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LaKeysha Jean wants to build the next Hallmark.
In 2021, she launched a greeting card company following George Floyd’s murder and the racial reckoning nationwide. Called Speak to The King, the company is dedicated to affirming and celebrating men of color.
“Birthday cards, anniversary, ‘I love you,’ ‘just because,’” Jean said. “We are targeting emotional well-being for men of color and communities of color.”
Jean joined dozens of other business founders at a day-long summit Saturday designed to support Black entrepreneurs in building a financial strategy for growing their businesses and to address the racial gap in business funding. The Black & Bankable event, hosted by local company Mom Your Business and facilitated by Denver-based Sistahbiz Global Network, featured panels, networking, and technical support from credit specialists, accountants, and bookkeepers.
“This morning really focused on growth and the things to look for as it relates to debt, and how you need to think about money and money trauma as it relates to your business,” said Mom Your Business founder and CEO Tanya Morris.
BIPOC-owned businesses receive fewer and smaller loans than white-owned businesses, and pay higher interest rates. Businesses led by Black women also experience hurdles in securing funding from other sources. Typically, Black women entrepreneurs get less than 1% of venture capital dollars each year.
“There are in fact systemic issues as it relates to raising capital,” Morris said. “Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs [but] the least funded.”
Speak to The King, which Jean describes as still in its “seed form,” currently sells cards on Etsy and through pop-up stores at community events. Jean hopes to have a global footprint one day. But so far, she has had to invest her savings to sustain her dream.
“I’m primarily still bootstrapped. Every dollar that goes into my company, I earn it and put it into the company,” Jean said. “When it comes to financial statements and becoming bankable — it is an uphill battle for me.”
