Spotlighting Black Founders

October is Black History Month. It can be overwhelming when working out what resources to look at and how to educate yourself in the right way. The best way to learn about something is by asking questions and it is important society works on making that the norm. We reached out to our partners The Women's Association and asked for some new resources we could draw our attention to. A few instagram accounts that we have followed and found interesting off the back of that are @everydayracism and @theblack.project

 

Additionally, we wanted to take the time to spotlight some incredible businesses with black founders and here they are. Make sure to follow them on socials. 

 

 

 

If you have been following Inkpact for a while, Ade Hassan may be a familiar face. Ade previously took part in Charlotte's Human's of Business series. Nubian Skin was launched in 2014 after Ade Hassan realised she could not find any options for nude undergarments for women with darker skin. 

She posted her first product photo and gained over 20,000 followers in a month. Ade's trouble to find suitable skin tone lingerie and hosiery struck a chord with many and she soon realised that her business idea was a pretty immediate need for lots of women of colour. Three years later and the brand is going strong serving a customer base of women of colour (including Beyonce). 

Learn more about Ade Hassan and Nubian Skin here.

 

The Women's Association & Deborah Williams 

Deborah Williams is an incredible woman in her own right, founder of The Women's Association, mother to baby Zion and wife to creator of 56 Black Men, Cephas Williams.

The Women's Association is an organisation set up to tear down the invisible barriers of inequality that prevent women from aspiring to (and succeeding) in the corporate world as their authentic selves.

The organisation also works with school children through programmes such as The Executive Challenge and The Girls Association. The Executive Challenge is a program that gives girls between the ages of 12 and 17 the opportunity to learn about life as an Executive and gain access into the corporate world.

TWA have also run a campaign called For the Woman that currently spotlights 109 women from 7 companies across different career levels, organisations, and sectors to raise the visibility of women in the workplace. Their goal is to make 4000 women visible through portrait photography by International Women's Day (IWD) 2022.

Deborah and the TWA run incredible virtual and in-person events which you can get access to through their social media (links below). The events cover a huge range of topics from Boundaries of a Black Women to stories of Pregnancy and Infant Loss. 

Instagram

LinkedIn

Deborah, you're great. Thank you for what you are doing. 

 

 

Sharmadein Reid is a female, beauty icon and founder/CEO of Beautystack which is a beauty professional booking app with a huge emphasis on social. Since Beautystack, Sharmadein has created The Stack World, a news, events and connections platform for women with a mission. 

It all started for Sharmadein when she founded WAH nails as a side project. However, she slowly began to make a huge impact on the beauty landscape with her feminist attitude. From this, she wrote two books, delivered global pop-up nail salons for a large number of brands and soon was awarded an MBE. 

She has always been one step ahead and in 2016 launched an innovative salon in Soho which showcased VR nail design and after that we saw Beautystack and The Stack World launch. There is no stopping this woman. You can follow her socials to keep an eye our for events where she will blow your mind. 

Instagram

Afrocenchix fills a huge gap in the market which simply should not be there. Walk into a supermarket or pharmacy and the shelves are filled with countless hair products, making you think that surely every single hair type is being catered to; but that is just not the case. There are very few options on the high street that meet the demand for a natural afro hair care product. 

However, all is not lost as Afrocenchix, founded by Rachael and Joycelyn is taking the market by storm. The two women met at university and discussed they were having very similar issues with hair care, so, what did they do? They made the product themselves. 

Rachael has spoken about the negative language used around curly, dark hair. Such as, tame or manage. Afrocenchix say, “We are not telling women to ‘manage’ or straighten their black hair,” she explained. “We are telling people to embrace who they are.”

The company has been around for 10 years, and the products can now be found in 23 countries. Their products can be found in Whole Foods within the UK. 

Afrrocenchix Instagram

Rachael Instagram

Joy Twitter

William is founder of Vitae London, a watch company with a huge and very important twist. Each Watch sold supports a child's life by providing key resources for education. With watches being owned by the likes of Richard Branson and Ava Duvernay they are succeeding in being leading fashion items and making a difference. 

William was born and raised in South London. He had the importance of education instilled in him by his father and has carried it with him since a young age when he got a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. 

“Vitae is Latin for life, so our whole mantra is to be the watch brand changing lives,” Adoasi added. “We’ve now distributed over 5000 solar lamps to children in need and over 3000 school uniforms.”

“My family have come from a lower-income background, and with the capital I bring in now I make an impact in the background where I come from,” Adoasi said. “If more people rise up within structures, they can do the same… instead of shouting and screaming, we want to change, they’ll actually be in the position to make that change,” he added. (CityA.M, 2021).

He is reminding us all that the onus is on businesses to diversify and give back. 

William Instagram 

Vitae Instagram

There really is no end to this man's talent as he is the founder of The Dope Black CIC and more recently Belovd Agency. 

Dope Black Dads was created as a digital safe space for fathers who wanted to discuss their experiences being a black parent. There was the overarching aim to celebrate, heal, inspire and educate to achieve great outcomes for black families. Dope Black Dads has an award winning podcast with special guests from around the world, discussing everything from mental health to maintaining a sauuuucy relationship with your partner. 

The whole idea started with a WhatsApp group with a few other Black fathers in it and it has grown into what it is today. There is now arms and legs to Dope Black Dads which are definitely worth reading into. Check out the website here.

Instagram

You can also access the podcast here.

We love what you are doing Marvin, thank you.