Shown L - R: Business owners Carissa Glanton (The Selfie Showroom), Tina Tucker (Chef Love Sol Cuisine) and Ashley Kendrick (Malachie’s Ice Cream)
Shown L – R: Business owners Carissa Glanton (The Selfie Showroom), Tina Tucker (Chef Love Sol Cuisine) and Ashley Kendrick (Malachie’s Ice Cream)
By Gina Nesbit | As businesses close and layoffs local entrepreneurs are finding that survival sometimes means making a difficult choice: pivot, reinvent or walk away.
The financial pressures are also taking a toll beyond the balance sheet, affecting families, relationships and the mental and emotional well-being of business owners.
Those realities were at the center of a recent Lynn Jones Experience Unplugged discussion, where Jacksonville entrepreneurs, community leaders and mental health Advocates gathered for a candid conversation about navigating a changing economy.
Panelist shared stories of closing business, confronting rising operated costs, changing careers and leaning on family, partnerships and faith while determining what comes next.
Carissa Glanton, a photographer and owner of the Selfie Studio Showroom, said rising overhead and declining customer traffic contributed to her decision to close the studio’s Lem Turner Road location. “My rent went up and client participation dwindled,” Glanton said. Inspired by selfie studios popular in California and other markets, Glanton’s business featured more than 20 themed photography spaces equipped with backdrops, props and ring lights. The concept attracted content creators, young adults and families.
“Parents couldn’t believe how excited their children were to come to the showroom,” Glanton recalled. But enthusiasm did not outweigh rising expenses, forcing Glanton to reconsider the business model.
Tina Tucker, known as Chef Love, owner of Chef Love Sol Cuisine, faced similar economic pressures. Tucker built a following through her food truck business, serving popular comfort food dishes including oxtail bowls.
Her business was operating from a Lem Turner food truck lot when plans to close the location forced vendors to search for new places to operate. At the same time, Tucker said food costs were climbing dramatically.
Rather than leave the Culinary industry, Tucker is shifting her focus toward catering and exploring other ways to turn her cooking expertise into sustainable income.
For Ashley Kendrick, owner of Malachie’s Ice Cream, closing was part of a longer-term strategy.
Named after her son, Malachi, the upscale Five Points ice cream shop operated for more than three years before closing July 31, 2026.
Kendrick, whose professional background is in communications, Ashley said she had considered an eventual exit before opening the business, already developed an exit strategy before opening her business.
“My background is in communications. I had already decided to go back to school and was ready to make the move to sell the business or close,” she said.
Kendrick also watched the Five Points market become increasingly crowded as additional ice cream businesses opened nearby.
Entrepreneurs Angel Raws and Brian Vanderpool with host Lynn Jones
The “From Barbering to Building Businesses” panel features entrepreneurs Brian Vanderpool and Angel Raws, whose chance meeting developed into a business partnership.
Raws was competing in barber battles when he met Vanderpool, who was creating customized shirts and jackets. Their relationship grew through merchandising before Vanderpool offered Raws an opportunity to work in his barbershop.
That collaboration eventually expanded beyond cutting hair, The pair began creating opportunities for other barbers while Vanderpool expanded his merchandising business and Raws explored opportunities in the beauty and hair business. Their story is a powerful example of reinvention—not simply surviving economic challenges, but using relationships, mentorship and partnership to build businesses, create opportunities and help others pursue entrepreneurship. You can check their businesses out on social media platforms at @lospros_barbershop @rawcutsbarbershop
Shown l-r are PerspeKtives with Kings panelist Kevin Hammonds, Jermaine Williams, Walter Colson and Queen Tommie Watson.
Members of the PerspeKtives with Kings (PWK) podcast and the mental health professional Queen on the mic Tommie Watson, spoke openly about the pressures that accompany entrepreneurship and personal reinvention. Their podcast was created to give men from different backgrounds a platform to speak honestly about relationships, family, wellness, brotherhood and legacy—from their perspectives. “A mental health professional is part of our cast because men’s mental and emotional wellness must be included in the conversation, not treated as an afterthought,” said founder Kevin L. Hammonds. PerspeKtives with Kings podcaster member Walter Colson shared how he was forced to pivot when his acting career stalled. During that period, his wife had to take the lead financially in the household. Fighting back tears, he praised his wife for her tenacity and for standing beside him through his fears, shortcomings and vulnerability. His story served as a reminder that entrepreneurship and career success don’t happen in isolation. Behind many business owners are spouses, children and families navigating the highs and lows alongside them.
This diverse episode of the Lynn Jones Experience discussion offered a reminder that the impact of economic uncertainty cannot be measured solely through layoffs, storefront closures or declining revenue. Behind those numbers are people deciding whether to keep investing, change direction or accept that a chapter has ended.
