“She Did That.” is the first full-length documentary focusing the lens on Black women building brands and legacies. The film explores the passionate pursuits of Black women and their entrepreneurship journeys. We caught up with filmmaker, Renae Bluitt to find out more about this dope project. What inspired the creation of this documentary? “She Did…
C D Moody Construction is an award winning, Black owned construction company based in Lithonia, GA. When CEO, C. David Moody struck out on his own in 1988, he and his wife were in debt, struggling to make ends meet, and working out of their bedroom. Over thirty years later, C.D. Moody Construction is a…
The luxury fashion brand, KoshieO is the brainchild of Nina Baksmaty. It all started while she was still in college in Missouri and wanted to make some extra money. Because fashion came as second nature to her, she started a business trading in accessories and shoes that she bought from NYC. Although Nina only did…
BeautyMarked & Co is a Philadelphia based business that offers quality vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and accessories. Founder, Nana Frimpong originally started doing makeup professionally in 2013 while she was in pharmacy school. Even while she worked as a full time pharmacist, she continued to do makeup on the side. She recently developed a neuromuscular…
Howard University and Amazon Studios have teamed to launch Howard Entertainment, a program designed to diversify the entertainment industry by creating a pipeline for African-American students and other marginalized populations to train and study alongside entertainment executives. The immersive program, which kicks off January 2020, will be two semesters and take place in Los Angeles. It will include a…
Entertainment Studios CEO Byron Allen is expanding his TV station holdings with the purchase of 11 small-market network affiliates from USA Television for $290 million. The largest of the stations is in market No. 79, Huntsville/Decatur/Florence in Alabama. The deal unveiled Tuesday with Atlanta-based USA Television brings Allen’s investments this year in small- and mid-sized market TV…
Two Black owned investment banks are merging to form Wall Street’s largest woman- and minority-owned firm. Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co. and the Williams Capital Group will combine to form Siebert Williams Shank & Co. The new firm will be led by Chief Executive Suzanne Shank. Terms of the deal, described as a merger of equals, were…
PlayVS, a Black owned Esports company which develops software used to operate high school esports competitions, announced recently that it had completed a $50 million Series C funding round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, which also headed up the company’s $15 million Series A in summer 2018. Other investors in the round include Battery…
Sewit Sium is a designer of historically and culturally inspired African jewelry. Each handmade piece is a modern heirloom imbued with story, statement and sentiment. We spoke to founder, Sewit Sium to find out more about her business. What inspired you to start Sewit Sium? I’ve always been captivated by the intersection of jewelry, education…
Matthew and Marnel are the parents of three children (all under the age of five) who love puzzles! Frustrated with the lack of diverse images shown on commercially-produced puzzles, they created Puzzle Huddle, a business that offers pocket sized puzzles for children and toddlers. We spoke to Matthew to find out more about the business,…
