If you have been following my journey for a while, you will know that I am incredibly passionate about supporting the black community, specifically black owned businesses. Money isn’t the only way the black community can gain independence however, it is one of the ways that we can move our community forward. Supporting the community and black owned businesses is my little contribution to moving the community forward.
This is why I decided to challenge myself for my 25th Birthday to support 25 Black Owned Businesses. In my update a few weeks before the challenge was up, I shared that it had been difficult finding black owned businesses I haven’t already supported. I also didn’t want to just spend money for the sake of it, I have a bad habit of doing that, so I tried to practice some self-discipline during this challenge.
How Did I Do?
My goal was 25 Black Owned businesses and I was able to support 10. I aiming to reach 25 by the end of this year, which gives me plenty of time to reach my goal. Although I didn’t do as well as I originally planned to, I still had fun with this challenge and it made me realise just how many black owned businesses I had already supported.
Attending events and market spaces makes it much easier to access plenty of black owned businesses all at the same, which is where I have accumulated most of my hair products and jewellery.
I did head down to Antidote Street’s #HairLab for a complimentary hair treatment after my birthday. Which was a not only a great experience, but it gave me an opportunity to support a black hairstylist.
Black Owned Businesses Supported Throughout This Challenge:
If you’re looking to take on a similar challenge or you’re interested in supporting black owned businesses, I have plenty of blog posts on black owned businesses specifically in the UK that you can find here. There is also Jamii UK which is a discount card created for black owned businesses, which encourages people to support the community whilst also saving some money. I have shared my Jamii experience here. You can also follow the hashtag #25BOBxSaabirah where I will continue to use it to highlight the black owned businesses I have discovered from now till the new year.
SAABIRAH LAWRENCE 