Dr. Ashton Sellers has taken over a longstanding animal hospital and made history in the process. Hickman Mills Animal Hospital was opened in 1957 by Dr. L.W. Williams, per the organization’s website. Now, Sellers becomes its third owner and also leads as the head veterinarian, according to Fox4. “Once you move into ownership, it’s just a whole different ballgame because now it’s you,” Sellers told the outlet. “From the minute somebody walks in the door, it’s your business, your staff; these are your patients, and that just comes with a different mindset that you have to have.” This was a long-held dream of Sellers, who aspired for ownership when she was young, her mother, Susan Weaver, told the outlet. “She’s always excelled; she’s always achieved and always had goals, and she’s always been determined to accomplish her goals,” Weaver said. Making History Sellers also makes history in her new role. She is the first Black woman in Kansas City to own an animal hospital and the...

Courtney Adeleye is making history during Women’s History Month. The Mane Choice The former registered nurse has become a serial entrepreneur, finding success in the haircare space. In 2013, she founded The Mane Choice, a natural haircare brand she believed addressed a market gap. “There were not many brands that used natural ingredients and specialized in healthy hair growth at the same time,” Adeleye told Entrepreneur . “So, I started mixing my own products at home and infused them with vitamins, nutrients, and healthy ingredients.” Adeleye also went online to discuss her haircare journey, which led to interest from viewers who wanted to purchase her products. She used $500 from her savings to create deep conditioning treatments, and within three years of operating from her home, she generated $10 million in sales, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. Acquisition By 2019, the venture, which carries shampoos, conditioners, and hair growth vitamins, had generated $100 million in sales,...

Dr. Abi Oladele has launched a science-backed oral brand that prioritizes health over aesthetics. The first-generation Nigerian American was raised in Trenton, NJ, with high expectations on her to succeed, which she internalized as her parents’ desire to ensure their sacrifices weren’t in vain. And they certainly weren’t, she told AFROTECH™. While her father wanted her to become an orthopedic surgeon, she chose to become a dentist. This career would also allow her to marry her interests in the arts, including drawing and sculpting, she shared. “After learning more about exactly what dentistry entails, it’s definitely a mixture of art. It’s definitely a mixture of science and using my hands,” Dr. Oladele told AFROTECH™. “And because I loved using my hands and designing, crafting all those different things, I was like, ‘I can choose a career where it would be accepted by my family and my parents and would actually change people’s lives.'” She attended Howard University, earning a...

The long-awaited Obama Presidential Center will officially open to the public on June 19, 2026 — Juneteenth — on Chicago’s South Side. In a press release on Saturday, March 7, the Obama Foundation announced that the center’s dedication will take place on Thursday, June 18, with the campus opening to visitors the following day. Celebrations will run through June 21 with “a series of events that bring together the changemakers, community members, volunteers, and supporters who made the Obama presidency a reality and welcome visitors to celebrate the power of hope and change,” the Foundation said in the release. What Is The Obama Presidential Center? As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Obama Presidential Center — first announced in 2015 — is an $800 million museum and public gathering space honoring former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. Once completed, it will be the most expensive presidential center in the nation’s history. The 19-acre campus will tell...

Chicago, IL, now has its first Black-owned and operated winery. Vintrendi Wine Company Vintrendi Wine Company opened in 2017 and is led by Rick and Carin Nesbitt, according to the winery’s website. Carin serves as chief financial officer and operations manager, while Rick serves as CEO and winemaker. Per the company website, Carin brings over 30 years of experience in the financial sector to the role. She worked at a boutique financial and investment firm as an operations manager before dedicating herself to Vintrendi Wine Company . In conversation with NBC Chicago, Rick made it clear he was no stranger to the wine and liquor industry, and his involvement dates back to 1998. He has worked as a salesperson, learning the fundamentals of merchandising and running wine floor programs at major chain stores, and as a marketer at various alcoholic beverage distributors in the state, according to the winery’s website. He reached a point where he recognized he wanted more ownership in the...

Khris Johnson paused his medical studies to make history in pursuit of another dream. Food & Wine reports that homebrewing became a hobby for Johnson while he was in college. He had been on a premed track and simultaneously secured a role at Cigar City Brewing Co. in Tampa, FL, working under Wayne Wambles, who was a brewmaster. Wambles had seen something special in Johnson and shared positive sentiments about him, stating he “had a great deal of love for creating harmonious, complex beers,” according to the outlet. Green Bench Brewing Co. Johnson’s passion for homebrewing prompted him to take a break from his medical career aspirations and focus on the venture full-time. He moved to St. Petersburg, FL and, in 2013, opened his first microbrewery, Green Bench Brewing Co., alongside Nathan Stonecipher, Steven Duffy, and Brian Wing, according to the company website. Green Bench Brewing Co. offers beers, mead, and cider made with fresh, local ingredients. Customers can choose from...

Dr. Willie Underwood III is the president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA). The Buffalo, NY, native is a Morehouse College alum who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1988, according to his LinkedIn profile. This was a dream for his family and simultaneously a reality check for an education system that attempted to write him off during his adolescent years and hold him back from realizing his potential, according to the National Press Foundation. “I went from a private Catholic school that was all-Black that believed in educating me to make me the best person I could be, to a school that was predominantly white, and the teachers had a policy, ‘We’re not educating them,’” Dr. Underwood said, per the outlet. “So they took all of us, all the Black males in the school, in that third-grade class where I started, and put us in remedial classes where I’m now in kindergarten. And I was there under the guise that I had a learning disability.” Underwood went on to obtain...

History is being made at Johns Hopkins Hospital . ABC News reported the hospital’s flagship Halsted Service in trauma and acute care surgery is now led by an all-Black team of senior residents and fellows, marking a first for the institution. The history-making team is composed of doctors Valentine S. Alia, M.D. (second-year resident); Lawrence B. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. (seventh-year resident); Ivy Mannoh, M.D. (third-year resident); Zachary Obinna Enumah, M.D., Ph.D., M.A. (ninth-year and critical care fellow); and Ifeoluwa “ Ife ” Shoyombo, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. (third-year resident). This is significant because while 13.4% of the U.S. population is Black, only 5.6% of surgeons in training are Black, according t o the National Institutes of Health. “Between us, there are five MDs, two PhDs, and six master’s degrees —but more importantly, a shared commitment to serving the people of Baltimore,” Alia and Brown said in a joint post on Instagram . “We are Black history. We are our...