‘We’ve all started from somewhere’: West Side Bazaar businesses speak on International Women’s Day
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Every woman has her own story, her own accomplishments and achievements to be celebrated on International Women’s Day. This year’s day has a theme: Invest in Women: Accelerate progress.
“There’s help. Woman collaborate non-profits are here to help you, everyone here would give anyone advice who asked for it,” said Erin St. John Kelly, Director of External Relations with WEDI, the organization that runs the West Side Bazaar. “What we do here in our incubator is have a majority of women or mom-and-pop owned restaurants and a majority of people of color getting on their feet and building business and community here in Buffalo.”
“Know that we’ve all started from somewhere, and really leverage your community here in Buffalo,” said Kimberly Behzadi, owner of “Read it and Eat.“
“Read It and Eat” is Buffalo’s first culinary bookstore, which can be found on the second floor of the West Side Bazaar. They specialize in culinary adventures, by selling cookbooks, stories about food and chefs, and also curate goods and wears.
Bezhadi tells us her company got its start during the pandemic, as an online book subscription box, where each box sold contains a story about food, along with three to five items from small businesses. Five dollars of every box sold is donated to fight hunger in Buffalo.
“I want to remind people that your dollar can mean a meal to someone else,” Bezhadi said. She said every year, they help donate on average 2,500 to 5,000 meals to our neighbors in need.
“This is a great day to pick up a book, and learn another perspective or another point of view,” Bezhadi said. “Working here, and being here at the West Side Bazaar, it’s an opportunity for you to also come down today, and try food from some of the female-owned, women chefs downstairs, and just see another perspective.”
One of those chefs is Nathalie Zola, who is originally from Congo and then France. She wears many hats every day, as a former pharmacist, a single mother, a student and a business owner, and Friday, she gains her American citizenship.
“It’s one more accomplishment to my life, and then I want to be the perfect example for my daughter, so she can she can see what I’m doing and I want to be an inspiration for her, to never give up,” Zola said.
“Malkia” means “queen” in Swahili. It’s the name she gave her daughter, who helped inspire her to follow her dreams and open a restaurant that combines cuisine from Congo, France and America in her restaurant, “Malkia and Co.” The business continues to grow here in the Queen City.
“I’m not just dreaming, but I’m trying to live my dream,” Zola said. “I wanted just to do something I can enjoy, have fun, and working at the same time. So of course it was my passion.”
Zola and many inspirational women at the Bazaar continue to grow their dreams every day, encouraging more women to become business owners.
“You can fail, but all the time, stand up, reach for yourself and find your purpose,” Zola said.
“Seek out other woman-owned businesses here in Buffalo, we are so willing to share our knowledge, and our stories, there’s a great community that’s just waiting for you with open arms,” Bezhadi said.
If you have a small business and/or are looking to start one, WEDI and Senator Tim Kennedy are holding an educational event on March 12. For more information on the event or to learn more about WEDI and the West Side Bazaar, visit their website here.
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Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.
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