a new crowdfunding campaign, as well as s