Hosted by Cornrows and the Cornbread Collective, the festival featured panel discussions, fitness sessions and plenty of networking opportunities.
More than 100 people attended Saturday’s THRIVE festival, celebrating the creativity, wellness and community of Black entrepreneurs.
Hosted by Cornrows and Cornbread, a collective of artists, entrepreneurs, and health experts, the day-long event took place from noon to 6pm at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and featured two panel discussions, interactive workshops, fitness sessions, and a marketplace.
“The festival far exceeded my expectations,” said Karine Tynolds, festival organizer and founder of Cornrows and Cornbread.
Tynold, a braid artist and designer, said some of the vendors advertising and selling the items were children as young as 11 years old.
Nadine Payne, co-owner and vendor of Richly Learning, an independent publishing house currently specializing in coloring books, said it was beneficial to hear from diverse small business owners who emphasized “how important our overall wellness is as people of color.”
The company’s coloring books, which feature people of color, are a way for people to express themselves and relieve stress, said Payne’s business partner, Tracy Little.
Little said for black children, seeing themselves in a coloring book for the first time can be a life-changing event.
“We believe books can change lives,” she said.
During the wellness panel, many attendees were moved to tears as they listened to speakers talk about grief, loss and ways to cope with the stresses of running a small business, Tynolds said.
According to Tynold, the beauty panel addressed the difficult issue of how Black beauty should not be “equated with pain.”
“We should be able to look who we want to be and still be fashionable,” but Tynolds noted that this can be difficult in certain situations.
“We really got into the heart of it,” Tynolds continued, “and a lot of people said they felt like they were in a safe space to discuss these difficult issues.”
The festival also featured seated yoga classes and low-impact HIIT sessions.
“The festival was all about keeping the creativity flowing, but the chair yoga sessions allowed people to actually move their bodies, which can be hard when you’re running a business on your own,” said Victoria Williams, owner of The Sensual Society, a company that makes boy oil and massage oil candles.
Williams said the festival gave her insight into how to better manage her business and personal life.
“I’m now more motivated to move my body and relax every day because it will help me run my business better tomorrow,” said Williams, who won a prize draw for a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud software.
Throughout the day, attendees enjoyed complimentary pain-free cornrow braids, hand massages and manicures. Participants also competed in a cornbread contest for the title of 2024 Cornbread Champion.
Asia Block, who won with her recipe for honey butter cornbread with a hint of orange zest, said she enjoyed hearing from other entrepreneurs who are trying to grow their side businesses while working full-time jobs.
Ms Bullock, a private chef and recipe developer, said talking about dealing with burnout has helped her get into a “better mental state”.
“By the time I left, I felt like I had done my share,” Block said. “I learned a lot about how important it is to build a team and a network.”
