She hired her first employees a week before the pandemic arrived. How has business fared since then? Destini Gilliam's story is indicative of a much bigger narrative that has impacted Black businesses, specifically those owned by Black women. Destini Gilliam, founder of Creative Reading Coach LLC, received a $10,000 small-business grant through the City of Charlotte's Access to Capital program to assist business owners impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: QCity Metro Destini Gilliam had big goals for her small business in 2020. After launching Creative Reading Coach LLC, in the spring of 2018, and operating as a solopreneur for the first year and a half, she declared 2020 as the year she’d finally hire some help, so that she could focus more on growing the business.