Immigrant Lawyer Uses Own Experience to Build Dream Business

Little Law, P.A. of Hillsborough County

Being an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago. Jamila Little understands the struggles of people who want to come to the United States and those who are already in the US, attempting to navigate the legal immigration process on their own.

“The immigration world can be confusing,” she said. “The immigration laws are certainly not the most helpful and so I wanted to help those who would now be struggling with those situations because I myself went through that very process.”

Little, a licensed attorney in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Trinidad and Tobago, decided to take matters into her own hands, and start her own law practice – Little Law, P.A. She now specializes in immigration law, as well as personal injury, criminal defense, and estate planning.

But it was a long road to get to the position she’s in now, and she knew she needed help along the way. “I reached out to the Florida SBDC at USF when I was trying to grow and scale my business,” Little said. “One of the main things that I was looking for was a new place, a new home so to speak, for my office and financing for that building or whatever it was to be.”

After reaching out to the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at University of South Florida in 2020, she was paired with business consultant, Brad Mix. Mix specializes in capital access. “I say Brad made it happen really, and helped me through the financing process,” she said.”

Mix was able to help her in a variety of areas, including putting her in contact with a bank that could fund her dreams. “When I was working on getting this building, he worked with me to get my finances together and to help me put together my projections because those are things that the lenders actually needed.” Little added.  With that, she was then able to obtain a U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan that was financed through the Florida Business Development Corporation and Achieva Credit Union. “He put me in contact with the lender for my 504 loan, with someone from Achieva Credit Union who was able to do this loan for me.”

After being approved for her loan, Little was able to secure a building in Brandon, and now has three full-time employees, not included herself. Little Law, P.A. has locations in Brandon and Tampa, as well as a virtual office in Washington, D.C. And she credits the Florida SBDC at USF, and specifically Mix, for helping her get to where she’s at.

“He is really, really just the person who will have your back,” she said. “He’s committed and you know we don’t speak every week or every month but I know that if I have a question or a concern or there’s something else that I want to do, I can go to him. And if he doesn’t have the answer then he will point me in the right direction.”

When looking for assistance with her marketing, Mix connected her with Spectrum’s Pay It Forward grant program. Little was eventually selected for the program and earned three months of free television advertising through the program.

Moving forward, Little says she expects to continue working with Mix as she continues to grow her practice through additional financing and adding employees. And she recommends other small business owners get involved with the organization to grow their businesses.

“You’re missing out on some good stuff,” she said. “It’s just a way to really help your business grow but also to meet some really good people who have your back. It’s free, so hello! You really have nothing to lose.

“I’m truly grateful as a small business owner to see that there is support for us and not only as a small business owner but also as a minority. I feel like we struggle the most and it’s really good to see that there is help out there for us.”