Community Highlights: Meet Mercedes Jenkins-Carter of MY B.B.B.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mercedes Jenkins-Carter.

Hi Mercedes, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m the owner of MY B.B.B. (Formerly known as My Black Beauty Box). The vision for MY B.B.B. dates back to when I was a little girl. At that time, my mom was raising my sister and I and was the manager at a place called The Cobbler Lady on Crenshaw and 39th street. It was the early 2000’s and anyone familiar with Crenshaw around that time know that it was the Mecca for Black Businesses. The streets were lined with black brands selling any and everything that you need and not to mention Leimert Park was right up the street. I most definitely can’t forget that the area was home to Taste of Soul which is an annual block party on Crenshaw full of black culture, music and food.

As a little girl being raised on the black dollar I admired everything about the area from the black brands working together to seeing a black woman which I would one day become, calling the shots and making big things happen. I went off to college with a major in business management and graduated from UC Merced. I returned home only to find out the area I once admired was lined with businesses struggling just to make ends meet and some very notable ones closing or moving out of the area. I was devastated and heartbroken and knew I had to change this narrative. After working in Accounting at a business management firm for a couple of years, I started My Black Beauty Box in 2017. My Black Beauty Box started as a subscription box and directory full of black brands with one goal in mind to help more customers to be able to find black brands to support. Brands began to come to me asking if they could include their business cards into my box and of course, I said yes.

However, a box full of business cards was not aesthetically pleasing to the eye nor did it make customers want to buy more boxes. I prayed and asked God how can I help brands without having a box full of business cards and he answered right away with a simple but powerful solution a QR code keychain. In 2020 we revamped the brand again and introduced our QR code directory keychain. These keychains allow you to find black businesses to support nationwide simply by selecting a category and a city. In 2022 another door of opportunity opened up for an actual retail space in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall. The very same area where I fell in love with black businesses as a little girl. I knew this was faith. At the time of the opportunity, I wasn’t working and had no income but in order to get the store I needed to hire a contractor, hire a painter, hire an interior designer, get shelving, insurance, etc. and in all honestly looking at things naturally, I should’ve walked away and gave up. While logic told me not to open the store, I heard God and faith telling me I’ll make the impossible happen just trust me.

Long story short that’s exactly what I did; we officially opened the doors of our retail space on September 3rd 2022. We offer products from 30+ black brands including skincare, haircare, clothing, dolls, shoes, caps and more. We also plan to host monthly workshops and events in the store. We also have Taco Tuesday in the store where you can enjoy 20% off on your purchase if you are a directory keychain holder (exclusions apply) as well as get a gift certificate for tacos while supplies last. I can honestly say every day I come into the store I feel a sense of purpose. It makes me so happy to know these brands in the store are getting visibility in a mall and are reaching customers. In the near future, I hope to open more of these spaces and to help more black businesses grow their brands any way I can.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road to where I am not has been anything but smooth. In addition to the financial hurdles, I’ve never opened a store before so I had to learn a lot. I had to learn how to account for products. I had to learn about product placement. I had to learn about shelving, store lighting and the list goes on. Luckily I had the pleasure of working at The Black Hair Experience where I learned many things about a square which I use in my store. While I know, there are so many more things for me to learn, I thank God for continuously teaching me how to overcome every obstacle.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
MY B.B.B is more than just a brand; it’s a promise to my community. The promise I make to the community is to do everything in my power to help elevate them and get them to the next level. MY B.B.B. is about promoting, uplifting and supporting in unity. With one goal in mind success for all. I specialize in giving black brands a platform to showcase their talents and products. I’m most proud of the directory keychain it can go places I can’t. It can be in Texas, Georgia and New York while I can only be in California. While it is a simple tool it’s powerful to my calling for the community. I want readers to know we sell a directory keychain to help you find black businesses nationwide. I want readers to know we are located in Baldwin Hills Crenshaw gram at 3650 w. Martin Luther King Junior Blvd. store #179 right next to IGEN. Los Angeles, CA 90008. I want people to know we are still accepting retailers; they can apply via the link in our IG bio you can find us on IG at myblack_beautybox. Lastly in the words of Issa Rae “I’m Rooting for everyone Black” I don’t wish failure on anyone but it’s time for black brands to unify and elevate.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Passion and faith are the most important characteristics to my success. Faith because you have to see the success before it even happens. Passion because every day is not going to be great but you need to have the will to keep going.

Pricing:

• Black Business Directory Keychain $5.00

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.myblackbeautybox.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/myblack_beautybox?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myblackbeautybox