Juweria Dahir of Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
Welcome everyone to Rupp Pfalzgraph's Empire State Entrepreneurs and New York Business Law Podcast, a fun and informative forum for us to feature our clients, strategic partners, community leaders, and team members to talk about relevant issues for entrepreneurs and business owners throughout New York. My name is David Pfalzgraf, and I'm blessed to be the managing partner of Rupp Pfalzgraf, a full service law firm headquartered in Buffalo, New York with offices in Rochester and Albany and soon to be New York City, and it's a real privilege for me to host this podcast. I wanted to first start by thanking Mike and Erik, our great partners at Incept, for hosting us in this super cool podcast space. My firm is using Incept for a number of projects, and they're doing just a terrific job for us. Got an incredible, amazing, inspiring guest today, Juweria Dahir, the director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
David Pfalzgraf:She's focused on local entrepreneurship and supporting small businesses, particularly among marginalized groups. And she has a really unique and compelling story to tell. So I'm so fortunate to be able to welcome, her here today with us. Welcome.
Juweria Dahir:Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
David Pfalzgraf:And before we get into what you're doing today, which I think is very relevant for our entrepreneur listeners, I wanted to have everyone have a little bit of background, because I think it's important, in sort of telling your story. So I thought maybe you could walk us through, your journey and what's sort of led you to this point today, and then we can get into some of the inspiring work that you're doing, over at the medical campus.
Juweria Dahir:Awesome. Thank you so much for that warm introduction. Thanks for having me, Dave. I really appreciate it. It's my first time.
Juweria Dahir:I'm so excited to hopefully come back again. Let's see. Where do I begin? So I am a buffalo transplant. I'm not originally from buffalo.
Juweria Dahir:I was born in East Africa and, it was in the nineties and unfortunately because of the civil war, my parents had to flee. And they fled out of all places. They moved all the way to Switzerland. And I was a 2 month old baby.
David Pfalzgraf:Wow. Wow.
Juweria Dahir:So that's kind of where my story begins. And I was raised in rural part of Switzerland. I grew up in a small town called, Manadoref. And Manendorf is part of Zurich. So I still speak Hachdeutsch, which is a type of German.
Juweria Dahir:And we lived there for almost 11 years. I went to kindergarten and my early years, of school, and I had a really interesting and different childhood, And I really appreciate that.
David Pfalzgraf:It sounds like much different than mine. I can tell you that.
Juweria Dahir:But Yeah. And then, honestly, I mean, we and I'm just mentioning this because I've bounced around quite a few times, but it's nice to finally settle in a place I really call Buffalo home now. Because I moved from Switzerland to Sweden eventually, for many different reasons, primarily economic reasons. And then so in Sweden, we lived in a small town again. My mother was a fan of small towns, never a big fan of big cities, until eventually when we settled in the UK, and there we went to Birmingham, which is the second capital city.
Juweria Dahir:And they would pronounce it as Birmingham. And but, yeah, my both of my parents are East African. My mother is was a farmer and part of the reason we always stayed in rural parts was so that she could farm. Unfortunately she did of course, meet different challenges that she had to experience. But outside of that, I mean, she was a fantastic mother.
Juweria Dahir:She raised all of us. And, my father is a construction worker, and so he managed to launch his own business. And I think that's kind of where some of my entrepreneurial spirit comes from. And I think farming is really probably one of the best entrepreneurial skillsets you can have or mindset, I would say. So yeah, I speak a few languages.
Juweria Dahir:I love to travel, but it's nice to finally be able to settle and call Buffalo home. So my husband and my kids are all here. And yeah, I'm here to stay now.
David Pfalzgraf:That's that's great to hear. We're fortunate to have you put a stake in the ground here in in our community. So from from East Africa to, Switzerland to Sweden, to Birmingham in the UK, Mhmm. What then, prompted the move, across the Atlantic to to make it to the United States? When when did when did that journey take place?
Juweria Dahir:Sure. That took place, this not December, January of 2013. So I'm here for about roughly 10 plus years, I think. Yeah. I met a guy.
Juweria Dahir:He said he was from New York. I guess he was from Buffalo. But, and that's such a common story. So yeah, he's from he said he was from New York and he was doing a study abroad program, at my university in the UK. And so we met and he had never moved around as much as I did.
Juweria Dahir:So I think as soon as, you know, our relationship developed and we ended up getting married, it was it made sense for me to be the person who backs up and moves again.
David Pfalzgraf:And your family has remained?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. My family has remained in the UK, but, they constantly come. So I have a contract with my mother to come every single summer. So she spends every summer with us. And and, yeah, my siblings too.
David Pfalzgraf:That's great. Tell me what your reaction was like when you were told New York, but it was actually Buffalo City.
Juweria Dahir:Oh my god. Manhattan. So so the first two years was very difficult. And, a couple of my friends who still live in the UK actually think I live in the city. And I've just I don't even correct them anymore yet.
Juweria Dahir:And I had a friend who, once texted me and said, hey, Juerria. I'm in town. I'll be here. I've, I'm in a marketing gig and, you know, would love to grab coffee with you. Let me know.
Juweria Dahir:And so I sent her a screenshot of where I am. She said, well, I thought you lived in New York. I'm like, I do. So, yeah, that's always complicated but fun to explain.
David Pfalzgraf:Tell me tell me about your your first couple of years when when you make the transition, leave your family behind, leave everything you know behind to come to United States and New York and, ultimately, Buffalo, New York. Mhmm. Talk me through what you were doing those first couple years and and some challenges that maybe you experienced.
Juweria Dahir:Mhmm. Okay. So the first couple of challenges that I experienced was really the transition from the university. Even though England obviously is an English speaking country, once you transfer you have to take basic classes like English 101 and 201. So when I transferred with my bachelor's degree, I had to take, some basic gen eds, retake some English classes.
Juweria Dahir:And I thought that was just really strange, because I was treated like an international student. And, the one thing that I will say, however, that it helped me with was really understand American culture. We spent a lot of time watching Glee. Because, you know, you asked me for my challenge and a big challenge was I really struggled with American humor. So I wouldn't get the jokes.
Juweria Dahir:And then if I made a joke and no one else in the room would get it. And that became I struggled with making friends and just overall building relationships. And so Glee really helped. English 101 helped. I also went through a a 2 year of changing my accents.
Juweria Dahir:I used to say, can I get a glass of water? And then it became, can I get a glass of water? So, so I did that deliberately. I just I just noticed that people were so fascinated by the accent and would leave and not pay attention to maybe the content of our conversation. And I didn't want that.
Juweria Dahir:I wanted to be more about what we were speaking of rather than, oh, where are you from? And what is this fancy accent? And I'm like, oh, come on. Because in Europe, you know, people speak multiple languages. And I felt like in the US, that wasn't as common.
Juweria Dahir:Or if it was, it was just maybe one other language, whereas I speak 4. And so, but other than that, I think the the culture here is drastically different. I think the landscape, it just seems so much bigger. I mean, I was used to getting in a car, traveling for 4 hours and being in a whole different country. And now 4 hours in, you're still in the same place.
Juweria Dahir:You'll just be on Rochester. Yeah. You know?
David Pfalzgraf:Hitting Syracuse.
Juweria Dahir:So this is housing. You know, and I know we'll get into my background, but, I had never seen abandoned buildings in my life. Because land is such high commodity in the in, you know, anywhere in Europe. And so to see something being vacant and not for sale and not for rent, I just thought that was very strange. Like, why is nobody grabbing this real estate?
Juweria Dahir:Or why is it even available? So yeah, those were just some of the basics, but I've I really appreciated, the transition. And because I've been able to adapt, I think now I feel like I'm part of the prosperity that's that we're seeing. Whereas in the UK, everything is already developed. I mean, you know, it's already advanced.
David Pfalzgraf:Right. Right.
Juweria Dahir:So here and I I don't mean to say that we're not advanced. That's not my point. But, you know, there's a lot of work that we can still be part of.
David Pfalzgraf:I think it's interesting too. And I it it it leaves an impact with me when you talk about sort of first impressions and, having grown up myself in Buffalo, right up Delaware Avenue from here, you sort of become accustomed to your surroundings. And by that, it's interesting that you say just seeing vacant buildings in and around the medical campus or out by the university or or in the heart of downtown Buffalo. Mhmm. I I hate to say you become accustomed to when you grow up in this area, but I think what's so, neat about the way Buffalo is is experiencing this experiencing this renaissance and sort of this rebirth is there are so many, individuals who have come in from outside here.
David Pfalzgraf:It's no longer, sort of a a generational thing in Buffalo where people don't leave or people don't come here, a dwindling pop population. I think your perspective initial perspective as you transitioned here is is is interesting because things that you noticed would be things that maybe I would not notice. So that's part of the benefit, I think, from having a more, diversified, you know, population and and bringing in perspectives from the outside rather than this is the way it's always been done Absolutely. Is really, compelling, and it it it it's enriching to me. And I think the community when you start getting outsider's perspectives on, hey.
David Pfalzgraf:We don't always have to do it this way or maybe maybe we could renovate as opposed to demolish, and here's what I saw in Birmingham or here's how I grew up in Africa. That those perspectives, I think, are so, so valuable. And I think for the first time in a long time, we're seeing that the, you know, our our community is embracing and not shuttering from those perspectives and points of view.
Juweria Dahir:Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And just one last example. I thought technology was a big difference too. And, and what's interesting is when you're for someone who wasn't exposed to the United States of America, it's just through Hollywood.
Juweria Dahir:And through Hollywood, you would assume that the United States is the most advanced nation. And so when I came here and I wasn't able to transfer money as fast or there was weird fees that I would have to pay if I went from one bank to another, I thought that was so strange because I had never dealt with that. In Somalia and Ethiopia and Kenya, they're all cashless. You just use your phone. And then in Europe, I mean, there's no fees.
Juweria Dahir:You can go to any bank and transfers. And it's so fast, and data sharing is fast. And so I think there's a few things that we can learn from, from them just to make sure that we're also catching up. But that was definitely another big challenge that I ran into.
David Pfalzgraf:Yeah. The pace of change is remarkable, and we're a little, bit behind, I think, not only in this community, but perhaps this country in in adopting some of the things that are are so natural in in Europe. And, and I think we need thought partners and and and change agents Mhmm. Like you who are gonna come in and say, have you thought about this, and should we be thinking about this differently? So that Yeah.
David Pfalzgraf:Is just such, an accelerant, I think, for for some of the change that we need in this community. It's it's great to hear. Wanna hear a little bit about so you you come to Buffalo. Mhmm.
Juweria Dahir:Do
David Pfalzgraf:you you matriculate at the University of Buffalo, or you are a student for a period of time?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. So I transferred. So I started my bachelor's in the UK. And then, beef so a bachelor's degree is 3 years in the UK. And so I had completed 2 years, and then the 3rd year is when I transferred.
Juweria Dahir:I I see. Yeah. And so I did that primarily because had I graduated from the UK, you would still have to go back. You wouldn't be able to continue with a master's degree, unfortunately. But anywhere else in Europe, you would have.
Juweria Dahir:And so it made sense to transfer and then continue on and I had to do about another 18 months. And that's where the gen eds and some of the other classes came in.
David Pfalzgraf:I see. But that
Juweria Dahir:was very helpful because then I was qualified as a as a US, individual with a bachelor's degree from the US, and I didn't have any hard time applying for my graduate school.
David Pfalzgraf:And you I see you graduate in in or you graduated around, what, 2015 or 2016?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. 2015. And then I went back right away for my master's.
David Pfalzgraf:At at the University of Buffalo?
Juweria Dahir:At the University of Buffalo.
David Pfalzgraf:And that took another?
Juweria Dahir:That took another 2 years.
David Pfalzgraf:2 years. Okay. So so in 2017, 2018, you find yourself now, with with firm roots in Buffalo Yeah. Raising a family. And and what is your vision coming out, after getting your masters?
David Pfalzgraf:What how are you gonna change the world? Or what what's your first idea of what would be, an impactful or a meaningful role for you, sort of with this new sort of education and and excitement about doing something?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. So the first thing I did, like I said, I was it was really challenging for me to understand the concept of vacant land, vacant lots, the difference here in culture, the challenges that we experience, like in Europe, it's more of a social class divide. Here it's more of a racial divide. So kind of understanding all of those root causes, and I really had never studied any American history. I decided to pick up an internship.
Juweria Dahir:And where better to do an internship than city government, the most innovative place? And so I did that and I did a program called Urban Fa- the Mayor's Urban Fellow Program. And I don't remember which year this was, but I know I was still an undergrad. And it was a 6 months internship where, I had an opportunity to just delve into kind of the challenges and the prosperities and the opportunities available here in Buffalo, why some neighborhoods look the way that they do, what the future of those neighborhoods can look like, what the future will look like if we don't make any changes, the population, the community, you know, what their needs are, how government has been working, maybe where it's falling short. And I think that's really, what opened up my eyes to understanding the community better.
Juweria Dahir:And I thought it was so important to understand from the governance side because too often it's usually we we blame government for everything and anything. So I wanted to know what they had done and what policies, had impacted the city. And so after that 6 months, they actually offered me a job right away. So I was very privileged for that.
David Pfalzgraf:Not surprising.
Juweria Dahir:And, I ended up staying there for 6 years. So and I told them I would wanna you know, I I I would have to go back to school, and they supported me and accommodated, and I'm so grateful to them. But, my first research project, at the city was I correlated data from streetlights that were going out, and the, the rate or the capacity that we quickly go and fix them. And so part of the issue is so in in city government, we have a number called 311. So if it's not 911, it's usually 311.
Juweria Dahir:That's kind of how you use the number. But when a streetlight in say a prosperous community in Delaware goes out versus in a distressed neighbourhood, say in Maston Park, there isn't a priority mechanism. It's just a who calls in first, who reports in the issue and then it gets fixed. And, you know, you would think that's a fine kind of process But the reality is unfortunately in distressed communities more people are vulnerable and chances are having that street light on or off could actually save a life for instance. Or people are walking on the streets at night because they don't have public transportation or because they're disabled.
Juweria Dahir:And so making sure that you're more aggressive in a vulnerable community when the street light is out is so important. And then equally in a prosperous neighbourhood too, but figuring out the priority based on how distressed the neighborhood. That's kind of what the data statistic that I did. And I thought, I I guess maybe maybe they were impressed, and that's what kind of got me the job. I don't know.
Juweria Dahir:But, I had a really good time with that project, and I learned a lot too. Yeah. And then the rest is history. I ended up sticking around for 6 more years.
David Pfalzgraf:Any any, highlights you you can recall from that 6 year tenure with with the city or any accomplishments you're particularly proud of?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. Just really learning the community. I mean, I spent 6 years just listening and it was 6 years of understanding. And I don't think that's even enough, but it starts off with just listening because people have concerns, people know what solutions they want. And you start to understand, you know, how to bring communities together, how to advocate for a policy, what's needed to push forward to have a policy, you start to think about the implementation of anything.
Juweria Dahir:And so I would really recommend anyone and everyone to start off in their early years to get an internship in city government because you will deal with police and crime, to housing, to garbage, to, you know, quality of life, to legal. It's really anything and everything that impacts people in society. And so I think I was very fortunate. In terms of highlight, I think it was I'm a data person. So, when we launched the open data portal, that was one of my biggest projects.
Juweria Dahir:And so the open data portal was so important because as in government, we sit well, they sit on so much data. And making sure that data was accessible and public is so important because that's how innovation is driven. So making that accessible means people can use it, can navigate it to actually solve public solutions. And that's what we saw. And this was a push from Bloomberg.
Juweria Dahir:And so Buffalo became a partnering city with Bloomberg Philanthropy. And myself and another city colleague spent 3 years traveling back and forth from Buffalo to New York City, to figure out how we can implement our open data portal. And the project itself was called What Work Cities. And it was a combination between, Harvard, Kennedy School, and John Hopkins. And oh, my god.
Juweria Dahir:And I ended up, you know, having an opportunity to go to the Bloomberg headquarter. And oh, they have so much food in there. It's incredible. That's awesome. Yeah.
Juweria Dahir:So I think that was probably one of my biggest highlights.
David Pfalzgraf:It's, ironic, I suppose, but you don't typically think of city government and innovation in the same breath. So it's nice to know that that those, transformations, those changes with individuals like you and and some of the colleagues you are working with and leaning on resources like Bloomberg or Harvard, can actually help, accelerate some of the innovation and entrepreneurship and, changes within city government that, you know, traditionally probably would have been a lot, longer lead time on.
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. And we were, functioning like a cohort model. So each year they would bring on about 15 cities. And so it was ourselves, Jacksonville, even some cities from Canada. I met people from, Winnipeg, which I had never heard of before.
Juweria Dahir:Saskatoon, probably the coldest place in the world. But that cohort model also allowed us to the same way that small businesses or any, you know, entrepreneur, wants to be in sync with other entrepreneurs and like minded folks in government, the same thing happens, or should really be happening. And so that's really what helped to drive the, innovation to open up our portal. And now in a click of a button, you know, you can download different datasets from 311 to crime data to street lights. You know, you don't have to really call and ask for a foil request.
Juweria Dahir:You can pretty much download all of that information, put it in an app, or figure out, you know, any solution that you'd like to create.
David Pfalzgraf:That's incredible. Mhmm. That's so cool. Did, and that experience then, I assume, led you to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus? Or what what was your mindset when it came to the possibility of making a change from doing what you were doing?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. So, so my background is in architecture and urban planning. And so people and housing, and policies, those are kind of the three things that I really enjoy. I wasn't spending a lot of time with businesses. I feel like I was doing work around economic development, but was at the 3,000 level.
Juweria Dahir:It wasn't really boots on the ground dealing with small businesses. And what really opened up my eyes was during COVID, because I transitioned during COVID. When COVID hits and I live on Buffalo's west side, so there's a lot of small businesses there and it's an up and coming neighborhood. We love it there. And, a lot of those businesses were shut.
Juweria Dahir:Right? And they didn't have any means to figure out what their reopening strategy would be, how they would make up some of the monies lost. You know, they had fired a lot of people already. So there was a lot of challenges. And I just felt like I didn't have enough of the, skills or knowledge to better serve them.
Juweria Dahir:And I had the urban planning from the policy side. I had the design side. I'm like, well, I need to know a little bit more. And so I spent some time, working with the businesses, kind of working with them on their storefronts and the challenge that they were having and, you know, some of the grants that they were that were available. And so fast forward, I ended up picking up the phone, calling, one of my mentors.
Juweria Dahir:Gonna give him a big shout out. His name is Jim Tannes. And he is with the, the Prosperity Fellowship. And I had met him during my days at UB. And I said, hey, you know, I've been here for about 6 years, and government is great, but I think I'm ready to do something different, and I wanna pivot.
Juweria Dahir:And I don't wanna go into a private architectural firm. I'm not ready to start my own business right now. What do you think I should do? And immediately, he said, well, you've gotta meet Matt Enstice. So that's kind of how that happens.
Juweria Dahir:He said, you've gotta meet Matt Instas. He's the CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. And originally, and Matt's probably gonna kill me for saying this, I thought Matt was a scientist or a doctor. And I thought, well, that's silly. Why would I wanna meet a scientist or a doctor?
Juweria Dahir:And I just kind of left it off. But somebody from Math Institute's office ended up contacting me. And I actually ignored the message because I'm like, oh, it's the scientist And really, I'm that's not my thing. Let me leave that. And 3 months went by, and then, I got another message that said, hey.
Juweria Dahir:You know, we'd like to schedule some time with you. And I thought, boy, he's gonna be so disappointed when he notices I'm not a doctor or a scientist. They're really wasting their time. So I meet him and, it was like first thing in the morning, and I actually I think I must have said, like, 8 o'clock in the morning I'm available. Because I really thought they wouldn't agree to that.
Juweria Dahir:And they agreed to that because Matt's available anytime. And then we met and Matt it was Matt and Kiriye Stevens. And I talked and I had known Kiriye a little bit because he works at BNMC too. And they told me a little bit about the work they do at BNMC. And I said, well, that's not what I thought you guys did.
Juweria Dahir:I'm so glad we connected. And that's kind of really what where the transition led to. Matt explains, kind of his journey, what he sees in the future of BNMC, the work that they do to support businesses. But I think it was really just his innovative mindsets. And the sky was the limit.
Juweria Dahir:Like, it was just you could do anything and everything you wanted to. And he was ready to make a difference. And he knew that it was through empowering businesses. And I felt the same because of what happened during COVID. I had done a lot of work on housing.
Juweria Dahir:I had done a lot of work on eliminating poverty. Like, I've got to work on building wealth and figuring out how to get people to build wealth, so I have to be in the entrepreneurship side of work. And so, of course, once you speak to Matt, I mean, it's
David Pfalzgraf:a game changer. A 100%. What what I'm so grateful, Tim. Like an uncanny partnership that then was developed. And Mhmm.
David Pfalzgraf:When when you think about a medical campus, but but sort of thinking more, differently than, the way you think of a traditional medical campus, and Matt's pushing his vision for entrepreneurship and small businesses in the east side. And
Juweria Dahir:And even, like, you know, big companies as big as 43 North started out at at BNMC. And then smaller companies like Greg Crenshaw that just do Buffalo Chicken and Waffles, they're also at BNMC, or started out, I should say. So, yeah, I totally agree. It's it's the the majority and the diversity of those businesses, the scale of them, and what's great is that they're Buffalo based businesses, and they're staying here locally.
David Pfalzgraf:Tell me so and and I wanna I wanna build on that point, but through sort of your work with IC Success and and sort of this business entrepreneurship program. How has your role evolved since that kickoff coffee date with Matt Enstice and sort of having a blank canvas when it came to, how your role, was gonna be put together. To tell walk us through that, those couple of years that you've been there now and and and what initiatives you've worked on and and what traction you're finding.
Juweria Dahir:Mhmm. So BNMC, just for any of our listeners who are not familiar, we're based we're 640 Ellicott. We're, in downtown, and we're a conduit of all the, organizations and entities that are there. So between Kaleida, Roswell, JI, BNMC is really the kind of managing partner for all of those organizations. We bring them together.
Juweria Dahir:And, our goal is really to focus on 4 pillars. One of them being transportation. So really thinking about different modes of transportation, equity around transportation. So there's some exciting projects that are going to be coming, whether that be shuttles and self driving buses that we're going to hear from, end of this year. But transportation and co sharing is so important.
Juweria Dahir:So that's one of our big pillars. Our second work, pillar really is focused around health and well-being because people often think of the medical campus as a place where they come to when they're sick. And we want them to think of it as a place where you come for well-being. So not just when you're sick because there's, you know, over 17,000 people that work there. So making sure that all of those employees and the residents of the community that live around that neighbourhood can benefit from programming, well-being activities so that they can be preventative before they actually get sick.
Juweria Dahir:And think of the medical campus just as a sick institution. So that's the other parts. And then the 3rd pillar is really the district. So we manage it from parking to streetscape to landscape, all of that that make, the campus very viable. And then the final one is the innovation pillar.
Juweria Dahir:And so that's where we focus on all of the entrepreneurial, the innovation work. And it's not just businesses in terms of small businesses, but really anyone that has an idea. Creators, designers, people can just come meet with us. And we support. And then we find partners like yourselves and others that really wanna have an impact.
Juweria Dahir:So that's kind of the conduit of the company itself. And I think I lost the question that you had asked.
David Pfalzgraf:I just about so you're you're touching a lot of different areas, within the, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus community and sort of, by extension through the through the greater community.
Juweria Dahir:Mhmm.
David Pfalzgraf:I'm curious too on the innovation piece, you and Matt, I believe, developed this, accelerator program. Mhmm. And I'd love for our listeners to hear a little bit about how that, accelerator has evolved and what traction you've been able to, see with some small businesses who Yeah. Have been fortunate to have mentorship and and and financial investment and and other resources. But how did that accelerator program get launched, and and and what has become of it today?
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. So, I mean, in terms of the work that we've done with businesses, that's kind of long standing. It's been over 10 plus years. So we've been doing a lot of work around that. And I think it's just been a little informal structured where we would have 1 on 1 consultation, but it wasn't so much at a program level.
Juweria Dahir:And so one thing that I noticed, that BNMC does really well is we find partners. And so if we feel like we're kind of not where we want to be, we find other organizations that we can partner with. And so whether that be local partners or national partners. And back in 2021, Matt and the team had decided to partner with a national company to learn more about, other business accelerators that are thriving. So there's some really good ones in Massachusetts, in Atlanta, and really around the country.
Juweria Dahir:And what better to, instead of reinventing the wheel, to learn from them and then have your offshoot here in Buffalo. And so that's kind of how it got started. And I came at a really good pivotal time because it was the crust of COVID, things kind of starting to open up again. People wanted to see something different. Businesses really in dire need of programming, educational support, of course, capital.
Juweria Dahir:And as soon as that partnership was established, I came on on the team. I was appointed as the executive director. I was I ended up leading a business accelerator program, where we bring in, 15 we well, we accept about 15 entrepreneurs, 15 businesses, all ideas, all business stages. And we match them up with mentors. We afford them seed funding.
Juweria Dahir:They go through a pitch contest. But what's really unique is the family dynamic that they become part of. Because it's so easy to go through a program and it just turns into a participation credit. But having a small, purposeful cohort of 15, not only is it small and mindful, but it's it gives you an opportunity to really get to know your fellow fellow cohort members and have and foster a relationship. So that way you can actually, ask them questions when you're stuck and really do life with them.
Juweria Dahir:And so we did that for about a year. And after a year of testing, we learned a lot. And so complementing it with the years of work that we had done, plus this 1 year of the National partnership, we decided to then launch IC Success. And I think it's probably been one of the best and most successful programs in the city. And I say that because I've heard people tell me that.
Juweria Dahir:And it's working because the community is supporting it. It's working because we have partners who help us. I'm gonna give a big shout out to Josh, who's here from the firm. And congratulations, because you just got married. I know that.
Juweria Dahir:Josh has been a mentor, for instance. He's also come and taught some of our legal classes because, our curriculum is developed, to the point where anyone at any business stage can benefit from it. And it's usually the early stages. So we go through our customer segments, our value prep, you know, the legal and all the nuts and bolts of business, but we don't bring in the same instructors. We bring in partners and instructors that can come and really teach from a deeper dive.
Juweria Dahir:And so Josh was able to do that. And he's super cool and funny. So I know he made a lot of good relationships there. And, you know, we're we're grateful to be able to do that because it enhances the community also. Because then now, for example, if they wanna have a relationship with a bank, they see the bank a little different.
Juweria Dahir:When a speaker from the bank comes and they're able to forge a relationship, same thing with a law firm, Same thing with an insurance company. A lot of businesses don't even realize at what point they should be insured. When should they be seeking legal counsel? You know, should they be signing a contract on their own? All of those small factors, things that can really save them time and money, we go over that.
Juweria Dahir:And I think, Josh did a great job going through that in our previous cohort. And hopefully, when he hears this podcast, it'll remind him to come to our next cohort. So
David Pfalzgraf:That's great. That's a very nice shout out to one of our our great up and coming associate attorneys, Josh Retzer. And Oh. So I appreciate, the partnership that we've been able to have and ways in which we can work together and see some of the great outcomes that can happen when when you do that. As part of that program or or even separately and distinctly from your observations around the medical campus and your work in the community and with IC Success, I I wanna hear a little bit about, empowerment and and and the importance of empowerment and and inclusivity.
David Pfalzgraf:You know, I I really look up to you as sort of a a community leader and someone who can effectuate change, quicker than, normal. And and so I'd love for our listeners to, understand and appreciate a little bit, your hard work in in in those areas as well in empowering people and businesses and sort of, this mindset of of being inclusive rather than exclusive as you're as you're working on these different initiatives.
Juweria Dahir:Oh, thank you. You're so kind. I guess the first thing, I think about is the definition of entrepreneurship. Oftentimes people have an image of what the entrepreneur should look like and that's where the challenge starts. And so in a lineup of people, if we still focus on what the person should look like, we really we lose out on seeing what the person is really capable of and what they can do.
Juweria Dahir:So that's really where it starts, the definition of entrepreneurship, because there is no single image of an entrepreneur. So dismantling that idea. And so I think when the like, for instance, the companies that I that I see coming into our programme, they have, you know, sometimes they've got 2 businesses, multiple businesses. It starts out as a side hustle, and then they're able to turn that into full time. They've got children, others don't.
Juweria Dahir:Some live in the basement of their parents and some don't. But it's not the typical I went to an Ivy League school, and I have an ability to, you know, kick start my business because I got a $2,000,000 loan from my parents. It's really not. It's folks that really, really want to build wealth and they want to see their kids benefit from it. They want to be able to sometimes come out of poverty or they want to be able to not just rely on a 9 to 5.
Juweria Dahir:There's multiple reasons. Or sometimes it's just that their idea is so great that it's really going to just help solve so many pressing problems. So the definition of entrepreneurship is really important for me. And I think it's getting better. We're not stuck on this silo of here's what the entrepreneur should look like, but we're becoming more open minded.
Juweria Dahir:I think the second thing is programs can't work in silos. So, you know, we run a program called IC Success at BNMC. But in addition to that, there's other programs that we also run. And we're gonna be launching 1 called IC 4, which is really to support the mid tier businesses to get them to the $1,000,000. And so that's just a small teaser.
Juweria Dahir:But, other companies all around the city, whether it's, you know, Launchpad or Pathstone, you name it. We try to work in collaboration with all of them because if we can't work with the company or the business, we wanna make sure they're not, leaving their dreams behind, and they're finding an entity that can still support them. So that's very important, just making sure that we connect those dots. And I think we've got to strengthen our relationship and come out of this competitive nature of it's just my way or the highway or programs working independently. Because the average the typical entrepreneur, if you ask them, hey, you know, is there enough programs here in Buffalo?
Juweria Dahir:They're gonna tell you no. And there's a ton of them, but we're still in silos, and we've gotta make sure we're so connected so that we can really service the entrepreneur better.
David Pfalzgraf:I I think that's such a good point to to break down those barriers and the, challenges that a entrepreneur faces. And it's not just the education, but it's the empowerment, and it's Yep. It's, collaboration and and forced collisions. And I I think that's such, an important point and and I'm sure it'll resonate with our with our listeners. I on that note, I'm I'm certain that you're proud of many of the, entrepreneurs and businesses that you've worked with, in the last couple of years through the Accelerator through IC Success.
David Pfalzgraf:But can you give our listeners an example of a family or a business where you felt that that that you individually or that we collaboratively, as a community, were able to sort of help them pick themselves up with, from their bootstraps and and Mhmm. Get some traction that might otherwise not have been possible without, you know, Matt's original vision and and and the work that you're doing and your colleagues are doing on on on the campuses. Is there a a company or 2 or an individual or 2 where you Mhmm. Where you smile when you think about them?
Juweria Dahir:Oh my god. You're gonna get me in trouble now because I can't leave any of them out. It's a laundry list, but I'll highlight maybe 1 or 2. And the first person that comes to my mind is, Greg Crenshaw. Because I know I mentioned the chicken and waffle earlier.
Juweria Dahir:So I met Greg Crenshaw. Well, I knew his uncle. And I met Greg Crenshaw back in 'twenty one. And Greg was I believe he was either laid off from his job, or he was just transitioning out. I can't remember.
Juweria Dahir:But it was something to do with COVID and him not having that job anymore. But, he his grandmother had a really good recipe for making chicken and waffle. And during that time when he left his job, he started making. He started cooking. And it started out him just cooking for his family and friends, and they kept demanding for more and more.
Juweria Dahir:And he said, well, you know, I should start charging you guys. And so he did. And he started charging them. And he got to the point where he was making $3,000 a week. And he thought, well, this is crazy.
Juweria Dahir:I have never run a business. I probably should start thinking about that. And this is just him kind of word-of-mouth through Facebook, selling to friends and family, and then them, you know, sharing it with their friends and family. And so he applied through our program. And in the application, he had put down $0 in revenue.
Juweria Dahir:Okay. And I thought it was just so odd that he put down $0 in revenue. And I remember interviewing him, and the first questions I asked was, well, has anyone told you your food is great? Like, why is nobody paying for it? And he because I said, it says $0 on your revenue.
Juweria Dahir:And he leaned forward, and he said, that's because I only take cash. And that's the problem. Need to be part of a program. I can't get a loan now. And, you know, short term, he thought he was really doing something great by taking cash.
Juweria Dahir:And now at a point where he's ready to have a food truck or, you know, get a loan, he's not able to do that. And so this is a, unfortunately, a very common issue for many small businesses. And especially if you're in a community where you're the first person who started a business, and folks around you don't have that legal counsel or other entrepreneurial skills to support you in the way that you really need, you're gonna make those mistakes. You're gonna make those mistakes that could really take up so much time and money. And so he's the type of candidate that I now say is incredible to see where he started.
Juweria Dahir:He is now over he has his own storefront. You can order his food through Uber, through DoorDash, and he didn't have any of that. Obviously, he's got a good bookkeeping system now.
David Pfalzgraf:Incredible. He
Juweria Dahir:can pay in so many different ways. And he's had fantastic mentors, mentors that really, probably would never have met him before. David Reading from KeyBank is one of his mentors. And, right on when he left his house, he was actually cooking out of the basement in a church in Bailey. And that's how he got started.
Juweria Dahir:And his mentor visited him there. And really to see his vision to then be able to have that food truck, he's working towards the food truck goal, but he has a storefront now. It's just so fantastic, and he's doing amazing. And he's got the best chicken and waffle in town. It's Crenshaw chicken and waffle.
David Pfalzgraf:That's incredible. I hope he's willing to cater for a law firm like mine. It sounds like we need to bring him in tomorrow.
Juweria Dahir:I'm gonna leave his information with you.
David Pfalzgraf:That's awesome. Tell me and I think, building on that answer, Juaria, about I was gonna ask sort of as we begin to wrap up, but advice, You've seen a lot now Mhmm. For small business owners like Greg, for entrepreneurs. Any advice that you would give, to those individuals as to things you've seen or or, ways in which they can, you know, sort of accelerate the the building of their business? What a couple pieces of advice for our small business owner, entrepreneur listeners, and anything that you can, give them as sort of something to take away.
Juweria Dahir:Yeah. Something that you had said earlier on, it's, you know, just because something is being done, don't assume that it's being done the best way or it's being done the right way. So just being open minded to dismantle, to pivot, to really start from scratch again, like don't be afraid to do that. It'll save you time and money eventually. Better to do it now than 5, 10 years from now.
Juweria Dahir:And then the second advice is really entrepreneurship is so isolating. And if you don't find a community to be a part of, you're gonna have to constantly reinvent the wheel. You're gonna have to constantly figure things out on your own. And that's not sexy and it's not fun. So definitely find yourself a community.
Juweria Dahir:IC Success is definitely one you can be a part of or here at the at the BNMC. And if it's not us, you know, find yourself another community you can be a part of. And then the final one I would say is, mentorship. You have to be coachable and you've got to have that coachability mindset. Regardless of how great you are at your business as you are as a person, there's always something that you can learn.
Juweria Dahir:And so have a mentor, that's outside of your circle, have a mentor that's outside of your field, have a mentor that's younger than you, if anything, have a mentor that's older than you. Whatever that might be, have multiple mentors and just be open minded to constantly be coachable.
David Pfalzgraf:I think that's such good advice. I know, early on, in our podcast, you mentioned as you got into the US and got into New York and got into Buffalo, you you took a lot of pride in being a very good listener. And and and to me, that, is such a valuable trait and characteristic as as you begin to learn a craft or become an expert at something, being open minded to feedback, constructive and positive feedback. You know, so just exactly what you were saying about listening, be an active listener, and also being very open minded about embracing mentorship and and mentors, important mentors in your life, and then actually listening to what they say and and and taking that, constructive feedback to heart. I think, you begin to see change happen in very positive ways when you let your guard down and become vulnerable and
Juweria Dahir:Mhmm.
David Pfalzgraf:And seek out, advice and information from other people who have been down that road before. I think that's, you know, such good advice for for a a young business owner or an entrepreneur who's looking to, get traction with his or her business. So that's terrific. Well, I'll let you go in a minute, but I I like to end these podcast with something that I call the lightning round and just a couple of quick questions so we can get to know you a little bit better. Any hobbies that we need to know about you, Juaria, that we wouldn't otherwise know?
David Pfalzgraf:Anything you you're passionate about outside your professional, life or work?
Juweria Dahir:I love I love ice skating. In in Sweden, when during the cold season, we would just skate over the the lake. I don't do that anymore, but I love ice skating. That's definitely a big hobby of mine.
David Pfalzgraf:And what about, travel? Any any trips planned anywhere you've been or recommended all of us, take in someday?
Juweria Dahir:Oh my god. So I just came back from a 3 week vacation. I was in Saudi Arabia, which was a 12 hour flight. It's I we had a great time. My family and I, they traveled for the first time.
Juweria Dahir:I had been there a few times, but, I miss the warm temperature. We're back in brutal cold now.
David Pfalzgraf:Well, on that note, we like to we like to thank our guests. And so I have a little, branded, hat for you that you can Thank you. Take with you. That's perfect. Have one of your family members wear if you want.
David Pfalzgraf:And then we've got a little coffee travel mug for you. So, I can't begin to thank you enough for your insight today, your time. You just have such an incredible inspiring story. I wish we could clone you and have 10 of you running around our community effectuating the change that that you're doing, seemingly with ease. And and, we know there's a lot of hard work that goes in behind what you do, and and we're fortunate to have you in our community and and look forward to seeing many great things in the in the days months years to come.
David Pfalzgraf:So thanks again for joining us.
Juweria Dahir:Thank you so much. And I'm so grateful for your partnership. I wish we could clone you and all of your law firm because we really need more of you.
David Pfalzgraf:Oh, that's great. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. And once again, on behalf of this rep, Pfalzgraf, Empire State Entrepreneurs, and New York Business Law Podcast, Can't begin to thank you enough. Juwarya Dahir, you're doing so much in our community.
David Pfalzgraf:I just would encourage you to keep, your hard work up and keep your motivation. Keep smiling. Keep creating positive outcomes and keep motivating and inspiring all of us. Your your work is unique, and it's so appreciated. Thank you.
David Pfalzgraf:Thank you for this opportunity. Alright. That's a wrap. Wraps.
Juweria Dahir:Aw. This is great. I gotta get slim. I love it. That was awesome.
David Pfalzgraf:That's helpful.