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

Alright, Chloey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My grandfather was one of the closest people in my life. The unconditional love he gave me was an incredible gift. Some of my favorite memories are of him singing in the garage, playing his guitar, and creating music. When he passed away unexpectedly in 2018, I felt like I had lost a significant part of myself. The grief was overwhelming, and when I moved back home in 2020, I had to confront and process that loss.

In my journey through grief, I began digitizing his old carving templates—projects he had completed, those he had dreamed of, and formline drawings in his notebook. This process became a space to connect with him, and I discovered a passion for creating my own designs.

This led to the start of my business, “Black and White Raven Company.” The name is a tribute to my grandfather, who released an album in the ’80s called Black and White Raven. I remember watching his interviews where people would ask how a native boy from Kake managed to make an album. His response was always unfazed—he did it because it was his dream.

Naming my business after him is my way of thanking him for the generational love he fostered by being the extraordinary man he was. He paved the way, and I aim to continue that legacy of success, care, love, and community. At the heart of my business is the same love and community that he instilled – this is my thank you to him for being a native boy from Kake who chased a dream.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Black and White Raven Company is an Indigenous LGBTQ+-owned business that offers a diverse range of apparel that speaks to community and identity, as well as graphic design and marketing solutions designed to elevate your brand’s visibility and reach while maintaining a focus on authentic storytelling.

Through all of this work, I get to participate in some pretty incredible community projects. I teach youth how to design on iPads and organize art exhibits that feature the art of 15 amazing Indigenous artists. These are my proudest moments of being a business owner: when I teach a kid who falls in love with finding their voice through design or when I get to be in a community with amazing artists and create spaces together where a shared voice is echoed—these moments of being able to organize and work together to positively impact our community – that’s where I feel so proud, so grateful – I believe you are only as successful as your community is – no award could make me feel as proud as my community does.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an audience on social media has been pretty unexpected – but I think holding authenticity has always been helpful. I share a lot about my story – the things that inspire me, the things I dream of, and I have tried to create this community within my social media where I collaborate with other artists, business owners, and community-minded individuals to uplift each other. I think when you love something and share it, people do want to listen – It’s like a conversation; when someone loves something so much and feels so passionately, it doesn’t matter that you aren’t an expert on what they are talking about; their passion keeps you interested.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was thinking that if I am transparent everyone will be understanding as I navigate learning how to run a small business – I had to tell someone recently as they fussed over my hoodie prices “this is supporting an indigenous small business. I wasn’t born into knowing, I wasn’t born into wealth, I am not a big corporation. You’re on a journey with me as I learn how to market my business, as I learn what works and what doesn’t, and as I learn how to give back, grow, and order more to get cheaper prices. If you’re on that journey with me I’m grateful, but if you are holding expectations of me because of prices wealthy corporations have set… I understand that we aren’t aligning.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blackandwhiteravencompany.com
• Instagram: blackandwhiteravenco
• Facebook: Black and White Raven Company