Meet The BIPOC Couple Behind The Travel Belt Luxury Brand Cincha

Whether traveling for work, a vacation, or to visit family, lugging your items all over the airport isn’t anyone’s ideal way to start a trip. Add a mad dash to catch your plane and you’ll feel the bulky weight of all those bags you brought. BIPOC couple Ash and James founded Cincha and designed the innovative travel belt to make “airporting” a whole lot easier.

“Modern travel isn’t just one checked bag and one carry-on anymore. It’s multiple suitcases, day bags, purses or backpacks, coats, and hats. Much more than we have hands to carry with,” said Ash.

“We designed the travel belts to give every kind of traveler that much-needed extra hand. You keep your luggage and personal items together, so you can actually head into your trip relaxed and excited.”

As adults Ash, a marketing director, and James, a civil rights lawyer, are both experts at the airport hustle and finding new and breathtaking places to visit around the world. But this wasn’t a reality for them growing up.

For Ash, she was only able to experience air travel because her father worked for an airline and her family waited on stand-by. James’ first experience with flying only came when a prospective college paid for the ticket.

“James and I are both lucky to be able to satisfy our travel bug. Coming from minority and challenging backgrounds, we are very aware of this privilege and the fact that air travel for any purpose isn’t readily available to many people. That’s why we are fully committed to using Cincha to help those fulfill their need for flying and our partnership with Miles4Migrants allows us to do that.”

Cincha gives back to their global community by donating to Miles4Migrants, a nonprofit dedicated to reconnecting migrant families who were separated due to war, natural disasters, and persecution. Just last year alone, the brand raised 500,000 airline miles for the organization resulting in hundreds of families being reunited, the first time in years for many of them.

Heading towards August and Black Business Month, Cincha is proud to be another example of the passion and drive that comes from the Black community and Black entrepreneurs especially. Their belief in themselves and dedication to making this vision a reality has geared Cincha to being a must-have for flyers, train-takers, and road-trip enthusiasts alike.

“Running our small business hasn’t been without its challenges. From funding everything ourselves to making the time to fulfill orders after our day jobs. Not to mention all the hurdles that come from being a BIPOC-owned and run business,” said James.

“But all those obstacles make it that much more satisfying every time we get a new order. Cincha is all about extending out the helping hand we all need, and that’s the heart behind every design and donated mile.”

Ash and James’ story serves as an inspiration to all entrepreneurs looking to launch their own start-ups and impact the world in a positive way.