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

Lamar , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Hi Im Lamar Robinson Founder of The Melanin Market, a Community Activist , Anti-Gun Violence Speaker , Marketing & Event Specialist . Honestly the story behind The Melanin Market is a lifelong testimony amongst myself and my partner /co-founder and friend Cory Cottingham .. As far as the story behind our mission/the melanin market it’s all about providing the opportunity to learn, earn and build generational wealth for entrepreneur and innovators worldwide . Growing up In the Philadelphia Tristate was a very fun but challenging area . Born in Philadelphia Raised In Willingboro Nj I noticed once I turned 14 Many of our youth programs were gone and the youth lacked so many opportunities which still lead to many troubles in many inner cities today amongst young people . The world was changing with myspace when I was a teenager Im 34 now but when i was 14 , entrepreneurship was on the rise but there was no channel to our communities. I witnessed others and the effects of having entrepreneurial minds and idea with no outlet can lead to future of frustration. So many high school friends dropped out of school, some passed away and some gave up motivation to follow there dreams due to a lack of resources. I realized at a very young age i want to become a leader in my community and culture . I’ve always had a heart to help not only the youth but everyone . When i was growing up , so many gatherings in urban places were actually violent and most events didn’t empower one person to become the next Elon Musk . When I was growing up our cultures only came together to celebrate each other on birthdays , holidays and bbqs this is just my perspective . Most people didn’t get the opportunity to learn about business until they were old enough to do self research but our mission with The Melanin Market is to expose the thought leaders and honor the minority businesses in every community who accomplished such . We want to build our economics with the same energy we spend on holidays and birthdays . so we made “building economics a party ” we made it FUN, COOL and WORTHWHILE that’S how The Melanin Market events feels. I say a Party because this vision started from a series of events. When i was 13 i started my entrepreneurship journey and became a DJ i earned my first $125 dollars by Djing my 8th grade Dance as a guest DJ. It was a very proud moment but I wanted more so eventually as my name grew from djing student friends parties to hosting my own events. There was a huge turns in my life from my house catching on fire while I was 17 , my first car major accident at 18 and at 19 I was shot in the chest by a stray bullet and by the grace of GOD I survived to live out these visions we see today. at 20 years old I instantly knew my purpose after i healed. I I started doing huge parties in nightclubs ,colleges and concerts . Since I had many life/death experiences at a young age I just felt like i wasn’t doing enough for my purpose on earth . It wasn’t enough people were spending money on the wrong things , living for the moment and not investing for the future ,gathering just to party had no real purpose for the next generations. I realized that at. a very young age. so i decided to seek more and network with other community leaders. Thats when i got a call from a good friend. I met a guy name Cory Cottingham who was a community activist who now owns “Shokra Soups” a Vegan Soup and Sandwich restaurant IN WILLINGBORO NJ. Where he was doing an event called The Resurrectionblack wall street and he brought about 15-20 vendors nice event, great cause all about raising the dollar amongst black business owners but it lacked attendance and age demographic. Well he called me asking for ideas on how to bring more of a younger audience and ways to make it bigger. I liked the idea but the name seemed really serious to me at the time. Cory reminded me of my favorite history teacher a man named jeffery Carey from Willingboro high he was a very pro-black historian who researched black history before slavery and taught us about so much african heritage . I say that to say there was a word I learned from him called Melanin which he described every Black Indigenous Person of Color Has Rich Melanin . He always repeated how rich our melanin was which made me feel like we need to market our melanin be proud and to know our worth as people. 2016 I realized we really need to come together for a greater cause not just for parties,bbqs ,bdays and brunches but most importantly it time we come together for economics and for our kids to not just hear what we do as business owners but let them SEE. The Melanin Market is vital for start-up business owners especially the youth business owners. Kids need to understand entrepreneurship in a every day form. Many Children in urban communities need to see business owners who are just starting , in the middle of the process and the finish product of an idea. In order for children minds to shape in this world of business and entrepreneurship the best way to learn is experience. The Mission behind the market is to raise the dollar amongst our community businesses , increase brand awareness realistically and virtually through our networks together, Bringing everyone together to network , celebrate and enjoy each other cultures while doing business and exchanging goods. We just launched our very own Melanin Marketplace Bipoc Business Directory similar to yelp but for Black Indigenous People Of Color based businesses Where customers can find everyone locally and globally for day to day sales , exposure and connections. Entrepreneurship inspires every person in the world . We have Traveling EXPOS, FASHIONS SHOWS, BUSINESS PANELS AND ONLINE MEETS UPS. The Melanin Market was created to fuel that inspiration and become the voice of business owners no matter how small or large they are ,

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi Im Lamar “Mar Weezzz” Robinson Founder of The Melanin Market, a Community Activist , Anti-Gun Violence Speaker , Marketing & Event Specialist . I started my Entrepreneurship Journey at 13 years old as a Dj . I excelled extremely fast a young entrepreneur . I learned the business side of events marketing and branding before I was 21 years old. I instantly quit djing by 20 and started my marketing and promotions brand I. I managed nightclubs hired djs videographers, photographers models bartender etc, I got closer to God through my years and I realized we are coming together for very shallow reasons in my eyes I seen a problem in urban communities and I wanted to provide a solution . Our culture loves to party but the masses seemed lost on how to come together for greater purposes.

.I took everything I learned from the nightclubs with more purpose and direction towards building economics . Over the course of 5 years we had over 1000 business owners jump into our network to showcase wihtin that 5 years over 1 million dollars was spent between the customers and business owners . Our biggest event in 2022 was Black Wall Street is Back Business Expo Presented by The Melanin Market the US SENATE and ANDY KIM gave us an award for bringing the business together with such major impact. What sets our EXPOS different from each other its a FULL RANGE AUDIENCE. From adults , kids to teenagers all in one place networking , exchanging goods and resources for a better business future. I really want people who are new entrepreneurs to understand the power of networking at quality pop up shops and how they can benefit your business through our platform. This business started with a major purpose and we like to help business owners stay motivated to find theirs . We all can win when we know our purpose our model is Collaboration Over Competition,

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Keeping it (HOT ) HONEST OPEN AND TRANSPARENT . Ive learned to always conversate with your niche market THE BEST WAY to build a relationship is simply RELATING, CONVERSING AND SEEKING HOW YOU CAN TRULY HELP SOMEONE.. Emails are fine , text are fine but a PHONE CALL will change everything in 5 minutes . My biggest reputation as a ceo is Is pick up the phone and talk to everyone invidually as much as I can I go above in beyind for everyone involved. Conversation over Confusion is how I build a solid reputation .Making my customers look and feel just as important as everyone invovled . Im very personable and people really honor how I do business.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

i shared a backstory in prior question asked.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheMelainMarket.com
• Instagram: @TheMelaninMarket
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialMelaninMarket
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@themelaninmarket4305
• Other: All Vendors & Sponsors email MELANINMARKET365@GMAIL.com

Image Credits
Photos by @_bbb.photography_ & Steve Robinson Photography