News — black in business

Earnings from horticulture in the first 10 months of the year have defied the Covid-19 economic fallout to rise 8.6 per cent to Sh126 billion compared to a similar period year earlier.

The earnings were boosted by high demand of fruits as Europe, Kenya’s major market for fresh produce, saw most of the countries open up following the easing of restrictions that had been occasioned by Covid-19.

The value of exports like cut flowers reached $1.1bn (£845m) between January and October, almost 9% more than the same period last year.

Kenya’s Horticultural Directorate said there was an increase in global demand, despite concerns that the coronavirus pandemic would hit the industry.

Earlier this year the industry was alarmed at disruption caused by airlines being grounded and so unable to fly flowers as cargo to customers in Europe.

Business may have picked up recently but the sector is now growing concerned that the second wave of Covid-19 in Europe is creating uncertainty about demand for flower exports in the coming months.

Alongside exports of tea, horticulture is a major earner of foreign exchange for Kenya, which is the world’s fourth biggest exporter of flowers – after the Netherlands, Colombia and Ecuador.

Fruits export earnings rose to Sh17 billion from Sh11 billion while flowers, which normally account for the largest portion of the income from horticulture exports, raked in Sh89.6 billion — an improvement from Sh83.7 previously.

Horticulture is a major foreign exchange earner alongside tea, remittances from Kenyans living abroad and tourism.

Avocado boosted fruit sales but its harvest season has come to an end with the closure of export for the two main export varieties.

Vegetable earnings fell to Sh19 billion from Sh21 billion.

“The fruit sub-sector has been expanding and growing owing to exports of avocado and high demand for the produce in the world market,” said Benjamin Tito, head of Horticulture Directorate.

Joe’s Gourmet has proudly announced a partnership with Inland Seafood and the launch of a new product line now available in the seafood section in over 1,200 Food Lion locations. Based in Atlanta, the veteran-owned company is creating a major buzz nationwide. Together with Inland Seafood, a Georgia-based company that already operates an extensive distribution network in the U.S. Southeast, Joe’s Gourmet it is now offering a co-branded and fully Sustainable Breaded Catfish featuring Joe’s Gourmet Fish Fry.

“Here at Joe’s Gourmet, we take great pride in offering a delicious and all in one seafood breading mix that beats all the other breading mixes,” said Joe Dowell, the company’s founder. “We are simply offering the best fried Catfish you will ever taste and our growing number of customers are backing this claim with full confidence in our products,” he added.

Joe’s Gourmet has also been recently featured on ABC’s Shark Tank where they were offered a deal by Daymond John.

In addition, the Joe’s Gourmet products use a blend of herbs and spices to bring out the best in seafood without overpowering it with salt. Moreover, this tasty blend does not absorb oil and as a result, it gives a unique and delicious crispy crunch on the market’s best sustainable catfish.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Joe, while talking about the company’s recent partnership with Inland. “We bring a niche market of passionate fans while Inland brings marketing, manufacturing and distribution expertise. Working with their team is a dream come true for our company,” he added.

Joe’s Gourmet is a family operated business started by Joseph Dowell III after his parents gifted him their life savings. Together, the Dowell Family is pushing this business towards success.

Racial disparities within the healthcare system due to to the lingering effects of systemic racism prevent thousands of Black and Latinx patients from receiving the adequate service they deserve. One Black woman is seeking to change that by establishing a new tool to help marginalized groups connect with doctors from their communities.

Kimberly Wilson is the founder of HUED, an app created to help Black and Latinx patients connect with doctors of colors for healthcare services. Wilson created the company after her own health scare exposed her to the disparities many like her face.

“As a 30-something, I was traumatized by this experience, and in that, I realized my story is the same as countless others, though many are unequipped to be their own self-advocate,” said Wilson. “That was when I developed a solution for improving the patient care experience.”

Wilson says the COVID-19 pandemic has only given more exposure to the disparities Black and Latinx patients face when seeking healthcare services leading more consumers to the app. “Where investors and other stakeholders were uninterested and unbothered by the work that HUED was doing, even just a year ago,” she explains, “there’s been a spotlight on healthcare that is helping us to validate a problem that we’ve sought to address well before this moment in time.”

The health app recently partnered with Vaseline and award-winning actress Regina King to collaborate on a search tool to help people find dermatologists and other specialist doctors of color. “Through this partnership, we co-created a search tool with Vaseline specifically focused on helping people identify and connect with dermatologists of color and those experienced in treating skin of color,” said Wilson.

“The online platform will also offer educational resources that provide expert recommendations on how to treat and monitor skin at home, understanding when to seek a dermatologist for proper care, and how to best prepare for an appointment with the right questions and what to expect.”

Wilson went on to say that she hopes the services can help combat these disparities as a start to reform the system and help those within the community. “HUED’s solution not only reduces the economic toll of payers (resulting from racial disparities),” she says, “but also drastically improves health outcomes for people of color by allowing patients to search, review, and book culturally competent physicians that specifically understand their physical, mental, and cultural needs.”

Safaricom’s half year profits slumped 6% in a sign that Africa’s telecoms sector may not be immune from the commercial upheavals of Covid-19.

After-tax profits at the Kenyan telecoms giant fell to Ksh33.07bn ($303.7m) in the six months to September from Ksh35.2bn the year before as flagship mobile money service M-PESA and voice revenues declined, even as mobile data usage increased.  

The scrapping of charges for M-PESA transactions under Ksh1000 in a bid to reduce physical transactions amid the pandemic led M-PESA revenue to decline 14.5% year-on-year. The firm said it had enabled “zero-rated” M-PESA transactions worth KSh1.76trn during the pandemic. Voice declined 6.5% year-on-year as the growth in customers and usage prompted by Covid-19 was offset by customers paying lower rates per minute. Total revenues declined by 4.1% to Ksh124.5bn, while interest before taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell 7.3% to Ksh63.4bn.

While Covid-19 has accelerated the continent’s telecoms revolution by boosting customer registration and data usage, Safaricom’s performance indicates that some of the firm’s consistently bankable services are vulnerable amid the pandemic. Outgoing voice calls account for 33.9% of Safaricom service revenue while M-PESA accounts for 30.3%.  

The results cap a challenging first few months for Safaricom chief executive Peter Ndegwa, who assumed the role in April shortly after the death of former long-time CEO Bob Collymore. 

 “There is no doubt that COVID-19 has dealt a huge blow to many people not just in Kenya, but across the globe. This has been a tough period for businesses and our customers and we committed ourselves to walk through this journey together. During this period, we took several initiatives to support our customers and the government to pull through this pandemic. This included but was not limited to zero rating M-PESA transactions below KShs 1,000, double bandwidth for our Fibre to Home/Business customers, setting up the 24/7 COVID-19 Information Centre in partnership with Kenya’s Ministry of Health amongst other activities,” Ndegwa said in a statement. 

Nevertheless, the long-term trends boosting the African telecom sector remain evident. Safaricom mobile data usage grew 14.1% year-on-year, driven by customer growth, while 4G devices using more than 1GB in the network grew 60.6% year-on-year. One month active customers grew from 28.6m at the end of Q4 2020 to 30.3m at the end of Q2 2021. Fibre to the home (FTTF) revenue grew 47.2% year-on-year with distinct customers up 56.8% as working from home increased. GSMA forecasts that the number of smartphone connections in sub-Saharan Africa will almost double to 678m by the end of 2025, with mobile data consumption expected to grow more than fourfold. Ndegwa repeated his intention to diversify the firm’s revenues.

“Over the last 20 years, Safaricom has grown to be more than just a mobile service provider. It has morphed into a digital lifestyle enabler leveraging on technology driven by our purpose: to transform lives. As we go into the next decade, we have a vision of being a purpose-led technology company by the year 2025. I aim to create a technology business by going beyond in new borders and boundaries, developing new digital ecosystems in health, agriculture and education sectors as we aim to be the technology partner for our customers.”

Since the start of the Black Lives Matter protests earlier this year, many have demanded that major corporations and institutions do more to advance diversity and inclusion within their business structures. Neiman Marcus announced this week that it will be adding to its premier beauty collection catering to women of color with an African-owned skincare brand, Yangu Beauty.

Zimbabwean entrepreneur Sipho Gumbo is the founder of Yangu Beauty and creates her products based on traditional Bantu beauty herbs used a lot in her culture. Her award-winning products all include plant-based ingredients that cater to women of color while implementing sustainable business practices.

Gumbo hopes that the new partnership with Neiman Marcus will help expose her brand to new consumers looking for high-quality products that cater to their skin. “Our brand partnership with Neiman Marcus is a validation of our quality, luxurious products that can compete head-to-head with some of the most renowned brands on the market,” Gumbo stated in a press statement.

“To be added on the Neiman Marcus list is a great achievement that we are most certainly proud of. This means a lot especially for women of color to now have a complete product line of high quality — created especially for them and available in this luxury space for their shopping convenience. We are just so excited and ask that everyone supports us to stay at Neiman Marcus for the foreseeable future.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has been forced to backtrack in its attempts to boost local milk production by restricting access to foreign exchange, but efforts to cut down Nigeria’s dependence on imports continue. Kelechukwu Iruoma reports from Lagos

In July 2019, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) included milk and dairy products on its list of items not eligible for foreign exchange (FX), leading to the restriction of milk imports into the country. 

The decision banned commercial banks and other authorised dealers from accepting Form M – a mandatory document to monitor goods that are imported into the country – for milk and dairy products. This meant that milk importers would be forced to resort to the more highly priced parallel market to obtain foreign exchange, making importation more expensive.

In a statement, the CBN’s director of communications, Isaac Okorafor, stressed that the bank was not banning milk importation but that the FX restrictions were necessary to encourage local production.

The CBN’s list of items not eligible for foreign exchange was introduced in 2015 in  support of Nigeria’s policy of “backward integration” – a form of import substitution aimed at conserving foreign exchange and creating jobs. Milk now joined commodities such as rice, tomatoes and starch on the list.

Okorafor said that Nigeria had been heavily dependent on milk imports for over 60 years and there was a need to channel energy and funds into improving and increasing local production. Nigeria spends between $1.2bn and $1.5bn a year on milk imports.

He stated that the bank had approached milk importers and asked them to take advantage of the CBN’s low-interest loans to begin local milk production, but that although there had been some successes the vast majority of importers had continued to treat this “national aspiration” with “imperial contempt”.

At the same time, he stressed that the bank was “ready and able to provide the needed finance to enable investors who genuinely want to engage in milk production”.

“That is a very high import product into the country, given that it is a product that we are convinced can be produced in Nigeria,” CBN governor Godwin Emiefele told journalists after the announcement of restrictions.

Prices spike at market

Yet the decision by the CBN led to shortfalls in milk production and an increase in the prices of dairy products across the country. Milk sellers at markets in Lagos complained of scarcity and an increase in prices.

“Milk became scarce and the prices went up,” says Chinwe Amadi, a milk wholesaler at the popular Balogun market in Lagos. “The Marvel milk we had, we used to sell between N11,000 [$29] to N13,000 for the small [wholesale] size. Then we started to sell N15,000 per carton. The big size of it, we used to sell N20,000 but we started selling N25,000 per carton.”

Despite the potential for producing milk in large quantities, Nigeria’s domestic production does not meet consumer demand. Nigeria’s annual milk production is estimated at 500,000 tonnes while the annual local demand for milk stands at an average of 1.7m tonnes, with the shortfall imported into the country.

Nigeria’s cattle rearing sector has met with numerous challenges including a lack of feed, water, and poor rearing techniques. Desertification in the north as a result of climate change has led to cattle and herders travelling far south for grazing and given rise to conflict with farmers. Meanwhile, outdated cattle rearing practices also lead to lower milk yields per cow, leading local manufacturers to resist sourcing raw milk locally.  

While the CBN has been keen to reduce currency outflows through milk importation, it was clear that the local market did not yet have the industrial capability to produce the quality and quantity of milk required domestically. As a result, the CBN started giving loans to cattle farmers to boost production.

“We are determined to make milk production in Nigeria a viable economic proposition. If you need a loan to acquire land, do artificial insemination, grow grass or even provide water, we will give to you,” Emiefele said on Twitter following the announcement of restrictions.

Sourcing locally 

The CBN has also led efforts to encourage foreign milk manufacturers to source produce in Nigeria. Milk manufacturers including FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria; Chi, and TG Arla Dairy Products have started to engage with state governments and local cattle farmers to partner with them to source milk locally for production.

In September 2019, the Kaduna state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Arla Foods International, a Denmark-based milk production company, to source milk locally from its cattle farmers. Now operational, the aim of the project is to create 50,000 jobs. Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna said the investment in the livestock sector would help to increase production among nomadic herdsmen.

“Our hope is that what we started with Arla leads to the development of the grazing reserve in Kubau local government; and we want to develop jointly with them. [We] will show the itinerant nomadic herdsmen that it is possible to engage in modern livestock production without having to go up and down the country,” he said.

In November 2019, the Niger State government signed an MOU with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria to provide 10,000 hectares of land at the Bobi Grazing Reserve for milk production.

Policy failure?

Despite the deals, progress has been slow. The challenge of meeting targets by local farmers – who lack the equipment and expertise of industrial-scale foreign producers despite CBN support – and the unwillingness of milk manufacturers to source milk from local production led to the lifting of restrictions for some companies by the CBN in February 2020.  

The CBN asked commercial banks to start accepting Form M again from Nestlé Nigeria, FrieslandCampina, HBC Chi, Promasidor Nigeria, TG Arla Dairy Products and Integrated Dairies Limited.

The bank stated that the decision to lift the ban was due to the failure of its efforts at stimulating the local production of milk. Despite the failure to reach its ambitious target, efforts continue. It said that the aim was to increase milk production in the country to 550,000 tonnes within the next 12 months.

Citizens have been left frustrated by the experiment with backward integration. Though there is again enough milk supply in the country, prices continue to rise, said Jane Frances Onuoha, a young Nigerian citizen. 

“It is devastating that the price of milk in Nigeria is increasing on a daily basis,” she lamented. “Milk is one of the essential dairy products and it should not be expensive. We have a lot of cattle in Nigeria. So why should the price of milk always increase?”

The marijuana industry in the U.S. is booming and attracting some of the world’s renowned celebrities and business owners. The industry is estimated to pump up to $130 billion on an annual basis into the U.S. economy by 2024, according to Marijuana Business Factbook.

Marijuana Business Factbook further estimates legal cannabis sales increased from $38 billion-$46 billion in 2019 to $106 billion-$130 billion by 2024 – a 181% increase. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the $130 billion figure is similar to the 2019 gross domestic product of Nebraska’s $129 billion.

The profitable nature of the cannabis business has caught the attention of billionaire rapper Jay-Z. Born Shawn Carter, the 22-time Grammy award winner and business mogul recently launched his cannabis brand, Monogram, in collaboration with the largest vertically-integrated cannabis company in California, Caliva. Before launching his own cannabis brand, the African American had served as Chief Brand Strategist for Caliva since July of 2019.

A press statement from the brand says Monogram seeks to “redefine what cannabis means to consumers today. In an effort to provide a more tailored customer experience, the brand will also launch through a best in class e-commerce platform dedicated exclusively to its singular product line.”

According to Monogram’s website, the flower is grown in small batches, “allowing for every plant to receive personalized attention from our expert growers.” It adds that “Our batch-by-batch approach and unique potency designation allow us to highlight the nuances in between harvests and tell you the story of every flower.”

Monogram says it has assembled a board of cannabis experts who grade and select every flower by hand. “These luminaries have developed a program of extended humidity control, post-harvest care, trimming, and flushing that guarantees our finished product is the best it can be,” it says.

Customers are encouraged to sign up by email to be “first in line for the drop” on the website.

Monogram is the latest of Jay-Z’s businesses. The musician first ventured into the business when he launched his clothing line called Rocawear in 1999 and later founded a sports bar chain called the 40/40 Club in 2013. In 2015, he acquired the tech company called Aspiro and also launched Tidal, a music streaming services.

Jay-Z also has a stake in French audio tech firm Devialet. The tech firm recently launched wireless earbuds, called Gemini, to rival Apple and Samsung’s dominance in the wireless earphones market.

The rapper is not the only famous name to venture into the cannabis industry with it being legalized in several US states. Others include Snoop Dogg, Whoopi Goldberg, and Martha Stewart.

Lydia Gibson put on her superhero collar as a mom to save her daughter from the clutches of eczema by creating her own natural skin and hairline, Eva Jenae Naturals. Gibson says she believes in the healing powers of nature and so carefully mixed natural ingredients to cure her daughter’s skin irritation.

The eastern North Carolina native’s daughter was diagnosed with eczema in 2006 when she was just a toddler and all the prescribed medications were aggravating her skin irritations.

Although some of the products had “natural” boldly written on the labels, they contained perfumes, parabens, and other chemicals that defeated the purpose of the medication. They did not provide the required nourish and moisturizing effect needed to soothe and protect her delicate skin.

“I wanted to trust what I was putting on my daughter’s sensitive skin, and the best way to do that was to create my own recipes,” Gibson says.

The alternatives that were on the shelves were not cutting it for Gibson, so she began experimenting with centuries-old ingredients known for their healing and soothing properties.

Eva’s skin began clearing up after using her mixture. Gibson then shared some with close friends and relatives who then encouraged her to go make it her business so she can share her formula with the world.

The mother of two and an Air Force veteran holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of West Florida and a Master of Arts in Management from Wayland Baptist University. She says she had always wanted to be an entrepreneur since the 7th grade and in the process of finding a cure for her daughter, she rekindled her passion for entrepreneurship.

The transition from hobby to business happened in 2011 when Gibson, then a newly unemployed mother and wife, found herself in a new city, Ohio, after her husband’s military transfer. The family had to leave Florida with him.  

Her family was very supportive of her desire to venture into the business of creating all-natural skincare and hair products.

Gibson is passionate about her business and her mission is to create vegan, all-natural skin and hair care products while using her platform to promote entrepreneurship, self-empowerment, self-love, and community involvement, especially among the youth. True to her word, Gibson donates portions of her sales to different non-profit organizations in her community that share in her vision.

There are other natural products out there, but Gibson says what sets hers apart from others is the fact that she uses simple and yet effective all-natural and or organic products sourced from responsible suppliers.

Her products are made in small batches in a clean and sterile environment, so they maintain their freshness. They do not contain any parabens, synthetic fragrances, petroleum, or fillers, and there is no animal testing involved in her production.

After extensively researching the domestic and international cigar industry, the owners of Emperors Cut Cigars discovered an interesting finding: With the explosive growth of African American smokers there was a niche for them to enter the space with a quality cigar and attract customers.

They were convinced with the right product they could compete in the general marketplace domestically. Understanding that the sales cycle would be longer, they, nonetheless, were confident that they would capture both mind and market share. Three years after its launch, Emperors Cut Cigars (EC) is steadily making headway into America’s fruitful cigar business that generates over $9 billion in annual revenue.

Like other U.S. businesses feeling the sting of COVID-19, Emperors Cut turned to online and social media channels to help boost sales.

In January 2020, the business planned for 30% of its revenue to come from online, says Darnell Streat, managing partner and founder of The Emperors Group L.L.C., owner of EC. But two months later, normal revenue from cigar lounges and events went to zero in seven days due to COVID-19. That forced the business to rely on its online platform for 100% of revenue for March and April.

“Looking back this was a blessing for our online business model,” Streat says. “COVID-19 forced us to revamp our website and find new ways to market to our customers. We had to embrace social media and execute more in the digital marketing space as a replacement to our normal face-to-face marketing approach.”

To do that, the firm aggressively started marketing its products on social media. That included creating digital content for Zoom happy hours and partnering with spirit companies like Uncle Nearest and Remi Martin. The business also benefited from the nation’s rising racial tensions that gave Blacks a greater desire to support local businesses. Streat says customers started promoting his company to other African Americans cigar enthusiasts. He pointed out that people also put lists together of African American cigar companies and denounced a few majority companies that didn’t support people of color.

“Little by little, more orders started coming in online along with a new awareness for our cigar products. Our customer service and open approach with our customers were starting to pay dividends in customer loyalty and increased sales.”

Now, EC has new growth plans and aims to puff up sales by expanding online and globally.

“As we move into the fourth quarter, we are exploring ways to develop markets in Europe, Africa, and Canada, Co-owner Greg Willis says. “We have a small number of international customers that we would like to continue to grow in a structured manner.”

He claims American products still have a level of mystique and interest in other parts of the world as luxury items. As well, Willis says in those targeted countries English is a dominant spoken language. “We think this positions us well to introduce, market, and sell our cigars to smokers in those areas.”

Streat says EC hopes to achieve annual sales exceeding $3 million by 2025, with most of the growth coming from international expansion.

The company’s business model thus far is apparently working. EC reports 2020 monthly revenue is growing 43% over the 2019 year to date. For all this year, the business is projecting revenue of $250,000, up from around $175,000 in 2019 and $75,000 in 2018. It plans to focus on driving growth in Q4 2020 from these buckets: direct to consumer (online), retail shops and lounges, and big-box retailers.

The company reports it is on pace to sell over 50,000 cigars this year

Overall, observers say the cigar business is profitable. Though smoking is tied to health risks and subject to laws that ban smoking in public places, cigars are chic with people from multiple backgrounds. The business is alluring to entrepreneurs because it includes an established market with people who already smoke cigars as well as many prospective buyers. While it can be challenging to penetrate the market, insiders report operators in the business can achieve success if they target a strong core of customers.

Still, trying to upscale EC has not been a cakewalk for Streat, Willis, and their five partners since they started the Houston-based company. Streat says capital acquisition to grow in key areas such as procure inventory, product development, backend technology innovation, and marketing remains the biggest hurdles to overcome. Other hindrances include conquering federal and local government regulations that suppress smoking indoors, most outdoor venues, and any place not deemed a smoking establishment or zone. Brand recognition is another obstacle but Streat says the firm has been effective at leveraging social media, podcasts, and word of mouth to extend the brand where the cigars are sold.

Plus, EC is competing in an industry reportedly long prevailed over by whites and Latinos who have shut out or restricted Black cigar brands or enterprises from their establishments. But Willis counters that has not been the case from his firm’s perspective. He agrees the industry is competitive but added EC has not experienced any hostility.  In fact, he says his firm has been welcomed by industry colleagues.

“The sales cycle is a bit slower with predominantly owned and patronized white cigar shops but we understand cigar placement in a humidor is akin to prime real estate, and competitive. So, owners need to know they can turn quickly the inventory they invest in. This is not an unreasonable approach, so we operate accordingly within the sales process.”

Some empowering news for EC is there is a growing number of Black Americans finding pleasure from enjoying a stogie or stick in their leisure time. Black adults accounted for nearly 36% of cigarillo smokers, 24% of non-premium cigar smokers, and 5.3% to-15.7%, respectively, of smokers of premium and filtered cigars, a 2017 report by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco shows.

To help capture a larger share of those smokers, EC has a physical sales presence in Atlanta, Miami, Florida, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, Virginia. The business reports it is now in 19 states and 95 lounges and retail outlets, up briskly from 10 states and 40 retail outlets at this time last year.

Interestingly, like some other Black-owned businesses in various sectors, the cigar company has benefitted from COVID-19. Willis says cigar smokers love the pleasure derived from smoking a good cigar. “COVID-19 may have had an impact on their lives but it did not diminish their desire to enjoy a good smoke.”

Further, he pointed out there was a deep feeling within the Black cigar smoker community because of the murder of George Floyd and the prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement. He said many began to seek out Emperor Cut Cigars and other Black-owned cigar brands, adding that it has been good for business.

“Upon reflection, it is true our fight for mind share and brand awareness among Black cigar smokers became easier as a result of these unfortunate events,” Willis says. “Still, there is a lot of runway ahead of us to curate business within the Black cigar smoking community. It remains one of our biggest opportunities.”

The wine industry isn’t the most inclusive when it comes to ownership.Despite this fact, many entrepreneurs have managed to enter the market. With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic creating new restrictions for businesses as cities try to combat the outbreak, many have had to find new ways to adapt so their businesses don’t close.

One entrepreneur managed to pivot her brand into the virtual space with a wine society catered to Black women.

Shayla Varnado is the founder of Black Girls Wine. Her business was off to an amazing start, but like many entrepreneurs, she faced new challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic began to force cities to shut down. She had to act fast to protect the brand and her team from the fallout.

“In the beginning, some of the biggest hurdles were figuring out the technology. Between platforms and communicating to our members what was to come, there was a small adjustment period,” Varnado told BLACK ENTERPRISE via email.

“I had to decide whether or not I was ready to expand the team,” she added. “I knew after hosting a month of virtual events that I wouldn’t be able to sustain working the business all day and then moderating and hosting at night. Since COVID, I had no choice but to expand the team. We’ve been busier than ever and growing by the month. The growing pains were a hurdle but they’ve also been a blessing.”

While Varnado was already working on opening her virtual wine society, she said the pandemic forced her to push up the idea in order to stay afloat. Many establishments were closed, which has enhanced the society’s success.

“Now all of our chapter members across the country, no matter where they are, can meet and connect with each other,” she said. “It allows us a way to offer access to all the membership perks to women who wanted to join no matter where they live. Now anyone can join and that makes being a member even more exciting!”

Varnado said her goal was always to create a brand that focused on Black women since they were often left out from marketing and branding within larger companies–despite their affinity for wine.

“I wanted to create that experience, that space, and be a brand that is totally and solely focused on the Black woman,” she said. “I want her to feel special and valued as a wine lover and as a human being. I want her to know she is seen and I intend to continue creating and offering opportunities for her to grow, connect, and be celebrated.”