BLACK IN BUSINESS

The old sayings about business have long fallen into the realm of the cliché: “The only place success comes before work is the dictionary.” “Be the first to clock in and the last to clock out.” “Hard work beats talent.”

The subtext of all these sayings, however, is that failure comes from a lack of hard work, which is almost never the case. Ambition, hard work, talent … these things can only take you so far if the doors to success have been closed to you. For a large percentage of black businesses, those doors are often difficult to locate, much less open. It’s part of why black-owned businesses make up just seven percent of the business landscape, while black people make up 13 percent of the population.

“It’s not that black businesses need any help learning their trade. They have ambition and drive, they just don’t have access,” said Bridgette Frazier, co-founder of Blacquity, a new initiative designed to elevate, empower, and promote local black-owned businesses. “We wanted to position them in a way that gets them access, shows them how to bid on a quote, how to become vendors with local government … that’s how we wanted to level the playing field.”

The idea for Blacquity sprang from conversations between Frazier and local businessman/philanthropist Billy knew of Frazier’s work with Bluffton MLK Observance Committee and how that group was looking to expand their mission. The pair of them not only became fast friends, but they seized on an idea that could give black-owned businesses the support they need to live up to their potential.

Bridgette Frazier messaged me one day with an opportunity that I knew would change me: a class called Black Equity, geared toward the betterment of Black-owned businesses. Ten weeks of learning how to improve my business and myself came to a finale tonight! I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from my mentors and my classmates—a team of folks I’ve built a lasting relationship with. The support of me and Gullah T’s N’ Tings has grown, and I’m so proud of what we are becoming. It’s up!

The organization takes a two-pronged approach to building up black business. The first is through creation of a black-owned business directory, an idea that had been bouncing around Lowcountry business circles for years without being executed. The second is through Black Equity University, an intensive 12-week course that dives deep into the nuts and bolts of running a successful business, with classroom sessions, guest speakers and facilitators that represent a cross-section of local success stories.

While Frazier and Watterson shared a passion for their new project, they knew that each of them had far more on their plate than would allow