Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lilo Allen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lilo, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The Bronzeville Collective MKE was born out of necessity. Milwaukee is known as the “City of Festivals,” where there’s a different cultural fest each week. The summer presents a great opportunity for creative businesses to flourish, but without a brick and mortar location, it’s much more difficult to maintain the same volume of sales. At the time, there also wasn’t a retail location that highlighted Black, Brown, and Queer local brands. So my business partner Tiffany and I decided to test our model of a collaborative storefront in the heart of historic Bronzeville.

We participated in a pilot program called “Pop Up MKE” which allowed us each 30 days of free retail space in an empty storefront and a small stipend to furnish it. Instead of using those 30 days ourselves, we each engaged 10 local brands and in the span of 60 days, we grossed $22,000 in sales spread over 20 different businesses. Having proved that the model of the Collective can be successful, we pitched the business at a Shark Tank style event with the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, called RISE MKE. We won the pitch competition and also the Fan Favorite award, which allowed us to secure a permanent retail location.

We are celebrating out 6 year anniversary soon, and I’d like to think that we’ve been so successful because we fill a space that is desperately needed in our city. We meet people at the intersection of visibility and accessibility – artists need to be visible and the community needs a space to go to access their culture and values reflected back to them. I’m so proud of this home away from home that we have created.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Lilo Allen, and I started Papyrus & Charms as a way to learn more about and celebrate my Afro-Caribbean roots with my father in Jamaica, who creates the beautiful handmade bags that I sell in The Bronzeville Collective MKE. My work is what I like to call “culturally conscious wearable art”. I use a lot of genuine crystals, seed beads, shells, and fabrics. Many of these items come from my family’s land in Jamaica.

I think it’s important for people to see themselves reflected in the items they adorn themselves with, and It’s my intention to Charm everybody with a little bit of culture. My brand is intended to be a safe space for Black and POC, queer, and disabled people, so I’m always creating Charms that celebrate all of those identities. My offerings include: Bracelets, Earrings, Rings, Necklaces, Crystals and metaphysical tools, Tarot Cards, Candles, Soaps, Bath Bombs and more!

Have you ever had to pivot?

In 2020 during the COVID pandemic, our mayor declared all non essential businesses closed until it was deemed safe for reopening. Our doors remained closed for the next six months. In that time, we didn’t have a running retail website yet, and we didn’t know how we were going to keep the doors open.

Within a week, we had to pivot and figure out a way to (safely) keep going, because we were accountable to dozens of local small businesses that relied on us as a retail location. The day before we closed, we hosted a special wellness fair with items from one of our collaborators, Alice’s Garden MKE. There, customers were able to shop for wellness items made fresh from a local garden. These products included antiviral creams, sanitizing sprays, elderberry teas, and more. We implemented curbside pickup, shipping, and even started our “COVID 19 Fund” which allowed our supporters to donate to the Collective.

With these donations, we were able to keep the store open, and pass on the benefit of no vendor fees for the remaining year to our collaborators. It was truly a study in community, humanity, and kindness. That experience taught me that when you take care of the community, it will take care of you!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Just very recently, during my vending period at Summerfest Milwaukee (the largest music festival in the world), Hurricane Beryl touched down in Jamaica, where my father’s parish was one of the hardest hit. He lost all of his fruit trees and the roof of his house collapsed. My father lives off of his land, so this was a devastating blow to him. I knew the money that it would cost to take care of the land was more than what I had on hand, so I created a hurricane relief fund, and used his bags as a a fundraising item while at Summerfest. I was able to pay to have the trees removed from the property and to begin work on the roof. It was a really rough time working 16 hours a day and having to keep a smile on my face, not knowing if my father was safe. But again with a little bit of pivoting, the community made sure we were okay. I’d like to think my mother instilled the ability of thinking quick on my feet and being a really good problem solver into me, and that has been my saving grace in so many similar situations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.papyrusandcharms.com
• Instagram: www.papyrusNCharms.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/papyrusncharms
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilo-allen-ba4909109/

Image Credits

Mahdi Gransberry