00:00I think there is a stigma behind shopping or buying black that this is
00:05charity and that is definitely not the case. Look at ourselves as less than. So
00:11we don't think our products are as good as our white counterparts. Hey everyone
00:17my name is Michelle I'm the founder of The Black Own Market and it's The Bomb.
00:21So The Bomb is a curated shopping destination that makes it convenient for
00:25people to buy from black owned brands all under one roof. How do I feel about
00:29non-black owned brands catering to black consumers? I feel a way about that. I do.
00:36I'm gonna go with my gut on this. They don't put that money that they make from
00:39our culture back into the communities. They benefit from the coolness of our
00:44culture because we really set standards. They get to monopolize their self and
00:49their money on that and just grow their businesses, hire their own people, only
00:53hire us around Black History Month when it's cool, or just pick our brains. And
00:58that really upsets me. Black owned businesses are the second highest
01:01employers of black people to the government. I read the stat that said
01:05black people have over 1.2 trillion dollars in buying power but only two
01:09cents of every dollar goes into black owned businesses. Why people say they
01:13don't shop with black owned brands is because they think they're too expensive,
01:18they're inconvenient, and they do not know they exist. We at The Bomb are giving black
01:23owned brands, quality black owned brands at that, a platform to sell with their
01:28intended consumer, really just grow. The benefits of buying from black owned brands,
01:33they're made with you in mind, made in smaller batches, made fresh to order, and
01:39they have very few toxic ingredients in them. In addition to that, you're helping a
01:44black owned family pay for their child's tuition, pay for extracurricular
01:49activities, broadening, you know, the mindset of a black child. A lot of these
01:54businesses start in their kitchen, in their homes. They're not outsourcing, they're
01:59doing it themselves. If that's not something to support, then I don't know
02:02what is. I created The Bomb for two reasons. My parents are small business
02:06owners, they own a wonderful beauty supply store. As Haitian immigrants, they came to
02:10this country to really provide a better life for their family, and that was my
02:15first job. It was the reason myself and my siblings were able to even afford to go
02:20to private school and even college, and I saw firsthand how people supporting my
02:25parents' business, how that provided just so much inspiration for the community
02:29because what you began to see thereafter was people just duplicating the
02:34blueprint. What I really tried hard to do is target people that have an actual
02:38story to tell. One of the main feedbacks that I get from shoppers at The Bomb is
02:43that, oh, they never knew that somebody that looked like them or was their same
02:47age or younger could actually start and run a business. Before I started working
02:52at The Bomb, I thought life was pretty easy because, you know, I had a corporate
02:56lifestyle making good salary. I don't think I anticipated the lack or the
03:02scarceness of money, but it's just one of those things where, like, I would not trade
03:08it because this is the grind. This is, like, what I'm here for. Getting emotional. I do
03:14feel like this is the work that I am meant to do.
03:18Thanks, Sean.
03:18You may not have a problem.
