We were lucky to catch up with E. Mackey recently and have shared our conversation below.

E., looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

In addition to founding Blvck Spades, I also run Dope Heart Media, which handles photography, graphic design, social media strategy, and web development. Back in late 2018, I had a moment of realization: I needed a business that could create residual income. After landing a well-paying job for Twitter and seeing how quickly that money would go toward catching up on bills, I realized I needed a more sustainable idea.

A few weeks later, I was inspired by a YouTube video explaining a math concept with playing cards. That’s when it clicked: I could design a deck of Spades cards tailored to Black culture, something I hadn’t seen before. I dove into Ancient Egyptian themes for the card faces and even traveled to Egypt and China to bring the vision to life. And from there, the brand was born.

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?

Basically, I got into the industry after realizing there was a cultural gap. Watching that YouTube video with the deck of cards, I saw that there were no playing cards really designed for Spades or featuring Black culture. I knew it would fill a need and resonate with people. I’m most proud that the vision I had is exactly what it became. People tell me all the time how they use the cards to teach family and friends, bridging generations and strengthening relationships. I’m also incredibly proud that we’ve partnered with brands like the NBA, BET, Amazon, Intuit, Microsoft, and countless others. It’s amazing to see how the brand has grown and how it’s impacting people.

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

One big lesson I had to unlearn was trying to do everything myself. I realized quickly that not every task needed my personal touch, and it was more efficient to hire people rather than trying to make them partners. In fact, one of the challenges I faced early on was having to sue a former business partner, which taught me that equity isn’t something to give away lightly. Sometimes, it’s just better to pay people for the work they do and keep it simple. So that’s the backstory and the lesson I had to unlearn.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One story that really highlights my resilience is what I went through during the lawsuit with my former business partner. At one point, he had taken possession of all our inventory, equipment, and even our social media accounts and emails. I was left with essentially nothing and had to fight to get everything back. Thankfully, since I had built the website and the social media channels originally, I was able to regain control of those relatively easily. But rebuilding the brand and getting back the inventory and equipment was a huge struggle.

A turning point came when BET reached out and asked us to create custom decks as wrap gifts for a show they were filming. Because it was a custom order, they didn’t expect us to have inventory on hand. When they paid for their order, it gave us the funds we needed to restock and essentially restart the company. On top of that, two close friends each invested $10,000, which let us get involved with conferences, replenish equipment, and truly save the business. So that entire experience showed me how resilient we could be and how we could bounce back even from a tough situation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blvckspades.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blvckspades/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/emackeycreates