By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com In spite of its name, Miss Lady’s Bakery Cafe isn’t just another source of homemade pastries and baked goods. Shirl and Julian Taylor say it’s also a full-service restaurant with a bar, serving scratch-made meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Baltimore natives decided to open the brick-and-mortar […]
Author Archives: Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer
Megan Sayles is a business reporter for The Baltimore Afro-American paper. Before this, Sayles interned with Baltimore Magazine, where she wrote feature stories about the city’s residents, nonprofits and initiatives. Her love of music inspired her to be a writer. At a young age she realized it was not the melody that she was so infatuated with, but the lyrics that made up the song and connected with listeners. Sayles grew up in Pasadena, Maryland, and is a 2021 graduate of the University of Maryland, where for her senior capstone project she reported on how the coronavirus and inequality intersected in Baltimore. She also worked as a staff writer and copy editor for campus publications, including Stories Beneath the Shell and The Black Explosion. Sayles teamed up with a partner to report on how the pandemic had put many more responsibilities on the oldest child in families. The Associated Press and other news organizations picked up her story.
Posted inBUSINESS
Women Entrepreneur Leadership Lab to host ‘Power Plays: A Small Business Summit for Innovative Women in Baltimore’
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Women Entrepreneur Leadership Lab (WELL), in collaboration with Color Vision, will hold Power Plays: A Small Business Summit for Innovative Women at the Rita Rossi Colwell Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on June 10. The one-day, mini conference will assemble established and aspiring women business owners to […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Shaw’s Covenant: meet the Baltimore-based tailor serving Baltimore’s elite
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com When Baltimore native Justin Shaw opened Shaw’s Covenant, a custom suit business in 2017, he had limited experience in the men’s suit market. At the time he was unhappy as a human resources professional and network marketer. His best friend, Gilbryonna, who would later become his wife, urged […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Remote Area Medical and DentMed to host free vision and dental clinics in Baltimore
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Remote Area Medical (RAM), a healthcare nonprofit headquartered in Tennessee, is set to host a free, two-day clinic for dental, vision and general medical care in Baltimore on June 10 and 11. The pop-up clinics, which are provided in collaboration with Maryland-based DentMed, will take place at The […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Comcast seeking applications for small business grant competition
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Comcast recently announced that it would bestow 100 Baltimore small businesses with grant packages that include $5,000 in funding, business consultation, educational resources, media schedule, creative production and a technology makeover as part of the Comcast RISE program. To qualify for the program, businesses must have 100 or […]
Posted inBUSINESS
AfroTech Executive conference gathers Black thought leaders, executives and investors of tech industry
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Blavity’s AfroTech Executive multi-city conference returned to Washington, D.C. on May 11 at The Gathering Spot, a Black-owned private membership club. The event brought together corporate executives, investors and tech moguls to learn about trends and innovations in the technology sector. “AfroTech Executive is a more intimate gathering […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
xHood to host Black Parent Pride Summit for Black queer parents
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com In honor of D.C. Black Pride, xHood, a community organization for Black queer families, will host the Black Parent Pride Summit at the Eaton Hotel from May 26 to May 28. The three-day event assembles Black parents from the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate, connect and obtain critical family-building […]
Posted inSponsored Content
Black women are two to three times more likely to have uterine fibroids—here’s how to manage and treat them
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com In the U.S., 26 million women aged 15 to 50 have uterine fibroids, or benign growths of the uterus, and more than half of those women will experience associated symptoms and health risks. For African American women, the lifetime incidence of fibroids is […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Célebréz en Rosé wine and music festival coming to Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods for Memorial Day weekend
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Black-owned Célebréz en Rosé wine and music festival will return to the Washington metropolitan area on May 28. This year’s gathering will take place in Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods in Columbia, Md. This year’s musical guests include R&B singer-songwriter Jacquees, rapper Mannie Fresh, DJ 5’9 and […]
Posted inBaltimore News
East Baltimore’s Chick Webb Memorial Recreation Center set to start reconstruction in June
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Chick Webb Memorial Recreation Center, located in East Baltimore, is set for a $20 million redevelopment. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved a loan guarantee of $12.4 million for the project and the center received $8 million in state bonds. The center’s renovation […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Retail Village at Sycamore & Oak in Congress Heights to open in June
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com After eight months of construction, the Retail Village at Sycamore and Oak in Congress Heights will be ready to host its grand opening in June. Situated on the historic St. Elizabeth campus in Ward 8, the retail village seeks to benefit the surrounding community through healthy living, business […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Beloved Community Services Corporation on a mission to revitalize Mitchell family home and law office
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Staff Writer An Upton/Druid Hill nonprofit organization is revitalizing the properties of one of Baltimore’s most influential Black families. Beloved Community Services Corporation, led by Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway, acquired Clarence M. Mitchell Jr.’s family home, located at 1324 Druid Hill Ave., and the law office of his wife, Juanita […]
