Testimony of Nik Sweeney, Founder & CEO of Amani Nicol Wellness — U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

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Testimony of Nik Sweeney, Founder & CEO of Amani Nicol Wellness, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship at a hearing titled Pathways to Women's Entrepreneurship: Understanding Opportunities and Barriers, on July 26, 2023. The testimony describes starting a holistic wellness business in Baltimore, its CDC-recognized diabetes prevention program, and its Medicaid and Medicare approvals. It credits the Baltimore Metropolitan Women's Business Center with mentorship that helped the business reopen and continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. It lists obstacles including capital access, federal contracting and workforce demands, and recommends measures on SBA lending and WOSB certification. It asks the Committee to support S.2184, the Women's Business Centers Improvement Act of 2023, and FY24 appropriations of $27 million for the WBC program.

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                   Testimony of
                   Nik Sweeney

               Founder & CEO of
              Amani Nicol Wellness

                  U.S. Senate
 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Pathways to Women’s Entrepreneurship: Understanding
             Opportunities and Barriers

                   July 26, 2023
Thank you, Chair Cardin, Ranking Member Ernst, and distinguished Members of the Committee
for this opportunity to provide testimony on my journey as a woman business owner. My name
is Nik Sweeney, Founder and CEO of Amani Nicol Wellness and I am honored to be here today
to share my experience.

Experience Starting and Growing Amani Nicol
I am a small business owner, born and raised, in Baltimore, Maryland. Before starting my
company, my professional experiences lay in sales management, lead generation, and community
outreach. In May 2011, I became a Zumba Instructor as a side hustle. Helping women dance their
way to better health inspired me to pursue health coaching and nutrition certifications.
Implementing Zumba with behavior change coaching in 2016, I laid the foundation for
"Beautifully Well," an online coaching program.

In the fall of 2019, I made the leap into being a full-time entrepreneur. I opened up the first and
only of its kind holistic wellness spa integrating self-care with lifestyle medicine and
programming to meet the needs of women in under-resourced communities.

Amani Nicol is a for-profit social enterprise - we have a strong mission centered around
community and supporting underserved people. We bridge the gap of health inequities when it
comes to prevention for women, creating a fusion strategy where self-care meets healthcare.

With the help of the Balt Metro Women’s Business Center (Balt Metro WBC), my company has
seen success through:

   1. Expanded the CDC Recognized Diabetes Prevention (DPP) to reach the Hispanic/Latino
      and deaf and hard of hearing communities. The Amani Nicol Wellness program for the
      deaf is the only DPP in the US.
   2. Partnered with Notre Dame’s School of Pharmacy to become an accredited Diabetes
      Self-Management program to support women diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
   3. Accepted into the Innovation Works Six Months Accelerator Program (Developed,
      participated in, and was awarded a $ six-figure capital infusion by giving a successful
      pitch for the Investor Showcase).
   4. Received full plus recognition from the CDC; the highest CDC recognition for diabetes
      prevention, based on proven success with outcomes from our DPP program.
   5. Partnered with the Office of Women’s Health Self-Monitoring Blood Pressure Program.
   6. Relocated to a professional office park storefront. Amani Nicol Wellness doubled
      operating space from a 3-room, 2nd-floor suite to a storefront with 4 treatment rooms, 2
      offices, and a lobby/classroom and became ADA Compliant (wheelchair accessible).
   7. Became referral partners with Aetna Better Health, United Healthcare, and Medstar
      Family Choice as a feeder to clientele.
CDC Certification
Amani Nicol is a CDC-recognized organization for diabetes prevention. This year, we were
recognized as a full-plus diabetes prevention program, which is the highest distinction that the
CDC awards organizations.

Not only are we providing diabetes prevention education, but it is also a year-long program we're
delivering virtually to women who are diagnosed with pre-diabetes or at high risk. The goal of
the program is to help them to reverse their diabetes diagnosis or lower their A1C by the end of
the program.

The recognition from the CDC and the state of Maryland provides Amani Nicol with the benefit
of being able to contract with Medicaid - a benefit that very few states across the nation receive.
My company is Medicaid approved and contracted with six managed care organizations.

We are a health spa with patients, and we are able to receive patient referrals through these
contracts. This past April, our program became approved for Medicare - the fourth with the
Medicare distinction in Baltimore. As a result, we have bolstered our efforts in the Medicare
community and hired a specialized coach to head our senior initiative in pre-diabetes. This
Medicare achievement is critical for our company, but it is also vital for the city of Baltimore.
Including our company, there are only four Medicare suppliers in Baltimore - despite Baltimore
being a high-risk community.

Vital Role of the Balt Metro WBC for Amani Nicol
Balt Metro WBC Mentorship Program
The timing could not have been more critical when the Balt Metro WBC reached out to help my
business. My company’s doors had actually closed in March when I received an email from the
WBC about their work launching a program that would provide a mentor to help business
owners navigate through the tumultuous time of the pandemic. The Balt Metro WBC met me and
my business right where we were and re-opened those doors, giving me a second chance at
fulfilling my dream of being an entrepreneur.

So, I became affiliated with the center, amid a worldwide crisis to help me navigate the difficult
challenges I was facing as a result of the 2020 healthcare pandemic. I sought out support and
services to pivot my business practices to ensure sustainability during such calamity.

Without knowing much about the program, I replied back to that email, and, within 24 hours I
received Carmen Braxton as a mentor. This program, Carmen, and the Balt Metro WBC helped
us weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. In just one year, my company went from
having our doors closed to receiving our CDC recognition for prevention. By the end of the same
year, we received our Medicaid approval and started the process of contracting with managed
care organizations like Aetna Better Health, Care First, United Healthcare, and Medstar Family
Choice.

Transition to a Mentee
Even once the one on one mentorship program ended, the Balt Metro WBC has continued to be
instrumental in its mentorship and overall support for Amani Nicol Wellness. I benefited from
being a part of the WBC’s ecosystem, receiving access to webinars that connected us with other
partners, a nomination for Maryland’s Top 100 Women, and more. Ultimately, the experience of
supporting other women in business through the WBC led me to become a mentor myself. I have
been able to share knowledge that I have gained as well as receive and learn from other business
owners in Maryland, creating a network of women entrepreneurs empowering each other to
reach our full potential.

In my experience, mentoring is full circle. In a moment as critical as the start of the pandemic,
having access to a mentor that was well-versed in business and scaling our initiatives was
pivotal. I'm still a growing entrepreneur - Amani Nicol is only four years old, with more than
75% of the time being in a pandemic. I’m committed to giving back to impart what I have
learned by participating in youth & university student educational programs, serving as an
emerging business coach mentor in Balt Metro WBC’s seven-track mentor/mentee business
entrepreneurship program, named in honor of the retired Senator Barbara A. Robinson.

Why the Baltimore Metropolitan Women's Business Center?
The Baltimore Metropolitan Women's Business Center (Balt Metro WBC) met me where I was a​t
during a time when my business was in need, to help me navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Balt Metro WBC is a highly visible Small Business Administration (SBA) technical assistance
business resource, as part of the WBC program. The center is located in the Earl Graves School
of Business hosted by the Provost Office at Morgan State University (MSU), the premier public
urban research university in Maryland known for its excellence in teaching, intensive research,
effective public service, and community engagement. The Balt Metro WBC provides business
advisory services through education, training, technical assistance, and mentorship to small
businesses in the Baltimore metropolitan region of Maryland.

What is the Women's Business Center program
The WBC being women-centered directly understood the challenges I faced and had an
ecosystem of support I could lean into. They were the first program to offer assistance during the
pandemic. One challenge as an entrepreneur is access to business education and resources from
credible people. The WBC was located at Morgan State, a University I admired and saw as a
partner for the community.
The Women's Business Center (WBC) program is a public-private partnership with 35 years of
success in providing training, counseling, mentoring, networking opportunities, and access to
capital to women entrepreneurs nationwide.
The U.S. Small Business Administration provides grants and oversight through their Office of
Women's Business Ownership for the 135 WBCs across the nation. This national network
demonstrates a commitment to urban and rural markets connected to economic development
nonprofits serving economically and socially disadvantaged clients in as many as 38 languages.
Women's Business Centers are essential to help ignite and respond to a period of economic
recovery. Building on the momentum achieved during the continued economic crisis left by the
pandemic, WBCs provide women business owners the vital support and services to grow their
businesses. The current climate also creates interest in starting a business, demonstrated by the
increased interest in the WBC start-up services.


Obstacles Experienced as a Women Entrepreneur
Capital Access
In any business, but especially in a small business, you need capital to be sustainable, grow, and
scale. Capital gives entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs, options. Access to capital
remains an important issue that many women entrepreneurs, like myself, continue to encounter
on a daily basis. In April 2022, just three months after launching our prevention program for the
deaf community, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It wasn’t an option to stop working, a
necessary reduction of workload was implemented, even though it meant generating less
revenue. The revenue loss affected the entire operation and my salary as a small business owner.

Securing sufficient capital and financing to start or expand a health-related business can be
challenging for women entrepreneurs. Studies have shown that women-owned businesses, in
general, tend to receive lower funding compared to their male counterparts - especially in the
private sector. Similarly, obtaining loans at banks is often difficult for women as they have less
established relationships with traditional financial institutions. We have faced difficulty raising
private funding for Amani Nicol.

We have also found trouble finding accessible public funding. Even though we are addressing a
community-based problem geared toward long-term prevention and recognized by the CDC,
Medicaid, and Medicare, we are not considered to be in the same running as other companies.
Amani Nicol does not have the same access to funds within the healthcare system dedicated to
prevention. In Baltimore alone, we are sitting on millions of dollars in public health to support
prevention and public health initiatives. Unfortunately, as a small business, we have to fight
tooth and nail to even get close to those conversations.

Federal Contracting
As the only CDC-recognized public health program in the United States who has provided access
to both deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, we need reliable and timely capital to ensure
payment for our interpreters and ASL-certified professionals.

While we are in a position for reimbursement, there is significant administrative work and time
that is needed to receive the reimbursement. In addition, these funds are often not timely, leaving
many small businesses struggling to pay their overhead. Finally, the amount of Medicare /
Medicaid reimbursement per participant covers less than 1/3 of what our company puts into the
program to support the patient.

In the federal contracting industry more broadly, Women are often underrepresented both in
terms of business ownership and senior leadership roles. This lack of representation can limit
their access to networks, which helps in being aware of contract opportunities and is even more
vital in winning those contracts. In addition, women-owned businesses face stiff competition
from more established and larger companies, making it difficult to secure contracts. As a result,
many women-owned small businesses are forced to subcontract instead of receiving the primary
contract.

Maintaining a Skilled and Cost-Effective Workforce
Business operations always remain an obstacle for small business owners, since many often take
on multiple roles and have few employees. We are fortunate that we have a small team that can
carry some of the administrative weight, but we anticipate that demands associated with shifting
regulations, tax compliance, and reimbursement requirements will result in us needing to
dedicate a team to these specific roles. These are critical roles that are often daunting for many
small businesses - getting the right people in place can definitely make a difference in the
success of a small business.

Opportunities to Support Women’s Entrepreneurship
Capital Access
   ● Leverage the Community Reinvestment Act to increase lending to women.
   ● Reform SBA lending programs to ensure utility for women entrepreneurs.
   ● Increase funding, and designate funding for WOSBs, to the Small Business Innovation
       Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
   ● Incentivize early-stage investment in women-owned companies through additional
       federal programs.
   ● Measure equitable deployment for the Department of Treasury’s State Small Business
       Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding allocations.

Contracting
   ● Simplify the SBA’s WOSB certification process and allow WBCs to certify businesses.
    ● Adopt a trade policy agenda that prioritizes small and, by extension, women-owned small
      businesses.

Workforce Initiatives
   ● Data Collection and Analysis: Enhance data collection efforts to monitor and measure
      the progress of women entrepreneurs in the workforce. Regular analysis and reporting of
      data can help identify areas that require additional support and resources.

Intentional Support for Resource Partners Designated to Help Women Entrepreneurs
It is critical to continue to meet women entrepreneurs where they are at - without the Balt Metro
WBC reaching out to me and offering support, I doubt I would even still be an entrepreneur. Balt
Metro WBC was able to flip the “closed” sign on my business to “open” by identifying the
guidance that I needed to sustain, and later grow, my business.

I urge for reauthorization of the WBC program to ensure that women entrepreneurs like me are
able to benefit from their unique services as resource partners. Women’s Business Centers
understand the daily obstacles and needs of women in business - with women's entrepreneurship
on the rise, this program deserves to be modernized to be brought into the 21st century. Chair
Cardin recently introduced S.2184, the Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act of 2023,
calling for the reauthorization of the WBC program.1 I ask for you all to consider supporting this
reauthorization in a bipartisan manner. This program is vital to the success of companies like
mine – and would operate more effectively and efficiently if the program could be modernized
and expanded.

Finally, I ask that the WBC program receive support for sustained appropriations for fiscal year
2024 (FY24) at $27 million. This will enable the program to maintain its current operations in
support of tens of thousands of women entrepreneurs, especially with the upcoming increase of
16 additional centers later this year.

Closing
I am just one story of many women that have achieved success as a result of public and private
support. Women business owners are making up an increasing percentage of the U.S. economy;
it is vital to support the role of entrepreneurship and provide women business owners with the
resources to achieve. Thank you for your time and interest today, it has been a privilege to
address the Committee.
I look forward to answering any questions.




1
 13 June 2023, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2184/text. Accessed 23 July 2023.


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