When Wilglory Tanjong, CEO of Anima Iris and MBA student, started making luxury handbags in February 2020, she didn’t expect Beyoncé to wear one of her handbags for a year and half later.
Anima Iris handbags are made by a team of seven artisans in Senegal. Tanjong told CNBC MakeIt that in his plans for the company’s future, “most importantly, I want us to stay truly made in Africa.”
Tanjong isn’t the only one whose side hustle has turned into a lucrative business. Helena Faustin, who runs the popular food blog That Nurse Can Cook, earns $117,000 a year cooking Jamaican dishes in her home kitchen.
As a first-generation Jamaican American, Faustin said she was “surrounded by a plethora of Caribbean influences.” She developed a passion for cooking from an early age and learned to cook by watching her mother.
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs? “If you have a talent, harness that talent, learn as much as you can, and monetize that thing.”
Domonique Brown, artist and founder of DomoINK, has monetized her talent by creating a $267,000 art, apparel and decor business. Having grown up not seeing images of other black women in stores, Brown wants the brand to be “a representation of those who are still underrepresented.”
“You can bring your own seat to the table,” she said, “or you can create your own table.”
Like Brown, Paulana Lamonier turned her passion into a business designed for black Americans. Lamonier said his company, Black People Will Swim, is a “call to action” to make the swimming space more inclusive. Its mission is to “break the stereotype that black people can’t swim”.
Black People Will Swim organizes swimming lessons on Long Island and attempts to raise enough funds to build their own swimming pool. Lamonier hopes Black People Will Swim will allow “black and brown people to see each other and see that it’s possible.”
Watch the video to learn more about how these black female entrepreneurs are creating wealth.
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