“What moves you? What is it that inspires you?” These questions are the driving force behind the mission of The Movement Merchandising. Owner and CEO Arlan Wallace told me that he not only wanted to create clothing, but use it as a tool to inspire people to follow their dreams. He challenged himself to a similar standard while deciding whether to concentrate more heavily on his own after graduating from college in May. After several interviews with well-known companies and opportunities which ultimately fell through, he decided to give his dreams a deadline. “If they didn’t get back to me by a certain time, I decided I would step out on faith and go full time.”
The Movement is now stationed in Mooresville, North Carolina shipping worldwide to 5 continents, 74 countries, and 462 cities.
Wallace joins a growing number of African-Americans who are putting their talents to work through entrepreneurship. Nielsen reports that according to the most recent U.S. Census Survey of Business Owners, released in 2015, data shows that in the five-year period between 2007 and 2012, the number of majority Black-owned businesses grew 34%. In 2015, Forbes cited Black women as the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States.
Jasmia Shropshire (right) posing with her handcrafted merchandise
One young woman moving with this trend is Jasmia Shropshire, owner of Dome Peace, a modern accessory line specializing in custom-made head-wear. Shropshire is a 2015 graduate of NC State University and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. “Dome Peace is my gift of a little more peace in the universe," she explains. "Supporters pledge to Proactively Encourage A Constant Evolution (P.E.A.C.E.) when facing challenges, disagreements, and turmoil.” This is accomplished, in part, by portions of the revenue from any social action head-wear being donated to communities affected by social injustice.
Engaging in similar work just miles away are Charlotte natives Alexis Moorehead and Sanijdra James, who co-founded Cure Nation Inc., LLC.
Sanijdra James (second from left) and Alexis Moorehead (bottom right) with members of Moorehead’s family
This nonprofit organization supplies hospitals with chemotherapy survival kits by donating all of their revenue from selling t-shirts designed to promote breast cancer awareness. So far this year, the pair has raised over $600 for their cause by selling approximately sixty shirts.
They are all under the age of 25.
These go-getters are defying the average age range of entrepreneurs across the country. A 2013 study from Duke University found that there are twice as many successful entrepreneurs who are over the age of 50 as those who are under 25. A whopping 75 percent of them have more than six years of industry experience.
The experience factor is exemplified in Janelle E. Titus, a licensed professional counselor in Bridgeport, Connecticut who founded The Girls Gym, a support group where girls come to exercise their self-esteem through arts-based activities.
Positive Self Affirmations Art Project
Titus has spent 16 years working full-time in the mental health field, and also participated in a graduate internship with an intensive outpatient program. The stories of the teens she encountered inspired her to help under-served youth before they reached their breaking point. The Girls Gym now serves approximately 60 students per year from schools and community centers in the Bridgeport area at no cost to participants.
Other self-starters are daring to launch their ideas despite being younger in experience, age, or both; and are doing so in a way that's particularly relevant to the culture and causes of Black communities. Marcus Zeigler, another 2016 graduate from NC State, was inspired to action by numerous cases of police brutality. His budding nonprofit, Bridges Without Badges, aims to address one of the many needs surrounding this complex issue: relationship building among police and the communities they serve. Zeigler's goal is to make sure that kids ages 5 through 17 have at least one positive interaction with police officers before their high school graduation.
Topics like the purpose of Zeigler's efforts are often the focus of heated debates which make a regular appearance on social media outlets, and can easily get out of hand. “Today there lacks a mechanism in social media that measures how well we express our personal views,” recalls Marcus Spruill, a former classmate of Zeigler. Spruill serves as the Director of Communications on a team of millennials making moves in the tech world to alleviate this issue.
From left to right: Joshua Puente (Co-CEO), Robert Dates (Co-CEO), Marcus Spruill (Director of Communications), DomiNick Downing (CMO)
Yaheard, LLC is a free social networking mobile app which seeks to create a more effective way to engage in social debates. “Each [Yaheard] user is allowed a limited amount of statements per debate, and then the debate ends. This feature paired with an anonymous voting system provides an opportunity to justify personal opinions,” Spruill explained. Co-founders Joshua Puente and Robert Dates spent approximately 15 months creating the app, which was launched in March 2016. Their beta version is now available on the App Store.
Apple is not the only wide-scale name giving these entrepreneurs a platform. Arlan Wallace has seen pieces from The Movement Merchandising sported by several celebrities including Dr. Marc Lamont Hill of BET News and VH1 Live!, who purchased a shirt from him shortly after headlining an April 2016 speaking engagement at NC State University.
On a similar vein, Jasmia Shropshire of Dome Peace has been featured at many large-scale events, including the Atlanta Greek Picnic, Art of Cool Fest, and the Spring 2016 True Religion Children's Release. Both Wallace and Shropshire have been featured as vendors during Pan-Afrikan Week, a special celebration uplifting African and African-American culture at NC State University. Alec Virgil, a fellow NC State alumnus and member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., has also been featured during this week-long event as a co-founder of Gentleman's Choice Kollection, which specializes in socks, bow-ties, and similar accessories.
J. Robertson, owner and designer of cherryDOTdork apparel (also known as CDD or cDOT), jokingly expressed a contrasting element to his apparel business.
“[CDD] is about us regular individuals,” he said in jest. Though he has also been a vendor at Pan-Afrikan Week, he takes pride in the low-key nature of his company. “It's a small brand that people rock with, and that's a big accomplishment in my book.”
With merchandise that promotes sayings like Dork Nation and Stay Hungry, cherryDOTdork hopes to empower customers to exude confidence amongst ridicule.
“Being who you are no matter what is what's most important,” Robertson encouraged. “That's what being a dork is all about.”
While discussing his business Robertson also shared his favorite quote, a scripture that talks about worrying. This passage is likely also cherished by Tiffany Davis, an active church member holding several leadership positions who is dedicated to empowering marginalized youth.
Davis and Dominique Peden co-founded S.H.E. Inc. (Securing Her Experience), a dream-granting and leadership development program for women and girls of color in Philadelphia. They have both served for several years as Servant Leader Interns and Ella Baker Trainers with The Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program, which focuses on helping to curb summer learning loss in underprivileged youth. Both Peden and Davis are pursuing education-related Master's degrees. In its inaugural year, the nonprofit is already impacting girls and women of various ages to be a positive influence to themselves, their homes, and communities.
Although they are not always taken seriously for their work, these and many other Black entrepreneurs are shaking things up for the better. What keeps them going through continuous sacrifices of time, funds, and comfort zones is remembering the reason why they started.
“The biggest reward of all is seeing that you helped somebody else,” says Alexis Moorehead of Cure Nation Inc., LLC. She encourages young entrepreneurs in particular to press on, despite the fact that others may discredit them because of their age and underestimate their ideas.
“When something is innovative and new, they’re gonna laugh at it. But, I mean, if you’re not being innovative, are you really an entrepreneur?”
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This article has been updated to reflect links to updated websites.