She Blazed A Path To Own A Water Bottling Company And Help Those Most In Need

bottling plant
Adé Hennis
May 1, 2023

Water continues to be a diminishing resource, and in the future could be more valuable than gold. If that’s the case, then this woman is sitting on a gold mine.

Paulla McCarthy was a nurse and a financial literacy teacher for years, and she instilled that financial literacy into her two sons. But when the pandemic hit, she needed a more entrepreneurial route.

McCarthy and her boys continued to have success selling the bottled water door-to-door. But a trip to a water plant in New York, gave her the opportunity of a lifetime.

McCarthy was offered to buy the plant, and she became the first Black woman to own and operate a water bottling plant in New York. She’s received offers for over $20 million to sell her YSS Water company, but McCarthy has no intention to sell. 

She also  desired to help the Black community have access to clean water, and launched the 3 Million Gallon Challenge in 2021 to bring 3 million gallons of water to those most in need within a 30 day period.

McCarthy’s unique investment in a water plant shows that Black people don’t have to take the traditional route in entrepreneurship, and we can find business opportunities anywhere and use those profits to give back to our community.

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