Richualist founder Dawn Myers has secured investment from business figures Mark Cuban and Emma Grede on Shark Tank for her hair tool for textured hair. The washday styling tool Myers’ product, The Mint, is designed to detangle, condition, and style curly to coily hair types (classified as 3A to 4C). The hair tool includes six attachments and is designed to simplify and enhance styling. The technology used heats liquid hair products to optimize their effectiveness, addressing the often complicated and time-consuming nature of managing highly textured hair. “You simply load your pod; think
Tech companies are now offering AI-powered therapy services designed to meet the specific needs of Black individuals. The Black Female Therapist The “Black Female Therapist” (BFT), a novel AI chatbot, is part of this approach from tech companies providing accessible and tailored mental health support. BFT, developed by Youper, leverages advanced algorithms and natural language processing to offer culturally sensitive advice and empathetic responses. According to Refinery29, the chatbot addresses the emotional challenges faced by Black individuals, including systemic barriers and the need for spaces where they feel seen and
Tech founder and major political donor Frank Hester reportedly said that looking at Diane Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving Black Member of Parliament (MP), made him “want to hate all Black women” and that she “should be shot.” Hester, the founder and CEO of software company The Phoenix Partnership (TPP), donated £10 million ($12.8 million) to the Conservative Party last year. What Happened? The Guardian reports that Hester made the remarks about Abbott during a 2019 meeting. His comments have sparked widespread outcry, raising serious questions about racism within the tech industry and
With a toy makeup kit, Kristen Wells-Collins, a Dallas-based scientist, is redefining pathways into the beauty industry for young girls with science and technology. Black To The Lab Makeup Kit Recognizing the decline in girls’ interest in science around age 11, a statistic cited by Microsoft, Wells-Collins launched “Black to the Lab” in 2020. This innovative $30 toy makeup kit is an educational tool that teaches children as young as six the science behind beauty product formulations. Wells-Collins’ journey started at Prairie View A&M University, initially pursuing a career in pharmacy. However, she
Regina Lawless is a former Instagram executive and the founder of Bossy and Blissful, a collective for Black female executives. Meet Regina Lawless Her journey to becoming the first director of diversity and inclusion at Instagram was marked by personal loss and professional insights. According to The Grio, after her husband’s sudden passing in 2021, Lawless found herself reflecting on the complexities of Black women’s success in corporate America. While she felt her role was supported, there needed to be a more comprehensive commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion. Bossy And
Tesla has given $2,000 to The Giving Pies, a small Black woman-owned bakery in San Jose, following its cancellation of a significant pie order during Black History Month. The order, initially set for 2,000 pies and then doubled, was worth between $6,000 to $16,000. However, the cancellation left the bakery with a financial loss of approximately $2,000 and missed opportunities during Black History Month. Musk’s Intervention Voahangy Rasetarinera, the bakery owner, took to Instagram to detail the financial strain caused by Tesla’s decision. “To me, it was clear that Tesla’s
Chaymeriyia Moncrief, an Alabama native, has made a mark in the tech industry as the first Black woman to own a smart glasses brand. NSPRE Two years after founding Tesix Wireless Network, a millennial-focused wireless carrier., Moncrief launched NSPRE to ”inspire the culture through social technology“. From its inception in 2020, the brand swiftly progressed, raising $1.5 million in funding during its launch year. In June 2021, NSPRE established its headquarters in Alabama, reinforcing its foundation. NSPRE’s flagship product, the Smart Glasses, aims to represent a leap into the future of
Postpartum difficulties and a gap in the wellness industry led LaDonna Welch to create a mental health app, Ebony Notes, designed to affirm the Black community. Meet LaDonna Welch Welch advocates for diversity, equity, representation, personal growth, and inclusion. After giving birth to her second child in 2012, she learned she had postpartum and seasonal depression when she went to a doctor to discuss her symptoms. “They suggested that I speak to someone, and I was in my 30s. At this point, I had never even considered talking to anyone,”
UK-based Black-owned platform Sojo has become the first fashion repairs and alterations platform to achieve B Corp certification. Certified B Corps are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The B Corp Community is a global movement of businesses that provide leadership by demonstrating their commitment to people and the planet. There are over 7,800 B Corps worldwide, across 161 industries in 92 countries, with over 708,300 workers. Sojo achieved 86.8 points, above the B Corp pass mark of 80 and
The StoryGraph, a Black woman-owned cataloging web platform for books, took to X, formerly Twitter, announcing they have had to take their platform offline to upgrade its servers. The StoryGraph The StoryGraph, founded by Nadia Odunayo, is a competitor of Amazon-owned social cataloging platform Goodreads as it uses a freemium model, with some features only available in a subscription plan. Founded in 2019, StoryGraph was initially a side project for tracking books. After studying at Oxford University, Odunayo went into the world of software engineering but, in 2019, decided to work
