CINCINNATI, Ohio — We are nearing the end of August, which is also National Black Business Month, and Black business owners are hoping for continued support as they work to keep making strides.
What You Need To Know
- August is National Black Business Month
- Natasha Williams is the creator of Blk Wine Fest and the owner of Lush Life Brands
- Williams created Blk Wine Fest after learning more about wine and wanting to amplify the voices of Black winemakers
- Black businesses have continued to grow and Williams hopes this month is another reminder to support local Black businesses
Natasha Williams is never without wine.
“No party am I empty handed,” Williams said.
Williams pours a glass of wine. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
She discovered her love for wine a few years ago.
“I was sitting at a wine bar in Charlotte, and I was like, have you ever thought about, like, how wine is made and where it comes from?” she recalled. “And the story behind the bottle, the story in the bottle.”
Specifically, she wondered about Black winemakers.
Williams wanted to learn more about the story of each bottle of wine, which led her to creating Blk Wine Fest. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
“These brands came and just popped on and everybody was like, yes, this is what we’ve been looking for because you want to support brands by people who look like you,” Williams said.
Which became the inspiration for the Blk Wine Fest.
“Let’s make this a regional thing,” she said. “You got California doing something, in Tennessee, no, like Cincinnati. We’re here like it is all about putting Cincinnati on the map as a destination.”
The festival features dozens of Black winemakers across the country. Williams hopes to elevate the voices of these Black businesses in Cincinnati.
Blk Wine Fest features about 35 different Black winemakers. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
And this Black Business Month is a way for Williams and others like her to celebrate their accomplishments. According to the Annual Business Survey, from 2017 to 2021, Black businesses revenue grew 43%. And according to DC.gov, Black businesses employ 1.18 million people and generate over $130 billion in sales. And in 2020, the number of Black women-owned businesses grew by 20.2%, outpacing the overall growth of Black-owned businesses and women-owned businesses.
“It’s important that in the last four years they have said we have increased entrepreneurship as Black business owners, it has like quadrupled,” Williams said. “And so in order for us as black business owners to stay in business, it is important that we support one another.”
While Williams is in the depths of planning next year’s Blk Wine Fest, she knows how important it is to support her business and others. She hopes she can continue to amplify other Black Business owners.
“I want to make wine fun,” she said. “I want to make it approachable. I thought about my experiences with wine. Wine can be intimidating. I wanted people who looked like me to have fun with wine.”