Bink Badd is the epitome of a go-getter, female hustler, a motivator, etc. This young woman hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and is a full-time mother, rapper, and entrepreneur who is manifesting in her own lane.
Bink Badd’s love for music began when she was a little girl. Bink, who’s real name is Bianca Mayti, began her musical journey at the age of four when she started writing music to different instrumental songs. Her love for music began to grow.
Later her music would evolve to freestyles and then to full rap songs. Bink Badd began making music, using it as a form of cultural identity and as a way to connect to the hip-hop culture. Bunk Badd prides herself on being a plus size female rapper and is not ashamed of it at all.
Through her grind and hard work, Badd’s has established herself within this music industry. She has a collection of music that can be heard on Spotify.
As it was mentioned above, Ms. Badd also has her own business called ‘More 4 Less Resumes’, in which she fixes other people’s resumes. At first, this job started out as a side hustle as a way to pay off her student loans and put money aside for her daughter’s college fund. It wasn’t until later, that she turned into an actual business that has been up and running for five years.
Bink Badd is out here doing the damn thing and it looks like she will not be stopping for a while. Get to know her by following her on Instagram.
Pic Credit via Krista B. of Unapologetically Eclectic
Malika Crawford is new to the world of entrepreneurship. The 31- year-old, is a budding business owner who says that she ‘accidentally’ fell into her career path. Malika is an esthetician who owns ‘The Chase Room’, and I had the privilege of sitting down with her to discuss her business and how it came together. Crawford’s booth is located in the back of a new nail salon called Barbie Nail Spa, located at 962 Myrtle Avenue, in Brooklyn.Walking in, you can hear the sound of Soca music playing from a single speaker and once you walk in you are greeted with a sweet aroma from an air diffuser and bright pink massage table. Malika was on the side of the table preparing her waxes for her upcoming clients and the space is very clean and tidy. Malika also greets her clients with a hug and smile and makes sure that they are ready before the process begins. Below is the interview.KB: Where did you come up with the name, ‘The Chase Room’?MC: Well, my son’s name is Chase and I am very big on trying to leave your child a legacy, regardless if he wants to take this over or not. Or if he decides to run it like how I want it to be in the next ten years as a full-blown storefront and a franchise. I put it in his name in hopes to open an LLC for him to make money off of it and prosper for when he gets older.KB: When did you realize that you wanted to be an esthetician? When did this become your main career path?MC: Honestly, I fell into it. I started off wanting to do hair. I went to Cosmetology school and during the course of going to cosmetology school, I realized my OCD is far too much for regularly doing hair. It was taking me way too long to do simple tasks like cutting or coloring hair because I literally wanted everything to be perfect. My second job, other than cosmetology school, I started working at EWC/ European Wax Center, and I realized that really helped with my OCD because my brain told me ‘If they want everything gone, we can do this, we can get everything gone.’ My brain formulates it as I see it. Whatever I see in mind, I can visualize it on a person.KB: What were the struggles you faced to get to where you are now?MC: Opening your own business you’ll always have or you’ll always make that wrong step the first time. I aimed too high the first time and I had to rethink my whole entire plan and downsize. Coming from EWC, you think ‘oh I’m going to have all of these clients and I’m good at what I do’, and then when you go on your own it’s not the same.KB: What are the benefits of owning your own business, as opposed to working for an establish cooperation?MC: People are used to cooperations, people are not used to small businesses yet. I think the whole idea of small businesses, within the last 5-6 years, people have been trying to boost small businesses and black-owned businesses in the last 2-3 years. For people to really trust you and rely on you like they do the big cooperations that they know they can go in and get out, but I feel like big cooperations aren’t concentrating on actual skincare, to them its a factory work, you get in, you get out, next, and you’re not giving time to really educate people on their skin. I’ve seen people come in with cyst-like in-grown [hair], and they don’t even know, they just figure they can put the serum on it and it’s just going to work, but going working in those cooperations you only have ten minutes with those people, owning your business I can literally educate you for 20-30 minutes while I am giving you your wax. I make it more personal and more tailored to you than making you feel like you’re in a factory.KB: You said that you take your time with your clients and that you talk to them about skincare, what products or routines do you recommend to someone who has every coarse hair but they have sensitive skin?MC: Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate! I cannot stress enough that you guys need to exfoliate, dead skin cells will close out the pores where the hair has already come out from and it will cause ingrown hairs, it will cause your skin to be sensitive, especially if you come from shaving every day or every three days because people who have sensitive skin or coarse hair like that are those who have been shaving their entire lives and they don’t know anything else other than that. When they transfer over to the realm of waxing they become frustrated because maybe their first wax isn’t as clean as they thought it was going to be. Exfoliating has to be your best friend and if you do get ingrown, treating it before it gets worse is the best recommendation that I can give to anybody. Also, if you stick to waxing and not waxing for special occasions and then go back to shaving, you are not going to see the results you want at all.KB: Earlier, you mentioned the growth of Black-owned businesses and now you are in the world of being a black business owner, did you ever think that you be owning your own business?MC: No, not at all. When I was working at my previous jobs I thought that making $600 every two weeks was everything. I was more concerned about going to the clubs. Now, when I make that amount of money, I’m wondering about how to put it back into my business.KB: Who are some of the people that influenced you to get to where you are today?MC: My top influencer has to be SupaCent. I used to watch all of her videos when she used to talk her mess just cause, she was hilarious. I literally own some of her Crayola crayon products. She’s legit it for me, I still follow her, I feel like I am an internet auntie to her kid. My second influencer is an esthetician out of Lousiana named Melissa founder of Queendom Aesthetics. She literally started her business from the ground up and I have seen her progress through Instagram.KB: Where do you see your business going in the next five to ten years?MC: As I said before, I want to own a storefront. I want to be able to have my business become an LLC and maybe in the next ten years, I can be a franchise but not franchise to where I sell out to become cooperation but a franchise as in I will be manging four or five stores along with my sister so that we can leave something for our children. I think that’s the main thing that black people fail to do, and a lot of people leave their children in debt. When my mother passed, she did not leave us in debt, she left us to a point where we were stable and want to be able to leave my son that.KB: Do you think that starting this move or falling into this realm of entrepreneurship was the best decision that you have made?MC: It had to be the best decision that I have ever made because I feel like I can spend more time with my son now. Granted, I am at work, but I don’t have to ask someone ‘Can I come in late today because I have to do so and so with my son?’ If I don’t have any clients scheduled on that day, I can clear out my entire day and spend it with my son. I take my own sick days, I can call and reschedule clients in the case of an emergency. I work for myself and it’s the best feeling ever.Walking in The Chase Room, as a first time client, I left with a lot of tips on keeping my skin healthy and glowing. I also left with a goodie bag full of products that she makes herself which consisted of a sugar scrub made with tea tree oil, olive oil, or coconut oil and a small bottle of Rosewater made from boil rose petals, distilled water, and witch hazel. The scrub is good to use for exfoliation and the removal of dead skin cells, while the rosewater is good for inflammation and the reduction of bumps and ingrown hairs.
Pic Credit via Krista B. of Unapologetically Eclectic
It is truly amazing to see how much success you can gain in just one year. On December 22nd,2016, a group of five young, black and beautiful women started The Black Girl Podcast, which was derived from a simple conversation in hallways of Hot 97’s radio station. This podcast would quickly change the standard for future podcasts to come. Sapphira Em, Rebecca, Alysha P, Scottie Beam, and Gia Peppers are the voices behind the mics and they don’t hold back.Over the past year, all of these ladies shared and unpacked a lot of themselves which resonates with their listeners and fans everywhere. There were moments where you laughed with them, cried with them, wanted to fight for them but most importantly you were able to relate to them. Each woman brings something to the table that we as a black community usually take for granted.These women came together and gave a new meaning to being Black AF, and we are all here for it. If you have ever listened to their podcast, you will know that they are pro-black all the time and not afraid to express it. BCP is not only a group of friends but they are a sisterhood that you need in your life to uplift you when you’re feeling down like Sapphira, to pray for and with you like Gia, and to keep you motivated to keep going even when you don’t believe in yourself to do so like Alysha, to give you words of wisdom like Rebecca, or to make sure that you are always good like Scottie. Although we as fans and listeners may have that, we don’t appreciate it as we should, but these ladies will help you to start doing so with your own group of friends.In honor of making a year and being very successful at it, the ladies decided to have an anniversary party, where they invited their friends and fans to join them. The party was held on Thursday, December 21st, 2017, at VNYL at 100 3rd ave in Manhattan. All of the ladies expressed their gratitude, love, and support to those in attendance and so also mingled, danced, and took pictures with whoever wanted one. They even had a few surprises that came to show them love like Ebro of Hot 97’s morning show, along with Peter Rosenberg and DJ Enuff.Partying in a room full of melanin, in support of this fabulous young ladies, gives you a sense of hope that anything you put your mind to and if you work hard for it, it will be possible to achieve. Congratulations ladies on a successful year of Black Girl Podcast, we are all here rooting for your success for many years to come.
