Business success by 30 - young entrepreneurs who have made early breakthroughs

Ebony, March, 1991 by Douglas C. Lyons

Business Success By 30

Yvonne White's life is literally one big party. She's on a first name basis with some of Hollywood's biggest movers and shakers, and her affairs are the talk of the town.

As the owner of Yvonne E. White Inc./Catering by Yvonne, she is one of Los Angeles' premier party planners. She has organized corporate receptions, seaside clambakes, even a blacktie divorce party. Her "regulars" read like a "Who's Who" of entertainment: Bill Cosby, Janet Leigh, Bette Midler, Eddie Murphy, Sidney Poitier, Ivan Reitman, Aaron Spelling and Sylvester Stallone. There is talk of a nationally syndicated radio program and the publication of a cookbook. She already appears regularly in party-planning segments on ABC-TV's Home Show.

It's pretty heady stuff and nice work for someone who just turned 28.

White obviously isn't your typical 28-year-old. She and other young Blacks, like radio executive Lorenza P. Butler, contractor Aubrey Lewis Jr. and clothier Juan Armando Minniefield, are members of a very select group - savvy entrepreneurs who found big-time success before age 30.

Making it in today's competitive workplace usually takes time, hard work and a golden opportunity. But these young men and women didn't wait for the traditional career path to bring them opportunities. They cut their own trails.

Self-confident, almost fanatic in their ambitions, they are motivated by a love for their careers, and they work hard enough to take advantage of any opportunity. They are also goal-oriented and are willing to take risks. Most importantly, they enjoy being their own bosses. As Lewis puts it: "I'd rather take my own chances than take my chances in an organization that dictates my future."

When White first decided to launch her own catering company 20 years ago, few people thought she would make it.

Although she had once worked with her godfather, who was a professional caterer, White faced a number of obstacles. To begin with, she was only an 18-year-old college freshman who hoped to make money during her vacations home in Los Angeles. On top of that, she was a Black woman dabbling in an extremely competitive and White-dominated field.

All the odds seemed stacked against her, but White hardly noticed. "My parents never told me that I couldn't," she says. "I had no fear of trying anything because I was always told that I could do anything I wanted."

With the typical flair of the quintessential entrepreneur, she staked $150 on embossed business cards and began looking for clients. Her godfather helped her land her first job: a Christmas party for the late actress Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner. Several months later, White's part-time business began to take off. She transferred from the University of Colorado to UCLA during her sophomore year in 1981 and continued catering. "I remember saying to myself, `Hmmm, if I'm grossing $25,000 at 19 and going to school full time, I think this might turn into a real business,'" she recalls.

While researching a college term paper, she met Rick Springfield, a popular recording artist and TV soap star. She mentioned her work as a part-time caterer, and the star politely nodded, apparently giving little thought to the matter. About two months later, she called Springfield's office to solicit his business, and, surprisingly, she was told that he wanted her to cater a party for about 200 people - that afternoon. "I literally pulled a friend out of a classroom to do that party," she recalls with a laugh.

Catering by Yvonne has grown since then. The firm now employs 32 persons and her schedule is so busy that she takes private parties on a "referral only" basis.

The work is glamorous, but the long hours - often averaging between 14 and 16 hours a day - can take their toll. "Some of my friends can't appreciate my schedule," she says. "When I say that I'm busy, they think I'm blowing them off because I don't have a 9-to-5 [job]. They'll ask, `How are you so busy? All you do is give parties?'"

Another young entrepreneur who abandoned the 9-to-5 grind is Aubrey Lewis Jr., a 29-year-old executive, who started his career in retail merchandising only to find his true calling as the owner of The Lewis Contracting Corp. in East Orange, N.J.

At first, the trek from a white- to blue-collar profession was almost unthinkable. A product of a well-to-do family, Lewis majored in graphic arts at Eastern Michigan University and landed his first job at Macy's department store in New York with the hopes of following in his father's footsteps. "My father's in retail," he says. "And being a wise kid, I said, "This guy knows a lot of people. So, if I get into retail. . . .'"

But Lewis grew tired of the slow pace and infrequent promotions. He soon found a more challenging opportunity in 1985 as an assistant project manager for the Herbert Construction Corp. on the site of the World Financial Center project. He worked hard, using his experience from the U.S. Army Reserves to bring leadership and organization to his work. He soon earned his workers' respect and his supervisor's trust.