We were lucky to catch up with Crystal Clements recently and have shared our conversation below.
Crystal, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Black Women of Louisville was designed with women that look like me in mind and that share a desire for social engagement. The inherited empowerment of BWOL creates opportunities for black women from differing backgrounds, to come together in a multitude of social settings. BWOL provides a balanced social focus, by organizing leisure activities, community volunteer efforts, in addition to networking opportunities for our members. This provides an inherited benefit that promotes individual, and economic growth to the Kentuckiana community. Establishing this social environment is intended to offer black women an informal platform to make connections and promote a safe space for honest and vulnerable dialogue. There is a world of black women that follow the same ideology where we’re all simply looking for a positive environment of like-minded women to connect with. This is why our membership numbers continue to grow, as many of our members were referred by other members that are very vocal about their positive experiences and benefits of BWOL.
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 Women of Louisville was born out of my personal desire to connect with black women in the Kentucky/Indiana area following my relocation from Michigan. With an absent social life and a lack of marginalized representation in my professional environment, I craved the engagement of other black women. A safe space that encouraged candid dialog, with respect to matters that are important to our culture and daily experiences.
My desire was to provide myself and black women a bridge that leads to socialization. To additionally afford an opportunity to female-ship (a term we’ve coined within BWOL), explore our interests, while intentionally ensuring cultural visibility, in spaces not otherwise occupied by large numbers of African American women.
I wanted to create a fun community of support for black women to feel accepted, free from standards or judgmental requirements imposed in Corporate America. I built it and they came. With just over 160 members following our establishment in 2021, BWOL’s Melanin Queen Members (MQMs) equally believe in the idea of establishing a nontraditional forum connecting black women that are strangers in the name of sisterhood. Our members are equally passionate about the mission of BWOL, so much so, that one in particular, has supported the organization as a volunteer event organizer. Genetra A., is a high energy, vibrant, Melanin Queen with a personality that draws people in. She invests her personal time locating new and engaging events, planning out-of-town-travel for our members and helps to maintain a welcoming environment for new and seasoned MQMs.
We provide a membership-based service that includes access to fun/engaging social events organized on behalf of our members; access to our password protected GroupMe, to keep in touch with other members on the go (which includes access to additional events); promotional listing of your business on our website for added exposure; access to quarterly (in-person) meetings; access to community volunteer events, and networking opportunities.
How did you build your audience on social media?
In order to capture the attention of potential members and businesses, I always made certain to take pictures, but specifically, one group picture during our club events. We additionally prepare a thoughtful caption to include on our social media posts. I often found that our members would respond to the posts, referring to the great time they had at our events. The positive feedback helped to grow BWOL’s audience and community interest. Since the development of BWOL, I have always been customer service focused in wanting to ensure that our members are satisfied with the service we provide and that they feel heard. The best way we were able to build our audience substantially was from word of mouth of our satisfied members.
As a result, I’d say it’s important to establish a social media presence as soon as possible. This was something we failed to do for the first year and a half after I founded BWOL. We underestimated the importance of creating a social presence. There is an entire audience of core consumers that social media connects you to, helping to promote awareness of your brand, though consistent engagement.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
I did not have any prior experience. I obtained most of my current knowledge through research and firsthand experience. I initially worked with a local graphic designer to create my logo. I communicated to her the idea that I had behind my logo with black women of differing shades sharing an afro. The shared afro symbolizes togetherness of all three women pictured and subsequently, BWOL’s members. The graphic designer and I executed an agreement that gave me exclusive rights of the image. I obtained a copyright shortly after.
With the incorporation of the logo, we sell BWOL merchandise that ranges from clothing, totes, outerwear, hats and lapel pins. For the clothing, hats and totes, and outerwear items, we heat press them ourselves. I learned that keeping the work inhouse was the best path, as it has helped to reduce the turnaround time for production and to generate an additional income revenue for my organization. I did locate a vendor to purchase the items in bulk (plain shirts, totes, hats, outerwear). Leading up to this consisted of a trial-and-error process. The main growing pain that I experienced was a lack in quality of the vendor items. After a few months, I was able to narrow it down to one vendor, with competitive pricing and quality products, therefore, I’d encourage any entrepreneur to do their homework by shopping around.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blackwomenoflouisville.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackwomenoflouisville/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackWomenofLouisville/
Image Credits
No image credits to provide, as all are owned by Black Women of Louisville.
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