Hustle To Scale
Redefining the Black Founder Experience in Miami’s Overtown
Airing on South Florida PBS on June 19th!
Watch The Trailer
Hustle to Scale is a short form, three-part docuseries that showcases the journey of Black founders who intentionally chose to build their ventures in Overtown -- the once thriving economic epicenter of Miami’s Black community.
The Problem
At a time where over 41% of black owned small businesses failed in the wake of the COVID pandemic, Miami remains a case study in black economic inequity: almost 25% of Miami’s Black population fall below federal poverty lines and 79% live with negative liquid assets and 37% have zero net worth.
In its heyday, Overtown was celebrated as the “Harlem of the South” where jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker were lodged after performing in Miami Beach’s segregated nightclubs. After the interstate highway systems decimated this thriving black community and forced the relocation of upwards of 10,000 residents, it remains but a shadow of its former self.
Through the lens of the Black founder experience, Hustle To Scale explores themes of systemic barriers to economic mobility, including cyclical poverty, institutional racism, generational disinvestment of Black communities, and lack of access to wealth building activities.
Each vignette features a common throughline: Overtown Connect, a “build from within” network of entrepreneurial support resources for Black business owners, which demonstrates why systemic opportunity gaps require ecosystem solutions like it.
Overtown Connect, an entrepreneur development network seeks to break this cycle through a model that centers the unique needs of underestimated entrepreneurs in lieu of traditional one-size-fits-all programs. During its pilot year, it attracted 36 business support partners, served 55 founders, facilitated over 500 hours of technical support, and launched a $50,000 (and growing) loan fund. (Learn more HERE).
The primary purpose of this docu-series is to inspire others through the untold stories of Overtown’s resilient entrepreneurs and share insights for replicating this model in similar communities in the United States and around the world.