ATLANTA — Three Metro Atlanta women of color are breaking barriers in the business world, and they're getting a boost to help expand their brand.
Camille Banks, Zakiya Bryant and Jeannell Darden collectively won $125,000 in grant funding from the Reimagine Main Street Backing Black Business program, which helps small businesses recover from challenges brought on by the pandemic.
There were over ten-thousand applicants, and just seven women won the $25,000 or $50,000 grand prize. The women pitched their business plan, vied for votes and now pledge to create new products, hire more workers, upgrade technology and expand their brands.
Banks owns The Muted Home, a luxury collective of home goods and décor. The Detroit native said the idea for the business stemmed from home renovations she had done during quarantine in 2020.
"As soon as we opened up the website, we were sold out within minutes," Banks said. "It was huge, and it showed a want for people needing to organize and make their home look better because they were now stationed at home.”
Banks said with the newly awarded grant funding, she's looking to open up a wholesale channel and bring on more designers to put in purchase orders. She said Black women entrepreneurs face unique challenges in the business world.
“We get overlooked. People see us and they can’t believe we can go to the next level, but we’re all capable," Banks said. "We can be very creative. We can get a lot of things done.”
Bryant runs We Sub Teach, an app-based gig-work startup that matches substitute teachers with childcare centers. She taught in college for years, ran an after school program and has a human resources background. Bryant said the app took off before the pandemic in 2018, hit a halt when schools shut down and is gradually regaining steam. The business survived, she said, by keeping reserves of cash on hand, limiting customers and discovering other streams of income.
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“I think it’s a great climate for women who want to launch whatever that dream is, it’s a prime time for them to go ahead and jump in," Bryant said. "If you have a dream or desire that won’t let you be, that’s the thing you should be doing. Go ahead and execute it. There’s help available for you."
Jeannelle Darden is the owner of Moisture Love, a beauty supply company that specializes in haircare products for curly and natural hair. Darden said she runs the business, now four years old, to make a better life for her daughters.
"A lot of women struggle with loving and embracing their beauty and identity, hence the Moisture Love," Darden said. “We hire women and men locally in the community. Most of the people working here live within five miles of the warehouse. We make sure to pay fair wages and make sure it’s a fun, nice working environment.”
Darden said she's had to battle through supply chain disruptions and find backup suppliers in the wake of pandemic-era obstacles. Despite the roadblocks, she wants women of color to persevere and fight for what they love, even if success doesn't come immediately.
“I want to show up as a strong, beautiful Black woman that owns her own business and is doing her thing, and show other girls that they can do it too and it doesn’t have to look like the way the world says it does," Darden said. "There is nothing you desire to do that you cannot do. Even if everyone in your circle says it’s impossible, if you believe in yourself and trust yourself, set your eye on the goal and work toward it.”