Providence Black-owned business encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to go for dreams

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A Black business owner in Providence is sharing a message of encouragement for young entrepreneurs.

Troop Culinary Director and co-owner Jason Timothy spoke with NBC 10 about the ambience of his business on Tuesday.

“It’s definitely a vibe as the kids would say,” said Timothy. “We wanted to transport ourselves to a time where we were a little bit younger. So you got like a lot of murals, ‘Golden Age of Hip Hop,’ skateboards on the back of chairs.”

Troop is described as a lively, visually appealing space for great food, music, live events and fun.

Timothy started the almost 8-year-old, Black-owned business with partners Leigh Vincola and Sean Larkin.

“I was at another restaurant in the city, Loie Fuller’s, it’s no longer open,” said Timothy. “I was looking to transition out, I had been with them for five years. It was a great five years, but I was looking to do something new.”

They started a catering company, “Laughing Gorilla,” working private and public events, which gave them a lot of exposure.

“We were able to do a pop-up at ‘Kitchen,’ which is now ‘Irregardless Biscuit, and the previous owner was going through some medical issues, so we were basically caretakers of the space and we were there for six months, grew a buzz,” he said.

Timothy said Chris Simonelli and Amar Kapadia joined them as partners, and shortly after the Valley Street building, now known as Troop, became available for purchase.

“We went from small pop-up in six months to three months later being here,” said Timothy.

Timothy said their welcoming space is a success because of community.

“This is a place where they [guests] can come. They don’t necessarily have to worry about trying to fit in to any kind of status quo,” said Timothy. “We wanted to community focus it and say ‘Hey this is for everybody,’ not just for us, not just for one particular group, but for everybody.”

Timothy said he has seen Black entrepreneurship grow “bigger” and “stronger” in Providence, in his 20 years living in the city.

“Actually, Black Tea Leaf who just opened up their doors over here, like she’s tremendous, has a tremendous product. There’s a beekeeper that just started a honey company,” said Timothy. “So there’s a lot of folks in our community who are really starting to step up and really kind of get the word out that we’re out here… it’s been really great to see.”

Timothy reminds aspiring entrepreneurs to be true to their self, goals, and dreams.

“You’re going to fail maybe at some point, but don’t let those small failures set you back,” said Timothy. “You’ll always come back bigger, and stronger, and just keep pushing. That’s really all I could say is just eye on the prize.”

Troop is located at 60 Valley Street in Providence.

For more information on Troop and its events, visit its website.