We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mercedes Jenkins-Carter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mercedes, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

Absolutely! I wish I would’ve started my business in 2020 once COVID hit. It was the perfect opportunity however God’s timing is perfect and I feel like when it started everything just fell into place. I first started My Black Beauty Box or MY B.B.B. back in 2017 with one goal in mind giving black brands a platform to grow. We have since expanded into a retail store with endless possibilities and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Mercedes Jenkins-Carter and I am the owner of MY Black Beauty Box. I always loved and admired black businesses from a young age. My mother raised my sister and I on the black dollar (this simply means all of her income came from a black owned business). The irony is that the place she worked and the place I opened my business is both on Crenshaw. I started my career as a bookkeeper eventually becoming an accountant. Little did I know this background was preparing me for the biggest venture of them all owning a retail space. The problem that I solve is visibility to black brands most of the times they are overlooked by big retailers and rely heavier on pop ups to get the word out about their business. I do this in two ways the retail space and my directory keychains. I am most proud of my keychains because they are unique in how they get the word out about brands. I want more people to know about the store and to just be able to support black brands. I truly believe unity is the key element if we all want to win. It’s only when we are unified that we are truly unstoppable.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started my brand as a subscription box I had to direction due to multiple things including the rising cost of postage as well as the size limitation of the box. Pivots and changes only make brands better they are crucial to any brand who wants to remain relevant is what I learned.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Finding omg where do I started when I opened the store I had no income and no job. However I felt in my spirit God telling me he will provide and take care of the finances I am living proof that you don’t have to have crazy amounts of money in the bank or financial security or a financial plan to open a store. Many people will say my accounting background helped me and I definitely agree but I mostly have to say my faith and dependence on God did the hard work.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.myblackbeautybox.org
• Instagram: Myblack_Beautybox

Image Credits
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