15 Black-Owned Brands to Shop This Black Business Month (and Get Rewarded For It)
August is Black Business Month, and if you've been meaning to shop Black-owned more often, this is your sign to actually do it.
Where Black Business Month Comes From
Black Business Month started in 2004 with two men who knew the struggle personally. Frederick E. Jordan was an engineer who couldn't get a single bank to back him when he started his San Francisco firm in 1969. He teamed up with John William Templeton, a historian and publisher, and together they claimed August as a month to celebrate Black entrepreneurship and push for better policy for the millions of Black-owned businesses across the country.
The story goes back much further than 2004 though. Black entrepreneurship in America stretches back to the late 1700s. Booker T. Washington founded the National Negro Business League in 1900. And in Tulsa's Greenwood District, better known as Black Wall Street, a thriving Black economy showed the whole country what was possible when our dollars stayed in our community. August is about honoring that legacy while we build on it.
Why It Matters
The good news first. Black-owned employer businesses grew nearly 57 percent between 2017 and 2022, the fastest rate in more than 30 years. They bring in over $212 billion in revenue a year and pay out $61 billion in salaries. Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the country right now.
Still, there's a long way to go. Black-owned businesses account for barely 3 percent of employer businesses in America, while Black Americans make up over 14 percent of the population. Black founders get denied loans more often and start with less capital than their white counterparts, the same problem Frederick Jordan ran into back in 1969.
So where you spend matters. A dollar spent with a Black-owned business hires from the community, funds the next founder, and builds the kind of generational wealth our families were long denied. That's the whole idea behind Buy Us For Us. And when you shop through Sould, you also earn Soul'd Coins cash back on every purchase, so doing right by the culture pays you back too.
Here are 15 Black-owned brands live on Sould that deserve a spot in your cart this month.
Adore Adorn
Sasha Flynn designs jewelry the way heirlooms used to be made, meant to be worn every day and handed down eventually. Her rings, earrings, and necklaces have a quiet elegance to them, the kind of pieces you buy to mark a moment and end up never taking off.
Pattern Beauty
Tracee Ellis Ross spent a decade pitching this brand before anyone said yes, and curly, coily, and tight-textured hair is better off for it. If you only try one thing, make it the Leave-In Conditioner. People buy it in the liter size for a reason.
Mela Vitamins
Most supplements were never formulated with melanated bodies in mind. Ashley Harmon started Mela to change that, right down to addressing the vitamin D deficiency that affects so many of us. The Daily Essentials multivitamin is an easy place to start if your wellness routine needs a reset.
Camille Rose
Janell Stephens was whipping up hair treatments in her kitchen for her five kids before Camille Rose ever hit a shelf, and you can tell by the ingredient lists. The Curl Maker gel has been a wash-and-go staple for years, and the Coconut Water leave-in smells good enough to eat.
PetPlate
Renaldo Webb saw the inside of enough pet food factories to know he wouldn't feed that to his own dog. PetPlate delivers freshly cooked, human-grade meals portioned for your pup right to your door. Yes, the fur babies get to shop Black-owned too.
Sienna Naturals
Hannah Diop built Sienna Naturals around scalp health, and her co-owner Issa Rae has been putting the line through real-world testing on set for years. The H.A.P.I. Shampoo is the fan favorite, clean and dermatologist-tested without feeling clinical.
Ecoslay
Ecoslay makes small-batch hair care with ingredients you can pronounce and packaging the planet can live with. Curly girls swear by the Orange Marmalade flaxseed and aloe definer, which somehow gives you hold without the crunch. Once you find it, you don't go back.
Beauty Bakerie
Cashmere Nicole built Beauty Bakerie while putting herself through nursing school as a single mom, and the bakery theme runs through everything she makes. The Lip Whip liquid lipstick truly does not budge, and the Flour Setting Powder has earned its cult following.
Goodee
Twin brothers Byron and Dexter Peart spent 20 years in fashion before turning their eye to the home. Goodee is their curated marketplace of ethically made goods, handwoven baskets, ceramics, throws, all of it sourced from makers whose stories you can actually trace.
D'IYANU
Addie Olutola started D'IYANU so you wouldn't have to wait for a wedding to wear African print. Statement dresses, sharp blazers, even matching family sets, all in prints bold enough to turn heads at the cookout or the office.
Crowned Skin
Darrell Spencer walked into Shark Tank with a skincare brand for Black men and walked out with a deal. His Cologned Body Butters do double duty, moisturizing while keeping you smelling good all day, no separate fragrance required.
Mented Cosmetics
KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson met at Harvard Business School and bonded over the same frustration, that finding a nude lipstick for brown skin was nearly impossible. So they made their own. Everything Mented makes starts with deeper skin tones instead of treating them as an afterthought.
The Black Gentleman Grooming Co.
Natural beard and mustache care for the distinguished gentleman in your life, even if that gentleman is you. Their oils, butters, and washes keep a beard soft and full instead of dry and scratchy, which anyone who hugs you will appreciate.
Big Black Tea
This Texas tea and wellness brand takes its blends seriously, from morning cups with some kick to evening blends made for winding down. If your self-care routine could use a slower moment, start the kettle.
Juvia's Place
Chichi Eburu started Juvia's Place from her kitchen table and grew it into a global beauty powerhouse. The eyeshadow palettes, inspired by the colors and queens of Africa, are famous for pigment that shows up on every skin tone on the first swipe. No building, no layering, just color.
Shop Black. Get Rewarded.
Every brand on this list is live on Sould, which means every purchase through the app earns you Soul'd Coins cash back. Black Business Month is the perfect excuse to start, but these brands are worth your dollars all year long.
Download Sould and start earning cash back on every Black-owned brand in the app. Buy Us For Us.