Michelle’s Story

Mikki Adekolu, Frais Puff
Baltimore, MD

This was supposed to be a pivot year for my confection and event planning business - adding new products and building out an online presence. I started 2019 expecting my second child and properly planned and saved money to take maternity leave mid year. I was just getting back into the swing of things in late 2019 and with only 2 events that happened between my maternity leave and COVID, I had no financial cushion to rely on!

Without a social insurance paid leave program in the US, for my maternity leave, I used my savings (and leave from my then job) to cover both business and life expenses. If things had been normal, I would have been perfectly planned, but it put my business in a vulnerable position when a crisis like COVID came along. 

When I applied for the PPP and EIDL programs, I was immediately denied because of other regular debt (which I diligently pay!). Instead, the banker tried to steer me into a private bank loan with an 11% interest rate. I felt racially profiled. I was denied the government program by the bank, and the SBA has since asked for three years of tax returns for my EIDL application when some of my white peers have received money immediately. Why am I to be denied the assistance that is so openly advertised and offered a private loan instead with a crazy interest rate? This is why it never should have been a loan program in the first place.

I then missed out on local and state programs because I did not want to apply before I heard from the SBA. It took so long for an initial response that the local programs ran out of funds before I could navigate them. 

Support is needed urgently. All my events have been cancelled for months and there is no rescheduling in sight. I can’t take in-person events for safety reasons and I can’t purchase new equipment to adequately pivot to an online consumer market. The system failed. We must move beyond loans. A second round of PPP will simply continue to put the power in the hands of the banks.