Support Small Businesses
This Holiday Season
the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership Holiday Gift Guide
This holiday season, it's important to make a conscious choice to support small and local businesses. Whether you're shopping for friends and family, hosting holiday parties, or just looking to explore new brands, here is a list of small businesses offering quality products and services.
Moisture Love
Founded by Jeannell Darden
About:
At MoistureLove, we want you to feel good and to love your natural hair in all its texture and glory. To do that, we want to help you find the perfect solution, the hair products that will work for you. MoistureLove products work WITH your natural hair, never trying to force it to be something it's not. With us, your hair will feel like it's experiencing a spa day, every day.
Lamik Beauty
Founded by Kim Roxie
About:
LAMIK Beauty (pronounced La-Meek) is a vegan makeup line made with natural and organic ingredients for multicultural women.
We support and celebrate women in all of their glory.
We are building an inclusive community for women across the country. We're passionate about serving this community.
We are creating the highest quality products with the purest ingredients. We are devoted to promoting the health of our customers and their communities. We educate our customers with love and care.
oneKIN, Inc.
Founded by Jennifer Gomez
About:
oneKIN is a mission-driven, retail-tech company, and we are singularly focused on providing small businesses creative technology solutions to help them increase their visibility and grow sustainably.
Over the last 5 years, oneKIN has amassed significant data and learnings about the pain points of BIPOC businesses, specifically, and the larger small business community, in general.
From our curated ecommerce marketplace, to our soon-to-launch livestream shopping app, we are leveling the playing field for the solopreneurs, micro merchants, and mom-and-pops competing in a highly saturated retail industry.
Lovedom
Founded by Dominique "Lovedom" Davenport
About:
Dominique ‘Lovedom’ Davenport is a Visual Artist, Singer-songwriter and Model from New York City. She paints and draws custom commissioned portraits, abstract paintings and produces handmade resin home goods that can be painted in custom colors to fit your decor.
Ebaata Skincare
Founded by Phumelele Kunene
About: Ebaata Skincare offers plant-based baby and beauty products which include natural & organic soaps. Formulated to help alleviate dry skin conditions such eczema. Our Promise: No harsh chemicals, synthetic fragrances, nor toxic colorants.
NasaClip
Founded by Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne
About: The first and only adjustable nosebleed rescue device that provides constant, comfortable, hands-free compression. Made up of 2 soft sponges and a small clip that provides personalized pressure, NasaClip stops nosebleeds fast.
Emish Company
Founded by Melissa Parker
About: Emish Company is an Afrocentric Accessory brand where everything is handmade and fabric is sourced directly from Africa.
Flow and Flair by Eec Productions
Founded by Mykel Dicus
About: Flow and Flair is a Flag Dance class committed to "Turning I Can't to I Can." Flow and Flair has both in-person and online delivering classes to Senior and Disability Communities.
Hands-Free Inc.
Founded by Steve Kaufman
About: We make Quikiks Hands-Free Shoes that allow people with physical or cognitive challenges to easily step into the shoes and have them securely fasten without the need to bend over or use their hands – improving their quality-of-life, independence, self-esteem and safety.
40 Dreams Catering
Founded by Adrienne Fudge
About: 40 Dreams Catering delivers high quality meals straight to the homes of New Jersey Senior Citizens and Disabled Adults. We work directly with insurance companies, caretakers, and family members to ensure our clients are getting the right foods. We believe access to healthy delicious meals is a human right not a privilege.
DC Sweet Potato Cake
Founded by: April Richardson
About: DC Sweet Potato Cake is a commercial bakery that is located in Washington DC Metro Area. The cakery is known for its legendary Sweet Potato Cake. This cake is known to cause shoving matches over the last slice. Our products are found in regional stores such as Starbucks, Wegmans, Safeway, and Nordstrom.
Cupcake Chromatography
Founded by: Nadia B
About: Chromatography, through careful experimentation, creates decadent desserts and fun learning experiences to feed your sweettooth, while making STEM education more palatable! We’re on a mission to spread sweetness and hope to our customers, whom we call connoisseurs, through our concoctions and classes which are inspired by physical science.
Spoon and Sprout Inc
Founded by: Geetha Jayaraman
About: Eating healthy doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, it can be both simple and nourishing to eat nice, well-balanced meals.
Geetha made Houston her home in Spring '21, plans to grow her Plant-Based prepared foods and snacks and have a Retail presence in '22 – until then, you can order her products at Spoon and Sprout and follow us on social media - FB, IG, and LI.
Africa Good Nest
Founded by: Bernice Yalley
About:
Africa is changing – pulsing at the seams with youth and creativity. Africa Goodnest celebrates Africa and the talented, unique minds creating high-quality brands that are on par with what we typically import from abroad. Africa Abounds with creative professionals crafting amazing food and beverages, herbs and spices, and beauty care products.
Africa Goodnest sounds like "goodness" because we are bringing you all of what's good, natural, and wholesome from this remarkable African continent.
gCreate
Founded by Anna Lee
About: gCreate manufactures large format desktop 3D printers and offers on-demand 3D printing services.
Athletic Arts Academy
Founded by IyaSokoya “Coach Iya” Karad
About: Athletic Arts Academy is a 10,000 square foot facility located in Orange, NJ that offers beginner and competitive gymnastics, tumbling and trampoline, preschool gym, roller-skating and skateboard instruction, summer camp, school-age after-school care, ages 2 & up.
Live Life Your Way
Founded by Noreen Sumpter
About: Noreen Sumpter is a certified confidence and self-esteem coach that will equip you to own your voice, speak your truth, and live life your way. With Noreen as your guide, you will design your life the way you want to LIVE it by marching to the beat of your own drum and discover your truth.
Kidault Kar LLC
Founded by Enitan Shepherd
About: Kidault is a car service with car seats for children and seniors. We do school transportation, newborn hospital transportation and Medicaid transportation and we also have wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Trap Cardio
Founded by Ashley Redwood
About: Trap Cardio is a dance fitness class that mixes strength training with cardio to the hottest hip hop, Afrobeat, and Caribbean tunes. Beyond fitness, we are a safe place. We can't build ourselves up from a place of pity. In this class, we build from a foundation of love and quickly connect with each other so much that we refer to each other as "cousins". Trap Cardio promotes body positivity and loving yourself to your best self. So, don't be alarmed if you see us working out in just sports bras and leggings. Our confidence shines when we enter the "no t-shirt zone".