BALTIMORE — How would you like Queen Latifah to be the face of your small business?
One Baltimore-based bagel shop is in the running to have the hip-hop superstar give their business a new boost.
Bottoms Up Bagels, which launched in 2015 and temporarily had a brick-and-mortar building on Greenmount Avenue at 27th Street, is one of seven nationwide semifinalists in the Lenovo Evolve Small Mentorship Contest.
The top three businesses will win a $30,000 grant, $10,000 of Lenovo technology - and of course, a mentorship with Queen Latifah.
Bottoms Up Bagels (also known as "BUB") is now asking their supporters to cast their votes in hopes of winning the contest. Votes can be cast through Jan. 16, and Queen Latifah - who's now calling herself the "Queen of Small" - is going to be the face of thousands of campaigns for small businesses across North America
For BUB cofounders Michelle Bond and Joan Kanner, who are both originally from New Jersey, it's a huge opportunity.
Bond explained that they started at farmers' markets, and ultimately were able to launch the Greenmount bagel shop.
"Our lease was up earlier this summer, so rather than continue on there just with everything going on with COVID and post-COVID, a lot of uncertainty, we decided to regroup, work on some of the business operations and infrastructure and go back to doing the 'BUB Roadshow,' which is something that we started in 2019 to explore new markets and do some pop-ups while we kind of look for a permanent home and figure out our next step," she said.
The contest is a chance to get more capital, technology, among other things.
"Of course, the big exciting part is the opportunity for mentorship with Queen Latifah. We've been fans of hers as Jersey girls for a long time, and when we saw it, we were like, 'We should just go for it,' and hopefully get a little bit more light on Bottoms Up Bagels and get an opportunity to hopefully learn from one of the greatest that there is."
Bond said it's an opportunity to talk with someone who's been a businesswoman for a long time, across different industries. Queen Latifah began as a rapper before starring as Khadijah James on "Living Single" in the 1990s, and ultimately became an award-winning actress and film producer.
"Working for her would be amazing, and who knows what that can lead to?" Bond noted.
