We were lucky to catch up with Le’kisha Graham recently and have shared our conversation below.

Le’Kisha, appreciate you joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

So back in 2018, a lady found me on Facebook, asking me if I could do her daughter‘s sweet 16 birthday shirt and the birthday crew shirts to match. She was needing like six or more shirts one for the birthday girl, the mom, dad, etc. So I got all the materials and we were conversation back-and-forth for about a few days. I had to buy all these white shirts and I had to special order the baby blue iron-on vinyl. It took me some hours to find the font that she liked. I even had to go back to the store because I bought the wrong sizes of the shirt. So on like day five of communicating through messenger, I let her know I have all this material, and she’s saying stuff like, “great”, “that’s awesome”, and “can’t wait to see it”. So on day 6, I asked her which type of crown does she like for me to put on the shirt, she stated “that’s OK I’m gonna cancel this order she wants to go with another idea I don’t want to do shirts.” I was so heated that I wasted so much time with this one lady in this big order, just for her to cancel like it was nothing and like I was doing nothing in between that time frame. She said “thanks again if I have any other ideas or shirts I need done I will come to you.“ I just messaged her back politely stating “no thanks it’s OK. Have a great day”. She didn’t respond back. Which was a good thing. I didn’t delete the message for a while just to see if she was going to try to place another order…and she did not.

Le’Kisha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my business back in 2007, starting out with Upcycling clothes. I would turn shirts into handbags or memory pillows. Return a plain T-shirt into something different. I even made jeans into skirts. Then I transition into making handbags, wristlets, keychains, and change purses out of fabrics.
I was in blessed with a heat press, T-shirts, a sublimation printer and paper, and a table, for only $700. I started out pressing shirts only, but then I noticed that there was a lot of items you can press on. So I added license plates, keychains, felt car air fresheners and a lot more.
I have been blessed to offer services for small businesses, doing their work shirts, and for some also business cards.
I incorporate, aspirations, quotes and poems on my shirts and other items. I like to motivate women of color and all women to be theirselves and inspire others to do so as well. Love your self, your voice, and your image.
I am also an advocate and active in the Autism community. My youngest was misdiagnosed at age 3 with speech delay, and then diagnosed with Autism at age 8. I published 2 personal journals called “Understanding my child has Autism”. Just something parents or caregivers can write their thoughts and journey on what’s happening on a day to day, living with someone with Autism. I also published weekly journals as well. All on Amazon. You can go to blaqcherriunlimited.com to view all my collections!
And I just recently started my own monthly magazine called “Bosses” showcasing entrepreneurs, and their products and services.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When I first got my LLCs in 2013, it was very hard for me to get a business loan due to my credit scores. I was turned down from different banks and other programs. So I basically just got a business debit card and put money in there as a starter. I basically nickeled and dimed my business from the start until I had enough that I can actually call it a “business account” and not just a “business debit card with a little bit of money in it”. Every sale that I got, I’ll put it in my account and just let that grow until it’s time for me to get more materials. I got really blessed around Christmas time and birthdays, my friends and family were giving me gift cards to fabric stores. Also have family and friends that are crafters and seamstresses that donated a lot of materials and fabrics to me which really helped out. Getting funded at first was a struggle, but it help me grow into a strong entrepreneur.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When my husband passed away in 2022, two out of three of my daughters were still in school. And they were transitioning from elementary and middle school to middle school and high school. Which meant different drop off and pick up times in a different sides of towns. So right before school started, I had to quit my job that I was making excellent money at, so they can be taken to and from school. Which meant I had to fully depend on the funds of my business. And around that time, business was slow. I had to hustle, like I have never hustle before, but I made it with the help of God. I had to stay strong in front of my daughters, and stay committed to what I was doing and work very hard. I stayed out of work for a year and we got through it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://blaqcherriunlimited.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blaqcherriunlimited/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100037609725004
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/me?trk=p_mwlite_feed_updates-secondary_nav
• Other: https://a.co/d/6ctjUXT
  https://a.co/d/1mKKHbl
  https://a.co/d/7b4t0Jn

Image Credits

Kenya Graham