Black Entrepreneurs Redefine Success of Wealth and Wellness

Despite continuous legislative attempts to avert economic equity, Black business owners are steadfast in shaping the professional and social landscape, pioneering entities that challenge societal norms and aim to propel Black leadership in various sectors.

From D.C.’s Plant Magic Bottle Shop and Travis LeFlore’s Smoothie King in Maryland to self-starter Mick Hunt’s leadership in South Carolina, Black entrepreneurs across the nation are leveraging health education, professional development and a commitment to community building to ensure generational wealth and redefine the legacy of Black trailblazers. 

“Black excellence isn’t new. It’s just been under-reported,” said Hunt, modern leadership expert and founder of “Mick Unplugged.” “We don’t need permission. We don’t need validation, we don’t need a corporate initiative to succeed. The future belongs to those who own their narrative, who control their opportunities, and who move with intelligence, strategy and execution.” 

Plant Magic Bottle Shop: More Than A Mocktail 

Black businesses demonstrate a 22.2% year-by-year increase, according to Lending Tree, and local enterprises like Plant Magic Bottle Shop and LeFlore’s Smoothie King are counted among the novel businesses, working to revitalize the community one beverage at a time. 

“The long-term impact is to really raise the vibration of humanity, getting people [to have] clarity in their life, and then feeling healthy and good,” said Anahata (formerly Jamie Sabat), owner of D.C.’s Plant Magic Bottle Shop. “The more we can do that, and be this beacon of light here in Washington, D.C., I really think we can make a better world.”

Discovering the medicinal benefits of essential oils in natural birth, Anahata became inspired by the healing power of herbs and plants. This realization sparked the vision for the pioneering bottle shop that now thrives in the Union Market District.

Plant Magic Bottle Shop, a non-alcoholic wellness boutique, opened for business in Northeast, D.C., on Jan. 2, launching a platform for thoughtfully crafted products made of holistic, plant-based remedies, such as lion’s mane, ashwagandha, and CBD. 

“Plants really are medicine and we can use them as a tool and as an ally to support us on our wellness journey,” Anahata said. 

With health-benefiting alternatives like euphorics, nootropics, and adaptogens, consumers still reap the benefits of mood enhancement, mental clarity, and relaxation without the aftereffects of alcohol consumption or other unhealthy dependencies. 

Drinks like “Chili Margarita” are infused with vitamins and suntheanine, which naturally stimulates brain activity; while “Spill the Tea, Long Island” – comprised of liver protectant antioxidants and gut health ingredients – provide focus and a sense of tranquility, all the while hinting the base taste of an alcoholic beverage. 

According to Anahata, part of the job includes channeling her background as a certified coach and Reiki Master to “prescribe” customers the necessary product(s) to achieve a functional and enhanced lifestyle and mindset. 

“It’s more than a mocktail, it’s a medicine,” said the wellness leader. “[You] drink this with intention.” 

LeFlore Puts His All into Local Community 

LeFlore, who owns the Smoothie King at 3550 Donnell Drive in Forestville, Maryland, prioritizes a similar approach to building a relationship with customers. 

As a former track athlete, with a personal understanding of the intricacies of health, LeFlore has made it his mission to uplift wellness and the future of leadership through direct engagement with the local community.

“I have guests that…I remember when they first came in, they were telling me about some of the issues they’re dealing with health-wise. With us directing them to a certain kind of smoothie, that little change has changed so many people just over the last nine, 10 months that we’ve been open,” LeFlore told The Informer.

Like Anahata, LeFlore’s background in wellness stems from familial health crises that drove the Michigan native towards a need for better food options, or the lack thereof, in marginalized communities. 

He set his sights on the popular smoothie shop in April 2024, with hopes to increase wellness and nutrition value in the DMV. 

“Coming from inner city Detroit…just growing up, you see what’s around you, and what healthy options are there, and where I grew up, there’s very little healthy options,” LeFlore said. “Even now, coming to Maryland and D.C., it’s the same thing where you have a predominantly Black community that has these fast food chains all over the place.”

In less than a year, the store has nearly hit $1 million in sales, a benchmark achievement that takes most franchises a full year to achieve.

“Seeing that’s where we were at the end of [last] year, that was obviously a great feeling. But for me, it’s really [about] the impact that we’ve made up to this point,” said the Smoothie King owner. “That’s really been the driving point: being here every day, putting our all into the business, into our employees, and into the community.” 

Black Entrepreneurs Tout Vitality, Leadership, Future of Youth

Further, these entrepreneurs leverage their businesses and personal experiences to affect change beyond sales and local exposure. 

For LeFlore and Hunt, a business visionary in South Carolina, championing economic prosperity means fostering relationships with the next class of Black founders. 

“In our communities, we don’t have a lot of people who these kids look up to. They don’t see people that look like them, that are in the community, working and [owning] businesses,” LeFlore explained. 

The novel entrepreneur travels to local high schools like KIPP DC to teach students about the franchise industry and how to build upon their passions and goals. Offering representation and relatability for youth engagement, he told The Informer, is pivotal to developing Black leadership. 

“All you need is a little flame,” LeFlore said. “Let that flicker, and it’s going to start burning even more and more.”

Hunt seconds this notion, similarly using his own entrepreneurial experience to light that fire in future leaders. With his self-help podcast, “Mick Unplugged,” and nationwide public speaking, Hunt aims to support others in personal and professional development, as well as legacy building, which he considers the determining factor of wealth. 

“If you want to build power, it really is letting something live past your legacy,” Hunt told The Informer. “Forget being a leader–who I am in my community, that’s what it’s about.”

The September debut of his latest book, “How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One,” acts as a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs, riddled with tools that he said would have benefited him as a rising pioneer. 

“Beyond leadership skills, what I really want leaders to take away is that your past doesn’t define your ability to lead. You don’t need a perfect background, a prestigious degree. You don’t need to fit into a mold,” Hunt said. 

Here in D.C., Plant Magic Bottle Shop’s holistic approach to mindfulness and healthy remedies challenges the alcohol-centric norm of social gatherings, and advocates for affordable, wellness-focused choices for celebrations and community development. 

Through these efforts, Anahata said consumers can experience a lifestyle change that welcomes lifelong benefits. 

“The biohacking movement is saying if you don’t drink alcohol, lower seed oils, lower your sugar, you can actually live to be 120 with lifelong vitality,” Anahata told The Informer. “When you drink the beverages from my shop with…all these functional, adaptogenic ingredients in them, you live with more energy, more vitality, and you live a longer life.” 

A full profile on Mick Hunt will be published in a later edition of The Washington Informer. 

This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship Lab. The Lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal. 

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