By Kieta-Iriate Amin and Nazaahah Amin
When we started Bmore Empowered, we envisioned serving Black girls ages 9 to 17. Black girls are not always seen in their innocence, nor served in a way that helps them reach their potential. We wanted to inspire a love for entrepreneurship and mindfulness and cultivate these things from a young age. It was important to us to not only help ourselves, but future generations. So we set out to provide girls, and then Black women, with tools (such as leadership, entrepreneurship and holistic wellness) to help them live full and empowered lives.
Through after-school programs, mentorship with Black women business owners, and our signature summer camp, we knew we were having a positive impact on Black girls. Shortly thereafter, their moms reached out and shared that they needed similar programming. We knew that we had to serve them too. Through mindfulness programs, non-profit coaching, and incubators for budding entrepreneurs, we set out to serve Black women and meet their stated needs.
Our programs have been so impactful that we were honored with a BOOST Award, which will offer $50,000 to help us rehab a storefront and access a larger physical space – we’re currently located on the second floor of a small brownstone. We’ll be able to not only serve more women and girls but also provide retail space for women in our Women in Business cohort.
Why Does This Matter?
Black women deserve ease, but in many instances, we rarely find it. We are often the mules of society. Many of the women in our lives put others before themselves and some rarely have the time and space to explore what joy looks like for them. This is not a personal issue, but a societal norm. Many Black women feel the weight of the world on their shoulders and need support casting off that which doesn’t belong or carrying that which is too heavy to manage alone. Bmore Empowered is a plug-in place.
We exist to help Black women realize that ease is the baseline. We weren’t meant to live absent of joy, peace, and ease. It was important to us to create a space where Black women could see and be seen. We wanted to create a soft-landing spot for a community that has long been battered by health disparities, higher instances of domestic violence, higher instances of sexual assault, and pay inequity.
We are clear that Black women have long served as wet nurses to the nation with few turning around to give back. We aim to give back. One of our programs is Mindful Mamas, and we teach mindfulness as a life skill. We have served over 85 mothers, and we are confident that we are not only serving the moms but their children as well.
We model holistic wellness and breathing skills to help Black mothers navigate the ups and downs of life. We know that there is a lot we must contend with, but we wanted to create an arsenal of tools for Black women to help bring us back to a place of ours. Everything we do is centered around creating ease.
Putting Our Feet On Some Grass.
In all of our work, we are clear that the communities we serve should be able to care for themselves and enjoy rest and respite. We want to offer experiences that allow the women and girls we work with to enjoy the feeling of grass underneath their bare feet.
Bmore Empowered is clear about the health benefits of nature. It boosts oxytocin and helps us feel more connected to the earth, our people, and our ancestry. We take the girls and women to nature. It is out there, but it is part of us too. If we can teach women and girls how to access what is around us – nature – and what is in us – breathe – we give them tools that are always accessible, regardless of what is happening around us.
The other big piece of our work is redefining what it means to be successful. Each woman gets to determine what success looks like for her, rather than feeling like they must adopt what someone else is doing. We don’t have to be wedded to practices and beliefs that do not serve us. We want to be expansive in how we communicate and realize success, and we need help doing that – both in fulfilling our vision and pushing back on societal norms.
Starting With Ourselves
To fulfill our mission, we start with ourselves. We have a linear leadership model that allows everyone on our team to lean into her brilliance and talents, without fear of overshadowing the next person. We lift as we climb, understanding that each of us has unique gifts. We are intentional about creating space for our colleagues to showcase and sharpen their skills. We work through four main tenets – mindfulness, self-esteem, entrepreneurship, and sisterhood. This is what works for us and our community. At the end of the day, we know that Black women (in Baltimore and beyond) deserve ease, and we’re determined they have it.
Kieta-Iriate Amin and Nazaahah Amin co-founded and run Bmore Empowered.
