Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheri Hopkins, Tinicia Smith, and Olivia Green.
Black San Diego was created in April 2016 by a simple question on Facebook by Co-Founder Tinicia Smith, “Where are the Black Owned Businesses in San Diego?” As she started compiling a list, Olivia and Sheri had their own ideas about Black Owned Businesses in San Diego. The three sat down and created what is known today as Black San Diego.
Black San Diego Provides a platform for Black-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and Black professionals in order to strengthen and empower the community. They created a Facebook group which grows at 600 members a month. They currently have a directory of 400 black-owned businesses and continues to grow.
Black San Diego has become an online community with over 17,000 members, providing a place for people to gather, talk, support black-owned businesses, find out events, and resources from the community.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We don’t think there is such thing as a smooth road in business, you have your ups and downs, your highs and your lows. In our journey, the biggest challenge is getting the community to see and understand the mission and the vision of Black San Diego. We often have that stigma that no one supports black-owned businesses or this is why I don’t support Black Owned Businesses. It’s getting people to understand the importance and changing their mindset.
Black San Diego – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Black San Diego provides a platform for Black-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and Black professionals in San Diego to empower and strengthen our community. In just two short years our company has developed an online presence of over 17,500 active members, which continues to grow at a steady pace. After beginning with a list of twenty-five Black-owned businesses, our business page now allows a daily networking opportunity to over 400 Black business owners. Customers are able to efficiently locate businesses with a simple click of a button, which translates into heightened funds for said businesses. Even though we have access to over 400 businesses, we recognize that not all have the proper guidance and resources to sustain. Our company provides the proper tools and resources that will allow businesses to become successful establishments.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is being happy about the product that our community receives after reaching out to us. Success means a customer reached out, found what they were looking for, and then had an experience. We would love for the consumers to always have positive feedback after conducting business with Black owners but the reality is that negative encounters do occur. However, the experience is happening with a Black-owned business and that is what we set out to do, make customers realize that there are Black-owned businesses in San Diego that consumers can and should have excellent experiences with.
Contact Info:
- Website: OurBSD.com
- Email: PromoteBlackSanDiego@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/blacksandiego?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=4s72zfvu1uwh
- Facebook: https: www.facebook.com/groups/BlackSanDiego/?ref=share
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
