The Power To Change Funding For Black Women's Businesses
Ezinne Iroanya, founder of SKINMUSE.
By Ezinne Iroanya
I built SKNMUSE as a catalyst for Black and Brown folks to dwell in their beauty experience, combining luxury with cultural authenticity to produce luxurious beauty products that center rest and ease.
Inspired by my first job as a perfumer, I realized that the existing skincare market did not cater to the needs of the Modern Black women and I wanted to fill that gap. For decades women who look like me have had to just make do, whipping formulas in our kitchens or using beauty products that never quite meet the bar.
From formulation to experience, we have consistently asked for more. – because they weren’t created with us in mind. Even though we spend twice as much as other beauty consumers, we are yet to walk into a Bloomingdales or Nordstrom and see counters that authentically cater to us. It almost makes you wonder, why would an industry ever ignore their highest paying customers? It makes no sense.
While building SKNMUSE, I noticed that the gaps in equality didn’t end at our skincare products and marketing, but extended into our ability to obtain proper funding.
It was evident that people in Black and Brown communities were not privvy to the knowledge of grants available to them as entrepreneurs. So I took it upon myself to seek out the mentorship and knowledge needed to advance Black owned businesses, as well as taking what I learned and sharing that information with the community around me.
Opening up the conversations to help each other familiarize ourselves with grant processes is my way of taking the power to change and help others succeed. The ultimate goal is to shift the entrepreneurial culture into a more equitable, inclusive funding and support ecosystem.
““It was evident that people in Black and Brown communities were not privvy to the knowledge of grants available to them as entrepreneurs. I took it upon myself to seek out mentorship and knowledge needed to advance Black-owned businesses.”—Ezinne Iroanya @SKNMUSE #PowerToChangeStories”
Ezinne Iroanya, Founder of SKNMUSE, is based in Los Angeles. https://www.facebook.com/SKNMUSE/ ; https://www.instagram.com/sknmuse/?hl=en ; https://sknmuse.com/