The Just BE Rebirth

May 18

Healing, Wellness, and Shared Prosperity

Content Notice: This article includes descriptions of police violence toward Black people.

Genesis

The evening summer sun of 2016 warms the shoulders of eight Black Women as they enter a West Oakland community center. There is no air conditioning (as is typical for the Bay Area), so the auditorium is a bit stuffy and humid. The women work together to form a circle by setting up a few folding tables and chairs. Laughter, hugs, and energetic conversation are in the air, mixed with a palpable sadness. They gather around - a multigenerational group of Black Women Entrepreneurs who are makers of jewelry, art, candles, textiles, etc. They are alchemists of wood, copper, silver, wax, and clay, embodying the legacy of their ancestors’ journey for economic self-determination.

Each of them has arrived in search of belonging and community. They were fellow vendors at local Bay Area festivals, events, and shows. However, this is the first time they have connected outside these spaces to commune and hold space together. The conversation at this evening’s gathering is focused on how everyone is doing - truly. Philando Castile and Alton Sterling had just been murdered by police. Philando’s murder was filmed live on Facebook by his girlfriend with their baby in the car - a collective trauma that is nearly impossible to put into words. Black communities across the nation erupted in protest with the unrelenting national news and social media circuit on overdrive. Hearts were heavy with a detectable feeling of emotional exhaustion as each woman shared openly and honestly about how these events had impacted them.

As the conversation evolved and tissues were passed around along with shoulder squeezes, thigh taps, and affirming mm hmms, folks began to ponder their role within the movement for Black freedom and liberation as Black Women Entrepreneurs.

Some mused that simply being a Black Woman business owner was revolutionary due to the long history of attacks on Black businesses and finance. Others agreed and were curious about alternative business models that disrupted modern-day capitalism originating from the extraction of enslaved ancestors, indigenous families, and the land. Some noted that social justice was already deeply rooted in the DNA of their products and services via cowrie shells, African fabrics, Indigenous patterns, and messages of liberation.

At the close of the conversation, folks concluded that starting with each other was enough. That if we could continue to hold spaces for honest conversation, dialogue, and support like this, we were winning. That if we could pool our resources together to support other Black Women Entrepreneurs to do the same, then we were onto something even bigger. That if we could create spaces, infrastructure, and a sense of community where folks could rest, shift hustle culture, and just be – then we were creating a movement. And thus, Just BE was born.

Growth

Just BE has come a long way since that summer gathering of 2016. Three out of the eight original founders took on the charge of making Just BE an official social enterprise. Since then, we have served over 1,500 Black Women Entrepreneurs in the Bay Area and beyond through local mixers, Play Days, online courses, and vendor markets. We have curated spaces that have generated over $250,000 in capital for Black Women Entrepreneurs, employing over 75 people of color collectively within our communities. Our signature annual holiday, For the Culture Market, has doubled the collective revenue of Black Women vendors each year between 2016 - 2020.

Like many Black-owned businesses, we have also experienced many peaks and valleys. We have had business partners transition out, ambitious projects plateau and revenues decline. Three years of a global COVID-19 pandemic have taught us that we needed to redesign our business model to be more sustainable. Last year, we finalized our 3-year business plan and forecast to raise capital. And in the summer of last year, we were rewarded a five-year grant by the Kataly Foundation - one of our trusted ecosystem partners. Words cannot truly express how proud and grateful we are to be supported in this way after working hard for so many years. To learn more about Just BE’s journey, peep our timeline.

We are now engaged in a deep inquiry about what Black Women's Business sustainability really looks like in the age of COVID-19, global warming, and continuous state violence. What it looks like for Black Women individually (their mental, physical, and spiritual health) and their families, communities, and ancestors.

Rebirth

Our members have shared that COVID-19 has exacerbated the isolation and burnout they were already navigating before the pandemic. They have identified a crucial need for a supportive, consistent business community that centers wellness first and foremost. Efiya Asabi, the founder of IYOBA, a bath and beauty brand and former Just BE member, shared, “We need to move beyond wealth building and toward health building” as we navigate this new COVID normal as Black business owners.

Just BE is meeting this call and transitioning into a national membership-based Black Women’s Entrepreneurship association focused on healing, wellness, and shared prosperity. We have developed a sustainability framework rooted in our lived experiences and intergenerational wisdom. We have broken down this framework into four main pillars that will guide all our programming moving forward:

Community - we forge meaningful connections and build a consistent kinship of support and collaboration.

Healing - we deepen our care for ourselves and each other, disrupting trauma cycles so that we can come into our individual and collective power.

Spirit - we recognize that this entrepreneurial journey is an intergenerational one - rooted in a legacy of our communities determining for ourselves how we want to live. We understand that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.

Shared Prosperity - we build an economy of generosity, compassion, and shared wealth

We understand that becoming an entrepreneur + starting a business is a journey of personal transformation that requires healing from trauma and prioritizing wellness while accessing business training and funding resources. This is especially true for Black Women entrepreneurs who often have to bet on themselves when nobody else will and who have to face oppressive systems that are historically and actively set up for them to fail.

In the next two years, we are excited to reactivate our community with our sustainability framework as our north star. We will pilot an online membership program with a monthly support group as one of our core offerings. We will also pilot a Black Women’s Entrepreneurship therapy group with a powerful licensed Black Woman therapist as part of our healing pathway. We will reconnect with spirit via play at the rebirth of our annual Play Day for Black Women Entrepreneurs. And with a commitment to shared prosperity, we will host a talk series on alternative cooperative business models and breathe new life into a smaller-scale pilot of the online For the Culture Marketplace in 2024. These are just some of the exciting products and services on deck, with many more to come as Just BE’s capacity increases.

Please join us via our mailing list (below) if you find any of the above inspiring, invigorating, and exciting and want to be the first to know about the launch of our new programming.

Future Members – please join the “Yaasss Count Me In! List ” if you are a fellow Black Women Entrepreneur moved to tears or exclamations of joy! and interested in joining the community.

In closing, please join us in honoring the eight Black Women who founded Just BE by peeping their vibe, liking their posts, and supporting their amazing art/products/services and powerful ways of being in the world!! Just BE would not be where it is today without the genius and spirit of the women below. #Ase