Cool Places and Princess Zaria - Intown Detroit Magazine April 2012

Two Detroit women have channeled their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to create their own local businesses.

Cheryl Lynn Pope grew up dreaming of becoming a writer.  She worked for several years as a freelance writer covering stories on community organizations.  Every year she wrote a list of New Year’s resolutions, and each year that list would include getting a book published.  Finally, in 2006, her dream was realized with the publication of her first book, 25 Ways to Make Your Child Feel Special, a parenting guide.

“I was the only girl growing up.  My parents were from the old school and really didn’t know a lot about organizations for girls,” Pope said. “I really didn’t do girly type things, but I always knew that I was loved.  I was made to feel special and everything.  When I had a daughter, I decided I would do those things that I didn’t necessarily have.”

She then turned her focus to children’s books and created the Princess Zaria series, inspired by her daughter, Zaria, who was then 6 years old.  To market her book series, Pope created the Princess Zaria Fan Club.  “Zaria” means princess in Africa and Latin America, which inspired the princess theme. 

“We tell all the girls that they are special, whether they’re short, tall, thin, or not-so-thin. They enjoy knowing that they’re princesses,” Pope said, “In the media there are so many negative things. We just wanted to have something that the girls could feel good about themselves.”

A new addition for the Princess Zaria Fan Club will be the first annual Princess Ball, which will take place on Sunday, April 29^th, in Dearborn.  All girls ages 4 to 17 are welcome to attend.  The event will honor girls helping out in their community and excelling academically.  Only 11 years old, Hannah Turner, of Ohio, founded a non-profit that provides socks to homeless men, women, children.  Amaya Alexandra, a Detroit resident and only 12 ½ years old, founded a mobile dance studio where she teaches dance to other young girls.  This year’s Princess of the Year is Erica Lowe of Inkster.  Also, several girls from Detroit Public Schools who have significantly raised their grades will be awarded Visa gift cards. 

“We’re really excited about the ball.  We plan to do this every year in April,” said Pope, who chose that month because it is the Month of the Young Child, which celebrates children and recognizes the needs and rights of children and their families.

Pope would like to expand the Princess Zaria fan club internationally and to open a store catered to young girls where they can do arts and craft projects, dress up, and be free to do girl things.  She is working on her latest book, Best Friends and the Bee, about best friends entering a spelling bee together. 

For more information on Cheryl Lynn Pope and the Princess Zaria Fan Club, visit http://www.princesszaria.com/.

Karyn McCray, born and raised in Detroit’s Conant Gardens neighborhood, worked for years as a leasing agent and then a property manager.  When her contract position ended, she could not draw unemployment and was unemployed for a year until she decided to become her own boss. 

“I wanted to do something for myself,” McCray said, “I didn’t want to work that hard for anyone else.”

With that idea in mind, in November 2011, McCray created Cool Places to Live, a full service apartment locating service that assists in locating apartments in the Corktown, Downtown, Midtown, and New Center Detroit areas. McCray is working on building a client base, but her target clientele is people in their twenties who are established in their careers, too busy to look for apartments, and have a certain amount of income

While living in the suburbs for several years, McCray came to the city to socialize with her sister.  In 2009, she decided to move back to Detroit.  She recalled the difficulty she had when searching for her place in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood.  Her goal with Cool Places to Live is to make the process of finding a place to live in the city easier. 

“I have the best of both worlds being a both a resident and a business owner,” McCray said. “There are a lot of things developing that people on the outside really don’t know about.” 

Along with building her client base, McCray is setting up tours with Wayne State University graduate students.  She would like to work with companies that are offering incentives to move to Detroit. 

“I think there are a lot of good things actually happening in the city,” McCray said. “[People] just have to wait and see.”

For more information on Cool Places to Live Detroit, visit http://coolplacestolive.com/.