Exploring Life & Business with Ras Asan of BREAUX and Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ras Asan

Hi Ras, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Here’s the revised version in the first person:

I am Ras Asan, a Cleveland native from the city’s Southeast Side. I strive to embody the hustle and resilience that define my hometown. By age 16, I launched Premier Mowers, a profitable landscaping business that gave me my first taste of equity, time freedom, and creative control.

In 2013, I graduated cum laude from Morehouse College with a degree in sociology, the same discipline and alma mater as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy of positive global impact inspires my work to this day. While at Morehouse, I developed a financial literacy curriculum for teens and taught young Black boys the basics of business and investing. This initiative caught the attention of BET Her (formerly Centric TV), and I was invited by the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP to join its Economic Development Committee, where I spearheaded citywide financial literacy classes for teens.

After graduation, I partnered with my Morehouse classmate Derrius Quarles to co-found Million Dollar Scholar, a software platform teaching high school students how to secure college scholarships. Our innovative approach earned us placements in five prestigious business accelerator programs, including TechStars, Power Moves NOLA, and Propeller. In New Orleans, we gained recognition for breaking racial barriers in the tech startup community—a milestone that inspired us to launch BREAUX Capital, a cooperative platform enabling Black millennials to pool resources and invest collectively.

With just $500 in startup capital, BREAUX Capital was recognized by Inc. Magazine in 2018 as one of its 30 Founders Under 30, and I was honored by Black Enterprise Magazine as a BE Modern Man for my visionary leadership. As an entrepreneur with a sociological lens, my partners and I at BREAUX Capital are committed to creating sustainable, profitable solutions to social challenges. One such initiative was the launch of TechGroove Festival, an event-based company connecting diverse talent with employment opportunities at companies like LinkedIn, Mozilla, and Tinder.

Now, as Cleveland’s inaugural Entrepreneur-In-Residence with the city’s Economic Development Department, I bring over a decade of entrepreneurial experience, having raised more than $1 million in startup capital and generated a $30 million economic impact in Black communities.

Beyond my business ventures, I am a certified Unani Herbalist and the author of Heal Thy Hustle: Wellness Guide for Go-Getters, a wellness guide studied at Xavier University of Louisiana, an HBCU. My passion for holistic success extends to hosting All Things Money every Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon on WOVU 95.9 FM, where I explore topics of wealth, wellness, access, and equity.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has been shaped by challenges that fueled my growth and purpose. The “college diet” and lifestyle took a toll on my health, prompting a transformative journey to heal my body. This experience sparked my passion for herbal medicine and exercise science, eventually leading me to earn a certification in the foundations of Unani (Greco-Islamic) Medicine from the Ibn Sina Institute in 2018.

At the same time, navigating the racial inequities in the tech startup landscape exposed the systemic barriers faced by Black entrepreneurs. These challenges inspired me to co-found BREAUX Capital in 2016 and SISS Capital in 2022, platforms designed to empower Black millennials through collective wealth-building and cooperative investment.

Through these experiences, I remain committed to creating opportunities that address disparities and uplift communities, combining wellness and wealth-building to promote sustainable growth.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The founders of BREAUX and Company envision a world where Black innovators intentionally use business models to improve the collective welfare of Black communities—a norm, not an exception. BREAUX and Company is our active channel to realizing this vision.

With BREAUX Capital alone, we’ve achieved significant milestones:

Distributed over $25,000 directly to our Members through earnings.
Returned over $100,000 in cash reserves.
Delivered more than $20,000 in investment dividends.
Achieved an impressive 20% year-over-year return on capital for eight consecutive years.
Protected every dollar of invested funds through smart, patient strategies.
Grown our capital base by 260X, with over $130,000 actively pooled in our fund.

These numbers translate into tangible impact: Black families are in healthier positions to live long, high-quality, dignified lives. Beyond that, our platforms amplify this change:

Million Dollar Scholar has helped thousands of students secure tens of millions in scholarships.
TechGroove Fest has connected traditionally overlooked talent with prestigious roles at leading tech companies.
Heal Thy Hustle being read and studied in HBCU classrooms to help the next generation of professionals create better habits and culture

Through these efforts, BREAUX and Company remains committed to changing lives and empowering communities.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
“Aye Bruh, let’s get this money and change the world.” This affirmation set the tone for a transformative journey. My team and I left our hometowns and comfort zones, driven by a vision to grow as individuals and create a company with a far-reaching impact. Without the safety net of a steady paycheck or per diem, we embraced uncertainty, trusting in our collective purpose to transform lives by increasing access. Guided by the Sun Tzu quote, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized,” we learned that taking bold risks not only opens doors but creates entirely new pathways. This philosophy has been the cornerstone of our success. Every opportunity we seized led to another, teaching us that the courage to act is often the catalyst for exponential growth. It’s this mindset—of stepping boldly into the unknown—that fuels our mission to create meaningful change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.breauxcapital.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamrasasan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breauxcapital
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolugbenga/