Ever since Kristi Brown-Wokoma was five years old, she remembers planning menus and cooking dinners for her family. In fact, when her grandmother passed away a few years ago, she was helping clean out her house and found one of those menus she had written for a family dinner when she was seven.
Kristi always knew that she wanted to turn her love of cooking into a career, and she channeled that ambition into starting her own business, That Brown Girl Catering. United Way of King County's Individual Development Account program is helping her take her company to the next level.
An IDA is a matched savings account. The match rate is $3 for every $1 saved. The IDA program is helping hardworking, but low-income people like Kristi start and expand small businesses. Kristi has saved $2,000, which will be matched for total of $8,000.
"I'm not a saver," Kristi admits with a laugh. "But I've developed a different mentality about money. Being able to save a large amount also lets banks and other lenders know that I'm serious and that I'm willing to invest my own money."
Kristi will use her savings to buy industrial cooking equipment vital to growing her business. She plans to continue the good financial habits she developed through the IDA program.
"It's about understanding what money can do for you," Kristi says. "I like knowing I can save for a goal."
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