It's Boss Lady History Month!
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Courtesy of the Women's History Month official website.
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Happy Women's History Month from the GTB Team
March is Women's History Month in the United States, since its establishment in 1987. At Get The Bag, we're focused on the advancement of women 365 days out of the year, and any chance to highlight the history and the amazing women that have come before us, we're taking advantage of.
Along with grant lists, grant application tips, product updates and our audience survey results, check out this month's newsletter for special Women's History Month reading lists and a special Women's History Month message from our founder and chief rainmaker, Gloria Ware.
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March and April Grants
The Boss Ladies of the Get The Bag community have let GTB know: y'all want grants, grants and more grants!
By popular demand, here is our March/April grant list here for your convenience and the growth of your business. Below are some featured grant descriptions:
Amber Grant:
No business dream is too big or too small. Our past Amber Grant recipients have included everything from scientific inventors to bakers. What matters is YOU — the woman (or women) behind the business. Applying for the Amber Grant is easy. Don’t try to “sound corporate.” Past grant winners are women who have simply shared from the heart. Our judges are looking for passion as well as business smarts.
SoGal Black Founder Start Up Grant:
SoGal Foundation has teamed up with Winky Lux, bluemercury, twelveNYC, and other sponsors to make a small step towards progress by providing several $10K and $5K cash grants to Black women or nonbinary entrepreneurs.
Awardees will also receive tactical help navigating the fundraising environment at large so that they will have a more equitable opportunity at scaling the next billion dollar idea. They will also receive lifetime “ask-me-anything” access to the SoGal Foundation and SoGal Ventures teams. We know this is a small start, and we are hopeful that it will grow. We believe in a brighter future where the next world changing business does not go unrealized because of systemic discrimination.
Find more grants here.
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Charesha Barrett of CHARP EDucation, a Boss Lady who won a grant featured on Get The Bag.
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What is CHARP EDucation?
CHARP EDucation Consulting provides diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism education for educational institutions (K-12/higher education), governmental agencies, and the legal profession. We use the power of education to help organizations and employees in reaching their fullest potential.
What Grant Did You Win?
Citizen's Bank Minority Owned Small Businesses Grant
Biggest Success In The Last Year
I finally found my niche. Initially, I wanted to provide DEI services for corporations. Now, I am back focusing on my first love: education. I have been concentrating on designing training and curriculum for educators. Over the years, I have been trying to complete the Advance Diversity and Inclusion Certifcate from Cornell ILR. I only have two more classes. The Citizen’s Bank grant is helping me with the funding.
What was your strategy in the grant application process?
I stayed on top of available grant opportunities by using Google Alerts, subscribing to business assistance organization newsletters, such as the Small Business Administration (SBA) and following Get The Bag on Instagram.
Is this your first grant you’ve received?
Yes.
What is an unspoken major key in the grant process?
My application focused on how my business is connected to a broader mission of helping communities thrive. My application focused on helping teachers, students and helping my community It concentrated on a hot topic, diversity, equity and inclusion and the aftermath of the George Floyd murder.
Check Out Citizen's Bank write-up of Charesha here. (Try not to get distracted by those Angela Bassett arms..)
Are You Open To Collaboration Opportunities?
Yes.
Best Way To Reach You?
Website: www.charpeducationconsulting.com or LinkedIn: Charesha Barrett
For more strategies on setting yourself up for grant success, checkout our recent blog post on the topic.
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Our GTB Survey Giveaway Winners
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Congratulations to Karen Blackwell and Dr. Leia' Love!
Karen and Dr. Love are the winners of an annual Get The Bag subscription for there participation in our audience survey. Their names were drawn as part of a giveaway. These boss ladies will each receive four Get The Bag boxes curated with the best and most unique Black-women owned brands over the course of the next year.
Karen is the founder and CEO of LA- based Sage and Alms and Kanda Chocolates, which has been featured in our blog and our gift boxes! Be on the lookout for more of Karen's products in future boxes.
"Kanda Chocolates is a Fair Trade, Non GMO Chocolate that is grown, processed, and packaged in Ghana. We chose Ghana because they are known for having creamier and more chocolate forward cocoa beans than anywhere else in the world. With Ghana being the 2nd largest exporter of cocoa in the world, they still only export less than 1% of finished chocolate. So, we created Kanda Chocolates so that we could help change that."
Dr. Love is the owner of Leia' Love Hair and Nail Salon, LLC in Akron, Ohio.
"At Leia' Love Salon and S.H.E. Suite, we believe that women’s natural disposition to be jugglers, homemakers, and life-givers should not destroy their desire for a holistic lifestyle. Leia' Love Hair and Nail Salon offers a corporate, vibrant, multicultural salon experience alongside our wellness center to help every woman find balance while looking fabulous! We offer hair, nail, lash, massage, waxing, microblading, yoga, executive suite rental and soon mental health services."
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Our Audience Survey Deep Dive
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Are you providing value for your customers? How do you know? We weren't sure either, so we asked you last month to tell us what you want and need from Get The Bag. And you responded! Thank you! We'll be sharing more this month, but here are top 5 of few categories.
What would you like to see more of in the newsletter?
- Business opportunities 61%
- Pitch competition and funding opportunities 50%
- Upcoming business-related workshops/
- events 38.5%
- Questions and Answer sessions 30.8%
- Exclusive offers 23.1%
Biggest Challenge When It Comes To Getting Funded
- I don't think I'm eligible 34.6%
- Waiting for timing to be right 34.6
- Other - primarily paperwork and systems 30.6%
- I'm confused about the process and/or not sure where to start 23.1%
- I'm not sure about all of the funding options 19.1%
If You Had Additional Funding, How Would You Use It In Your Business?
- Marketing and Branding 50%
- Hire Employees 38.5%
- Technology 34.6%
- Professional Development 26.9%
- Business Systems and Processes 26.9%
We're excited to have these insights and will use the information to inform our content and services in 2021! We'll be checking in periodically to ensure that we on staying on top of your needs and providing value in an always changing environment.
If you didn't take the survey it is still open, we'd love to hear from more of you!
Let's get this bag together in 2021!
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We're Bringing The Magic This Spring
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Photo Credit: Michael A. Bussey
In the way that Black History and Women's History is 365 days a year, so is Earth Day. While Earth Day is officially celebrated on April 22nd, we believe in limiting our impact on the environment everyday and incorporating sustainable practices into our operations. From our packaging to how we curate featured products, we share the values of our ancestors in valuing the people and planet that nourish and sustain us. Our very first subscription box of the year, is themed "Think Green" and will ship in April. We will be featuring some incredible and luxurious Black-women owned brands that also incorporate green and healthy business practices. We will also share some insights from our fabulous boss makers and sustainability pros on how "thinking green" can be a win/win for the planet and your purse! Subscribe by March 31st to spring into green with Get The Bag!
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Reads & Resources - WHM Edition
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Get The Bag Reading List - Women's History Month
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Spring is the season of planting seeds for the future, pruning dead wood, so that new shoots can rise, cleaning house and renewal of the spirit. What a great time to adopt a growth mindset, one that is curious about the possibilities and pushes on knowing that there is always a new lesson to learn and a greater you inside. A person with a growth mindset tends to:
- Embrace challenges (umm.. that's daily life of an entrepreneur)
- Persists in the face of setbacks (let's thank our ancestors for bringing us to this point - we got this)
- See effort as the path to mastery (just do it, stop waiting to be perfect)
- Learns from criticism (oooouuu..hard one)
- Finds lessons and inspiration in the success of others (no hateration - let's plant and grow together. Harambee!)
Thank you for being the dope, brilliant and BOSS ladies that you are. Your spirit and commitment to making a better world through entrepreneurship gives me life and hope in the future.
Now let's grow this bag!
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