From cupcake shops to video production companies, millennials in St. Louis are creating businesses offering various products.

St. Louis is home to a lot of young creatives and many are using their businesses to make a difference in their community. According to a recent article, many millennials are moving to St. Louis because of the low cost of doing business there and the ample amount of community support provided to startups.

The Business Insider labeled St. Louis as the number one American city where 20-somethings can afford to work and live — so we’ve highlighted five millennial business leaders to look out for and support in 2018.

1. Kimberly Spencer, 25 – Founder and Owner of Graffiti Cupcakes

Photo: Maria Frank

Kimberly Spencer is the founder and owner of Graffiti Cupcakes. Spencer came up with the idea to create a cupcake company after graduating from culinary school. In 2016, her idea came into fruition.

Spencer currently sells her cupcakes at pop-up and vending events but, in a few months, she is looking to open her own shop. She wants to offer customers the option of creating their own cupcake upon their visit. She plans to name the shop Graffiti Cupcakes, because she wants everyone who visits to be an artist.

“I want it to be a spin off of a froyo, but cupcakes,” Spencer said. “The person can come in and they can pick the base of their cupcake. They can then pick whatever type of frostings that are available to put on top of their cupcake.”

“They also get to pick cool toppings such as bacon, gummy worms or anything,” she added. “It’s more like people being able to design their own cupcakes [and make] the cupcakes the way that they want.”

Spencer wants all of her visitors to have the opportunity to be creative and explore their own ideas when they visit her shop. That’s what will make her shop stand out among other shops in St. Louis.

“I’ve done research on a lot of the other cupcake places in St. Louis, and none of them have that idea of letting people come in and pick their own base and get just one cupcake,” Spencer said. “You don't have to buy six cupcakes from me. You can literally get one. You can put whatever you want on that cupcake and just leave. A lot of places have a limit, and they actually can’t do different flavors for you.”

Spencer has made various cupcakes such as banana pudding, oatmeal, orange, raspberry champagne and funnel cake. She is also working on creating cupcakes based off the staple dessert or food from places she has visited. She recently visited New Orleans and is looking to make a beignet cupcake.

Spencer wants Graffitti Cupcakes to be a cool place for St. Louis visitors to enjoy. She wants them to witness the full experience that comes along with eating a cupcake.

For the upcoming year, the entrepreneur is planning to buy a cupcake trailer for the road. She also wants to work with schools to show kids how fun it can be to make cupcakes and hopefully inspire them to start their own businesses in the future.

2 and 3.  Joshua Reed, 24 and Pierre Barnes, 24 – Gourmet Juice Specialists at Power Juice Bar

Photo: Joshua Reed

Joshua Reed and Pierre Barnes are gourmet juice specialists at Power Juice Bar in St. Louis. Reed founded the juice bar back in 2015 and currently co-owns a mobile juice truck called Juice Masters.

The Chicago native came up with idea of creating his business because there weren’t healthy options in the community.

“I just wanted to expose the community to something different,” Reed said. “They were just going through the Mike Brown situation when I moved here, and I thought it was the perfect thing to do.”

Barnes works with Reed to help keep the Power Juice Bar vision alive within the community.

Since starting the Power Juice Bar, Reed and Barnes have worked with two schools in St. Louis and have given free smoothies to students. Reed pitched the idea of starting an afterschool program at the first school he worked with, and the school accepted.

Reed works at another school now and started a culinary program for students back in 2016.

The entrepreneur is a huge advocate of giving back.

“I feel like that's where my blessings come from,” Reed said. “I’m not a religious person, but I’m definitely a spiritual person. For me, every time I exert positive energy, I always get it back.”

Reed wants to continue to expose the community to a healthier diet and life with Power Juice Bar this year. He said black people are not only dealing with a lot of social issues, but we also have issues with diseases. Last year he worked on influencing the youth to learn more about their health, and this year he wants black men to become more aware.

“I’ve been doing yoga lately, so I’m trying to get more men to start doing yoga,” Reed said. “I'm just trying to get men to become more healthy, since many of them don’t go to the doctor. Many men don't even care about their health, and I just want to push more men to become healthier this year.”

4. Mykael Ash, 27 – Freelance Artist

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Photo: Mykael Ash

Mykael Ash is an urban contemporary artist based out of East St. Louis. His artwork consists of various mediums, such as acrylic paint, oil paint, graphite, charcoal, photography and graphic design.

Ash says his artwork is inspired by his community, black people and the culture.

"What motivates me the most is everybody that’s black,” Ash said. "I really feed off of the community that’s surrounded by me.”

Ash said his latest piece of artwork has been his favorite thus far. The artwork is titled, “You got money for my books, but you don’t have money for my books.”

“Basically what that piece meant was that you can pay for me in jail, but you can’t pay for me to get an education,” Ash said.

The artist said he wants people to remember his work and how it made them feel.

“When you look at my work, I want you to think ‘what was he thinking about?’ or ‘how did he do that?’ because a lot of times it's about just making the images look so real or just touching the part of the heart that you didn’t even know was there,” Ash said.

With his work, he wants to inspire young artists in East St. Louis and other young emerging artists to believe in themselves.

“Find yourself and don't give negativity all of your energy,” Ash said. “You have to listen to critiques in order to get better, but you can't let that beat you up and say, ‘I’m not going to make it because this person is doing that better than me.’ Honestly it’s about what you’re bringing and what you’re doing.”

For anyone looking to buy Ash’s artwork, you can find more about him on Instagram @mykael_corleone.

5. Manyara Shombay, 29 – Founder of QueenSit Productions

Photo: Ohun Ashe

Manyara Shombay is the founder of video production company, QueenSit Productions. Shombay started her company in 2017 after gaining a fan base from people who became interested in her videos about motorcycle riding and safety.

Shombay said the name of her company was inspired by a queen sitting on a motorcycle. She also believes that every person who sits in front of her camera are kings and queens.

“The goal ultimately is to appease to people that I see everyday,” Shombay said. “I don't want it be unreachable. I want to bring people happiness and I want to touch people.”

The company’s motto is “Enjoy the Moment. I’ll capture it for you.” Shombay chose this motto because everyone is in a new age of focusing on recording their own moment.

“I want you to know that I will be there for you to enjoy your moment and capture it the way it is,” Shombay said. “I just want you to enjoy that moment because you can't get it back. You can get it back when I give you the video.”

Shombay also records events in the community such as marches, speeches and protests. She believes it is important to use videography because it gives individuals the platform to connect with what is going on in the world.

“It’s important to understand the role that video plays, and I’m an activist also,” Shombay said. “I was at the protest for Ferguson, and one thing that I realized is that the news would tell their story, but the people who were out there had a different story to tell. My role switched, and I said I’m going to become that medium for people to see everything firsthand.”

The entrepreneur has inspired many women to learn how to ride motorcycles through her QueenSit Productions channel on YouTube. She also trains women to learn how to ride. She finds it important to continue to use her platform to inspire women.

“I just want my message to spread to women that they can do the impossible,” Shombay said. “You can do the unthinkable if people doubt you being a woman. Men always try to tell me how to do things the right way. I just want to change that idea that women are not inferior, but we are superior,”.

For the new year, Shombay plans to sell sweatshirts like the one she wears when she rides her motorcycle. She wants to continue to encourage more women to ride motorcycles as well.

These black millennials are definitely making a difference in their respected fields in St. Louis. Make sure to support these young entrepreneurs in 2018!

Sponsored by U.S. Bank.