Dr. Angela Reddix, the founder and chief executive officer of the multi-million-dollar healthcare management company ARDX based in Norfolk, came from humble beginnings.
“I was born to a single mother— a teenage mother. My family lived in public housing,” said Dr. Reddix during a conversation with me at “The Mustard Seed Place”. “I have had an amazing opportunity to be on both sides of the track.”
Dr. Reddix told me she is using her hard-earned wealth to bridge the gap by creating “The Mustard Seed Place,” the new home for several women-owned businesses and resources to help girls and women build wealth.
Located on the corner of High and Court streets in Olde Towne Portsmouth, the building is the former home of the Tidewater Community College Visual Arts Center. Dr. Reddix purchased the building in 2022, and has reimagined the three-story building into what she calls “an empowerment haven for girls and women.”
During a tour of the building, Dr. Reddix said 14 women-owned businesses will call “The Mustard Seed Place” home. The businesses include a movement studio for yoga and ballet, a mental health boutique, a visual production studio to help women share their stories, and a medical office powered by a local health care system that will provide health screenings for girls and women during extended hours.
Take a Walk
Enjoy a day full of activities with your family at Deep Creek Park
Dr. Reddix said “The Mustard Seed Place” will also house a wealth lab in conjunction with the Old Dominion University’s Women’s Business Center, and co-working spaces for women.
“It is like living a dream. I have to pinch myself,” said Dr. Reddix, who highlighted her use of all Black contractors and women investors to help bring the project to life.
“The Mustard Seed Place” is also the home of the “ELG Sweet Boutique and Ice Cream Shop”. It’s the entrepreneurial vision of girls in Dr. Reddix’s nonprofit Envision Lead Grow.
“From the outside looking in, it may look like a regular old ice cream shop, but it’s not. There’s a story,” said Tonya Perkins, a board member for Envision Lead Grow.
On the top floor of “The Mustard Seed Place,” construction is underway to create “Très élevé,” a wedding and event venue. Dr. Reddix said the space— set to open in the summer— is a nod to former high-end department store “The Famous” that once occupied the entire building decades ago.
“This will be the wedding venue of the year,” Dr. Reddix exclaimed during our tour of the space.
Dr. Reddix said “The Mustard Seed Place” will offer several membership levels, and some aspects will be open to the community. The grand opening is slated for March 27.
