YOU CAN MAGAZINE Vol 6 | Page 58

The two women set forth with determination, eager to get BePolished off the ground and running. But like starting any major project from scratch, there were obstacles in the way. The amount of money and time required was much more than they had anticipated, and they were met with constant disappointment through the grant application process, as letter after letter yielded rejection. Their biggest rejection however, was still ahead. On October 4 th , 2014, after months of preparation, they hosted an open house at the Northeast Library in Wa s h i n g t o n , D C f u l l o f decorations, food, and activities, excited to share their new project and dream with the community. They had been promoting their event through social media and word of mouth for over a month and everything seemed to be in place. Only one thing was missing… the girls. “… everything seemed to be in place. Only one was thing missing… the girls. Not a single one showed up.” Not a single one showed up. “Sure, we were discouraged, for a whole 5 minutes,” recalled Porsha. Despite the failure, Porsha and Rasha spent little time moping— they couldn’t afford to even if they wanted. Not only was their passion behind BePolished, but the two truly believed that this was their calling. “It’s not about Porsha and Rasha, it’s about the girls, and our meeting wasn’t by chance.” The two quickly went back to the drawing board and revised their strategy, using faith and perseverance to ultimately guide them towards success.