Diary of a Founder: Q1 Highlights

On the heels of Black History Month and the start of Women’s History Month, I am grateful for these historic moments in time that remind us to pause and reflect on the history and significance of these important months. Should we uplift Black people and Women all year long??Absolutely, of course, daily. We can also use this focused time to go deeper, be bolder, and speak louder.

It’s been a big start to the year for us!

2023 Economic Advancement Report

This past week, we announced our BrainTrust Founders Studio's 2023 Economic Advancement Report celebrating the tremendous growth and acceleration?of our studio's founders!?

In the past year, our studio of 110+ founders—92% identifying as women—has sold more than $100 million in beauty and wellness products. That amount represents our collective sales of 4,000+ products via 23,000 retail doors as well as online. To celebrate these wins, we were featured in?WWD?and?CEW.

“As entrepreneurs turned investors, we saw this moment emerging, which is why one year ago we joined forces to build this ecosystem for winning by Black founders,” said Founder/CEO?Kendra Bracken-Ferguson?and Co-founder/CIO?Lisa Stone?in a joint statement. “What we didn’t anticipate was the rate at which the?BrainTrust Founders Studio?would grow. Today our members collectively report selling $100 million in beauty and wellness products across top retailers and online.”

Download the report HERE!

Founders House

This week, we hit the road for our first Founders House of 2023! Join us March 11th -12th in Austin, TX at SXSW!

Founders House is a pop-up experience?where founders, tastemakers, influential leaders and cultural amplifiers gather for networking, discovering new products, and learning about ground-breaking innovations.

Visit Founders House in?Austin, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Martha's Vineyard, New York, Tulsa, and Los Angeles! RSVP HERE!

From Left to Right: Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Janell Norris, MA (previously Janell Muhammad), Meagan Good, Tenaj Ferguson , and DonYé Taylor

In January, Braintrust Agency partnered with Dark & Lovely and produced their ‘Making Bold Moves’ event, proudly announcing Meagan Good as their latest ambassador in support of the brand’s philanthropic initiative, Building Beautiful Futures.?

The evening in New York featured BOLD conversations with Meagan Good and?DonYé Taylor (Digital Creator)?moderated by Tenaj Ferguson (Marketing Director at L'Oréal). Dark & Lovely and?BrainTrust Founders Studio?also revealed the winner of their recent?pitch competition, Janell Norris (formerly Janell Muhammad), Founder and CEO of SelfiēSkín Co?and BrainTrust Founders Studio member. She was awarded a grant and a trip to Dark & Lovely’s headquarters in NY to learn what it takes to build and grow a beauty brand. Read more HERE!

Additionally, we partnered with Cantu Beauty to successfully?launch artist?Melissa Koby’s line of accessories for Black History Month. "The MKOBY Accessories Collection" is a new collection of accessories designed to make styling easier and more fashionable! Available in-store at select Target locations and online at Target.com.

In partnership with?Build In Tulsa, a non-profit organization committed to catalyzing multi-generational Black wealth through tech and entrepreneurship, we kicked off B3: Build Black Beauty in Tulsa. Our three year program aims to increase awareness of how Build in Tulsa’s infrastructure and programs can support Black founders of beauty and wellness companies. This month, Build in Tulsa also announced the?W.E. Build?Accelerator that will empower 8 innovative and diverse early-stage startups led by Black women to create and launch scalable ventures. The first cohort will begin in April. Read more HERE!

As part of our continued education and on-demand programming, BrainTrust Founders Studio hosted 16 speakers so far this year including?Jamé Jackson?(Emerging Community Lead at LinkedIn),?Keren Charles?(Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Sephora) and?Lisa Stevens?(Senior Business Consultant at J.P. Morgan Chase).

Collage at the?Entreprenista 100 Power Lunch and Awards this past weekend in West Palm Beach?featuring Arion Long (Founder & CEO of Femly and BTFS member), Tierra Ferguson (daughter of Kendra Bracken-Ferguson), Barbara Jacques (Founder & CEO of JACQ'S and BTFS member), Stephanie Cartin &? Courtney Spritzer (Co-founders of Entreprenista), and Anouck Gotlib (CEO of Belgian Boys).

Congratulations to the Entreprenista team on a successful Entreprenista 100 Power Lunch and Awards this past weekend in Palm Beach, Florida! I am so proud of Arion Long,?BTFS member?and Founder and CEO of?Femly, for being named Entreprenista of the year! Follow @entreprenista on Instagram for all the highlights of the weekend.?

Three themes stood out to us?as we kicked off Business of the Beat Season Three: the importance of building your brand around your community, the art of knowing when to be patient and when to go full steam ahead, and the power of creating a brand with a purpose beyond ourselves. One cannot dive into purpose-driven work alone, and all of our founders acknowledged this with gratitude towards their strong support networks, loyal consumers, and their unique cultural backgrounds.?

Our founders and decision-makers left us with key lessons about working smarter (Denis Asamoah), setting boundaries (Arion Long), constantly striving to learn (Olamide Olowe), and so much more.?Through building strong teams and keeping their eyes on the prize, these community-focused and strategy-oriented mavericks have been making waves in the beauty and wellness industry.

Business of the Beat?focuses on the business of beauty and wellness specifically through the lens of BIPOC founders, senior executives, influencers, and operators.?Past guests include?Nyakio Grieco (Thirteen Lune/Nyakio Beauty),?Tai Beauchamp (Brown Girl Jane),?Tonya Lewis Lee (Movita Organics),?Lisa Price (Carol's Daughter), and over 100 more!

You can find Business of the Beat on all platforms from Apple Podcasts to Stitcher to Spotify.

See you at Founders House! RSVP HERE!