At first, Amiyah recalls, they filled cups from a pitcher, and they tried bottling the lemonade before discovering the pouches via social media. “Everybody really loved the pouches more than the cups and bottles,” she says. “We changed it up quite a bit to see what people were tuning in to, and the pouches were a good fit.”
The clear plastic container vividly shows off six colorful flavors of lemonade. The package almost advertises itself, as expo attendees walk around the museum atrium sipping from curly straws.
The expo is only a few years older than Double A’s Lemonade Stand, and it has grown as steadily. “We started out a little small, and every year it grew bigger,” says Sophia Metters, who helped organize the expo.
Metters is the founder and owner of G.A.P., a graduation assistance program. She set up the nonprofit to “keep kids on track” with everything from workforce readiness to helping pay for caps and gowns. The Hanson sisters participate in the program, too.
The Alaska Black Business Expo combines seminars, art exhibits, and vendors. Booths in the museum atrium include jewelry designers, healthcare services, and consultants who can assist other entrepreneurs in turn. One of those force multipliers is Umoja Coworking & Incubator, whose president, Jasmin Smith, serves as the expo’s official host.
Smith and Ed Wesley launched the Alaska Black Business Expo nearly a decade ago in honor of the Alaska Black Business Association from the ’90s. Smith says the expo welcomes all community members to attend and support and learn about Black businesses and nonprofits present at the event.
Presenting and teaching are among the social skills that Amiyah says she has learned through her business experience. She also obtained food handler certification, of course. Aaliyah says her most important lessons have been money management and how to deal with dissatisfied customers.
The biggest challenge Aaliyah faces is balancing her schoolwork while continuing the business after her big sister goes to college. Nominally, their mother owns the business, but both As are integral to running it.
