Back in 2020, Solange Ake was trying to figure out what kind of business she could build in her new home on Prince Edward Island.
She had moved to P.E.I. from France three years earlier, after growing up in Ivory Coast and studying in Paris.
One idea kept coming up: parties. For years, Ake had helped friends decorate events like birthdays and weddings.
“They were very happy with my services and most of them were asking why I didn’t start a business, why I don’t offer my service to more people,” she said.
That pushed her to launch a decor company that would later become Distinct Magic Events.
Island Morning7:51Free workshop helps turn ideas into income
Entrepreneur and mentor Tia Upshaw, founder of Black Women in Excellence, has supported more than 500 Black women and girls in Nova Scotia over the past six years. She’s now teaming up with experts across the Atlantic region to offer a series of free workshops to help turn ideas into businesses.
Today, the business has expanded beyond private celebrations to include large corporate events, including some held during the 2023 Canada Winter Games on P.E.I.
Now that her own business is more established, Ake wants to make the early stages of entrepreneurship easier for other women, especially Black women trying to see whether their ideas can become successful businesses on the Island.
That’s why she has signed on as the P.E.I. representative for Idea to Income, a new Atlantic‑wide program run by Black Women in Excellence (BWIE), a Halifax-based non‑profit founded by Tia Upshaw.
Over the past six years, the organization has helped more than 500 women in Nova Scotia launch or grow businesses.
Upshaw said she kept hearing from women in other Atlantic provinces who had business ideas but couldn’t access the organization’s support because it was based in Halifax or tied to Nova Scotia funding.
“There are a lot of Black women who are in business, or who are thinking about being in business, or just have an idea… and they don’t know where to go, so that’s why I decided to do it,” Upshaw said of the Idea to Income initiative.
How it works
The program will offer workshops for Black women across all four Atlantic provinces, covering core business skills such as marketing, bookkeeping, intellectual property and grant writing.
It also includes a mental health component.
“So many women in general are dealing with mental health and burnout in all the pieces that go to starting a business, but no one’s really talking about it, no one’s really supporting them,” Upshaw said.
Over the past six years, the Halifax-based nonprofit Black Women in Excellence has helped hundreds of women and girls succeed in the business world, says co-founder and CEO Tia Upshaw. (Submitted by Tia Upshaw)
Another key part of the curriculum is artificial intelligence.
“We have to educate the women on using it, the ethics behind it, how it can scale your business,” Upshaw said.
To make sure the program reflects local realities, BWIE is partnering with entrepreneurs in each Atlantic province.
On P.E.I., that’s Ake, who said she’s looking forward to meeting aspiring entrepreneurs during an in-person workshop planned in September on P.E.I.
‘We need to start’
As a newcomer to P.E.I., Ake said one of her biggest hurdles when starting her business was securing financing as she didn’t have a long financial history in Canada.
“I didn’t have enough money to start a business, and then the bank didn’t trust me as well, because they didn’t know me,” she said.
She also didn’t see many business owners who looked like her or shared her experience as a Black, francophone immigrant woman.
“I didn’t have many mentors, or even, as I said, representation, somebody to go to talk to, and see what kind of challenge you faced when you started your business.”
WATCH | She was discouraged from starting a business. Now this entrepreneur mentors others:
She was discouraged from starting a business. Now this entrepreneur mentors others
Tia Upshaw, CEO and founder of Blk Women in Excellence, knows what it’s like to face pushback but it’s never stopped her from chasing her dreams and helping others along the way. We met up with the 2024 CBC Black Changemaker at the annual Apple Blossom Festival in Kentville, N.S.
Language added another challenge.
French is her first language, so she often had to translate her ideas and pitches into English on the spot. She believes that sometimes affected how people perceived her.
“But I just work harder to show more of my work, and then at least people can see what I’m able to do, what they can expect from me,” Ake said. “This is how I started, and people start trusting me.”
Now, she hopes her experience can encourage others who are still wondering whether they should take the leap.
“We are never ready to start a business, because it’s very challenging, but we need to start,” Ake said.
“They shouldn’t be afraid… With the right resources, the right tools, they can make it. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.”
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
Being Black in Canada 2025 (CBC)