Paulla McCarthy, a single Black mom from NYC, is the owner of YSS WaterWorks, a spring water bottling plant in upstate New York. She has made history as the first Black woman to own and operate this type of business in the entire state!

McCarthy officially acquired the water plant and an aquifer within 15 acres of land from an elderly couple who offered it to her. She now operates the water bottling plant under her non-profit, Youth Savings Society.

As water becomes more insufficient globally, it is predicted to increase value and even become more valuable than gold over the next 50 years. Some major water companies have been offering her to sell her property for $20 million, but she is determined to keep it as she values the importance of Black ownership in natural resources.

“I’m not going to sell. I want to change and move this narrative that we don’t own anything,” McCarthy told Earn Your Leisure.