We were lucky to catch up with Greg Westbrook recently and have shared our conversation below.

Greg, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

When my company started I had already had a few entrepreneurial endeavors under my belt. At the time I was working full time in corporate marketing and my wife was full time in corporate finance. 

She had a clothing studio that also doubled as a photo studio and event space and I happened to be in charge of marketing. This was an exhilarating time in my life because I was able to make a difference in something I owned. 

From there I developed the idea to do pop up events for multiple businesses at our location and had success. I decided that this was something that I could do on a larger scale, so I began planning. 

The idea was born as a local pop-up for Black Owned Businesses. At our very first event, branded under the name Shop Black Nashville, we had around 35 vendors and around 250 people attended. 

The idea continued to grow into the next year as an indoor event that grew to around 45 vendors. Then, COVID hit. We were devastated as business owners and decided to pivot to creating a virtual space to support Black owned businesses and support our business. 

We hosted a Virtual all day Shop Black-a-thon for 8 hours a day for 2 days straight and saw amazing success. We also created a virtual mall that allowed businesses to put their websites all in one place. 

As COVID started to become bearable and we approached the end of 2020, we decided to create an outdoor space where people didn’t have to feel cramped while wearing masks. This became a hit in our city of Nashville! We decided that we wanted to travel and provide this opportunity to a few other cities that were nearby and in need of a similar event that showcased Black Owned Businesses! 

The tour has now spanned over 12 different cities and has showcased more than 1400 businesses since 2021. We are happy to announce that we have helped contribute more than $450,000 back into the black community through the revenue the businesses earned at our

festivals. We are slated to have several festival style events in 2023 and have grown to over 150 vendors per event. You can find more information about my company at shopblackfest.com. 

Our goal has always been to find an way to market black owned businesses and grow wealth in our community through entrepreneurship. I am grateful that I have this opportunity to be in a position to make positive change for Black Business Owners! 

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?

Greg Westbrook is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Shop Black Fest and Westbrook Creative Consulting. In 2019, he took the leap into full time entrepreneurship and co-founded the company Westbrook Creative Consulting. Then named, I Am The List, he and his wife Tee took the industry by storm and worked with some of Nashville’s most prestigious small business owners. Through education and their work they have made a huge impact on Nashville’s small business marketing scene. 

Also in 2019, they founded Shop Black Fest as an initiative to help Black Owned Small Businesses prosper. This project has since blown up to include a 12 city tour and the couple have worked with over 1400 businesses in the past 2 years.. He has a passion for helping other businesses succeed and enjoys his work. 

He is an alumnus of Howard University with a degree in Finance and has been in the marketing and sales industry for over 10 years. 

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting was essential when starting my current business. I believe being able to is essential in all businesses especially as we become more digital. 

I was able to make my events become outdoor events and keep the same vibes. 

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Consistency has always been key when building our brand. We have been entrepreneurs for over 8 years and have consistently changed the status quo and brought new and exciting ideas to our industry. 

Contact Info:

• Website: shopblackfest.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/iamgregwestbrook
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=8911349&mibextid=ZbWKwL