We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darrius Newton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Darrius, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

When the world shut down for Covid, I wanted my immune system to be as strong as I could get it. Sea moss was apart of my routine, but since I was working from home and my routine switched I needed a new way to incorporate sea moss into my diet. I got the genius idea to put sea moss into my coffee and it was disgusting. I tried different ways to make it, but I couldn’t get it right. A few years later, I started making my own cold brew coffee and decided to give the sea moss another shot. First attempt was an improvement, so I kept working on it. One day I was driving on the highway and saw in my head, Oshun Brew Coffee. I went home, meditated, kept working on the recipe, and boom- Juneteenth 2022, I was ready for orders.

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

I’ve always loved coffee. In undergrad, I think I would down 5 cups a day just to make it through work and class. As a teacher, my students know I’m either drinking water or coffee. My love for coffee made me started to explore coffee more- friends would get me bags from other countries, I would taste different notes and eventually was able to recall notes in coffee. Coffee has a deep history in Black and African lives, however the majority of new coffee shops/ businesses are owned by non-Black people. I wanted to take my love for coffee and reclaim a part of our history. There are a lot of misconceptions around coffee and I want to spread more awareness about the benefits of coffee, as well as mushrooms and sea moss!

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I started Oshun Brew Coffee, I was more concerned with people knowing about the business rather than sales. I knew that within the first year, I wasnt going to make a ton of money so I focused on who knew about the business which hopefully results in more sales. I was sending DMs/ Emails to whoever I could to collaborate or to get word out and I was posting everyday on Instagram. The first 30 days was about posting, posting, and posting! I had to set up a content calendar, find times to post, all of it. I eventually found programs to help with posting, etc, but the more I focused on the people, the more sales started to grow.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn that strangers are your clients, not the people you know. When I first started, I was depending on my friends and associates to help market for me. I quickly realized that if I wanted to grow, I could have to work outside of my network. I had to reach out to different markets in different parts of Georgia and collaborate with different folks to see growth. I was trying to work in multiple markets too early instead of focusing on one market, Georgia, and penetrating that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oshunbrew.com
• Instagram: Oshunbrew
• Facebook: Oshun Brew Coffee LLC
• Other: Tik tok- Oshunbrew

Image Credits
photo cred to @foster.travis.c on Instagram