YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — In an era where the digital landscape often dictates business survival, Mara Cunningham has proven that sometimes the best innovation isn’t a new app or an AI-driven marketing tool, but a total reimagining of a physical service model. Seven years ago, Cunningham traded the stability of a corporate career to launch “Yo! Crash,” a unique service that offers people a safe space to blow off steam by smashing objects. Today, her company is not only thriving but has become a case study in how small businesses can leverage community support and specialized education to overcome the seismic disruptions of the modern era.
The Pivot: Turning Pandemic Setbacks into Mobile Success
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country in 2020, thousands of small enterprises were forced to shutter their doors permanently. According to Federal Reserve data, more than a million small businesses closed during that period. For Cunningham, her original brick-and-mortar storefront became an impossible liability. However, rather than succumbing to the statistics—which show that only about half of all businesses survive beyond their five-year mark—Cunningham pivoted.
“If we cannot have them come to us, we need to figure out a way to get to them,” Cunningham explained.
This decision to transition Yo! Crash into a mobile rage room changed everything. By removing the overhead of a physical location and bringing the experience directly to clients, she transformed a localized hobby into a portable service, successfully navigating a landscape that had claimed countless competitors.
Strategic Growth and Educational Empowerment
Cunningham’s success is not purely the result of trial and error. Earlier this year, she reached a significant milestone by graduating from the ninth cohort of the Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women: Black in Business program. This initiative, which began in 2022, serves as a rigorous 12-week educational incubator for Black women entrepreneurs, providing the sophisticated business acumen often reserved for Silicon Valley startups.
The program, which graduates roughly 600 business owners annually across two cohorts, focuses on scaling operations and mastering the logistics that turn “solopreneurs” into leaders. For Cunningham, the experience was about more than just numbers; it was about internalizing the resilience necessary to claim her space in the market. “The resilience that we required to have, how we have cultivated culture… it is now our time and our right and our duty to seize all of those things that belong to us,” she noted.
The Future of Local Entrepreneurship in the Tech-Enabled Region
Cunningham’s journey is supported by entities like the Minority Business Assistance Center at the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI). Tanisha Wheeler, the regional director, emphasizes that access to capital, networking, and exposure to “big box” procurement opportunities are the pillars holding up the region’s economic growth.
While the tech industry often focuses on AI integration and software scaling, the YBI is proving that localized, service-based businesses are the backbone of the region’s resurgence. Wheeler notes that they are seeing a surge of interest in the Mahoning Valley, with entrepreneurs moving back to the area to capitalize on the collaborative ecosystem being built there.
As Yo! Crash continues to expand its reach, it stands as a testament to the fact that while technology—like the high-level business analytics software and digital marketing tools taught in programs like Goldman Sachs’—is essential, the fundamental drivers of business success remain vision, adaptability, and the ability to mobilize. Cunningham’s story reminds us that in a world increasingly focused on the virtual, the physical, human-centric business model still holds immense, and often untapped, potential. For now, Cunningham continues to move forward, emboldened by a community that recognizes both her struggle and her essential role in the local economy.
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