KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Black female entrepreneurs are helping spread awareness about not only shopping local but shopping Black during months other than February.
“KC Black Owned, we are not just here during Black History Month or during Juneteenth, we are in the community year round,” said Chelsea, owner of KC Black Owned.
A pop-up event Saturday hosted by KC Black Owned was held at 3630 Main inside Shop Local KC to celebrate Black female entrepreneurs.
“It is a challenge, one to be a female because it is an old boys club. To be a business owner and to be an entrepreneur is mainly men, and on top of that, it’s a challenge because I am African American," said Lanesha Frazier, co-owner of Bliss Books and Wine. "So you don’t see too many of those people, people like me that look like me that are out here doing this.”
Angela Believes, owner of Godly and Gangsta, agrees that the number of Black female business owners is small.
“I’m just going to say my Black people, as a whole, and as a Black woman, we have to fight hard. We have to make our presence known, that our services and our product is good,” Believes said.
This is where KC Black Owned steps in. It works to connect consumers to Black-owned businesses in the area.
“... What we try to do is support our business owners and provide them an opportunity to showcase their products and services," Chelsea said. "In addition to being a wife, being a mother, working a 9-5 job, so that those barriers are not as strong against them.”
And with KC Black Owned's help, Black women entrepreneurs are telling their stories.
“To break the stereotype, to break the mold, to let everybody know that we are here, we exist and we are going to do what we do,” Frazier said.
Events like Saturday help reaffirm to these women their businesses are on the right track.
“When people are coming out, it lets me know I am doing something right because people are interested in what I have,” Believes said.
But moving forward, Chelsea hopes even more Kansas Citians are aware of the breadth of Black-owned businesses around them all year long.
“While it’s important to shop local, it’s important to shop local and to shop Black because it helps to sustain the economy in which you live; therefore, creating stronger community in KC,” Chelsea said.
