10 POC Owned Businesses That You Can Support

It is important now more than ever to support POC owned businesses and be an ally to those affected by police brutality, racism, and discrimination. Shop these amazing POC owned brands to amplify black success and their voices.

1. IVE Boutique

Taylor West, the owner of IVE Boutique started her business during her junior year of college while studying in New York. She thought of the concept in April of 2018, and officially launched IVE Boutique in September of 2018.

“I was just in a weird transition phase of my life and knew I wanted to start a business. It felt only fitting to start one that went along with one of my passions - fashion,"said West.

IVE Boutique is an online women’s clothing boutique that specializes in edgy, trendy pieces. The boutique sells retail merchandise including women’s clothing and accessories.

West said,“My goal is to help women break the style barrier in their own way”.

IVE Boutique is currently based out of Cleveland, OH and has plans to expand.

West said,“I want to expand but slowly and intentionally. I want to be more than just an “Instagram boutique.” I plan on expanding IVE Curve and focusing more on that collection while also expanding my basics collection”.

In addition to her women’s clothing boutique, Taylor West also has a downloadable e-book with steps she took during her first year that she will be releasing soon.

To shop IVE Boutique click here.

2. Janna Yvonne LLC

Jenna started her business in 2017, and was inspired by an unusual series of events that led to the start of her brand.

“The summer of 2017 I went to Oakland, CA for a festival and made my group of friends and I coordinated outfits for a day party. Unfortunately, the party was cancelled and I had no use for the outfits. When I returned home, I organized a photoshoot for the pieces. I posted the photos on instagram and sold the items in a week. That is how Janna Yvonne the company began,”said Yvonne.

After two years of trial and error, Yvonne updated her brand to and LLC.

Yvonne’s styling company is inspired by the event-centered lifestyle that millennials have created.

Yvonne explained,“There is always somewhere to be; whether it's a brunch, day party, or international travel trip, we love to attend the best events of the year. My brand is based on that lifestyle”.

Yvonne has a clothing line within her business and a sub collection within that line, focusing mainly on collegiate wear. The inspiration behind Yvonne’s Collegiate Couture Collection was to create more fashionable game day apparel for girls and women participating in game day.

“It was originally a capsule collection but it has now grown to be the largest part of my business. Our options are so limited and I wanted to create something new, fun and fresh. Customers can customize their item with whichever school name, organization or logo they would like,”said Yvonne.

In addition to running her collections Yvonne also provides the option for customers to request customer orders. Janna Yvonne has worked on orders like Halloween costumes to wedding dresses for her clients. Additional services can be found on her website, like consulting and styling.

Yvonne said,"After I left my job at Ross Stores in Fall 2018 is when my focus shifted. I was an assistant buyer and I did not enjoy the role as much as I had hoped. I took a leap of faith and saw my unemployment as a window of opportunity to build something that could potentially change my life. Looking back, I can definitely say I made the right decision”.

To view Janna Yvonne’s services click here.

3. Shop Boho Flow

Brittany Danielle Wallace is the owner of her brand Shop Boho Flow and started her branding process by researching online, watching Youtube videos, and networking.

Wallace said,“I created my LLC, and I’m using Shopify. I started off with my own funds & recently received business credit”.

The business Shop Boho Flow offers bohemian style clothing and healing essentials.

Shop Boho Flow is currently servicing in the United States from Cincinnati, Oh, but has hopes to reach other countries as well, as the shop is a global business.

“I started researching, buying inventory and planning in March 2020. My boutique launches on 6/19, which is also Juneteenth, celebrated as Freedom Day,”said Wallace.

Brittany Danielle Wallace first got the idea to start her own business when her mother mentioned the idea after Brittany had modeled in a photoshoot that she styled herself. Wallace would love to expand her business and, ”provide a full Boho experience by offering shoes, jewelry, kids clothing, home decor and so much more! I’ll be looking into a store front next year! And God willing, opening up several store fronts by the end of 2021," said Wallace.

You can view Shop Boho Flow here.

4. C. Adeola

The owner of the brand C. Adeola is Chinaza Adeola Moses, a first generation Nigerian woman, who uses her love for her faith, fashion, and beauty to change the world. Moses said,” C.Adeola's mission (pronounced: see-ah-day-olah) is to bring Nigerian culture, color, and its liveliness into an every fading world of grey”.

The brand uses their signature Ankara Fabric to create change in the fashion industry.

Moses gave some insight on her brand's mission,“C.Adeola wants everyone to be a part of African culture because it's worth way more than it's given credit for. C.Adeola is for the eclectic chic dreamers out there, the ones who've been counted out by man, but not by God, because dreams do come alive”.

Moses first came up with the idea for her brand while she was studying at school, and her idea started to become a reality when she made her first couture blouse for a client in Houston, TX. With the ball rolling, she started making special occasions and evening wear custom pieces for an array of clients and brides. Moses has now started to sell ready to wear clothing through her brand.

Moses gave some background on her experience with mainstream fashion as she was growing up,”I started my brand because I could never find the clothing in my mind in stores. Which made shopping so difficult for me growing up, because I would go to the stores like all the other girls in the world and would leave with nothing 85% of the time. At one point I thought something was wrong with me, but later on in life I then realized that I was created to create clothing and not to follow the trends of others”.

C.Adeola is based out of New York City and will have an online store up soon, until then you can shop C. Adeola by reaching out to Moses via Instagram @c.adeola. C.Adeola also plans to expand into the beauty and home goods industries.

“C.Adeola is a lifestyle, and I want the world to take part in it,”said Moses.

5. Fenty

The makeup and cosmetics company Fenty Beauty was founded in September 2017, by famous singer, songwriter, actress, and now businesswoman, Robyn Rihanna Fenty. “The brand is popular for its broad inclusivity across skin tones and gender, especially its Pro Filt'R foundation.The original foundation launch included 40 shades, since expanded to 50.” (Wikipedia 2017)

Fenty Beauty’s products are available for purchase in many retail outlets and online stores including Sephora and Ulta and select department stores such as Macy’s and JCPenney.

To shop Fenty Beauty click here.

Fenty Beauty is hosted under the parent company of LVMH. LVMH is a multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods. The company started in 1987 under the merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy. The company manages around 75 brands, the companies range from fashion and leather goods groups, wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, watches and jewelry, selective distribution and other activities. (LVMH 2020)

6. Reset MKTG Group

Rochelle Turner first started Reset MKTG Group after working in corporate for 10 years including working in brand and marketing events. “After a huge push from God and everyone around me - I finally decided to put my extensive marketing experience to work. Primarily focusing on strategy and consulting I learned best practices and techniques from seeing what does (and doesn't work) at the corporate level,” said Turner.

Reset MKTG Group is a new startup company that launched in May 2020, it is based out of NYC, but offers their services online. Reset MKTG Group offers marketing consulting for artists, brands, and creative entrepreneurs. Additional services include brand or marketing strategy sessions to media kit creation, audience development, email marketing, ads targeting, and funnel building.

While Turner had been working on this idea for years, she also has big plans for the future of her business.

Turner said,”I see Reset being able to handle the needs of any small-medium sized business, large brands, and solopreneurs. I especially see us working with large corporations to refresh and reset their brand - helping them to better engage their audience and potential customers; working with influencers and taking them from social to strategic”.

Turner has plans to build her team into a full-service agency and expand to create more companies.

To view her services and browse her website click here.

7. Iyana Lynette Mink Lashes

Launched on April 1, 2020, Iyana Lynette Grair founded her business Iyana Lynette Mink Lashes. Although she had a business plan in place for months prior and had the concept of her brand in the works since 2019.

Lynette said,”COVID-19 gave me a lot of additional time to develop my brand and create what I had visioned for my company. It involved a lot of research, time, and promotion but it was all worth the end result.”

Iyana Lynette is a senior at Kent State University majoring in fashion, but beauty and makeup have always been an interest of hers.

“Black owned beauty brands are rare, and I would love to see more minorities in the industry because we are very underrepresented. I created my brand to help women feel beautiful and confident, and to motivate other women, especially minority women, to start their own businesses as well,”said Lynette.

It is very rare to be able to support yourself financially within the first year of opening your own small business and Lynette has been able to accomplish that within 3 months. With over 300 orders shipped, she plans on expanding her brand to accessories and clothing in the future.

To shop Iyana Lynette Mink Lashes go to her website here.

8. The Odyssey Box

The founder of Odyssey Box, Chloé Elliott, created her brand while she was studying at University. And established her Instagram, @CurlyGalChlo, while teaching english abroad in Germany. She shared her natural hair care journey and established her platform.

“Odyssey Box is a bi-monthly subscription service for natural hair products. It features 4-5 full-size natural hair products from black-owned brands that have been tried, tested and hand-selected by us with naturally curly and afro hair types in mind.

Each odyssey box is available every other month of the calendar year, including new products from new brands in every box”. - The Odyssey Box

In addition to offering their hair care products, the Odyssey Box also offers informational articles about hair care and self care on their website. For example, they offer tips on how you can improve your natural hair care regimen in lockdown.

Their website also includes customer reviews from customers residing in the United Kingdom and the United States.

One customer said,“I am so pleased with my purchase. I bought the Almocado shampoo, hair mask, hair mist and hair milk. I am truly impressed and will definitely be buying the products again”.

To shop the Odyssey Box click here.

9. IT GIRL COLLECTION

Best friends and business women Coretha Powell (@yoko_asf) and Rainese Williams (@iamladybugg_) decided to create their own business to provide women with an online boutique that offers unique and fashionable pieces. They strive to instill confidence in their consumers through unique style and quality clothing.

“We want our pieces to demand the attention of any room, assuring everyone has the opportunity to be THAT girl,”said Powell and Williams.

The two entrepreneurs started IT GIRL COLLECTION in February of 2020, and released a debut personalized collection as an introduction to the brand in May. The IT GIRL Summer 2020 collection and website will officially launch in July.

The two business owners said,”We started IT GIRL COLLECTION to put ourselves in a position of financial freedom by taking entrepreneurship seriously. We came to an understanding that what we wanted out of life could not come from settling. We knew we had to step out of our comfort zones in order to live the life that we deserve”.

Powell and Williams also offered some advice to those who are just starting their own small business. They say to simply start.

“Don’t allow the fear of failure to hold you back from taking the necessary steps to your happiness. If you’re not happy in your current situation, DO NOT complain, DO something about it,”said the owners of IT GIRL COLLECTION.

The team said their biggest goal is to become a globally well known company, while still staying true to their moral beliefs as a brand.

You can view their Instagram @itgirlcollectionusa and keep an eye out for their website coming in July 2020.

10. Love Vera

Love Vera is an intimates and lingerie brand that celebrates and promotes black women, black entrepreneurship, and black culture. Love Vera hires black and POC talent to work for the brand, including models, as they uplift and empower people of color and black women.

The lingerie brand has 371 thousand followers on Instagram and has been featured in articles at major publications like Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Buzzfeed.

The brand offers bodysuits, busteriers, and teddies, lingerie sets, bras and bralettes, robes, panties, and a curvy collection.

In addition to featuring customers that post about the brand on social media, Love Vera also includes motivational quotes on their Instagram feed to empower and encourage the women in their audience base.

To shop Love Vera click here, follow them on Instagram @shoplovevera.

It is always important to respect and amplify black and POC owned voices, now more than ever we must come together as allies and friends to create real social, political, and cultural change. Simply put, black lives matter.