Celebrating Black Girl Magic: Meet Robbie Guzman And Learn About Her Fight Against Entrepreneurial Racism
Women’s History Month is always a favorite for me so I utilize my platform to celebrate black girl magic and highlight influential women in Charlotte.
Robbie Guzman is an entrepreneur that has created an entertainment based career in Charlotte that few others have come close to achieving. At the beginning of the month, Robbie and I spoke about a women’s history month highlight surrounding her and her rise in the entertainment industry. Little did we know, recent actions would turn her into an activist for women in business.
I met Robbie when I first came to Charlotte about 8 years ago. We connected when I worked as a host at the club she owned called Caviar Nightlife. Caviar was a two level club and honestly, I hadn’t seen a two level club since my early party days in Columbia. So of course, my mind was blown. It was fascinating to see a woman handling her business in such a male dominated industry.
Mrs. Guzman currently is the co-owner and managing partner for Good Life at Enderly Park. I was instantly drawn to the space because of its unique photo moments, one of a kind events, and unmatched atmosphere. In the past few months, I became the host for the World Famous Brunch On Sundays. This brunch series has been a staple in the city for a little over a year. Within this year, Brunch on Sundays grew very fast and so did the amount of patrons. With parking being a small challenge, Good Life retained valet services to make parking easier for clients and it also added to the upscale aesthetics of the venue.
Next door to Good Life at Enderly Park is a restaurant that includes a contractually shared parking lot between this restaurant and Good Life. Recently, the owner of that restaurant decided to obtain a sign informing customers that if they were not a customer of the restaurant, they would be towed from a CONTRACTUALLY SHARED parking lot between them and Good Life. Anyone with or without a law degree can clearly see this is wrong and could be considered profiling. Recently an incident happened that tested the strength of the owners of Good Life and every one of their supporters. I sat down with owner Robbie Guzman to get the full story and how all of you can help.
The first thing I wanted to know was what kicked off these series of events. The owners of Good Life received a call from a representative of the property management company in regards to parking. They were basically advised to use other parking areas at their establishment and the shared lot was implied not to be one of those areas. Once it was made known that the restaurant could not take over this shared lot as their own, the property management company offered a different solution.
The solution was to have the customers park in the very back of the shared parking lot first. My question is why the back of the lot? Why can’t the lot just be split? Robbie made a great point by saying “In the sensitive climate and gentrification in this community, we need to be mindful of how things are presented”. Good Life had already hired Preferred Parking for valet services. They spent over $10k with Preferred Parking. Since parking is free, parking attendants accepts tips. Unfortunately, because tips aren’t received as they should, there is an additional gratuity charged that is paid by Good Life.
What I want people to understand is that Good Life is a what the city considers a “place to assemble”. Once this consideration is attached to your business, in order to obtain a high occupancy, you have to have a parking plan submitted to the city. The current occupancy is 581 which means at least 200 spaces have to be included in that parking plan. The shared lot, also known as “Freedom Corridor” is included in the lease for Good Life. Here is the kicker, it’s not included in the restaurant’s lease. So why in the world would they place a sign in this shared lot? Click here to see the sign.
After this sign was placed, Mrs. Guzman attempted to have a peaceful conversation with the owner of the restaurant. After he refused to speak with her, the general manager came out to have a conversation with her. She asked if they would remove the sign or even add Good Life’s name to the sign. Not only did the general manager refuse, they then asked Robbie to leave. After she left, the general manger walked next door to Good Life and a back and forth ensued and nothing was accomplished.
What is next for Good Life? The owners have had to seek legal counsel, but the community can assist in a major way according to Mrs. Guzman. She says “social media is a powerful tool that is effective. We can create virtual protests online that can and will be extremely effective”. I totally agree with Robbie. Although the sign was removed Tuesday afternoon, I’m it doesn’t take away some what a feeling of defeat. What are your thoughts?
