Make Room for What Matters

It didn't take long for word to get out about the black-owned inn, which remains a rarity among the 17,000 inns across the country. At first, the couple, who lived with their daughter, Glynn, in the apartment on the top floor, opened the inn only on weekends, since they were both still working. But as the business grew, they began squeezing in midweek guests. "Here in Bed-Stuy was a B&B you'd expect to see in Charleston," Greenwood says. "It was like a tree growing in Brooklyn."

The next opportunity was obvious: a restaurant for Akwaaba guests and Bed-Stuy residents. Greenwood and Pogue bought a short block of buildings around the corner, on Lewis Avenue, and three years after launching the inn, they opened Akwaaba Café. Two years later, in 2000, they introduced Mirrors, a cozy coffee shop -- another first for Bed-Stuy. "All of my businesses are things that I felt we deserved to have in our neighborhood -- somewhere nice to stay, to eat, to run into friends," Greenwood says. "I never had a business plan. If I had researched it a lot, I would probably have been too afraid to try it."

As it turns out, the neighborhood was on the rebound. Between 1993 and 2001, overall crime dropped about 60% in the three precincts that include Bed-Stuy. Meanwhile, between 1989 and last year, the number of households earning over $100,000 nearly tripled. But because it lacked businesses meeting the most basic needs, Bedford-Stuyvesant remained a "dormitory community," says Adams, the Brooklyn Chamber president. Residents earned their money elsewhere and spent it elsewhere.

Because of Greenwood, that has begun to change. In addition to creating her own businesses, she encourages other entrepreneurs. Crystal and Walston Bobb-Semple were living in San Francisco and feeling homesick for Bed-Stuy when Greenwood called a few years ago. Before long, Walston quit his job at Charles Schwab and the couple was back, opening a bookstore and an antiques shop. "Monique is a doer," says Crystal. "She doesn't let an opportunity pass."

These days, Lewis Avenue is starting to look more like Park Slope, Brooklyn's hottest neighborhood. There are book signings, a children's story hour, and book-club meetings at Brownstone Books. There are jazz jam sessions at Akwaaba Café on Wednesday nights along with a $15 seafood buffet ($5 if you perform). And every morning at Mirrors, there are fresh pastries and copies of the New York Times, which wasn't previously available. "You now have the sort of stores we didn't have before," says Jacqui Williams-Foy, a longtime resident and the former director of economic development for the Brooklyn Chamber. "It creates more pride in this community."

Under New Management
This year, for the first time, Greenwood and her husband are operating two B&Bs through the summer. In two different towns. Three hours apart. The pace is definitely hectic. But more often than not, Greenwood finds that it's a good sort of hectic: "I love my life now, even when it gets crazy."

In some ways, Greenwood hasn't slowed down that much, despite trying to delegate more and micromanage less. True, she did bring in one of her energetic and entrepreneurial tenants, Monroe Shannon, to operate the restaurant. But Greenwood continues to juggle speaking engagements, book signings, and her multiple businesses.

Greenwood still relies on the hand-written to-do list she composes each night. It easily fills the page, not to mention an entire day. Today's list: family breakfast at 7 AM. Breakfast for the inn's guests at 8:30 AM. Then calls about everything from flood insurance to a catering business that she might buy. Of course, her list doesn't include the unexpected items that pop up. A leaky bathroom faucet. A broken light fixture. On it goes.

But as busy as she is, Greenwood continues to follow her own advice and reflect. Tonight, on a breezy summer evening at Akwaaba by the Sea, here's what matters to her: spending July with her daughter in Cape May. Knowing that her husband has time to sneak in a golf game before check-in tomorrow. Getting to know today's guests, honeymooners who regaled her with the story (and video) of their wedding. And identifying her next project. She's considering a line of Akwaaba home décor and a day spa. There's also a new book. The working title is Life Under New Management: How to Fire Your Job and Become Your Own Boss.

If it all sounds a bit overwhelming, Greenwood insists that it's not -- at least not to her. "I probably still do more than the average person, but it's not nearly as much as I used to," she says. "I'm getting better."

Chuck Salter (csalter@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer. Learn more about Akwaaba on the Web (www.akwaaba.com).