“When you think about a black business, it’s most likely going to be a smaller business, it’s going to be a newer business,” says Keke Palmer. For Women’s History Month, the actress and entrepreneur teamed up with Amazon to bring visibility to brands led by black women. This month, the Internet company will also share Palmer’s interview with two of the business owners it chose to spotlight.
The cause is dear to the winner, who is closely associated with business acumen. She became an entrepreneur herself in 2018, running her own label, Big Boss Entertainment. To celebrate 20 years in the entertainment industry, Palmer has several exciting projects coming up; including a new album, Big boss. She is a Beyoncé-defined millennial diva Indeed.
Invested in helping the new generation of women looking to take control of their careers, the 28-year-old is full of sound advice. “Take it day by day and don’t be so hard on yourself. Understand that it is a process and Rome was not built in a day and yes you are going to run into problems and things are not going to work out. RIGHT. But all this is just a stepping stone. It’s not supposed to make you give up. It’s supposed to help you.
In the United States, black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs. Without valuable resources, such as capital and mentorship, most of these emerging businesses fail quickly. In the wake of protests over the killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, pointed conversations about the systemic disadvantages facing the Black community have ensued, often specifically as they relate to business. Knowing all the times black progress was stifled in childhood – the burning physical locations, lynchings of store ownersand the refusal to business loans — Americans banded together to uplift community.
With this, Palmer recognizes how costly it can be to get meaningful coaching on how to present merchandise to the public. People can’t stand what they can’t see.
“It’s extremely important and these kinds of things are usually expensive,” she said. “It is therefore necessary that Amazon not only wants to offer a platform for sellers to sell, but also helps them learn how to sell.”
For its collaboration with Amazon, which hosts more than a million businesses, Palmer selected the following brands and people: Culture Tags, Obia Naturals, EPIC everyday, Original bees, Darlyng and Co.., LIVE IN BEINGauthor Crystal Swain Bates, Kanda ChocolatesAnd Authoritative cosmetics. She surveyed her friends, did her own research online, and also worked with the e-commerce giant to curate the list. She is committed to supporting her own, while maintaining faith that Black women business owners will continue to emerge and thrive.
ESSENCE: I noticed a few of the businesses on the list were geared toward kids, and I was wondering why is it necessary for us to do the double duty of empowering Black business owners as well as the next generation ?
Keke Palmer: I think it’s because it creates generational wealth. It is the most important. Systematically, black people haven’t really been held back, in many ways, but obviously as business owners.
It’s time to put the spotlight back on Black businesses to remind people to support each other. It is also important to understand that when you buy black, sometimes you are investing in a newer company. So they need the right support and encouragement and tools to even be able to go to certain places like these other companies. It’s simply the only way we can continue to create not only generational wealth for our community.
To me, it just makes sense: it’s about countering all systemic injustices. We must redouble our efforts to put businesses back at the forefront.
What can everyday people do to ensure business owners are supported and have what they need?
I think word of mouth is important. When you think of a black business, chances are it’s not something that’s been around as long as some of these other names. So you have to do your research, but many companies, like Amazon, help you do that research. They have their black Black Business Accelerator program, which also does exactly what we’re talking about because it encourages black businesses to excel.
Tell your friends about what you’re doing. That’s a big thing that’s happening with Amazon, in terms of the people who are in this accelerator program, is word of mouth. People say, “Hey, let me tell you what I’m doing here.” This is how I excel in my business. So let me onboard you so you can excel in your business and we can get more publicity.
That’s a great point you made about word of mouth, because one of the main ways we share information today is through social media. What is the impact of social networks on entrepreneurship?
Massively. I think what’s great is social networks it’s that you’re able to curate a space and create a brand where people can buy into who you are. Plus, with all the different features these social media sites have, it’s made things even easier, whether it’s buying in-store or clicking a website link to view a store . All of these things have served black businesses. If we see something we like, we share it. So I think it’s like, keep going with that share button.
Entrepreneurship is widely seen as a path to freedom. For example, parents of young children can build a schedule around their family. In the meantime, creators can enjoy full ownership of their ideas rather than having the rights revert to a separate brand. What are the other benefits of starting a business for yourself?
I think the most important thing is what you just said: you get to work and live, not work to live. This is something we struggle with in this capitalist country. It’s hard.
The thing about entrepreneurship is you don’t have to do it alone, you know? There are so many ways to do what I do, where I invite my friends. Now I work with my mother, I work with my sister and I work with my brother. I think that’s ultimately what a lot of people are starting to see in entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is indeed a community effort. It’s not a solo trip, but I feel like sometimes, from the outside, people feel like it’s a singular experience. Why do you think people believe it’s a journey you have to take alone and be alone for the duration?
I think because they don’t know what they’re talking about. Once again, we have the opportunity to give a new dimension to entrepreneurship, which I love about our generation. We are doing our best to normalize the concept of an entrepreneur. Ultimately, though, the concept of what it is usually comes from something we’ve seen or something we don’t fully know – it’s our idea of what something should be.
With the work Amazon is doing to support creators and entrepreneurs, what do you think the future of entrepreneurship will look like?
I think it will continue to get younger and more diverse. I think that’s something that excites me. I think we’re seeing more of this because of children’s access to social media. I mean, when you look online, there’s tons of child entrepreneurs. They create brands with toys and all sorts of things. So I think with all this access, the ability to reach millions of people and the ability to interact with an audience outside of your area, young people can see what people like about them and makes their brand unique (in real time). .)
Social media and the internet in general has really changed the idea of what it means, like you said, to be an actor or a creator or an entrepreneur. So with these new ideas about what it means to be in certain fields, you will have a generation that will feel empowered and even more willing to get started because they have the tools to do so.
Amazon’s Accelerator program literally teaches people and gives them the resources to become great business owners. It’s 2022, so imagine in 20 years, what will this program evolve into?
Finally, I I would like to hear you talk more about representation. It can have such an impact when people are able to see others who look and think like them in positions of power. Why is representation in entrepreneurship so vital?
I wish this wasn’t completely true, but it really is. In most cases, people only truly believe the truth when they see it. You know? They believe in magic because they have seen magic done. So when you haven’t seen it come true, when you haven’t seen that it’s possible, your idea of what’s available to you becomes smaller and smaller. The fact that I was able to highlight other women, it’s not just for me, it’s not just for us, but it’s for the people watching because we know he was a time when we wondered who was doing this. Like, “Am I the only person with this idea? Am I alone? It’s all about awareness.
