October 19, 2025 • 18 mins
We spoke with Sarah Heath, Founder and Initiative Co-lead, and Yvette Young, Initiative Co-lead, about Shop Black CT, a free directory of 2,000 CT Black-owned businesses.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison de Murz. My guests this morning are Sarah Heath.
She is founder and initiative co lead for Shop Black CT.
Andy that Young, initiative co lead also for Shop Black CT.
Good morning, Good morning then, thank you for being here today.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
We've bet so for people who don't know about Shop
Black CT, how and why did the initiative begin?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So Shop Black CT started in July of twenty twenty,
so already five years ago. It's hard to believe. Really,
in a response to trying to take action after George
Floyd was killed, there was a space in conversation. A
lot of people are having conversations around what can we
do to sort of uplift and help bring conversation around
(00:51):
the black community, how we can support people in that space.
So for me, it was how can I go from
just simply posting on social media, h sharing my empathy,
sharing you know I care about this, to doing something
to take a step toward action. I thought that supporting
black owned businesses would be one way to do that.
I had certainly supported some over the past years. However,
(01:15):
I found that there was no real resource to go
to to find a comprehensive list of businesses. That brought
in a conversation with several friends and business owners, including Yvette,
who we talked about how do we go from this
idea to make something concrete. So, long story short, we
(01:35):
started a website that listed black owned businesses that we
knew about or people had referred to us. We started
the list with one hundred and seventy five businesses and
now we have over two thousand listed. I know that
if you're going to added this too, but if that
can kind of expand to on the COVID pandemic at
the time and how that was affecting businesses.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Sure, I think one of the things in Syria lu
to it. At the time. There was a lot of
racial unrest right and folks were just you could feel
it in the air. People were upset, they were angry,
they needed to figure out something. And at the same time,
you had this economic injustice that was happening for black
owned businesses because they were closing at an alarming rate
(02:19):
disproportionate to other business owners. So you have and here
you have a community of individuals who are trying to
survive and thrive, and then you have this racial justice
issue that they're facing. And then now you have this
huge pandemic that is impacting that community also very greatly
and was on Earth and even more racial justice issues
(02:39):
in the community. And so it was like, what can
we do to take some of that pressure off. How
do we help this community breathe a little bit because
they were getting hit from every angle. And so with
the skill set Sarah doesn't you know say this enough,
her skill sets of web design and marketing and communication
was an asset photography, the whole nine. It's like, Okay,
(03:00):
let's leverage gifts and talents that we all hold and
possess and be able to sort of propel and elevate
these businesses so they're seen because for us, we're in
awe every day that we went from one hundred and
something to now two thousand. We didn't know they were there,
and we didn't know they were there, and no one
else they were there. But they have been there, they
continue to be there, and so here's a platform that
(03:23):
now allows people to see them, to access them, and
to know that they're resource in the community, and therefore
now has created some economic justice for this community.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And it's shop blackct dot com for those who are
following along. I'm in awe that you had this idea
and you could have just put it in the back
of your head and let it go forever, but you
didn't for whatever reason. And then did you ever imagine
it would grow into something this large and this beneficial.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I never imagine it would grow into something this large,
But I also sit here knowing it could be even
bigger because there are so many businesses that we haven't into.
The idea was really to do something that was free
for people to access and eliminated barriers for people to
support black owned businesses. So no, didn't realize it would
(04:13):
grow this large. But the really cool thing is seeing
how when you remove barriers and you remove obstacles, people
step into help. There have been many many people have
stepped up to help, volunteer or do events or spread
the word. So for me, I'm in awe of seeing
how many people have really propelled this initiative forward and
(04:34):
how it has helped businesses but brought people together in
a really unified way, people from all walks of life,
all across Connecticut and beyond. That's really what I'm in
awe of.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
So how do you support businesses with shop blackct dot com.
If I go there, I can see what city or
what category, explain it to the listeners.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Sure, so we tried to keep it as simple as possible.
But essentially you go to shop blackcat dot com. You
might have something in mind that you're looking for, or
maybe not, you're just there to browse. You can click
on your city, a town that you want to try
to find businesses in, or like you said, category. We
have all sorts of categories, including nonprofit organizations, service based
(05:14):
businesses as well, so it's not just retail, but you
can go on and find various links to link you
to business businesses. But you can also find a lot
of blog features. Business features on our blog, you can
learn about these businesses. And that's what we wanted to
do too, is bring the stories to life. So this
isn't just another directory, It's really a place to find
(05:37):
stories of how did business start, what are the challenges
that these business owners are facing, how can we maybe
support and so you can see when you purchase something
or you support one of these businesses, you're really affecting
not only a family, a neighborhood, a community, there's a
ripple effect happening. So what we encourage people to do
is go on, learn about the businesses, see where your
(05:59):
curiosity is lead you, but then go and take action
and purposefully support a business, knowing that you're making a difference.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
It's also our website for black business owners, right, So
one of the things we were really intentional about was
how do we are going to be able to support
them from a market and standpoint right. They get their
photography when they do the blog posts, they get their
photography for free to use in any way they want.
They can forward the story that we write on them,
(06:28):
all this beautiful packaging that they get. But one of
the things that we were clear on is that we
cannot meet all the needs of a small business. It's
just it's too much. So one of the things that
we have done is we create a resource page for
these businesses to go and say, here's other organizations in
the state that is doing work with your size business.
(06:49):
Go get the additional support. So if you need to
figure out loans, or you need to figure out startup
or whatever else. We've been a very fortunate to partner
with some of the small business associations to be able
to get we get that knowledge out there to our
business owners. We have people coming to us going, hey,
how do we access the folks that are on this
page so we can let them know that these resources
(07:10):
are available to them. So it's also advantageous for the
business owners to get access to the site just because
of the linkages that we've been able to create for them.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
It's wonderful. You mentioned loans in startup EVE. What are
some of the other challenges that black business owners face.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think one the primary one is is funding period.
Like for anyone, if you don't have the dollars, you
can't start. I think having enough funding to sustain past that,
you know, that awkward startup period. I think being able
to have the knowledge and skill sets to go after
funding that might be you know, contracts that might be
state contracts, bigger contracts, and marketing like if people don't
(07:47):
know you're there. Like we said before, it's amazing how
something this small non you know, sort of nonprofit because
we're not a nonprofit, but we're not for profit. We
just are volunteer initiative. How muchact we've had on the
financial a wellbeing of the businesses step been on the
site just because people know they're there, just because people
were able to say, Oh, I'm looking for a restaurant
(08:10):
or a nonprofit or a doctor or a lawyer in
my neighborhood and can go to this direction and go, Okay,
I'm going to use this person. I'm going to reach
out to them where before they wouldn't been able to
access that information has readily so the impact when you
talked about earlier, did we expect the growth? No, we
didn't see that coming. But did we anticipate an impact, Yes,
(08:31):
because any time you choose to pour into an individual
or into a group of people, there will always naturally
be blessings that flow from that. Yes, And I think
for Sarah and I, all we've seen since we started
this initiative is blessing upon blessing upon blessing, and the
goodness that exists in people to want to give back
and pay it forward is demonstrated through our thank you
(08:53):
list because a number of individuals who have stepped up
pro bono just hey, here you go, make it happen.
Then is blew my mind. I didn't anticipate or even
see that coming.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
I want to emphasize that also, these business owners they
are geniuses at what they're doing in their line of work.
So they're crafting, they're creating, they're making impact in the community.
They're not all marketers, they're not all you know, social
media experts. Anyone who runs a business knows that that
whole side of things, promoting a business or getting the
(09:26):
word out there is almost just as much time that
it takes to pour into your craft. So that was
one area where we saw this growth where people were
trying desperately to get the word out there, especially a
lot of startups, and they were stuck. And so to
be able to kind of release that from them and
say hey, this is no cost, just breathe, We've got you.
(09:47):
That really has been a way that we've seen a
lot of impact.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So can you use donations or sponsors or more volunteers.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
We can always use more volunteers. We don't take any
kind of funding in because it is a purely volunteer initiative,
so you know, we're funding the site ourselves. We're self funded.
But we've had people donate things like T shirts with
shoplax CT on it and then we give those out.
So we've had some things like that, but we can
always use volunteers. But we always say whatever gift you have,
(10:18):
is it talking with people and spreading the word? Is
it doing social media? Is it taking photos? Is it writing?
You know, introvert, extrovert, whoever you are, there's a spot
for you to be able to help. And that's where
we don't try to prescribe what is it that we need.
It's what is it that you are able to do.
And if you have a heart for helping, come talk
to us. We'll find a spot for you.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
If you have a heart forgiving, then you have the
financial means and resources too. We won't take it directly,
but if you want to ask us what the needs are,
then we can say, hey, go to this site, go
to this vendor and purchase here, and that will help
us in the long one, so that there's no exchange
of funds between us and someone who'd like to donate
resources to help us promote the site, because we're big
(10:59):
on promotion. So the more of these opportunities that you
inviting us here to have this conversation, this is huge
for the site, right and it's used for the business
owners in Connecticut. So any opportunities we get if we
get to go do tabling and we can bring shop
Black CT swag with us. We don't have the means
to be able to purchase all the nice things all
the time, but if someone's willing to do that for us,
(11:20):
to donate in that way, we will take that as well.
So we welcome all those who are willing to give.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Tell me about some of the feedback you've received from
the businesses and from the people who've gone to the website.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
The feedback from business owners has been overwhelmingly positive. We've
heard that people are getting more traffic, you know, foot
traffic into their businesses. They're getting connected with other business owners,
which helps them feel like they have a sense of
belonging in partnership. We've had feedback that sales have increased.
The reality is many businesses close and a lot of
(11:53):
these businesses over the last five years, you know, maybe
weren't able to make it the way that they had hoped,
but they had some along the way, and there are
also businesses that have thrived. And so we've seen whatever
little way we can say, hey, we're here for you.
Maybe this is for a season, maybe this business is
for many many chapters, but we've heard many positive feedback.
(12:14):
You know. We actually we do survey the business owners
after a while and see because we don't want to
just go on what we think, we want to hear
directly from them and then pivot.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I think that people beyond the business owners because I
think they've just been overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to
not have to pay for a service like this or
I have to pay for a membership to be a
part of the site, So you get that gratitude automatically.
I think the other beautiful thing we've seen is when
they partner together. So we have a DJ and you
have another organization. I think about Sharif and I think
(12:49):
about Fly Movement and her partnering with them to do
DJing at their Zoomer classes or whatever. But people finding
each other in these really unique ways and working together.
So the advantage is that ads created for networking. And
I think from you know, individuals using and access in
a site, is that Sarah said earlier, having this one
place that they can go to if they really want
(13:10):
to be intentional about support in this community and being
able to access it freely without any you know, sort
of issues, and that it's statewide and that they can
find people in any part of the state right to support.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
And they get it. It's so important when someone else
gets it. Nobody can get it until you're in their shoes.
You mentioned George Floyd at the beginning, and my very
good friend said to me, she goes, Allie, you'll never
understand because you don't have brown babies. But I'm like,
but I love your brown babies. I love them and
(13:43):
it brings my heart as much as it it does
for you. So again, at the end of the day,
these are all businesses that can network together, who can
encourage each other and say, listen, I was where you
are and I made it through like this and you
can too.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Right, And that's something really important because I clearly am
not a black business owner. I am a white woman,
and I didn't want.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
To say you can say it.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
I'm just you know, it's very hard to tell I'm not.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
But it's important that you came up with the idea.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
So I came up with the idea. But I also
wanted to make sure that I wasn't moving this forward
through my lens of the world. And so that's why
it's very very important to bring people in who you know,
this is their experience. And with that has come some
some challenges, some pushback from certain people, but again overwhelmingly positive.
(14:37):
And what I can say is this, when the business
owners then decide to pour back into shop Black Cut,
many of them have through video, free video, work, free photography, writing,
whatever it is that tells us that Okay, this is,
this is good, this is solid, this is they're not
only receiving their giving, but yes, it's very very important
(14:59):
that if you are not a black business owner a
part of the black community, that you take a stance
to support and help, but listen and not lead with
your own ideas, but to listen and then respond and support.
And so that's what we've tried. I've tried to do
this during the last five years.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
So if someone would like to get their business involved
or find out more about it, what do they do?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's free to browse.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
To that we just have a little.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Inside joking. What all they have to do is literally
go to the website and there is a button you
click to add your name to the list right and
so they enter all their information. Our people behind the scenes,
the few people we have behind the scenes will pull
that together and get them uploaded into the system. That's it,
and their business is now officially a part of our
director right.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
And then people have business owners have the option to
request a feature, and as we have capacity to do that,
we send out a photographer who is also part of
Shop Black CT. She will take photos for free, which
is very generous. And then we have writers on the
team who'll write up features. So as much as we
can do we do. So if someone says, hey, would
(16:10):
you like to feature my business this month, yes, we
try our best to fill every request that way. But yes,
it's very easy. It's one click, and it might take
a little while for us to get it listed on
the site because sometimes quite a few come pouring in,
but yeah, we get it up and as easy as possible.
And then we also say, if you know a black
owned business and they're not listed, let us know. We
(16:33):
can reach out Verify and you know, double check. But
you can submit on behalf of another business too, it
doesn't have to be the business themselves.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
We're coming upon the holiday season, so you know, our
whole mission is to support these businesses on the website.
So I would say please, as you're thinking about your
given this season, think about black owned businesses, the ones online,
the ones that are in your community, and put some
of your dollars towards them. I'm not going to be
selfish and ask for all your dollars to go towards them,
(17:01):
but to at least consider some of them during the
holiday season. We have some really amazing folks. We've done
discounts before in the past, and they have offered discounts
for you know, their items, so folks can purchase. So
take a look, take a look, and definitely pay it forward.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think I would add if there's something that you're
looking to purchase or service you're looking to find, there
is something on shoplext for you. That is how many
categories businesses, you know, types of services that are listed.
So go on and take a look, just like you would.
You know when you go online to search for something
(17:39):
in different ways, think about shoplax CT because you're also
impacting the local economy. You're also impacting the economy here
in Connecticut. You're adding jobs, you're supporting families, so you know,
just go on, take a look and you'll probably find
what you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I agree with you that it's just going to get
bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. I'm speaking with
Sarah Heath, founder and initiative co lead, and Event Young
initiative co lead, also from Shop BLACKCT. Go to Shop
BLACKCT dot com do it right now. Thank you both
for being here today and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Thank you so much
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison de Murz. My guests this morning are Sarah Heath.
She is founder and initiative co lead for Shop Black CT.
Andy that Young, initiative co lead also for Shop Black CT.
Good morning, Good morning then, thank you for being here today.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
We've bet so for people who don't know about Shop
Black CT, how and why did the initiative begin?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So Shop Black CT started in July of twenty twenty,
so already five years ago. It's hard to believe. Really,
in a response to trying to take action after George
Floyd was killed, there was a space in conversation. A
lot of people are having conversations around what can we
do to sort of uplift and help bring conversation around
(00:51):
the black community, how we can support people in that space.
So for me, it was how can I go from
just simply posting on social media, h sharing my empathy,
sharing you know I care about this, to doing something
to take a step toward action. I thought that supporting
black owned businesses would be one way to do that.
I had certainly supported some over the past years. However,
(01:15):
I found that there was no real resource to go
to to find a comprehensive list of businesses. That brought
in a conversation with several friends and business owners, including Yvette,
who we talked about how do we go from this
idea to make something concrete. So, long story short, we
(01:35):
started a website that listed black owned businesses that we
knew about or people had referred to us. We started
the list with one hundred and seventy five businesses and
now we have over two thousand listed. I know that
if you're going to added this too, but if that
can kind of expand to on the COVID pandemic at
the time and how that was affecting businesses.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Sure, I think one of the things in Syria lu
to it. At the time. There was a lot of
racial unrest right and folks were just you could feel
it in the air. People were upset, they were angry,
they needed to figure out something. And at the same time,
you had this economic injustice that was happening for black
owned businesses because they were closing at an alarming rate
(02:19):
disproportionate to other business owners. So you have and here
you have a community of individuals who are trying to
survive and thrive, and then you have this racial justice
issue that they're facing. And then now you have this
huge pandemic that is impacting that community also very greatly
and was on Earth and even more racial justice issues
(02:39):
in the community. And so it was like, what can
we do to take some of that pressure off. How
do we help this community breathe a little bit because
they were getting hit from every angle. And so with
the skill set Sarah doesn't you know say this enough,
her skill sets of web design and marketing and communication
was an asset photography, the whole nine. It's like, Okay,
(03:00):
let's leverage gifts and talents that we all hold and
possess and be able to sort of propel and elevate
these businesses so they're seen because for us, we're in
awe every day that we went from one hundred and
something to now two thousand. We didn't know they were there,
and we didn't know they were there, and no one
else they were there. But they have been there, they
continue to be there, and so here's a platform that
(03:23):
now allows people to see them, to access them, and
to know that they're resource in the community, and therefore
now has created some economic justice for this community.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And it's shop blackct dot com for those who are
following along. I'm in awe that you had this idea
and you could have just put it in the back
of your head and let it go forever, but you
didn't for whatever reason. And then did you ever imagine
it would grow into something this large and this beneficial.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I never imagine it would grow into something this large,
But I also sit here knowing it could be even
bigger because there are so many businesses that we haven't into.
The idea was really to do something that was free
for people to access and eliminated barriers for people to
support black owned businesses. So no, didn't realize it would
(04:13):
grow this large. But the really cool thing is seeing
how when you remove barriers and you remove obstacles, people
step into help. There have been many many people have
stepped up to help, volunteer or do events or spread
the word. So for me, I'm in awe of seeing
how many people have really propelled this initiative forward and
(04:34):
how it has helped businesses but brought people together in
a really unified way, people from all walks of life,
all across Connecticut and beyond. That's really what I'm in
awe of.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
So how do you support businesses with shop blackct dot com.
If I go there, I can see what city or
what category, explain it to the listeners.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Sure, so we tried to keep it as simple as possible.
But essentially you go to shop blackcat dot com. You
might have something in mind that you're looking for, or
maybe not, you're just there to browse. You can click
on your city, a town that you want to try
to find businesses in, or like you said, category. We
have all sorts of categories, including nonprofit organizations, service based
(05:14):
businesses as well, so it's not just retail, but you
can go on and find various links to link you
to business businesses. But you can also find a lot
of blog features. Business features on our blog, you can
learn about these businesses. And that's what we wanted to
do too, is bring the stories to life. So this
isn't just another directory, It's really a place to find
(05:37):
stories of how did business start, what are the challenges
that these business owners are facing, how can we maybe
support and so you can see when you purchase something
or you support one of these businesses, you're really affecting
not only a family, a neighborhood, a community, there's a
ripple effect happening. So what we encourage people to do
is go on, learn about the businesses, see where your
(05:59):
curiosity is lead you, but then go and take action
and purposefully support a business, knowing that you're making a difference.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
It's also our website for black business owners, right, So
one of the things we were really intentional about was
how do we are going to be able to support
them from a market and standpoint right. They get their
photography when they do the blog posts, they get their
photography for free to use in any way they want.
They can forward the story that we write on them,
(06:28):
all this beautiful packaging that they get. But one of
the things that we were clear on is that we
cannot meet all the needs of a small business. It's
just it's too much. So one of the things that
we have done is we create a resource page for
these businesses to go and say, here's other organizations in
the state that is doing work with your size business.
(06:49):
Go get the additional support. So if you need to
figure out loans, or you need to figure out startup
or whatever else. We've been a very fortunate to partner
with some of the small business associations to be able
to get we get that knowledge out there to our
business owners. We have people coming to us going, hey,
how do we access the folks that are on this
page so we can let them know that these resources
(07:10):
are available to them. So it's also advantageous for the
business owners to get access to the site just because
of the linkages that we've been able to create for them.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
It's wonderful. You mentioned loans in startup EVE. What are
some of the other challenges that black business owners face.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think one the primary one is is funding period.
Like for anyone, if you don't have the dollars, you
can't start. I think having enough funding to sustain past that,
you know, that awkward startup period. I think being able
to have the knowledge and skill sets to go after
funding that might be you know, contracts that might be
state contracts, bigger contracts, and marketing like if people don't
(07:47):
know you're there. Like we said before, it's amazing how
something this small non you know, sort of nonprofit because
we're not a nonprofit, but we're not for profit. We
just are volunteer initiative. How muchact we've had on the
financial a wellbeing of the businesses step been on the
site just because people know they're there, just because people
were able to say, Oh, I'm looking for a restaurant
(08:10):
or a nonprofit or a doctor or a lawyer in
my neighborhood and can go to this direction and go, Okay,
I'm going to use this person. I'm going to reach
out to them where before they wouldn't been able to
access that information has readily so the impact when you
talked about earlier, did we expect the growth? No, we
didn't see that coming. But did we anticipate an impact, Yes,
(08:31):
because any time you choose to pour into an individual
or into a group of people, there will always naturally
be blessings that flow from that. Yes, And I think
for Sarah and I, all we've seen since we started
this initiative is blessing upon blessing upon blessing, and the
goodness that exists in people to want to give back
and pay it forward is demonstrated through our thank you
(08:53):
list because a number of individuals who have stepped up
pro bono just hey, here you go, make it happen.
Then is blew my mind. I didn't anticipate or even
see that coming.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
I want to emphasize that also, these business owners they
are geniuses at what they're doing in their line of work.
So they're crafting, they're creating, they're making impact in the community.
They're not all marketers, they're not all you know, social
media experts. Anyone who runs a business knows that that
whole side of things, promoting a business or getting the
(09:26):
word out there is almost just as much time that
it takes to pour into your craft. So that was
one area where we saw this growth where people were
trying desperately to get the word out there, especially a
lot of startups, and they were stuck. And so to
be able to kind of release that from them and
say hey, this is no cost, just breathe, We've got you.
(09:47):
That really has been a way that we've seen a
lot of impact.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So can you use donations or sponsors or more volunteers.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
We can always use more volunteers. We don't take any
kind of funding in because it is a purely volunteer initiative,
so you know, we're funding the site ourselves. We're self funded.
But we've had people donate things like T shirts with
shoplax CT on it and then we give those out.
So we've had some things like that, but we can
always use volunteers. But we always say whatever gift you have,
(10:18):
is it talking with people and spreading the word? Is
it doing social media? Is it taking photos? Is it writing?
You know, introvert, extrovert, whoever you are, there's a spot
for you to be able to help. And that's where
we don't try to prescribe what is it that we need.
It's what is it that you are able to do.
And if you have a heart for helping, come talk
to us. We'll find a spot for you.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
If you have a heart forgiving, then you have the
financial means and resources too. We won't take it directly,
but if you want to ask us what the needs are,
then we can say, hey, go to this site, go
to this vendor and purchase here, and that will help
us in the long one, so that there's no exchange
of funds between us and someone who'd like to donate
resources to help us promote the site, because we're big
(10:59):
on promotion. So the more of these opportunities that you
inviting us here to have this conversation, this is huge
for the site, right and it's used for the business
owners in Connecticut. So any opportunities we get if we
get to go do tabling and we can bring shop
Black CT swag with us. We don't have the means
to be able to purchase all the nice things all
the time, but if someone's willing to do that for us,
(11:20):
to donate in that way, we will take that as well.
So we welcome all those who are willing to give.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Tell me about some of the feedback you've received from
the businesses and from the people who've gone to the website.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
The feedback from business owners has been overwhelmingly positive. We've
heard that people are getting more traffic, you know, foot
traffic into their businesses. They're getting connected with other business owners,
which helps them feel like they have a sense of
belonging in partnership. We've had feedback that sales have increased.
The reality is many businesses close and a lot of
(11:53):
these businesses over the last five years, you know, maybe
weren't able to make it the way that they had hoped,
but they had some along the way, and there are
also businesses that have thrived. And so we've seen whatever
little way we can say, hey, we're here for you.
Maybe this is for a season, maybe this business is
for many many chapters, but we've heard many positive feedback.
(12:14):
You know. We actually we do survey the business owners
after a while and see because we don't want to
just go on what we think, we want to hear
directly from them and then pivot.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I think that people beyond the business owners because I
think they've just been overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to
not have to pay for a service like this or
I have to pay for a membership to be a
part of the site, So you get that gratitude automatically.
I think the other beautiful thing we've seen is when
they partner together. So we have a DJ and you
have another organization. I think about Sharif and I think
(12:49):
about Fly Movement and her partnering with them to do
DJing at their Zoomer classes or whatever. But people finding
each other in these really unique ways and working together.
So the advantage is that ads created for networking. And
I think from you know, individuals using and access in
a site, is that Sarah said earlier, having this one
place that they can go to if they really want
(13:10):
to be intentional about support in this community and being
able to access it freely without any you know, sort
of issues, and that it's statewide and that they can
find people in any part of the state right to support.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
And they get it. It's so important when someone else
gets it. Nobody can get it until you're in their shoes.
You mentioned George Floyd at the beginning, and my very
good friend said to me, she goes, Allie, you'll never
understand because you don't have brown babies. But I'm like,
but I love your brown babies. I love them and
(13:43):
it brings my heart as much as it it does
for you. So again, at the end of the day,
these are all businesses that can network together, who can
encourage each other and say, listen, I was where you
are and I made it through like this and you
can too.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Right, And that's something really important because I clearly am
not a black business owner. I am a white woman,
and I didn't want.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
To say you can say it.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
I'm just you know, it's very hard to tell I'm not.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
But it's important that you came up with the idea.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
So I came up with the idea. But I also
wanted to make sure that I wasn't moving this forward
through my lens of the world. And so that's why
it's very very important to bring people in who you know,
this is their experience. And with that has come some
some challenges, some pushback from certain people, but again overwhelmingly positive.
(14:37):
And what I can say is this, when the business
owners then decide to pour back into shop Black Cut,
many of them have through video, free video, work, free photography, writing,
whatever it is that tells us that Okay, this is,
this is good, this is solid, this is they're not
only receiving their giving, but yes, it's very very important
(14:59):
that if you are not a black business owner a
part of the black community, that you take a stance
to support and help, but listen and not lead with
your own ideas, but to listen and then respond and support.
And so that's what we've tried. I've tried to do
this during the last five years.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
So if someone would like to get their business involved
or find out more about it, what do they do?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's free to browse.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
To that we just have a little.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Inside joking. What all they have to do is literally
go to the website and there is a button you
click to add your name to the list right and
so they enter all their information. Our people behind the scenes,
the few people we have behind the scenes will pull
that together and get them uploaded into the system. That's it,
and their business is now officially a part of our
director right.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
And then people have business owners have the option to
request a feature, and as we have capacity to do that,
we send out a photographer who is also part of
Shop Black CT. She will take photos for free, which
is very generous. And then we have writers on the
team who'll write up features. So as much as we
can do we do. So if someone says, hey, would
(16:10):
you like to feature my business this month, yes, we
try our best to fill every request that way. But yes,
it's very easy. It's one click, and it might take
a little while for us to get it listed on
the site because sometimes quite a few come pouring in,
but yeah, we get it up and as easy as possible.
And then we also say, if you know a black
owned business and they're not listed, let us know. We
(16:33):
can reach out Verify and you know, double check. But
you can submit on behalf of another business too, it
doesn't have to be the business themselves.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
We're coming upon the holiday season, so you know, our
whole mission is to support these businesses on the website.
So I would say please, as you're thinking about your
given this season, think about black owned businesses, the ones online,
the ones that are in your community, and put some
of your dollars towards them. I'm not going to be
selfish and ask for all your dollars to go towards them,
(17:01):
but to at least consider some of them during the
holiday season. We have some really amazing folks. We've done
discounts before in the past, and they have offered discounts
for you know, their items, so folks can purchase. So
take a look, take a look, and definitely pay it forward.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think I would add if there's something that you're
looking to purchase or service you're looking to find, there
is something on shoplext for you. That is how many
categories businesses, you know, types of services that are listed.
So go on and take a look, just like you would.
You know when you go online to search for something
(17:39):
in different ways, think about shoplax CT because you're also
impacting the local economy. You're also impacting the economy here
in Connecticut. You're adding jobs, you're supporting families, so you know,
just go on, take a look and you'll probably find
what you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I agree with you that it's just going to get
bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. I'm speaking with
Sarah Heath, founder and initiative co lead, and Event Young
initiative co lead, also from Shop BLACKCT. Go to Shop
BLACKCT dot com do it right now. Thank you both
for being here today and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Thank you so much
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