3 Blooming Black Businesses to Keep on Your Radar
Supporting Black businesses and buying Black is a critical tool for bolstering our community and our position within society as we strive for economic and social liberation. This article hopes to highlight three uniquely Black businesses to commend them for their talents and dedication to our community, but also to put y’all on if you’re looking to support more Black-owned businesses. It’s our obligation to acknowledge and support our people’s strides, and luckily these three businesses make it quite easy. Keep reading to find out more about them, and scroll to the bottom to see tips on how to start your own business!
Lindsay Harris, Artist of @lindsartlife
22 | Silver Spring, MD | she/her/hers
“A lot of clients have some wild visions, but I think it’s fun when I can bring it to life and just seeing how shocked they are is always kind of a great feeling. They say: ‘Wow, I didn’t even know how to articulate this and you brought it to life!’ And that’s the goal.”
Lindsay Harris was born with an incredible gift of artistic creation, but she decided in college to take her gift to the next level by starting to take commissions for her business, now known as @lindsartlife. After taking a digital art class at Spelman during her sophomore year, Lindsay dove head first into the digital art realm, learning to master the entire Adobe Suite by scanning her drawings done by pencil into a digital format. With clean cut and vivid designs, creating digital art allowed her a lot of freedom and possibility, and her work instantly began to catch the attention of the Atlanta community and beyond. She quickly began to make logos, sell prints, and take commissions heavily from fellow students and alum, using the tight-knit HBCU network to her advantage in order to get her name out there. Her passion for art is evident, and her distinct style can be found on her personal portfolio website, along with various apparel like Juneteenth t-shirts on her other co-owned company called L Street. Along with freelancing and clothing design, Lindsay aspires to work in an animation studio, so expect to see more characters of color designed by her on your screen in the future. She is the definition of a self-made artist, and even when balancing school, business, mental health, and social life gets difficult, Lindsay remains resilient and focused. Artists like Lindsay truly help bring your wildest dreams to reality with simply the flick of a pen or brush.
Ahmad, Malik, and Khalil, Founders of Triyo Fitness
25 | Washington, DC (with business based in Philadelphia) | he/him/his
“The ultimate career is getting paid to help someone else better themselves.”
As seniors in high school back in 2014, Malik, Ahmad, and Khalil started Triyo Fitness, and the rest has truly been history. Their rise to success all started with a Youtube ab workout video filmed on an iPhone 6 in their basement, and now they each work at renowned fitness gyms in Philadelphia, have personal training clientele, have a prominent following on social media, have modeled for companies such as Old Navy, and have even had television debuts on Family Feud, The Ellen Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and many more. They always knew they had a passion for fitness and helping others, which they effortlessly fused together with a desire to own their own business, because as entrepreneurs they can truly have “no ceilings to the amount of success they can achieve.” Being triplets and Black men allow them to bring new faces to their gyms and studios, especially because it is a scene of predominantly white wealthy women. They hope that their presence will show other identities that they are welcome in the space, and that there will be someone who looks like them to push and support them as they reach their fitness goals. They aspire to become multi-industry icons by building themselves out of the fitness realm into other arenas through launching a fitness app, doing motivational speaking, starting a meal-preparation company, and owning their own wellness space. Despite the late nights, early mornings, and the undeniable challenges of training during the pandemic, these three men continue to push the boundaries and get creative each day, and are always doing it with a smile and a positive spirit. Triyo Fitness’ slogan is “Be Greater,” and they have certainly achieved and will continue to achieve greatness.
Aminah Howell, Stylist of @styledbyaminah
20 | Silver Spring, Maryland | she/her/hers
“Honestly, my business started by accident.”
During high school, Aminah did people’s hair from her small bedroom at home, but as she went into college her business naturally and quickly started to expand. People from the Baltimore area were drawn to her Instagram page (@styledbyaminah), which showcases her versatile styling skills from wigs, to locs, to braids, and more. Her work gained so much traction that she was able to transition from at-home styling to having her own seat at a salon and beginning cosmetology school. Although she loves doing people’s hair and boosting their confidence, Aminah particularly likes to educate Black people on their hair and inspire other hair stylists. When she grows discouraged or burnt out from the long days in the salon, Aminah reminds herself of the end goal and uses the words of her family and friends who believe in her to keep motivated. Her ultimate goal for the future is to not do hair in a salon everyday, but to instead elevate and work in the fashion scene for photographers and models. In the next five years, she plans to move to Atlanta, launch her own wig business, start her own natural hair care product line, and begin working in the fashion industry by styling celebrity clients. If you know Aminah and her business at all, these goals are certainly not out of reach. From personal experience, her bubbly personality, attention to detail, work ethic, and undeniable talent make being in her styling chair such a positive experience. Book with her and you will not be disappointed (and tell her I sent you!)
Tips for Blooming Entrepreneurs:
Write down your goals (weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly), the outcome you want to have for the business, your targeted clientele, and the impact you want to have.
Don’t get discouraged if you have one downfall, keep going.
Put yourself out there so someone can see it. That is how opportunity comes.
The right time is always right now.
Enjoy the work as much as you can.
Keep in mind the goal of helping people.
You might not make money right away, but it will come. Your business is an investment.
Don’t expect it to be easy.
Surround yourself with like minded people and other entrepreneurs because they understand your experience and struggle.
