Around The Block: Indie Shop Chronicles: Recent Episodes
Zach Roberts and Winston Vakunta
The global pandemic made online shopping the de-facto norm for modern shoppers. However, small businesses are not optimized to sell and engage customers digitally.
Around The Block is here to give small business retailers the tools and insights to succeed in a digital-first world. Come away from each episode with tips and ideas on how to grow your following, increase engagement, and finally convert ‘likes’ into sales.
In this week's episode, we’re excited to have Destiny Brewton, Founder, and CEO of A House Called Hue.
Founded in 2016 as an online marketplace for bespoke afro-inspired apparel and accessories, A House Called Hue is now home to a boutique custom patch-making company. Destiny has serviced over 200+ brands and is featured in Huffington Post, voyage ATL, and many other news outlets despite being a one-woman production team.
To date, has scaled her business beyond embroidered patches to now offering other services including custom embroidered apparel, screen printing transfers, and concept graphic design. We are excited to hear how she grew her brand to where it is today. Destiny welcomes you to the show.
Today we’re excited to have Jay McKinney, Founder, and CEO of Durty Jerk. The brand behind the famous Durty Jerk Sauce.
Jay launched Durty in 2011, after creating his own brand of sweet jerk sauce using a rare technique from The Maroon People from Jamaica. This technique has been passed down from the original Jamaican salves for generations and is the secret behind his sauces.
Today, Durty jerk sells online and is in over 20 retail stores. We are excited to speak with him today to learn how he built and grew his business to where it is today.
In this week's episode, we’re excited to have OG Identity, founder and owner of her namesake lifestyle brand: OG Identity.
OG hails from Newark, New Jersey, and now lives in Atlanta. Lover of all things 90s and the culture, she is a self-taught artist. OG Identity was created with a mission in mind: to show the true representation of Black Women.
In her words, “The Black woman is the blueprint. We hope to empower Black women through positive representation and celebration of what makes us beautiful.”
She has been recognized by Sprite, VoyageATL Magazine, and many other luminaries. We are excited to speak with her to learn how she built OG Identity and how she uses her platform to connect with her audience across IG and TikTok.
This week, we’re excited to have Maurice Jenkins, Founder, and CEO of Mugger’s Marrow- The creator of the one and only Muggers grilling sauce.
Maurice launched Mugger’s Marrow in 2015 after discovering many sauces in supermarkets were unhealthy. Starting as a small grilling business Maurice has grown his business from his home to retailing over 10 retail stores and on Amazon.
We are excited to speak with him today to learn how he built and grew his business to where it is today.
In today's episode, we’re incredibly excited to host Shef Tori, Brown, Founder, and Creator of Breakfast Belle the brand responsible for the famous Bamma Fish Fry and Hot Sauce.
Inspired by her late mother, Shef Tori, Brown started her career in culinary and founded Breakfast Belle to evangelize southern cuisine nationwide.
Since launching her brand and creating the amazing Bamma Sauces, she has received national recognition including being featured on ABC's Good Morning America, and recognition from social media influencers.
We are incredibly excited to have Tori on the show today to explore how she built her brand to where it is today.
In this week's episode, we’re incredibly excited to have Kimone Young, Founder of 84Gem -- A lifestyle jewelry brand for the bold and confident.
Kimone started 84Gem in 2011 after struggling to find enough jewelry that reflected her style.
Born in Jamaica, raised in Brooklyn -- Kimone creates the change she wants to see in the world.
We are excited to speak with her today to learn how she built her lifestyle brand from her home studio to the vision we bear witness to today.
Today we’re excited to have Karina Blasco, Founder of Only Oatmeal -- Tacoma’s Favorite Cookie!
A reinvention of her childhood memory, Karina baked her dreams into reality. She’s got the classics from chocolate chip to the sweet comfort of caramel apple. Only Oatmeal is a gourmet work of art.
We are excited to speak with her today to learn how she built her business and grew her online following.
Today we’re excited to have Ben Kelly, founder of Jammin for Justice. Former All-American athlete from Iowa State, Ben started the brand to highlight the injustices Black people face in America and across the globe. In his words, “It’s important to uplift the Black community by focusing on Black beauty, Black music, Black fashion, and Black art”.
His actions speak louder than words. 15% of every order is donated to the Equal Justice Initiative to help fight racial inequality and end mass incarceration.
We are excited to speak with him today to hear how he built his brand today through social entrepreneurship.
We’re excited to have Anya White Brown, CEO, and founder of Natural AnniesEssentials, a black woman-owned, family-owned lifestyle candle company based out of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Starting from her kitchen in 2016, Annya grew her business across the US and Canada.
Her social media expertise speaks for itself. Annya has an organic following of over 50K followers across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook. Specifically, generates 50K monthly views on Pinterest alone!
We are excited to speak with her on how to develop a killer social media marketing presence to drive more customer sales.
Welcome to Around The Block Podcast! This podcast is dedicated to providing small business retailers the tools and insights to succeed in a digital-first world. Our intro episode tells you a little bit about our show, who we are, and ultimately how we aim to make an impact.
In future episodes, we will provide marketing tips and ideas through interviews with leading retailer entrepreneurs and our unique perspectives as Marketers.
Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platforms and on socials (Instagram and Twitter) to be the first to know when we drop our latest episodes!