Buy From a Black Woman hosted a small business pop-up event on the lawn facing H&M in Atlantic Station last week, providing a platform for eight entrepreneurs to sell products and gain local exposure.
The organization, which houses a community of more than 600 Black woman-owned businesses based all around the country, organized a stop in Atlanta as a part of its Inspire Tour, arranged in partnership with H&M.
The tour, which kicked off on July 1, made stops at various shopping centers in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Houston and Los Angeles before wrapping up at Atlantic Station.
The organization first partnered with H&M in 2021 and has since worked with the brand to help narrow the socioeconomic gap disproportionately impacting Black female entrepreneurs.
Nikki Porcher, founder of Buy From a Black Woman, said she hosted her first collaboration event in Atlanta, and that returning to the city this year to close her month-long tour feels like the organization has come full circle.
“You look at all that we’ve done in the last three years, and I’m just very proud of what we’re going to do in the next three years,” Porcher said.
Ariel Young, owner and founder of the e-commerce brand Copper and Brass Paper Goods, participated as one of the evening’s eight vendors. Young, a Spelman College alumna, sells HBCU– and sorority-inspired stationery items, along with other themes — all of which depict elements of Black joy and empowerment.
“As an HBCU graduate, this [representation] means that we have a safe space where we can come and we can be celebrated, affirmed and highlighted — just like everyone else,” Young said.
Young said she wanted to join the pop-up for the opportunity to support other Black women in business as they work to achieve their goals.
“I was motivated to participate in Buy From a Black Woman because I’m a Black woman, I believe in Black women and I think we deserve to have successful businesses and to be successful in life,” Young said. “I believe that everyone should lend their support to love.”
Porcher founded Buy From a Black Woman in 2016 as a way to offer support to Black women business owners as they navigate the world of commerce while lacking adequate access to tangible resources.
The nonprofit holds workshops and training sessions, awards grant funding to participating businesses and encourages members to pursue advancements in entrepreneurship, helping more than 15 women earn Minority Business Enterprise certifications over the past two years.
Porcher said that those interested in starting their own businesses should take chances in life as they appear, and that trying and failing is more rewarding than not trying at all. For those who’ve already launched businesses, Porcher said that Buy From a Black Woman provides a sense of sisterhood featuring like-minded business women who are ready to support new members on their entrepreneurial journeys.
“Ideas don’t want to die with you; they want to live with you,” Porcher said. “If you have an idea, go for it until the wheels fall off. And if the wheels fall off, guess what? They make more tires.”
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