- Portia Harrell, a small business owner from North Omaha, shares her motivation for starting a celebration business with her sons.
- The Small Business Expo of 2024 will take place at the Highlander on February 24th to provide small business owners with valuable knowledge on finances and thriving in business.
In just a few more weeks, small business owners will flood the inside of the Venue for a chance to promote their business.
Portia Harrell, owner of Yardy Party says, the idea to start her business came out of her fight with cancer. "We celebrate everything at my house, so it turned into a celebration business,"
Harrell's business creates signs for all celebrations including birthdays, graduations and holidays. Harrell says, "so we decided, we being me and my kids that we would start a sign business,"
She works out of her home near 46th and Fort. Harrell says, "it's taught me to be resilient in other places. Not because it's rough but because it's a challenge. Being somewhere where you are challenged and that's why I feel like my business will thrive sooner than later,"
Helping her along this journey, is the North Omaha Community Partnership. The group works with individuals and businesses in North O to build and strengthen the community. Last year, Harrell came to the partnerships annual Small Business Expo to learn about getting her business off the ground.
Harrell says, "My mom passed away from cancer and she is a lot of my motivation. I can't just call my mom and say, hey can I borrow 100 dollars,"
Leaning on neighbors to the build a life one letter at a time.
Harrell, says, "I'll work and I'll sleep for 3 hours... as long as we got what we need,"
Now the group is poised to help even more people and companies. The organizations 2024 expo is planned for Saturday, the 24th at the Highlander.
