News — Balck owned Business

Black businesses remain largely unattractive to venture capitalists. As such, many Black entrepreneurs source funds through family and friends to launch or expand their business. Although the Black Lives Matter movement has shed some light on the challenges Black businesses experience, not much has changed.

Some social entrepreneurs have taken it upon themselves to highlight Black businesses through informal meetings and other formal events. Some social media influencers and Black media personnel are also playing their part by bringing to the fore Black-led businesses.

A Sacramento entrepreneur, Chris Lodgson, is also highlighting Black businesses in his region. He is the founder of Facebook pages Sac Black Biz Community, Sac Black Biz United, and Sac Black Biz Market, which are dedicated to Black businesses.

The purpose of these platforms is to bring Sacramento business owners, who are mostly African-American, Caribbean, and people of African descent, together to support one another. Also, Sac Black Biz United has become the first and only online source to finding Black Business and Event information throughout Sacramento.

In all, his group pages feature over 500 businesses and a membership of more than 10,000 people. Lodgson believes the creation of the Facebook business page, Sac Black Biz Community, is his contribution towards supporting Black enterprises.

“We measure ourselves by how well the businesses that we serve are doing and how well those businesses are serving their clients (and customers),” Lodgson tells Sacbee.

Aside from the business pages, the New Yorker has also raised thousands of dollars to support business activities for Black people in Sacramento.

Lodgson first migrated to Sacramento in 2015. “When I got here, I noticed that a lot of the same problems we were having in New York, in terms of Black folks, poverty, unemployment, our economic condition and our social condition too. A lot of the same problems that were in New York were happening here” said Lodgson. These factors pushed him to create his Facebook business pages.

In addition, he has announced a partnership with the app “Local Black Info.” The app enables users to find and support local Black-owned businesses, professionals, and events, according to news. Also, the partnership allows Sac Black Biz to market Black businesses in Sacramento and the U.S.

In the wake of protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, there was a renewed support for local Black-owned businesses. Lodgson said he did not only help in highlighting Black businesses through his group page Sac Black Biz Community, but he was also able to provide a complete Sac Black Biz digital database of Black-owned businesses in the county.

“The database became a valuable resource for the community that was easily accessible and allowed people to find everything from Black-owned bakeries, barbershops, restaurants, floral arrangements, home maintenance and repair, plumbers and more,” he said.

Kevin Livingston is the Founder and CEO of 100 Suits for 100 Men. Founded in 2011, the organization was created to serve the needs of men and women in need of business attire in New York City.

In 2015, the organization obtained 501 (c)(3) non-profit status and expanded its programs beyond suits. 100 Suits has tackled socio-economic issues and has been an integral part of the communities they serve. Recently, the organization shifted to food delivery work to support seniors and others in need during the pandemic.

“No one could have told me that when I started the senior delivery in the first week of March…that it would turn into a Cutlery program,” says Livingston. “And we would hire several young people from our community people to run it. Truly amazing!”

100 Suits Supporting Families During Pandemic

When the pandemic hit in March 2020,  millions of Americans were faced with unexpected challenges. Livingston decided to step up to the plate, organize a team of individuals, and make a difference where it was needed most.

On March 6th, Livingston created a senior delivery program to help those most vulnerable to the woes of the pandemic. Since March, 100 Suits has delivered over 22,000 home groceries and meals to seniors in Queens, New York. Through the 100 Soups Program, the organization provided weekly home-cooked soups to families in homeless shelters. The organization also developed the #Feed500 initiative to provide fresh produce boxes.

Livingston created a culinary program for youth to fuel these initiatives. During the summer, the youth came together and cooked meals to be delivered to seniors. This program created 12 new jobs for youth who were impacted by the cancellation of traditional jobs.

100 Suits was also there to provide personal protective equipment (PPE). The team distributed 30,000 PPE which included masks and sanitizer.

Building the Next Generation of Leaders

100 Suits has been on the move since the pandemic started. The organization has been able to help the most marginalized individuals in Queens, ranging from underprivileged youth to seniors.

“As I look back we have done a lot and one of the proudest moments I have is our senior program is supervised by an 18 yr old,” says Livingston in an email to Black Enterprise. “I love my team because they along with myself put our lives on the line to help others.”

Even during the pandemic, 100 Suits has stayed true to its core mission: providing resources that create employment opportunities. Before the pandemic, this outreach came in the form of suits, free haircuts, and salon referrals. Colin Kaepernick has been an instrumental supporter, donating custom suits to prepare more men and women for job interviews.

Now, the organization has been a part of the job creation process. 100 Suits provided 10 jobs to formerly incarcerated men and women to become Social Distance Community Ambassadors. The team handed out PPE masks and sanitizers, They also encouraged testing to ensure the safety of residents.

“Children, young men, and men of color need to see people like themselves represented in a positive light by “ordinary” people. Furthermore, it provides a framework for them to understand that dreams coupled with hard work lead to success and empowerment. It speaks to possibility, demonstrates hope, and has the capacity to spur someone else to pursue their dreams despite the lack of initial support.”

Flutterwave was not the first of its kind in Africa when it was started in 2016 by Nigerian technologists and former bankers. But perhaps, the point of its success can be attributed to the fact it was a financial tech platform that had a lot of input from those in finance.

Often, the process of technological innovation can seem like a developer’s license to play to the gallery. The app or whatever is developed could therefore lose its ergonomic utility. Flutterwave turned out differently and by 2018, it was a market leader in sub-Saharan Africa.

A digital payment app known for being seamless and secure, Flutterwave continues to be the choice for small to medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

Founder and CEO, Olugbenga Agboola said via social media that plan was always to “build a payments technology infrastructure that connects Africa to the global economy by making local and international payments seamless.”

Flutterwave’s website says the app is available in 11 countries, however, it will soon be 20. This is thanks to a Series C funding that was announced on Wednesday to much funfair in Nigeria and across Africa.

The $170 million secured means in the third round of funding means that the fintech start-up is now a unicorn – a startup worth over $1 billion. This is the first time an indigenous African fintech is valued at that amount.

“We’re grateful for our People, Customers, Investors, Partners, Regulators, the people at @EndeavorNigeria and well-wishers. Through your support, we have empowered millions to start their journey to economic freedom, wherever they are, knowing that the world is their market,” Agboola continued in a series of tweets.

But signs show that this could only be the beginning of a lot of good for Flutterwave. Currently, the app hosts more than 1,000 African SMEs that sell their wares on the platform.

Apart from that, individual users of Flutterwave are in their hundreds of thousands but growing. There are now intentions to expand the company’s services to North Africa as well.

Victor Asemota, a Nigerian venture capitalist, believes the success of Flutterwaves will have a positive impact on other tech start-ups across the continent.

“The panic this Flutterwave raise had created in certainly [sic] circles means that Africa was severely underrated both externally and internally. Look, we have done Telco payments all over Africa and this is the tip of the iceberg. Flutterwave will list [sic] and be a greater success,” Asemota said via Twitter.

For so many years, the agriculture sector has been the mainstay of Africa’s economy until it was recently overtaken by the services sector. Many development analysts have said agriculture is the surest way the continent can escape from extreme hunger and unemployment.

However, the challenge confronting many of the continent’s youth who want to go into farming is the lack of access to capital, logistical constraint and other incentives. For instance, in Europe and America, farmers enjoy subsidies from the government but the situation is not so in many African countries. 

Farmers are virtually on their own and what makes it worse is that they face competition from cheap imported frozen chicken, fish and other agricultural products from western capitals. 

Therefore, for one to venture into full-time farming in Africa, it takes not only courage but true love for the profession. That’s exactly how Ayodele Pamela felt when she wanted to start poultry farming in Nigeria. 

“I never had the tiniest of intentions of going into farming at all,” Pamela told thefounders. “In fact, I would have strongly disputed it if I had been told that I would ever be involved in farming.”

Her comments reflect the general lack of interest in farming among a new generation of African youth. Despite the lack of interest, the sector remains the second-largest employer and still attracts a considerable number of young people.

Pamela started her poultry business on the back of buying catfish and eggs. One day, she saw a vacant land, asked for the price, purchased it and commenced fish farming on the land. She later bought 100 Layer Chicks to start her poultry farm.

“Having nowhere to house the chicks, I begged someone to allow me keep the chicks with him, then I go to feed them,” Pamela said. “When the chicks started laying, I just used to dash it out.”

Her husband impressed on her to start selling the eggs since there is a market for them. This would not only let her earn some income, but it will help her recover the money she invested in feeding the chicks.

“Whenever the eggs reach 10 creates, I’ll sell them; I then noticed that this was a profitable venture, that’s when I now built a suitable housing for them, then I moved 100 birds there,” Pamela said. “After my husband supported me to get 500 birds to add to the existing ones,” she added.

According to her, she starting her fish farming and poultry business having no knowledge of it. “I practiced with my own chicks and fishes, no prior learning at all,” she said.

One of the recurring challenges confronting Pamela is the supply glut in the industry. She said due to excess supply, she is sometimes forced to drop her price in order to sell. She is, however, “still very much strong” in the business and has even expanded.

Nashlie Sephus is on a mission to build a tech hub in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, to train the next generation in technology. Downtown Jackson is not known for its technology prowess but Sephus wants to put the community on the map of technology hubs in America.

She is building a $25-million Jackson Tech District out of 12 abandoned acres of vacant lots and ramshackle buildings in downtown Jackson. “My goal is to turn this space into a self-sustaining village where people can live, work, play, and eat,” Sephus tells Inc.

The plan includes developing seven of the abandoned buildings within five years and the redevelopment will include a maker’s space, an electronics lab, a photography studio, apartments, restaurants, a grocery store as well as an innovation center. 

The techpreneur works at Amazon as an applied science manager for its artificial intelligence initiative. Before joining Amazon, she was the chief technology officer of the startup firm Partpic, a visual recognition technology.

Partpic was sold to Amazon in 2016 and in 2018, Sephus launched her own company called Bean Path. The firm is an incubator and technology consulting nonprofit, Sephus says, and claims to have helped over 400 locals businesses and individuals with their technology needs.

She founded Bean Path after she watched members of her team get laid off during an internship at Delphi Technologies in Indiana. That was when she decided to be her own boss.

The idea to build a tech hub occurred to Sephus in 2018 when she was looking for an office space for Bean Path. According to Inc., her search for an office space focused on the downtown Jackson area, a once booming business community for Black businesses. 

“It’s clear that people don’t expect anything good to come from Jackson,” she says. “So it’s up to us to build something for our hometown, something for the people coming behind us.”

She adds: “It had never occurred to me, even though I had sold a company to Amazon and was working with some of the top people at Amazon and having led a whole startup, started our own nonprofit. It just never occurred to me that I, a young Black female, could buy a building in downtown Jackson, Mississippi.”

Her vision to build a tech hub in downtown Jackson has resonated with some investors and city officials, including her superiors at Amazon. One of such investors is Toni Cooley, whom Sephus once provided tech help.

Contrary to her fears, Amazon has also offered a helping hand through its Amazon Future Engineer program, which provides scholarships and instruction for teachers interested in improving their tech skills.

Raising money to finance her project has been one of Sephus’ challenges. In fact, less than 10% of Black businesses get access to venture funding. She has sunk $500,000 of her savings into the project, in addition to funds she raised from friends and families amounting to some $150,000. 

She intends to raise additional cash through crowdfunding, grants and private sources. The tech hub project will generate funds through rentals and membership fees, she says.

Sephus obtained her first degree in computer engineering at Mississippi State University. She subsequently earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Ashley Lamothe started working at Chick-Fil-A when she was 15 years old in her hometown of Atlanta so as to save money to buy a car and go to college. The young entrepreneur continued to work at the restaurant chain as a director on the leadership team while at Spelman College.

Lamothe later rose through the ranks to become a franchise owner. She first opened a Chick-Fil-A location in Los Angeles in 2011 at age of 26, making her the youngest franchise owner in Chick-Fil-A history. She opened a second location six years later in downtown Los Angeles.

Lamothe achieved success through hard work. She recalls balancing her entrepreneurial journey with academics. She is grateful to her operator for giving her a flexible schedule that allowed her to school and engage in extracurricular activities.

“Chick-Fil-A has been part of my life,” Lamothe told Rolling Out. She said being a franchise owner does not make her feel she is making history. “That said, it’s really cool that so many people have been inspired by my journey and that feels like a huge honor,” she said.

In college, Lamothe changed her major to economics as her aim was to own a Chick-Fil-A restaurant. The course change was to afford her the opportunity to know how the market plays out and have a fair understanding of economic fundamentals.

When she launched her second Chick-Fil-A restaurant in 2018, Lamothe felt great that everything she labored for was yielding fruit. “I love the diversity of downtown LA; there is something for everyone. I’m excited to bring the unique hospitality that we offer in a fast, casual environment,” she said.

The young entrepreneur said in an interview after the launch that she is motivated by the fact that she has 85 people on her payroll. “The responsibility I owe to them to help them reach their goals and dreams keeps me motivated,” she said.

Every successful entrepreneur goes through a period of challenges. Lamothe is quite familiar with this as an entrepreneur. Recruiting, hiring and retention have been really challenging, nonetheless, she believes building a culture inside the restaurant has helped her to keep a consistent, happy and engaged staff.

For others who aspire to be franchise owners, Lamothe said the first thing to do is to gain experience at a local restaurant. “A lot of people say they want to own a franchise but have never worked in a restaurant. It’s hard, hands-on work and you really have to know what you are getting into,” she said.

Morgan Stanley has announced 11 startups for its fifth cohort of the Multicultural Innovation Lab, including seven companies run by Black founders.

The Lab is an accelerator program for technology and technology-enabled startups in the post-seed to Series B funding rounds.

Now in its fifth year with 43 participating companies, the program targets startups with a multicultural or woman founder, co‐founder, CTO, or other C-suite member developing innovative solutions across sectors.

“Our survey found that during 2020, progress was made in venture capitalists’ attitudes and actions regarding the importance of investing in women and multicultural entrepreneurs, but a lot more needs to be done to close the funding gap for this group,” stated Carla Harris, Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley and Head of the Multicultural Client Strategy Group.

“The goal of the Multicultural Innovation Lab is to provide diverse founders with much-needed access to investors—along with the tools, resources, and connections they need to grow and thrive—in order to transform the investing landscape.”

Simultaneously, Morgan Stanley reported it is expanding the Lab this year by adding a second summer cohort. The firm plans to keep leveraging its global reach, content, and connections to hasten the growth of these companies and address the funding gap for multicultural and women-led startups.

The 2021 winter cohort was selected from more than 700 applicants globally. Seven of the newest companies have Black founders. They include ABF Creative, Abode, Fashion Bomb Daily Shop, Kanarys, Second Keys, Lillii RNB, and Zirtue. The remaining founders in the cohort are women or from other racial groups. The companies are in sectors like fintech, edtech, e-commerce, social networking, medtech, retail tech, and enterprise software.

Alice Vilma, Managing Director and Co-Head of the Multicultural Innovation Lab, told Black Enterprise by email why the imitative is important. She says Morgan Stanley is committed to supporting women and multicultural entrepreneurs by addressing the funding gap they still face in today’s economy.

“Investors are missing an opportunity to prioritize strategies that diversify their portfolios, so I am pleased we are able to expand our reach to support additional founders who are not receiving adequate funding for their companies,” she says.

“We work hard to help identify, develop and execute commercial opportunities in the multicultural business segment with the mission of increasing access to capital for women and multicultural entrepreneurs. By highlighting these great companies with women and multicultural founders through the MCIL, we are, in effect, widening the lens and allowing investors to see a broader range of companies they can invest in.”

She also reflected on enlarging the program. “We are thrilled to be expanding our Lab, increasing the amount of talented, diverse entrepreneurs that we will support on their journey to success.”

The Multicultural Innovation Lab (MCIL) is an intensive five-month accelerator geared to help further develop and scale startup. Morgan Stanley reports it launched MCIL in 2017 to address inequities in funding of multicultural and women-led startups, which its research shows equals over $4 trillion in unrealized returns.

In the age of globalization, it appears every facet of the business community is being digitized. Usually, in the barbering industry, if one wanted a haircut, he or she simply walks to a barbering salon for grooming. However, entrepreneurs in this sector are changing their business methods to meet current market trends.

If by simply pressing a button one could have groceries delivered to their doorstep, it is also possible for one to either request for a barber or to schedule a date with one without necessarily going to the saloon to queue for their turn.

The men’s grooming industry, it must be stated for clarity, is not only about having a clean shave. It also involves lifestyle practices and goods on styling. It is a comprehensive sector but has traditionally been focused on haircuts.

Darius Davie, a barber from New York, is bringing something different to the industry. A barber-stylist since 2016, Davie is the founder of Groom Guy, which focuses on general men’s lifestyle practices and supply goods through content creation and onsite styling services, according to mogulmillennial. Groom Guy is an online marketplace where Davie Davie covers issues such as body care, hair business and professional tips.

Davie said he was inspired to start his marketplace after realizing the gap in the grooming industry regarding the limited knowledge of men’s styling products. According to mogulmillennial, the entrepreneur is also working with Facebook to create an online place to provide solutions for issues relating to men’s grooming.

On why he choose an online market place, Davie explained that “[it] is a suitable format because you’ll prioritize nurturing a good network of branded relationships. It also reduces any chance of large overhead costs compared to managing your own line of products, where you’ll also be in charge of manufacturing.”

Davie is aiming at having a fully functioning experience integrating barber culture and selling men’s lifestyle. Groom Guy is currently opened to brands who want to integrate into the Groom Guy network, said Davie, adding that his team is at the moment reviewing some 20 U.S. based brands that seek to be integrated.

Sharing his thoughts on some of the issues he has learned since creating his online marketplace, Davie said it is worth having skills in retail management, supply chain, and digital content creation. He also talked about having a detailed team who are proficient in numbers and bookkeeping as the business grows.

He also urged prospective entrepreneurs who want to follow in his footsteps to make sure that all their paper works are sorted out, including business registration, domain name and site management tools.

This January, it was reported that Davie had shifted his platform Groom Guy to a mobile barber service and begun cutting hair on the go.

“So, we started to take more of a concentration on the needs of people on the mobile end,” he told WJLA. “So, people were comfortable, just like they have door dash coming in, they can now have their own personal barber in their home or in their office or in their co-working space and provide what they need which is a fresh haircut.”

Parents never want to see their children in any form of pain. They naturally look for remedies to relieve their kids of their distress and that let a Baltimore father to creating his own tea brand when his son could not consume the ones on the market to treat his ADHD.

Herbal teas are known for their healing properties so when Quentin Vennie’s son, Jayden’s neurologist recommended alternative medication like teas or meditations for his severe ADHD, they quickly jumped unto it.

Little did he know, that his son who has been struggling with concentrating in class would reject the tea option — green tea to be precise — because he did not like how it tasted.

Vennie then put on his thinking cap and formulated a special blend for his son and when he saw how effective the tea was, he decided to turn it into a business venture so others could benefit from the tea.

This cup is no ordinary cup of tea for Jayden because for the first time in his life he was able to complete a whole semester and even make it to the honor roll after he had struggled in school for years.

“I wanted to create something that was more palatable for him, and once I realized that it actually worked for him, I felt it was necessary to make it accessible to the public,” Vennie said.

“For the first time in his life, he’s just finished his sixth grade online first semester and is on the roll of honor,” he added.

Today, the Vennie family are owners of the Greenhouse Tea Company in northwest Baltimore under their already existing brand, Our Human Home. Vennie runs his new company with his wife Erin, and although operations started barely a month ago, the startup has eight different tea blends that have unique health benefits.

The pair saved up to start their tea company and although the current COVID-19 pandemic brought about challenges to the launch, it was a blessing in disguise. It allowed ample time for the teas to be carefully curated to meet the highest of standards and quality.

“The entire process took close to a year to complete. There were a lot of things we didn’t know when we started but we learned along the way,” he said.

“Launching our business during the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t as challenging as I initially expected, primarily because we use all dry ingredients that are minimally processed and everything is sold online.”

Interestingly, the blend of herbal teas has helped Vennie himself who has struggled with prescription drug addiction for years and anxiety. Other popular people like Tia Mowry and Gwyneth Paltrow also say they love the tea blend.

Young environmental scientist Dorothy Jean Tillman garnered national attention when she received her master’s degree at 14-years-old.

Now, the Chicago teen is breaking into entrepreneurship by exposing more youth to opportunities in STEAM. She’s giving more Chicago youth a head start in life by showing them what’s possible. 

“I know, one thing that I would want every kid to know is that what I did is an option and that they can do it too,” said Tillman to Rolling Out. “It doesn’t take a genius or someone who has been learning forever. I’m not perfect. I’m not the smartest person in the world. It just takes dedication.”

From Environment Scientist to Entrepreneur

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) is a growing field and Tillman wants more youth to know how they can get involved.

The 14-year-old has always had a passion for STEM, obtaining high rankings in all those subjects in school. This inspired her to pursue a master’s degree at Unity College. Tillman made history as the youngest environmental and sustainable scientist in the U.S. Her desire to expand opportunities is stronger than ever since COVID-19 has eliminated many traditional activities for youth.

“I’ve been working on STEM labs for kids because I really want to go into the STEM-related field and work with kids,” Tillman told Rolling out prior to earning her master’s degree. “I feel like I’m here to make people happy and to help people find their purpose. I might go back to school, but my plan is to be an entrepreneur and [use] my engineering degree.”

The Launch of a STEAM Camp

Tillman expanded her STEAM vision through the launch of the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM Camp. All teens who participate in the camp will receive a customizable at-home STEAM activity kit. It’s one of the components of Tillman’s business, the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM Education Leadership Institute that was launched in 2020. The young entrepreneur founded the STEAM Labs in Chicago and West Capetown, South Africa.

“A teen is a teen no matter where they are from,” says Tillman in a statement. “We all love TIKTOK and many enjoy hip hop. The key is showing them where the STEAM is in everyday life.” 

Tillman’s brilliant idea provides safe education and enrichment opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The kit includes science-focused projects, creative arts, and coding to give students access to different skills and career options. It also builds in mindfulness activities to help teems maintain mental wellness.

“People learn at different paces. One of our kits can last up to 6 months, even longer depending on STEAM knowledge and skill set,” Tillman explains in a statement.  

Teens who receive a kit also become members of the STEAM camp, providing another opportunity to network with other young STEAM achievers.

Using Her Education to Make a Difference

Tillman has enjoyed many unique and trailblazing experiences during her 14 years of life.

She enrolled in college at the age of 10 and completed a Bachelor of Science in Humanities in 2018. She’s also received numerous awards and honors including the 2021 WVON 40 under 40 Game changers and a 2018 Black Girls Rock award.

But what matters most to this young teen today is using her education as an environmental scientist to make a difference. She led a Jeopardy-inspired virtual STEAM game show to commemorate Dr. King Holiday. She’s also hosted a virtual STEAM fair and business pitch competition to award scholarship dollars. Through the Dorothy Jeanius Camp, teens in Chicago will get a chance to work with youth and gain exposure to STEAM-related career opportunities. 

There’s no doubt that Tillman’s path as an environmental scientist and entrepreneur will inspire more youth to achieve excellence and give back.

An Atlanta-based hair entrepreneur started off as a bank executive while braiding hair as a side hustle in 2010. Tiffini Gatlin took the risk and put the earnings of her twenty-plus years of side hustling into her business and launched her first beauty brand.

She became known as a beauty pioneer in 2015 when she created the first patent-pending process of pre-curled and looped synthetic hair.

The mother of four had a terrible experience where one of her teenage daughters’ scalp got highly irritated by hair purchased from a beauty supply store.

The wave of curling synthetic hair in 2014 was also a deciding factor that pushed Gaitlin to look for safer and easier ways for Black women to style and protect their hair after she almost burnt a client who wanted her synthetic hair curled.

So, after a year of strategic marketing and social media engagement, a million-dollar e-commerce beauty brand, Curlkalon Hair Collection, was born. That business was launched with a partner. Over time, it was acquired.

The Atlanta native founded her second major beauty brand which has made her a household name among Black women in the US and beyond. Latched and Hooked Beauty, launched in 2016, offers synthetic hair options that have already been pre-curled so that women would not have to go through the ordeal of having their protective styling rolled and dipped into boiling water.

According to the beauty brand’s site, they “are the original creators of textured, pre-curled and looped, synthetic hair designed to match a woman’s natural hair texture that is great for crochet braiding.”

“In the last four years, we have helped to debunk the myth that Black women wear hair extensions because we hate our hair,” Latched and Hooked Beauty’s Gatlin told GMA.

Gatlin believes wigs are like accessories that help to change up one’s look in under two minutes. They literally help fix bad hair days under seconds. Today’s woman is always on the move. Gatlin’s wigs are meant for the time-conscious woman.

“Manipulating Black hair takes time, and our ready-to-wear hair extensions give Black women an additional 45 minutes back each day.”

“Latched and Hooked is where innovation meets self-care,” she added.

All her products are carefully curated as she designs them. The sketches are sent directly to the manufacturers and the hair, though synthetic, is done to mimic the natural curl patterns of a Black woman and they easily blend in with the hair as well.

“I design my curl patterns from trends I see in beauty, mass media, or styles I’ve personally worn with my natural hair,” said Gatlin. “It’s important that the synthetic hair has movement and mimics the texture of my consumer. I’m also inspired to create colors within my collections from Pantone colors and paint swatches.”

Gatlin has been braiding hair since she was 16-years-old and her own experience coupled with research has birthed a new product that is meant to soothe the scalp while it remains in protective styling.

The Scalp Soothie is a 3-in-1 scalp massager that removes dead skin cells, stimulates hair follicles, and relieves neck tension and headaches among others.

Her goal for creating this product is to educate more Black women on the importance of keeping a healthy scalp regimen for optimal hair growth. 

Latched and Hooked Beauty’s wide array of hair solutions cater to women with different hair needs, ranging from alopecia, eczema to sensitive scalp. The reviews over the years have been top-notch as Gatlin continues to evolve in the Black beauty industry.

Many young people across the country have dreams of becoming their own boss and creating their own business. One young Philadelphian has already started a business at the tender age of 11, running his own car detailing and cleaning service.

Jabre Dutton is the owner of Jabre’s Car Cleaning Service, servicing locals in his community. Dutton was able to start the business after earning $20 from cleaning a family friend’s car. With his mother Sabrina Dutton’s encouragement, he slowly began to build his business, creating flyers and handing them out to residents around the neighborhood to gain new clients. Now, Jabre says he has a steady business flow and enjoys hearing his customers rave reviews on his services.

“My favorite part about doing this job is getting my customers’ reactions out of it,” Dutton said in an interview with Germantown InfoHub. “When it’s done, when you look at it, they look so happy. I get really excited because they’re excited.” Dutton often shares their reactions and positive affirmations on his Instagram page.

Dutton’s mom says running a business has given him many valuable lessons, including how to be more financially responsible and the inner workings of running a successful operation. “So it’s kind of like slowly trying to get him into understanding money and responsibility,” she said. “So with every car, I tell them a percentage goes to savings, a percentage goes into his pockets, and another percentage goes to his supplies.”

Dutton went on to say he plans on use some of his savings to get an iPhone as he prepares for school. “I never had an iPhone and I’ve always wanted a phone.”

He continued: “But when my mom taught me about financial savings I was like, I should be really considerate about our money. So the money that I keep is going to be raised for that iPhone and the money in my savings before anything else.”