My Journey as a Frontline Mommypreneur Selling Afrocentric Greeting Cards
February of last year was so different. As if Being a mother of 2 rambunctious kids, a wife and a full-time Registered Nurse wasn't chaotic enough, I decided to take the plunge into entreprenership and register my Afrocentric Greeting Card business. I had a flood of emotions: excitement, fear, anxiety as well as a sense of getting myself in over my head. I had signed up for a series of workshops led by a prominent business leader from the Black community. It was called the "Propel Mastermind" an 8 week course designed to equip budding entrepreneurs with the fundamentals of running your own business. My first class was at 7pm and I had to leave home in the middle of a winter storm to attend the class. I found it quite interesting and it was nice to network with people outside of work and my regular social circles. I was surrounded by like-minded individuals who all had the common goal of wanting to make a difference. We each had a chance to speak about our businesses and what we hoped to get out of the course. When It was my turn, I spoke about why I founded my Afrocentric Greeting Card Company, Ebony Occasions. It was after being frustrated with the lack of diversity in the greeting card industry. I had a wedding shower to attend of a close female friend of mine. She was having a destination wedding in Barbados and I was unable to attend. I wanted to get her and her husband-to-be a card that they would remember and have as a keepsake for years to come. I went from store to store, trying to find a card and came up empty handed. There was one beautiful card that I found in a big box store, it was a couple standing at the altar in a beauftifully decorated Church with the pastor front and centre. There was one issue, the couple on the card was Caucasian. I thought to myself , how could I present them with this card that has people on it who look nothing like them? After pondering it for some time, I decided against it and opted for a more generic card with a 4 tier cake on it. It was pretty underwhelming to say the least! I had the idea of creating Afrocentric greeting cards, but had kept the idea on the back burner waiting for when life was a little less busy. After bringing my experience with the wedding shower card up to my husband and mentioning my idea, he encouraged me to go for it and I did ! The mastermind class ended at 9pm. I headed home after about 30 mins of networking after class. I then had to pack lunches, organize my lunch for work and have my uniform ready to go for the next day, as I was starting my stretch of four twelve hour shifts. This was only the beginning... I had no idea of what March had in store for me as well as the rest of the world...