Last year, recording artist and philanthropist Ciara connected with Meta to support small Black-owned businesses.
Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact on small businesses, Ciara committed to assisting Black entrepreneurs by nominating 10 enterprises to receive one-on-one mentorship from Meta. Now the singer has announced those 10 businesses.
“The 10 businesses I’ve nominated are dear to me because they embody determination, community, empathy, and empowerment,” said Ciara in a written statement. “The success of Black-owned small businesses is key to wealth building in our community, which is why connecting Black owners to these opportunities is so important to me.”
The small businesses taking part in the program to receive one-on-one marketing mentorship from Meta Elevate include: Round House Paper, Nicole Grace Collection, The Coil Brush, Boss Branding on a Budget, Aliyah Kamala Enterprises, The Self Care Suite, Manifest It, Sis, For Our Daughters Beauty, Kyra’s Shea Medleys, and Zion’s Greek Boutique.
Ciara Gives Black Women the Business Support They Need
Mom of two, Tara Pringle Jefferson, 36, owner of The Self-Care Suite, has built a community of 1,200-plus Black women who have come together to form a sisterhood fostering reciprocal self-care by way of a Facebook group offering support by other women, and off-the-grid trips infused with meditation, mentoring, rest and relaxation.
“I’ve hosted five retreats before the pandemic hit. We started in D.C., went down the road a bit to Virginia Beach for our second, spent years three and four in New Orleans, and our last hurrah before covid was in Puerto Rico!” Pringle Jefferson told BLACK ENTERPRISE exclusively.
But just like many business owners, Pringle Jefferson grew fatigued trying to keep the Self
Care Suite afloat during the pandemic. Even with a business that was all about catering to the needs of Black women who often struggle with “superwoman syndrome”; trying to do everything for everyone else while getting exhausted in the process, Pringle Jefferson, too, found herself falling flat.“I spent so much time last year applying to any and everything that I wasn’t even sure what the opportunity was when they emailed me last week,” she said about Meta’s surprise Zoom call making the announcement.
“I felt honored that my business was selected because, as I told one of the other recipients afterward, 2021 felt like taking a lot of uppercuts,” Pringle Jefferson explained.
She continued: “A lot of the big plans I had just couldn’t materialize, and I was simmering in disappointment for a good chunk of the year. Things started to turn around at the beginning of 2022, though, and with this Ciara news, it feels like I’m finally regaining some of the momentum I had prior to the pandemic. I’m thankful because the work I do around rest, self-care, and mental health feel so much more urgent now, and I’m thankful to be connected to incredible resources to help me spread my message to the masses.”
Danielle Faust is a Spiritual Life & Manifestation Coach, Intuitive Energy Healer, and Metaphysical Practitioner of Manifest It, Sis!, which offers a podcast and business coaching for Black women. Faust said she also found herself on unstable ground with her business when the pandemic hit. Now with Meta’s help, she’s ready to take her business to the next level.
“I was super excited and just so ready for this,” said Faust about receiving the Meta business mentorship news.
“I’m an excellent coach. I’m an excellent metaphysical practitioner, an excellent healer… But I know I am not the best marketer saleswoman or businesswoman right now,” she admits.
“So this is coming at a perfect time for me and my business to level up, no pun intended.”
Meta Elevate will make sure each business receives six weeks of dedicated support from Meta. The prospective companies will be learning how to effectively build compelling marketing campaigns on both Facebook and Instagram. Each company will be given $100,000 in ad credits and creative support so each business can put what they’ve learned from Meta into action following the mentorship. Nominated businesses will also receive Meta Blueprint’s digital marketing skills certificate via a scholarship provided to advance the skills needed to succeed.