Business

(NEW YORK) — Immigrant women in the U.S. often make nearly impossible and difficult decisions to leave behind family members, careers and various aspirations in order to create a new life for themselves in America.

“Like most of the people who immigrate to this country, I wanted more opportunities for my family,” Kandy Alva told ABC News’ Good Morning America about why she first moved to New York City from Peru in 2008. “Before I came I was in the management and hospitality field. Like all immigrants when they came to this country, even if you’re a professional in your home country, you just start at zero here.”

Alva earned her degree, worked as a nurse’s assistant in a nursing home and eventually pivoted to a culinary career running her own cake shop thanks to her time with Hot Bread Kitchen, an organization that helps immigrant women and women of color cultivate business skills, sharpen their culinary chops and build relationships for a local support network to forge their future endeavors.

In 2018, she saw the nonprofit’s culinary training program listed online, applied and secured an interview.

“There was more than 100 women in the same situation as me, with a lot of skills and they want to get ahead like me, most who were professionals in their own countries and want new opportunities,” she said.

Alva became one of 27 women from 10 different countries to make it into the culinary training program. After graduating in March 2019, Hot Bread Kitchen helped open another door, landing her an interview with the culinary team at Google, where she went on to work as a prep cook and restaurant associate in one of the tech giant’s New York cafeterias.

“We represent women at Hot Bread Kitchen,” she said. “Some women think we don’t have a chance in this world [or] think that you don’t belong in this country if you can’t do your goals — but if you make a lot of effort and focus on your dreams, your dreams can come true. I’m like a true example that immigrants can do amazing things for their future.”

“Now, after Hot Bread Kitchen,” Alva said “I started my own business, Sweet Kandy’s Cakes, and I’m very proud of that.”

Alva worked with her mother, who owned a catering business back in Peru, and said “all the skills I learned from my mom I have utilized in this country.”

“I feel very grateful for Hot Bread Kitchen and Google that gave me all the tools to get a position in this field,” she said. “Every woman has a different situation, but at the same time they have the same goal: to get ahead. I believe Hot Bread Kitchen is my family in this country because they check in and keep track of how I’m doing.”

“Most of the women in this field lost their jobs with COVID and we never felt alone in this moment. Hot Bread Kitchen always called us to see if we needed a part time job or just to say hi. That means a lot during difficult moments,” Alva said.

The nonprofit organization has welcomed women with open arms to their table since 2008 and helped them pave a path towards entrepreneurial success in the culinary industry. Recently, Hot Bread Kitchen found a new home for its headquarters at the former Food Network test kitchen space inside Manhattan’s bustling food hall Chelsea Market donated by Google.

The food career training program and job skills classes are back in action for the first time since early 2020 due to shutting down during the pandemic.

“There is now a room of 15 women learning and working so hard to get their first job in the culinary industry and it’s really incredible to have them here,” the organization’s senior communications manager, Jenny Kutner, told Good Morning America.

Fauzia Aminah Rasheed, the second-generation owner of beloved Bronx-based Jamaican food cart Fauzia’s Heavenly Delights, joined the small business program at Hot Bread Kitchen in 2018 alongside her mom.

“Being a part of Hot Bread Kitchen made me realize more than anything else in this entire process, how important it is to have a community,” she told GMA. “The things that you learned from just simply speaking to other people is way beyond what you would ever learn in a class — they really are able to help you with the ins and outs of what it means to be a business owner. And all of the little small nuances and details that you just don’t even think about.”

Their food truck has been in business for 25 years and Rasheed said it “all comes naturally” because it’s in her blood.

“But when I graduated Stony Brook University my mom asked, ‘Do you want to go ahead and start to take things over?’ I wanted to continue her legacy and all the hard work that she had put in, so I kind of stepped up and I’m trying to take the business into a whole different sphere,” she said.

Rasheed conceptualized a jarred spice line to get their brand into the consumer product space, but the mother-daughter duo needed a commercial kitchen to do so. That’s where Hot Bread Kitchen came in.

“They really meet you where you’re at. They were like we see that you’re starting from the beginning, here are the resources to do it, here’s community to help, and it’s just been nonstop blessings ever since,” Rasheed said. “There’s a lot of responsibilities that we have to juggle and the food cart itself is a lot of work, it’s like 7 to 7 every day. So that’s been a journey.”

“That was one of the main motivations for the whole concept was making your own version of what you really like from us and staying true to the flavors,” Rasheed said.

Her grandmother encouraged her to start the business, she said, because there wasn’t a jerk seasoning that lived up to what they ate in their home country.

“Now, the jerk chicken is basically one of our most popular, top selling items,” she said.

Working alongside women in their training, classes, mentorship and experience at Hot Bread Kitchen also gave Rasheed and her mom a greater sense of belonging in the culinary industry.

“Majority of them have been women and majority of them have been minorities and it’s just been really, really cool to kind of see yourself,” she explained. “So that familiarity has also been really nice and refreshing to be in that situation with so many people will look like you when they’re going through the same things that you are.”

Inci Mayo’s success at Hot Bread Kitchen in 2014 has led to longevity in baking. She landed a job on the bakery team at Whole Foods Market, took additional classes through the program with experts like Jeffrey Hamelman, and tirelessly pursued her new passion for pastry to eventually become the head baker at Restaurant Associates with Google.

“I took almost every opportunity they had,” she said. “My goal was to switch from bread only to the whole spectrum of pastry — I love the creative part of baking.”

As a German immigrant whose parents are from Turkey and family is still spread throughout Europe, Mayo said, “I didn’t find a good job when because my English wasn’t fluent when I got here eight years ago.”

“I appreciate Hot Bread Kitchen because I got the opportunity to take ESL classes [English as a secondary language] that was really helpful and a big support. I didn’t only learn how to make bread,” she said. “Hot Bread Kitchen showed me career opportunities that I didn’t think I was able to do by myself. I was at home baking every day and my husband said, ‘why don’t you do this as a profession?’ But I couldn’t afford the culinary arts school — then I saw Carla Hall on ‘The Chew’ talk about [HBK], which was really fortunate for me.”

The organization also provides its members with resources for part-time work, childcare and education, plus during the pandemic pivoted to create additional online resources and networking opportunities.

“Now, eight years later, I’ve created everything from a cookie to a tart to a cake, from flatbread to pizza and almost everything,” Mayo said. “I would like to move up and become a chef. In America I look up to people who can do the burden of being an entrepreneur with all kinds of skills and a plan to survive. When I do it, I want to be really ready with the management skills, people skills and financial skills. That is the dream.”

“I’m really grateful for the opportunities and the platform they’ve given women like me,” Mayo said. “I want to thank Hot Bread Kitchen for always thinking of me and I want to let other women to know that it’s a real game changer. You can really change your life.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Red-hot prices at the pump are not only showing no signs of cooling down — but are instead set to soar even higher.

The national average price for a gallon of gas hit $4.06 on Monday, up a staggering 45 cents from a week ago, to reach its highest level since July 2008, according to AAA.

Analysts say consumers can expect new record high gas prices as soon as this week, as strong demand and supply disruptions, fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, send crude oil prices soaring.

“A big price factor for the market is risk, and at the moment this entire escalation for the conflict appears very risky,” AAA spokesperson Devin Gladden told ABC News. “The market puts that risk premium back onto consumers.”

GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan tweeted the national average for a gallon of gas has now increased at its fastest weekly pace since Hurricane Katrina, adding prices have already eclipsed their all-time highs, according to GasBuddy data.

Crude oil surging as geopolitical risk rises

Crude oil prices, which account for more than half of the cost of retail gasoline, have spiked roughly 30% in the nearly two weeks since the war began.

“The big question will be how high crude goes,” Gladden said.

Oil had already been edging higher at the start of the year, as consumer demand outpaced global supply. Major oil producers slashed supply during the pandemic – and it takes time to ramp up production again as more drivers hit the roads and travelers take flights, requiring more fuel.

“We were already in a relatively tight market,” John Kilduff, an energy expert and partner at Again Capital, told ABC News.

Traders fear the market will become even tighter if Russia’s oil supply to the rest of the world is cut off. Russia is the third-largest producer of crude oil in the world, accounting for about 12 percent of global crude exports, according to the Information Energy Agency.”The problem is it’s a global market,” Kilduff said.

Supply constraints

There are already signs of supply constraints from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Analysts at J.P. Morgan estimated last week about 66% of Russian oil is currently struggling to find buyers. A growing number of companies are pulling business from Russia, facing hurdles from new sanctions on the banking and payments system, and fearing global backlash from customers.

“The commercial entities involved in this market are shunning the supply,” Kilduff added. “We are already in the process of losing a chunk of Russian crude oil supplies.”

Import bans on Russian oil would further exacerbate supply shortages. While the U.S. only imports a fraction of its crude oil from Russia, analysts say a coordinated move between the U.S. and European allies would drastically alter supply to the critical European market.

The International Energy Agency reported European countries imported 34% of their oil from Russia in November 2021, the latest month official oil statistics are available.

Oil traders expect it will take time for other countries to ramp up production and fill the void if that supply is cut off. So as long as oil prices remain near multi-year highs in anticipation of further disruptions in the global market, consumers and businesses will feel the pinch.

“When the price of oil goes up, the cost of everything goes up because oil is used as a component in manufacturing and a range of products,” AAA’s Gladden said.

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(NEW YORK) — Americans like Chris and Amy Clary are booking Airbnb vacation rentals online in a bid to help Ukrainians directly amid Russian attacks of the Eastern European country.

The Clarys are in Texas but they’ve booked five Airbnbs in Kyiv and outside the capital.

“We wanted to get money into people that are living there. And they’re desperate for funds, obviously for food, maybe to get out of town,” Chris Clary told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

Airbnb said it is “humbled by the inspiring generosity” of people looking to help through the platform.

“Airbnb is temporarily waiving guest and Host fees on bookings in Ukraine at this time,” the San Francisco-based company told GMA in a statement.

The company said on March 2 and 3, it saw more than 61,000 bookings in Ukraine, including more than 34,000 by U.S. guests. It has also set up a website — Airbnb.org — dedicated to helping people in emergencies. There have been over 1.2 million visits to the site already.

“Airbnb allows them to get funds almost immediately and directly to the source,” said Chris Clary. “I believe it’s important because those people need as much assistance as possible and as quickly as possible.”

Added his wife Amy: “I get to chat with the host. You know, find out how they’re doing. Are they OK? And ask questions. And it really makes it like a personal connection to what’s going on in Ukraine and to the Ukrainian people.”

The Clarys said they try to look for Airbnb listings that feature family photos and reviews from past bookings. They also send messages to hosts first with questions before booking.

“When you get the messages back, they are incredibly grateful. It really brings you to tears whenever you read them,” Chris Clary said.

The Clarys say they’ve inspired friends to do the same and hope to keep the momentum going, looking next into booking short-term stays in Poland, which borders Ukraine to the northwest.

Celebrities are also joining the growing number of people looking to help people caught in the Russian and Ukrainian conflict that began on Feb. 24.

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher launched an online fundraiser called “Stand With Ukraine” to help Ukrainians. In a video message introducing the campaign, Kunis said she was born in Ukraine and emigrated to the U.S. in 1991 with her family and has “never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.”

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have also announced they would match donations up to $1 million for the nonprofit UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency.

Bethenny Frankel, the former reality TV star, has also used her BStrong initiative to get aid to Ukraine and neighboring countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania.

Former Dancing With the Stars choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who recently escaped Ukraine amid the escalating conflict, said he’s also working to help people in the region with his wife, dancer Peta Murgatroyd. They said they’ve started an Amazon store where people can buy items for people in need.

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(NEW YORK) — In light of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, many major American and Western companies have decided to drop their presence in the region.

In the last two weeks, movie studios Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures and Disney, the parent company of ABC News, have dropped future movie releases in Russia. Ikea shut down all Russian stores and production operations. Microsoft and Apple have ceased all sales, including game consoles and phones, in the country as well.

On Saturday, Visa and Mastercard announced they would stop Russian operations.

That list is expected to grow as the conflict continues and consumers look for companies to take a stand on the invasion, business experts told ABC News.

“Companies have found it difficult to stay out of [current events],” Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, told ABC News. “That doesn’t work anymore. If you don’t take a stand one way or another the conclusion is you’re either amoral or taken a bad stand.”

Gordon and other business experts said that there is also the economic calculus involved in the companies’ decisions to pull out of Russia as its declining economy makes the country a poor investment. Nonetheless, the experts said this is likely to pose a turning point in nearly 30 years of Western business in Russia.

Gordon said it’s unlikely that any of the Western business pauses will make an impact on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, compared to the economic sanctions levied by the U.S. and European nations. The Russian government, however, will likely retaliate against Western-based products and services with boycotts and blocks as the conflict continues.

On Friday, the country said it would ban Facebook and Twitter.

“I don’t think the Russian business will be a hospitable place for Western business for a very long time,” he said.

Shon Hiatt, an associate professor of management and organization at the University of Southern California, told ABC News that a similar situation took place during World War II when American companies stopped shipping their goods to Germany. Corporations lost millions of dollars in revenue during the 1940s, but Hiatt said the increased globalization of today’s economy means that American companies won’t take as much of a hit by halting their Russian operations.

“This isn’t the divestment like we’re seeing with BP or the other oil companies,” Hiatt said. “This is a small drop in the bucket for these companies compared to other markets.”

He noted, as an example, that the Russian market represents roughly 3% of worldwide sales for the movie industry.

Hiatt said the next couple of months will be interesting to watch within the business community. Depending on how long the conflict goes on and if Russia succeeds in its invasion, corporations around the world will have to make a major decision barring any government action, he said.

“Most companies believe this is a small strategic pause,” he said. “They may believe that in a few months, things might go back to normal. It’s still a changing situation.”

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(WASHINGTON) — U.S. employers added 678,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, the latest figures released Friday by the Labor Department show, exceeding economists’ expectations.

Economists had expected to see employment grow by around 440,000 new positions.

The biggest increases in employment in February occurred in leisure and hospitality (179,000) followed by professional and business services (95,000) and health care (64,000), according to the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped slightly from 4.0% in January to 3.8% in February.

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(NEW YORK) — It’s a dramatic tale of money, power, tragedy and deceit.

Elizabeth Holmes, once the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire and lauded by some as the next Steve Jobs for her supposedly “revolutionary” blood testing company, Theranos, fell from grace after being convicted of defrauding investors.

Holmes awaits sentencing this September, facing up to twenty years in prison for four counts of fraud for which she was found guilty in January. Her former boyfriend and ex-COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani claims he is innocent and is set to go on trial later this month.

The gripping story is recapped in a new 20/20 special, “The Dropout: The Rise and Con of Elizabeth Holmes,” airing March 4.

The television event features behind-the-scenes access to the new Hulu original limited series “The Dropout”, starring Oscar-nominee Amanda Seyfried. The limited series is based on the top ranked ABC News podcast hosted by ABC News Chief Business Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis. It premieres on Hulu on March 3.

The podcast, which first aired in 2019, chronicles the rise and fall of Holmes and Theranos through first-hand accounts and deposition tapes of Holmes, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, and other employees.

Listeners hear from the whistleblowers who say they tried to speak out about what was happening inside Theranos while being stalked and legally threatened. From broken machines to faulty test results, the company starts to go downhill as Holmes attempts to mitigate the damage to her reputation by traversing down a path of lies.

Season two of the podcast picks up in the middle of a worldwide pandemic three years after Holmes settled with the SEC with no admission of wrongdoing, at the beginning of her criminal trial. Holmes, now a mother, charged with 2 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 9 counts of wire fraud, faces the toughest and most important challenge of her life: convincing 12 jurors that she’s innocent of the charges at hand.

Each week, “The Dropout” team takes you behind the scenes and inside the courtroom to provide a detailed description of what is happening. In addition to courtroom coverage, the podcast also interviews legal experts, witnesses, and investors to help understand where Theranos went wrong.

Tune in to the limited series “The Dropout” exclusively on Hulu on Thursday, March 3, and “The Dropout: The Rise and Con of Elizabeth Holmes” on Friday, March 4. Hulu is a division of Disney, ABC’s parent company.

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(NEW YORK) — Banana Republic is known for its modern luxury-style adult clothing, but now, the brand is expanding to also include great picks for babies.

The Gap Inc.-owned company announced BR Baby as a new category available now and shared that an athletics collection will also be coming later this month.

Launching with 40 pieces, Banana Republic’s new baby line has a wide variety of matching sets, knit tops, bodysuits, accessories and more that take a nod from many of the brand’s iconic adult picks.

Additionally, the latest baby line includes a limited number of adorable “mini-me” pieces — matching looks for babies and adults. The featured apparel is currently available in sizes 0-24 and prices start at $20.

“BR Baby and BR Athletics mix the mainstream with the unexpected and deliver elevated, thoroughly modern, lifestyle collections,” said Sandra Stangl, president and CEO of Banana Republic, in a statement.

She continued, “We approached both by deconstructing what made Banana Republic successful in the first place — taking things that people already know, have nostalgia for, and framing them in new ways that feel fresh.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced thousands of people, many of whom are fleeing to nearby Poland and elsewhere. Now Airbnb.org — the non-profit wing of the popular home-sharing company — is stepping up to help.

Airbnb.org’s Open Homes Initiative got its “unofficial” start in 2012, and has since spread all over the world, Joe Gebbia, co-founder and chairman of Airbnb.org tells ABC Audio.

“[W]hen Hurricane Sandy hit…the Eastern seaboard and displaced a lot of people, the next day we get an email from one of our hosts who says, ‘Dear Airbnb, how do I offer my five guest rooms, my Brooklyn loft for free to those displaced by the hurricane?'” Gebbia recalls. “At the time, we had no way to actually facilitate that.” 

“But after a 48-hour engineering marathon [fueled by] Red Bull and pizzas,” Gebbia says, they reconfigured their site and “within about a day or so” had hundreds of rooms available.

“For the last 10 years, we’ve been active in well over 100 countries supporting people fleeing typhoons, wildfires, hurricanes, floods,” he says. “It’s been incredible to see how our host community has to date housed over 100,000 people already all over the world.”

As for Ukraine, Gebbia says, “[S]o many lives have been disrupted with these scenes unfolding of the violence happening there. And I think this will likely produce one of the largest humanitarian crises since likely since World War II.”

Gebbia says the non-profit has offered governments of neighboring countries to help house Ukrainian refugees in hosts’ homes, with the goal of housing up to 100,000 people fleeing Ukraine.

“We’re doing everything we can to use our infrastructure to help, but we need more hosts,” he says.

If you’d like to help, visit Airbnb.org.

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(NEW YORK) — It’s no secret that your waist size today might not have the same exact measurements tomorrow, and that’s one reason why one of Old Navy’s latest denim launches is getting a lot of attention.

The brand’s FitsYou jeans feature a unique technology: one pair can fit up to three sizes.

The innovative “one-size-fits-three” technology adjusts to your size by using a unique yarn and fabric construction that enables the jeans to grow with your body as your weight fluctuates.

Falling in line with Old Navy’s commitment to “BODEQUALITY” announced last year, the jeans feature 70% stretch, Lycra-free technology which allows the fabric to expand over your body without feeling compressive.

According to the brand, there’s also a “Never-Quit Shape Retention” feature that works to hold the shape of the jeans over a period of time.

Old Navy’s FitsYou denim styles are available in sizes 00 – 30 and in several different colors. Right now, the brand is offering an extra 30% off when you use code HURRY at checkout.

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(NEW YORK) — Ahead of wedding season, Eloquii, a plus-size clothing brand, announced its new bridal collection for 2022.

Launching this summer, Eloquii said it is releasing wedding wardrobe pieces in sizes 14-28.

This is the first time the retailer is putting out a dedicated bridal-focused line, and attire for bachelorette parties to bridal showers are included, it said.

In a statement, Eloquii said that it was inspired to create a bridal category as a result of that category being one of the top requests from customers. The company reported in a statement that searches for “white dress” on the brand’s website were one of the top on-site searches in 2021.

There will be a curated assortment of over 50 styles and accessories for all types of wedding events, and prices for dresses starting at $89, the company said.

“Our thoughtfully designed Bridal by ELOQUII collection features exquisite dresses and looks to suit every bride’s taste at an accessible price point,” said Eloquii design director Yesenia Torres. “We were inspired by our customer’s love of elegance, so we incorporated fresh and airy hues, delicate patterns, and luxurious fabrics that make ethereal statements.”

Torres said that the goal of the collection is to provide the ultimate wedding wardrobe of fashion-forward silhouettes that are expertly crafted in design and fit.

Eloquii shared sketches on Instagram of its upcoming line.

“I am SCREAMING. This gives me the opportunity to shine like every straight-sized girl on my pre-wedding events,” one commenter said.

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