This Black History Month we want to shine a spotlight on Black-owned businesses in our circle. Currently, Black business owners account for about 10 percent of U.S. businesses and about 30 percent of all minority-owned businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, that amounts to approximately two million companies owned by African Americans.
Help us support these businesses and local Black-owned businesses in our communities and across the country this month and beyond!
Natural Do
Valonne Smith is the owner and founder of Natural Do, a membership salon and retail store offering natural hair care products specifically formulated for people with kinky, curly, wavy hair.
As a woman of color with natural hair, Valonne thought, wouldn’t it be great to go to a salon and get the products and services I need? After searching for salons that catered to natural hair, she soon found that there was not much out there for this niche and decided to start her own salon with this vision in mind.
Natural Do’s core mission is to educate “Curlfriends” on how to properly care for their hair and get the positive results they want, and embrace their natural hair texture using natural and organic-based products designed to nourish, strengthen, and maintain healthy hair growth.
Valonne is passionate about spreading that love for natural hair and continuing to educate individuals on how to care for their hair and embrace their natural look.
Shall We Wine
Regine T. Rousseau is an award-winning wine and spirits educator, certified sommelier, dynamic media personality, writer, motivational speaker, lifestyle adviser, and entrepreneur. For the past ten years she has grown her company, Shall We Wine—a strategic marketing company that helps wine and spirits brands grow their reach through experiential events, digital content creation and television appearances.
With a fun, dedicated network of wine and spirits professionals who share Regine’s vision, Shall We Wine is all about creating memorable customer experiences.
Inspired by approachability and accessibility, Regine takes wine and spirit concepts and presents them to consumers in an easy, lively, and enjoyable light.
Shall We Wine crafts highly engaging wine and spirits content and designs interactive events to increase brand exposure and help you connect to your audience in meaningful ways.
Check out Shall We Wine’s services!
Pink Root
Mariel Mejia is the Founder and CEO of Pink Root Products, a natural hair care brand geared towards helping with the transition from chemically relaxed and damaged hair to natural hair.
Pink Root Products was created to help customers, like Mariel, struggling with chemically treated and heat-damaged hair to transition back to its natural glory. With ingredients that are carefully chosen to nurture all textures and hair types from wavy to curly to kinks and coils, Pink Root products are designed to revitalize damaged hair and promote new growth by infusing nutrient rich and organic ingredients into our formulations.
“We don’t believe in bad hair, just bad hair care,” says Mariel. “Our mission is to help people enjoy and feel confident about their curls.”
Luna Magic
Sisters Mabel and Shaira Frias founded their makeup brand, Luna Magic, as a celebration of the rich Afro-Latina culture found in the Caribbean and Latin America. Combining their passions for beauty and lifestyle, they created a vibrant brand that celebrates their mutual love for their multicultural heritage.
Luna Magic’s mission is to introduce high-performance cosmetics, bold flavor, diversity, inclusivity and vibrancy to the beauty industry.
“We’re inspired by the rich cultures and music of the Caribbean & Latin America, the hustle and bustle of NYC and glamour of Los Angeles.”
Mabel Frías is a digital strategist with 12+ years of experience in executing digital merchandising strategies at fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands like Macy’s, Nordstrom and Savage x Fenty, lingerie by Rihanna.
Shaira Frías is an entrepreneur, professional makeup artist and former journalist. Her work has appeared in media outlets such as NY1, Fox News Latino, and Mundo Hispánico.
Wonder Curl
Scarlett Rocourt is a Haitian-born “Jersey Girl,” an entrepreneur, plant-based vegan, plant mom and gardener. She is passionate about living a healthy life and helping others to do the same.
She is the founder of Wonder Curl, the leading indie Black-owned, vegan and eco-friendly hair-care line for all natural and curly hair textures. All products are free of silicones, parabens, phthalates, and are cruelty-free.
Wonder Curl specializes in hair-care and has developed a three-step system that simplifies customers’ wash day routine, helping customers embrace their natural curls with cruelty-free and vegan ingredients. Their signature hair-care bundle includes the Detoxifying Clay Cleanser, Moisturizing Hair Pudding, and the Get Set Hair Jelly.
Noire Escapes
Anita Russell is an MPA, travel writer, and travel business owner creating travel opportunities for entrepreneurs and professionals in 2022 with her company Noire Escapes.
Noire Escapes is a thriving award-winning travel company dedicated to elevating the group escape experience, curating domestic and international group trips. With intricately curated group escapes, busy wanderlusters are no longer faced with hours of travel planning and research intimidation.
Anita’s love for travel and her love of serving others lead her to create a travel company built on creating escape experiences and taking men and women across the globe to check off bucket list items. Being able to play a part in people’s travel adventures and life-changing trips brings Anita “ultimate joy.”
“I launched Noire Escapes to remind the high-level corporate professional and entrepreneur that travel is a form of self-care and to no longer wait on others to travel with them,” she says.
Check out Noire Escapes’ services and upcoming trips!
PuffCuff
Ceata Lash is the Founder of PuffCuff. Following the tradition of pioneering Black women entrepreneurs in the beauty industry, such as Annie Malone and Madam C.J. Walker, Ceata has made her presence known in the natural hair and beauty industry with her one-of-a-kind product.
The PuffCuff hair clamp is a unisex tool that makes it easy to achieve stylish looks without stressing curly hair or causing pain from pulling and tension. While a simple idea in theory, most hair accessories on the market are created for straight hair, making the PuffCuff a first of its kind. Curls come in a spectrum that ranges from loose waves to tightly curled coils. The PuffCuff is designed to work with a variety of hair types from 2c to 4c, allowing “curlfriends” to create many beautiful styles without headache-causing cinching, pulling, ripping, or tearing of their hair.
After her own natural hair journey, Ceata became a champion for self-love and self-acceptance for everyone- male or female- with thick, curly, or textured hair.
“When I decided to change my lifestyle and make the transition from relaxed to natural hair, I discovered that it was impossible to find accessories to accommodate the thickness and texture of my hair,” said the PuffCuff Founder. “It was then that the concept of the PuffCuff was born.”
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