In recent years, the history of racism towards Black Americans has received increasing attention, with companies and politicians making promises to address the many injustices still facing this demographic. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has also been especially hard on Black Americans, who’ve experienced a higher unemployment rate than any other racial group in the U.S. Even as the economy has started to recover, the Black unemployment rate increased, while the unemployment rates for white, Hispanic, and Asian Americans fell. 

To honor Black History Month, Stash is taking a look at some of the most pressing financial issues affecting the Black community, such as student loan debt, the homeownership gap, and the lack of Black leadership at Fortune 500 companies. We also offer some insights into how anyone can improve their financial lives.

Plus, listen to Stash’s podcast Teach Me How to Money, the go-to personal finance podcast for everything you want to know about your money. These episodes feature Black personal finance experts discussing top money issues.

The post Building Financial Freedom and Wealth in the Black Community appeared first on Stash Learn.

And while the Covid-19 pandemic has caused economic turmoil, including the closure of many businesses and massive job losses, it has also sparked a small business boom, particularly in Black communities across the nation. 

Yet Black-owned businesses face unique challenges with funding and survival rates. While 20% of Black Americans reportedly start businesses, only 4% survive past the start-up phase. Just as important, Black entrepreneurs experience a big funding gap and start their businesses with a median $35,000 compared to a median $107,000 for white entrepreneurs, according to a report from McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.

As we celebrate Black History Month, we examine the strength of Black entrepreneurship and offer some ideas for how to support Black-owned businesses.

The pandemic and small business

Covid-19 has contributed to a boom in small business creation generally. Massive layoffs may have forced more U.S. consumers to consider starting their own businesses out of necessity to earn money. Simultaneously, increased money from various stimulus payments, unemployment, and severance packages have provided more people with means to launch new companies. In fact, from March 2020 to June 2021, a record number of Americans started businesses, with 440,000 people starting their own ventures in June 2021 alone.

In 2020, the percentage of businesses created out of necessity, meaning created by an out-of-work person, increased to 30% from 19% in 2019, according to the New York Times.

Throughout the pandemic, unemployment has affected Black Americans more than any other racial group. The unemployment rate among Black Americans stood at 9.2% in June 2021, compared to 5.9% for all Americans. And yet, the number of Black-owned businesses increased 38% since February, while the number of white and Asian-American entrepreneurs fell 3% and 2%, respectively. Latinx-owned businesses increased 15%. 

Black-owned businesses in the U.S.

There are approximately 135,000 Black-owned businesses in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These businesses employ about 1.3 million people, and have total annual receipts of about $133.740 billion annually. About one third of Black-owned companies operate in the health care and social services sectors, according to the Census Bureau. 

Other sectors where Black-owned businesses tend to concentrate include professional, scientific, and technical services, administrative support, construction, transportation and warehousing, according to the McKinsey report. 

On a more local level, Georgia is home to more Black-owned businesses than any other state, and New York City is the U.S. city with the most Black entrepreneurs.

The funding gap for Black-owned businesses in the U.S.

While Black Americans account for 14.2% of the U.S. population, Black-owned companies make up 2.2% of the 5.7 million employer businesses, which are companies that employ more than one person, according to a study by the think tank Brookings.

Source: Brookings, 2020

If the number of Black-led businesses were proportional to the number of Black Americans, these companies would bring in higher revenue and provide more employment opportunities for Black workers, according to Brookings. 

But a lack of proper funding and other systemic issues may prevent this growth from happening. Many entrepreneurs rely on real estate collateral to fund their businesses, but homes in Black neighborhoods are reportedly undervalued by $156 billion. This undervaluation is due in part to the lingering effects of redlining, which is the illegal practice of denying mortgages to people, usually people of color, from certain neighborhoods. Today, Black homeowners are four times more likely to live in a formerly redlined neighborhood than a neighborhood outside of those lines. 

Additionally, white business owners are twice as likely as Black and Latinx business owners to get full approval for financing from financial institutions and elsewhere. That trend has reportedly continued during the pandemic. In 43% of cases, white entrepreneurs received more favorable treatment than Black entrepreneurs did from lenders, when applying for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to a study by the National Community Reinvest Coalition (NCRC). The PPP was enacted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help small businesses.

Investing in Black entrepreneurs 

Currently, some Black-led businesses trying to get off the ground rely on funding from non-profit organizations, private investors, or crowdfunding platforms. The Small Business Administration (SBA) also offers resources, including training, development, and funding specifically for minority-owned businesses. 

Lana Khabarova, founder of financial media company SustainFi, based in New York, New York, recommends researching crowdfunding platforms that serve Black-owned businesses. FundBlackFounders, for example, helps Black entrepreneurs get access to capital, as well as coaching, webinars, and advice to help them get their businesses off the ground.

In some cases, when you invest in companies through a crowdfunding platform, you can get a small piece of ownership in the company, which can be valuable if the company goes public or gets acquired. Seed at the Table, for example, is a crowdfunding service that was founded by people of color, and allows accredited and non-accredited investors to connect with Black-led start-ups and gain equity in them through investing. Non-accredited investors, who are people who don’t meet income or wealth guidelines outlined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) face restrictions on what they can invest in, and are limited to certain types of securities. Accredited investors, on the other hand, meet certain criteria set by the SEC, and can take on riskier investments. 

You can also invest in companies and institutions that support Black-led businesses. “One option is to invest in community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which are government-designated lenders that must lend to local businesses underserved by traditional banks,” says Khabarova. If there’s a particular company in mind that you want to support but you don’t want to invest, you can do so by promoting them on social media, or buying their products when possible.

Other ways to get involved 

For those investors who’d rather put their money in the stock market, you might research which public companies are supporting Black-led businesses or have diversity and inclusion policies that you support. Additionally, there is “an exchange-traded fund called The NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF (NACP), which seeks to invest in U..S. companies with strong racial and diversity policies,” says Khabarova. 

If you’re an entrepreneur yourself, you might also want to invest your time or talents instead of your money. Consider volunteering for mentorship programs, or hiring Black-led businesses for supplies and services you need. 
Stash can help you build a solid financial foundation, whether you want to invest, or save towards starting a business of your own. You can invest in stocks, bonds, and exchange-traded funds on Stash with just $1.

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On average, Black college graduates have $25,000 more in student debt than white college graduates do, according to the Education Data Initiative. And four years after graduating, almost half of Black graduates owe an average of 12.5% more than they did when they graduated. 

Compounding debt problems, college is more expensive than ever. Adjusted for inflation, the yearly tuition  at a four-year college education has increased to $28,123 in 2019 from $5,504 in 1986. 

Of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29, 34% have student loan debt. As of November 2021, 42.9 million people owe $1.57 trillion in student debt.  

How student debt affects Black Americans 

Additionally, Black graduates default on their student loans more than white graduates do. Of Black students who started college in 2004, 38% defaulted on their student loans within twelve years after graduating. This percentage is reportedly three times higher than it is for white graduates.

If you miss a federal student loan payment, it’s typically considered delinquent. You are in default on a loan if you don’t pay overdue payments by 270 days after the missed payment. When you default on a loan, the entire loan amount can be due immediately, among other consequences. Defaulting can have a negative impact on your credit score. (Note: Federal student loans have been in forbearance since the beginning of the pandemic, meaning that payments are paused and these loans have not accrued interest since March, 2020 and will not resume accruing interest through April 2022. )

Why Black Americans are disproportionately affected by student debt

The wealth gap, or the historical disparity in average household income between white Americans and Black Americans, could be a key reason for the difference in student loan debt, according to some reports from the Federal Reserve. The median household income for white households in 2020 was $74,912, about 63% more than the median household income for Black households of $45,870. 

This income disparity continues once college graduates start working, according to The Atlantic. Black Americans with bachelor’s degrees earn an average of $29.76, compared to white Americans with the same level of education, who earn on average $38.18, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Hispanic graduates fall in the middle, earning $31.96 per hour.

This wage gap increases further when gender is considered. Black women with bachelor’s degrees earn an average of $27.76, compared to white women who earn $32.02.

How can you minimize student debt?

If you are one of the many Americans with student debt, you can try these tactics to help pay off your loans. 

While federal loans can give you more flexibility, including the ability to make deferrals on payments, and options for needs-based repayment that are based on income, some private lenders can offer you lower repayment terms, that could potentially save you hundreds of dollars each year.

Another method could be paying more than the minimum amount due to the lender each month, especially during the relief period during which federal loans are charging 0% interest when you can really make a dent in the principal you owe. Paying the minimum owed can make your payments stretch on for more years than you want. If you can, even adding an extra $20 to each monthly payment can help you chip away at your debt faster.

Some people might be eligible for student loan forgiveness. To be eligible for these programs, you typically have to be involved in some sort of public work, such as medicine or teaching.

Remember to include paying off your student loans and other debt in your budget. 

The post Why Student Debt Hits Black Americans Hardest appeared first on Stash Learn.

Williams was once a federal government employee with a high security clearance, as well as multiple promotions and professional recognitions. 

About a decade ago, she says she was living the definition of success that was set by her mother, a 42-year federal government employee who was honored by President Barack Obama upon her retirement. 

But the ground fell out from under her, Williams says, when her department changed bosses.

“The new boss that I had was a white woman who clearly was coming into the role with bias. She told me instead of writing these national level security reports, I would now be demoted to organizing travel for the office,”  Williams says, noting that she was the only black woman in the office.

“I did that for three months and then she came back to me and said, ‘I think this is too complicated for you.’ And I got demoted again to making badges for people who visited the office,” Williams said. “Then another three months passed and I was demoted yet a third time and that was to badge people out of the ladies’ and the men’s bathroom.”

That professional fall from grace, as she calls it, led her to quit her job in 2014 and find her passion—becoming an entrepreneur and promoting Black entrepreneurship and Black job creation so that she, and other Black professionals, could break out from having their only income stream controlled by a boss or employer that may or may not treat them fairly. 

Williams, based in Washington D.C., is now the chief executive officer and founder of The Black upStart, a pop-up training school that has trained more than 550 Black entrepreneurs since 2016 in several cities such as Atlanta and Baltimore, and helped secure more than $3.75 million in financing. She also manages United Negro College Fund’s entrepreneurship initiative.

“The people who don’t have capital in a capitalist economy will remain economically weak,” she says. “I think that entrepreneurship is that road to economic independence.” 

That road, however, is a rocky one. 

According to the 2021 Small Business Credit Survey’s report on businesses owned by people of color, Black-owned businesses continue to lag behind white-owned companies and have more acutely felt the effects of the pandemic: 

• 85% of Black-owned businesses reported a decrease in revenue during the prior 12 months, compared to 76% of white-owned businesses. 
• 77% of Black-owned companies said that they were experiencing poor or fair financial conditions, versus 54% of white-owned companies. 
• 67% of Black-owned firms reduced their operations because of the pandemic, while 54% of white-owned firms did the same.

Challenges for Black entrepreneurs

Starting a business is hard enough, but Black entrepreneurs can face additional challenges, biases, and obstacles that their white counterparts do not, including higher interest rates and potential discrimination at traditional banks and lending companies. 

“You ask any small business owner, they would say access to capital is their number one concern. But if you ask an African-American, they’ll say their top one, two, and three concerns are access to capital,” Ron Busby, president and CEO of U.S. Black Chambers (USBC), says. 

Busby says it is common for Black entrepreneurs to be held to a higher standard when applying for business funding, with lenders requiring higher credit scores from Black people than white people. And when they do get loans, often the rates can be much higher than for white-owned businesses, he says. 

In a USBC statement put out in 2020, Busby points to the story of Freddie Lee James Jr., a St. Louis, Missouri entrepreneur who was denied a business loan from a bank even though he had a credit score of around 750 and his product —homemade barbecue sauce —  generated about $200,000 in profits and was sold in 1,000 stores, including major retailers like Home Goods and Hy-Vee.

Overcoming barriers

Williams points to historical Black entrepreneurs, including hair product entrepreneur Annie Malone and bank president Maggie Walker, as inspiration for how today’s entrepreneurs can push through racist and discriminatory practices to create and fund companies, and then hire and train employees.

“There is a Black history entrepreneurial blueprint that Black people could follow and be very successful,” she says, “without looking at other entrepreneurs who are not Black who were successful but didn’t have obstacles of racism and discrimination to overcome.” 

Some major financial institutions are paying more attention to the Black business community, including JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways initiative and Capital One’s training programs on unconscious bias and micro-behaviors. And spurred by protests during the summer of 2020, some banks have responded to criticism that they’ve exercised discriminatory lending practices. For example, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America promised to lower fees for Black and minority-led companies seeking supply-chain financing. 

But Busby and Williams say Black entrepreneurs still rely heavily on personal loans or crowd-funding and using their own personal savings as well as loans from Black-owned banks, such as Liberty Bank.

“We have to be resourceful, we have to look harder and we really have to have our information together when we go to these financial institutions,” Busby says. “It is a huge challenge for Black business owners.” 

Shifting Focus in the Black Business Community

While funding and profitability are usually the main focus for entrepreneurs, Black business leaders like Williams and Busby are now spearheading a push further into both job creation and harnessing the immense buying power of the Black community.

Williams says she wants to see more Black entrepreneurs start businesses that create the products and services that the Black community already buys.

“We have $1.3 trillion of buying power,” she says, “but we spend that money making other entrepreneurs that are not us, rich.”

Williams says she’d like to start seeing Black entrepreneurs move into the spaces where Black consumers spend the most money, including: 

• $1.04 billion on non-refrigerated juices and drinks
• $829.8 million on detergents
• $152 million on women’s fragrances
• $136.8 million on cookware

Busby believes the best way for Black-owned businesses to succeed is by supporting Black-owned businesses. And while that may seem obvious, it really requires all consumers to work to seek them out. 

“We do have to take the extra step,” he says. “When we look, we can find.”

To that end, the USBC keeps a searchable directory of black businesses that is now 107,000 strong.

The Black upStart is also increasing its focus on Black wealth management to encourage growth and spending for everyone, even if they don’t have the capital or the desire to become an entrepreneur. That includes “demystifying” wealth language and educating people on retirement accounts such as of 401(k)s and 403(b)s, investing in the stock market, or in the creation of their own Black-owned business.

“How do we begin to acquire assets, something that we can pass down to our children, that our children’s children can benefit from?” Williams says. “But then also the type of assets that can make us money while we sleep, which is, of course, a goal.”

Photo: by Christopher Creese

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Currently,  there are just four Black chief executive officers leading the largest public companies in the U.S. They include Thasunda Brown Duckett of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), René Jones of M&T Bank, Marvin Ellison of home improvement chain Lowe’s, and Rosalind Brewer of pharmacy Walgreens. Frank Clyburn will become the fifth when he takes over as CEO of International Flavors and Fragrances on February 14, 2022.  

And despite attempts to increase diversity, Black executive leadership at Fortune 500 companies has actually decreased since 2012. The Fortune 500 includes the 500 biggest companies in the U.S., bringing in $13.8 trillion in revenue, collectively. 

While many of these companies have committed to increased diversity and inclusion in hiring, Black workers may experience more prejudice in the office and more roadblocks to advancement in their careers, according to experts. For these reasons, there still exists a significant leadership gap along racial lines at the top.

Understanding the leadership gap

Franklin Raines was the first Black CEO to head up a Fortune 500 company, taking over the role at the mortgage loan company Fannie Mae in 1999. Since his tenure, Fortune 500 companies have seen only 22  Black CEOs or board chairs.

This leadership gap widens further for Black women. When Duckett  took on her position at TIAA, she became the third Black woman to hold a CEO position at a Fortune 500 company. Ursula Burns was the first, acting as a CEO of print business Xerox from 2009 to 2017. In 2019, Mary Winston became the interim CEO at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, before she was replaced by a white man. 

The leadership gap extends beyond CEO to other executive roles. Black Americans make up 8% of professionals in the U.S., according to a 2019 study from Coqual, formerly known as the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI). Additionally, 3.2% of executives, senior-level officials, and managers are reportedly Black. 

Black professionals may also experience more roadblocks to advancement. The Coqual study found 65% of Black employees said they were “very ambitious,” compared to 53% of white employees. Meanwhile, 19% of Black employees said that someone of their race or ethnicity would never achieve a top position at their company, compared to 3% of white employees. Black respondents reported less access to senior leaders at their jobs than white respondents (31% vs 44%).  

Black employees are also more likely than other racial groups to experience prejudice in the workplace, according to Coqual. Fifty-eight percent of Black workers have experienced racial prejudice at their jobs, compared to 41% of Latinx workers, 38% of Asian workers, and 15% of white workers. 

When Black employees do hold executive positions, they reportedly aren’t often ones that lead to higher roles, such as CEO. For example, 13% of chief human resources officers, 20% of chief sales officers, and 43% of chief administrative executives at Fortune 100 companies are Black.

How companies can address the leadership gap

The lack of advancement for Black employees is often a failure on the part of the organization itself, say some experts. “The biggest reason why there is a lack of Black executives remains due to the lack of talent development which leads to high retention rates,” says Michelle Ngome, founder of Line 25 Consulting, an inclusive marketing company, based in Houston, Texas.  

To combat racism in the workplace, changes need to come from existing leadership, says Gena Cox, the head of advisory and research at consultancy Feels Human, Inc., in Tampa, Florida. “Decision-makers and power-wielders must get to know people of color, and Black people, particularly, a little better,” she says. Cox urges companies to hire more people of color, but also to “infuse inclusive behaviors” into their workplace cultures to prevent Black employees from leaving. 

Ngome also notes an increasing interest Black entrepreneurship as an alternative for Black professionals to build their own businesses, with Black Americans at the center. “People turn to entrepreneurship for a ton of reasons, but most Black people have a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to corporate. Entrepreneurship is a new way of life with freedom and flexibility,” she offers. You can learn more about Black entrepreneurs and how you can support small Black businesses during Black History Month here.

The post Where are the Black CEOS at Big Companies? appeared first on Stash Learn.

Daymond John

CEO and president of FUBU

Daymond John is one of the most recognizable names in business and fashion thanks to his clothing line, bestselling books and his “shark” status on ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank.” 

But he started his empire with just $40 of fabric. He mortgaged his home to create FUBU with a group of friends. The clothing retailer has since made $6 billion in retail sales.

John’s personal net worth is estimated around $300 million. 

Sheila Johnson

Co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts 

Sheila Johnson is the first black woman to attain a net worth of one billion dollars. Johnson, an accomplished violinist and former music teacher, built BET with her then-husband in 1980 to reach Black audiences. She founded the privately held Salamander Hotels and Resorts in 2005 after purchasing farm land in Virginia.

She also is the first Black woman to own a professional sports team, and she now has ownership in three  — the Washington Mystics (WNBA), the Washington Wizards (NBA) and the Washington Capitals (NHL.) Johson is also a noted philanthropist.

Her net worth is now estimated to be around $820 million.

Annie Turnbo Malone

Founder and owner of the Poro company, founder of Poro College

Annie Malone, born in 1869, was the first Black woman in the U.S. to start a line of hair care products aimed specifically at Black women. She started by creating a hair straightener that wouldn’t damage Black women’s hair like other products and then expanded to other hair care and beauty products designed for and marketed to Black women. 

While Madam C.J. Walker, another Black hair care entrepreneur and Malone’s one-time employee, is often cited as the premier Black female businesswoman of her time, it was Malone who got her start first, debuting her products in St. Louis in 1902. 

Malone was heavily involved in her community, founding Poro College in 1918, and used her wealth to empower other Black women. She was reported to have been a millionaire by the end of World War 1.

Madam C.J. Walker

Founder and owner of Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company

Born Sarah Breedlove in 1867 to recently freed slaves, Walker spent her early years on a Louisiana plantation and later moved to St. Louis, Missouri with her daughter to escape a life of poverty. 

She began experimenting with hair care products after a scalp condition caused her to lose much of her hair. In 1904, Walker met fellow Black entrepreneur Annie Malone and joined her team as a sales agent, using and promoting Malone’s product, “The Great Wonderful Hair Grower.” Walker used $1.25 to break out on her own and launch her own line of hair products for Black women. The business boomed, with a mail-order component and a large factory in Indianapolis. Her company employed 40,000 Black women and men in the U.S. Central America, and the Caribbean.

While Walker is said to be the first Black woman in history to make $1 million, her net worth at the time of her death in 1919 was around $600,000. She left most of that money to charity. 

Oprah Winfrey

Founder and owner of Harpo, Inc., media mogul

Oprah Winfrey has been a household name since 1986 when she debuted her wildly popular, national daytime talk show. Born into poverty in rural Mississippi, Winfrey rose through the ranks of local news, starting with a radio spot in Nashville, Tennessee, then becoming the first Black woman to anchor the news at WTVF-TV, also in Nashville. The Oprah Winfrey Show ran for 25 years, garnering 40 million viewers. 

She started O, The Oprah Magazine in 2000 and, in 2008, Winfrey launched the cable network OWN and has gone on to star in and produced award-winning movies and television shows. Her website, Oprah.com, averages 43 million page views per month. 

One of the wealthiest women in the world, Winfrey’s net worth is estimated to be $2.7 billion.

Russell Simmons

Founder of Def Jam Records, rapper

The New York-born Russell Simmons is one of the most prominent Black music entrepreneurs in America. Simmons began his media empire with a $2,000 loan from his mother, which he used to fund his first company, Rush Productions. In 1983, after several years of producing hip-hop artists, Simmons and three others formed the wildly popular rap group Run D.M.C. One year later, in 1984, Simmons co-founded Def Jam Records.

Expanding beyond the music industry, Simmons also found immense success in television and filmmaking. He also founded the clothing line Phat Farm and the Russell Simmons Beverage Company.

Simmons’ net worth has been reported to be around $340 million. 

John Merrick

Co-founder and president of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company

John Merrick was born into slavery in 1859 North Carolina. After the Civil War, Merrick worked as a brick mason in Raleigh and as a shoe shine employee in a barbershop. By 1892, Merrick had become a barber and owned five barber shops in Durham, North Carolina, two for Black customers and three for whites. 

He went on to buy more properties and helped establish the Royal Knights of King David, a fraternal insurance company that was one of the only businesses to provide insurance to the local Black community.  In 1898, Merrick, along with several other Black men, put in $50 shares to found the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, which went on to become the largest Black-owned insurance firm in the U.S.

The company did $1 million in business by 1918, a year before Merrick died. North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company today has assets of $162 million.

Janice Bryant Howroyd

Founder and CEO of the ActOne Group

Janice Bryant Howroyd started her workforce solutions giant ActOne Group in 1978 with $1,500 — including a $900 loan from her mother — a fax machine and a telephone. Today it is the “largest privately-held, woman and minority-owned workforce management company in the U.S.,” according to the company’s website. 

Based in California, ActOne Group has grown from that one fax machine and one phone to operations in 19 countries, with 17,000 clients and 2,600 employees. Howroyd’s net worth is estimated at $390 million.

The post Learn More About These 8 Black Entrepreneurs appeared first on Stash Learn.

You might already have your own list of Black-owned businesses where you like to shop. If you don’t, we at Stash have asked our coworkers to compile a list of Black-owned businesses they love, and where you can shop this month. These companies are uplifting their communities by providing their expertise to make a difference: 

Naturallee Natural by Lisa Bailey

Lisa Bailey

Lisa Bailey is a highly sought-after editorial hair stylist in the beauty industry, specializing in natural hair care. If you’re not in the NYC area to experience her famous techniques in person, you can still benefit from her expertise. Bailey’s online store offers a range of natural hair products including balms, oils, and hair masks, formulated to deeply nourish your hair.

Recommended by: Terrie, Brand and Creative

Rugerks: Organic at its Best

Nadine and Kevin McLean

A love of cooking and healthy eating inspired the McLeans to start Rugerks Organic. The duo grows organic crops in their own backyard—and bring that passion for fresh produce to an online marketplace. Their goal? Providing more people with easier access to organic teas, herbs, spices, and more.

Recommended by: Beatriz, Human Resources

Posh Candle Co. 

Tay Watts

Posh Candle Co. is a one-woman show. Watts, who makes all her candles from 100% soy from American soy farms, also uses phthalate-free fragrances and colorful decorative phrases. Her hope is to inspire women to be their authentic selves and encourage a positive mindset. Watts also works to support projects from organizations and entrepreneurs that share the same passions.

Recommended by: Greg, AML Compliance

Invest as you shop

With Stash, you can shop with your Stock-Back® Card and earn pieces of stocks each time you make a purchase at a publicly traded company.¹ And when you support a small business using your card, you can earn pieces of a custom stock reward. You can build a portfolio that reflects your interests and values. 

So by using your Stock-Back® Card at Black-owned businesses you won’t just be celebrating Black History Month, you’ll also be investing and building your personal portfolio.

The post Celebrate Black History By Shopping at These Small Businesses appeared first on Stash Learn.