The Story Behind the Brand- 2022 Brand Story Contest Winners

We asked our community to tell us their brand story for a chance to win prizes. We received so many amazing entries and were in awe of the fantastic work everyone does. Therefore, picking five winners was incredibly difficult. Congratulations again to our winners. Here are the stories of our 2022 Brand Story Contest winners.   

1st Place Winner- Ta-Kisha Jones

Ta-Kisha is the proud owner of MpoweredtobE, a sacred healing space for men and women to experience freedom, inner peace, and transformative healing. MpoweredtobE’s purpose is to “Support the holistic well-being of individuals and communities through coaching, creative healing, expressive art, and educational training.”

 Her vision is to cultivate healing spaces and inspire positive behavior change globally. Ta-Kisha hopes to do this through the healing power of art.

As a matter of fact, art is super important to healing for many people. Ta-Kisha told us, “When people have a challenging time opening up or seeking help for their mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional needs they can always count on art. Art expresses what the body can’t audibly speak and heals ailments from the inside out.”

Ta-Kisha is speaking from a personal place since she has found art to be healing for her. She opened up to us to let us know that “Art saved my life. I lost my ability to speak and walk on two occasions back to back. As a dancer, this hindered my livelihood and challenged my mental and emotional health. I found expressive art an alternative medicine.”

She continues, “I practiced expressive writing to reconnect with myself and others as I regained my well-being. Now I share, teach, and lead others on how to find a way to release through the arts to find personal healing and joy. My experience is the meaning behind our motto: “When individuals heal, communities heal!”

2nd Place Winner- Bikira Radcliffe

Bikira Radcliffe is the incredible leader of the United Colors of Cancer (UCC). United Colors of Cancer’s (UCC) mission is to increase survivorship in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) cancer community.

According to Bikira, the statistics surrounding cancer in the BIPOC community are concerning and critical. UCC exists to establish avenues for the BIPOC community to find support, connection, and resources. According to Cancer.org, “Black people have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group for most cancers in the U.S.” Cancer is also the leading cause of death for Hispanics. 

However, people of color have been defying the odds and beating cancer. UCC works primarily with BIPOC and aims to showcase the success of people of color who have overcome cancer. 

In doing so, they used a color palette reflective of deeply melanated skin tones and incorporated an Adinkra symbol in the design to showcase their connection to a divine power.  

UCC promotes its services online and through flyers and videos. Doing this helps current cancer patients in the target community immediately receive better support and access to cancer treatment options, increasing survivor rates. Bikira told us, “Our overriding goal is to increase the number of BIPOC cancer survivors.”

Bikira also told us, “When a BIPOC person gets a cancer diagnosis, they will know that UCC is dedicated to their unique needs and culturally equipped to help them navigate their cancer journey. An empowered patient is a healthier patient.”

Helping cancer patients is personal to Bikira, because she was a cancer patient herself. She recalls being diagnosed with cancer and not seeing anyone who looked like her on the pamphlet. 

3rd Place Winner-Brittany Washington

Brittany Washington is the rockstar behind My Beautiful Fluff, a plus-size clothing brand. After being called affectionately called fluffy her whole life, fluff has been integral to her business and healing. 

She told us, “The vision for my brand is to create size-inclusive clothing and accessories that affirm, empower and provide representation of plus size women and women with natural hair.” 

Brittany continued, “I want to create a brand that women could see themselves literally featured on our products. Building a community was an important aspect of our brand as well as supporting the community I live in. Which is why we give 5% of our sales to local agencies that have had an impact providing support after my son’s diagnosis of Autism at age 4.”

Brittany created my Beautiful Fluff due to disappointment. After a rough pregnancy, suffering several medical problems, including fibromyalgia, and going natural, Brittany faced another problem. The problem was finding shirts that fit her ideal design. 

She told us, “After the big chop, I wanted to find shirts that displayed caricatures [showing] the beauty of natural hair, but they didn’t go up to my size. This frustration pushed me to start My Beautiful Fluff. The feeling of being left out is why we continually work to get bigger sizes. We are working with a team and, by the start of next year, will offer up to a size 40 in US women’s sizes.”

4th Place Winner-Mac-Jane Crayton

Mac-Jane Crayton is the founder of Dream Mentorship, whose mission is to mentor, educate, equip and support 10,000 women by 2032. Their vision is to build a community where women’s dreams are supported, and eventually, more than 50 percent of women in the world will live the life they dream of. 

Mac-Jane told us, “Our purpose is centered around our mission, culture, and vision. We are on a mission to see more women living their dreams. That is why we take mentoring seriously.”

Mac-Jane started Dream Mentorship because she saw a need for mentorship and a desire to help. She tells us, “We started Dream Mentorship because we saw the need for mentorship and its impact on the lives of women in our communities.”

Mac-Jane saw the need for mentorship because she needed one herself. She told us, “As an immigrant, fresh graduate seeking employment opportunities, newlywed, new resident in a community, and hoping to get into… a PhD program, I was lost. I needed a mentor.”

Then, Mac-Jane decided to do what we all do when we need help, head to Google. However, she wasn’t able to find a mentor that was both cost-effective and accessible. 

However, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Mac Jane told us, “For weeks no one registered, and I questioned whether I heard God at all. Closer to the start date, I got my first registration. More ladies registered for my free 8 weeks mentorship workshop. At the end of 8 weeks of learning, we had a graduation ceremony with 6 young women graduating from our summer program. That began the journey of what you see here today.”

5th Place Winner- Vallerie Dean

Vallerie Dean is the brains behind, No Labels LLC. No Labels serves children and families affected by one or more disabilities. 

They describe themselves as a community of like-minded individuals who emphasize serving our future of tomorrow. No Labels aim to create an inclusive environment that fosters creative growth, support, and education. In addition, they also aim to provide a safe and inclusive environment for special learners to live, grow, learn, and socialize.

According to Vallerie, No Labels is here to embrace their clients whose strengths get overlooked and judged by a LABEL. Their team is committed and equipped to maximize the differences by allowing our clients to shine through their own identities.

No Labels is run by She Bosses, Vallerie Dean, and Erika Jackson. They have over ten years of experience working with the special needs population. They both have family members in the special needs community, so doing this work is essential to them. 

Vallerie told us, “Everything that we do is client-based and personalized to fit individual needs. We look past the label that is given and instead provides intensive support to maximize talents and gifts. Forward-thinking technology with energetic and fun personalities is the driving force behind the establishment of No Labels.”

Conclusion

Thank you again to everyone who shared their stories with us for the 2022 Brand Story Contest. We wish you the best in your entrepreneurial journey, as for the winners, congratulations. We know the microgrants can help you carry out your vital missions. Keep an eye on our platforms because we always have programs and opportunities for women to succeed. Right now, we are offering grants and other prize to the winners of our pitch competition, She Pitch Perfect.