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Uncle Nearest’s founders are requesting the receivership to be terminated, according to The Lynchburg Times. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Uncle Nearest — a whiskey brand that reportedly surpassed a $1 billion valuation — was placed under receivership in August 2025 following claims by its lender, Farm Credit Mid-America, that the company defaulted on more than $108 million in loans . The Weavers allege that Uncle Nearest’s former chief financial officer, Mike Senzaki, exaggerated barrel inventory, which led to a $24 million credit increase from Farm Credit, per AFROTECH™. U.S. District Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr. appointed Tennessee attorney Phillip G. Young Jr. as receiver. Young now oversees Uncle Nearest’s Shelbyville, TN, distillery and its “real estate holdings, intellectual property, affiliated ventures, and related entities,” according to the Moore County Observer. On Nov. 24, the Weavers filed an emergency motion to prevent the receiver from taking any further actions...
Emma Grede always wants to operate from a place of authenticity and intention. During a panel held on Saturday, Dec. 6, for Saint & Citizen’s Saint Week at the Rubell Museum in Miami, FL, which brings together artists, designers, musicians, and thinkers who are innovating within the fashion industry today and for its future, she reflected on her identity and its role in shaping who she is today. Grede comes from Trinidadian and Jamaican roots and was raised by her Jamaican stepdad’s family. “So much of my identity was forged by the stories and the things that I’ve heard. And then of course, as a human being, you evolve. You evolve into a new identity. And I’d be lying if I said that so much a part of who I am today has come from me really spotting who I wanted to be, and being at conflict with that at times. When you grow up in a place like I did, you don’t always want to be that,” she shared on the panel. “I think that I had a really big vision and idea of what I wanted to be in...
Rayna Reid Rayford is aware that her maternal health experience was far from an anomaly. Rayford, a lawyer and strategic communicator, had a challenging start to parenthood. Early on, when she met her now husband, they had conversations about children and agreed they wanted just one. When they embarked on that journey, it was hard for Rayford to conceive, and she experienced two consecutive miscarriages within a couple of months. The second miscarriage was so painful that she went to the emergency room. “We started to meet with fertility doctors and I started to think, ‘Is something wrong with me?’ You really start to internalize a lot. And then it was at that juncture that we actually found out we were pregnant for the third time in the calendar year,” Rayford told AFROTECH™. This was in December 2023. She is grateful to have “survived” pregnancy. She worked with a doula after the first trimester because it was important to her to have a comprehensive 360-degree support system,...
Deidre Mathis caught the travel bug, and it led her to become an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in graphic communication and broadcast journalism at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University , she studied abroad in the Dominican Republic during her sophomore year, she told AFROTECH™. After graduation, she wasn’t fulfilled in her profession, which prompted her to return to school to earn a master’s degree in corporate communications. Then she moved to Australia, staying in a range of hostels and boutique hotels. “I was living there, and I was just traveling around by myself, and I was staying in a bunch of hostels and a bunch of boutique hotels because those were places that were easy for me to meet people because I was by myself,” she told AFROTECH™. “I always tell people I had my ‘Oprah aha moment’ one day when I was staying in this beautiful hotel, and it was this small, cute hotel. It had 12 rooms, and I said, ‘You know what? I...
Kristen Wells-Collins is inspiring young girls to become chemists. Wells-Collins was raised in an under-resourced community in Beaumont, TX, and said she had limited exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), according to her commentary on “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” However, Wells-Collins went on to pursue a degree in chemistry at Prairie View A&M University, according to her LinkedIn . After her studies, she became exposed to cosmetic chemistry and was immediately hooked . Black To The Lab Wells-Collins’s interest in STEM has led her to become a cosmetic chemist educator and founder of Black to the Lab, which provides an activity kit with hands-on learning experiences for girls to create lip gloss, body scrubs, lotion, and more. She is driven by a mission to increase representation in the field among Black girls, she told Jennifer Hudson. PC: Black to the Lab “We know that they know makeup, so they know science. We want young girls to know that their...
Kayla Rowe turned pain into a business empire that is helping countless women and raking in major revenue. Rowe is a University of South Florida alum with a degree in public health , which she obtained in 2015, according to information on her LinkedIn. Her mother also planted the seed for her interest in health as a certified nursing assistant, Ebony reports. However, the catalyst for Rowe becoming a founder came after experiencing a miscarriage when she was five months pregnant in 2021. “That was very hard for me,” she told Ebony. “After that happened, I became more aware of everything, what I was eating, putting on my body, [and] I just became more cognizant and aware of health.” Her Fantasy Box A year later, Rowe launched Her Fantasy Box, a plant-based feminine hygiene and wellness brand. With a focus on transparency, safety, and women’s wellness, Rowe shared that it was important for ingredients to be nontoxic and not include parabens, phthalates, and other harmful chemicals...
Tabitha Brown is clearing the air about her partnership with Target. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the retailer rolled back on its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments in early 2025, a move that helped fuel a consumer boycott that remains ongoing. While Target was not the only major retailer to scale back DEI efforts, many critics focused on the company because of its previous push to support Black-owned businesses and other minority groups. Brown is among those business owners whose products are sold at Target stores. She is under a licensing deal with the retailer, and her haircare brand Donna’s Recipe — launched in partnership with Gina Woods — is shelved in the store, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. Brown made a discreet Instagram post on January 24, not mentioning a single word, but the implication that she was referencing the retailer was evident. During an interview on iHeartPodcast’s “Not My Best Moment” hosted by KevOnStage, Brown shared how Black...
Mielle Organics has scored a first-of-its-kind partnership. The textured-hair care brand has experienced massive success. It is currently stocked by more than 100,000 retailers such as Target, CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, JCPenney, and Walmart, and in 2021, it secured $100 million in a non-dilutive round led by Berkshire Partners, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The brand started when its founder, Monique Rodriguez, took a leap of faith when she walked away from a career in nursing to launch the venture with the help of her husband, Melvin. Today, the pair still lead the company as CEO and COO following the company’s acquisition by P&G Beauty in 2023, per AFROTECH™. What’s more, it’s still making significant moves. According to a press release, Mielle Organics has made history as the first official textured-hair care partner of the NFL. View this post on Instagram Tracie Rodburg, the NFL’s senior vice president of global partnerships, said the league is “excited” to work with Mielle...
Black-woman-owned Prismm has secured significant funding to help families in times of crisis. Prismm Prismm is a transaction-enabled digital vault. It stores critical records that become essential during an emergency. Users can upload documents, property and asset information, and financial accounts. They can also add beneficiaries, trusted persons, lawyers, executors, or advisors as connections, granting them view-only, view-and-modify, or no access across all categories, according to the company’s website. All information stored on Prismm is encrypted using HTTPS and kept in a digital vault that can be decrypted only with an authorized user account and the correct account key. Prismm intends to protect deposits for financial institutions and automate the inheritance transfer process, which is timely given that $84.4 trillion in wealth is projected to be transferred to Millennial and Gen X heirs by 2045, according to financial services organization, Cerulli Associates. Inception...
Joulenie Pierre had faith the size of a mustard seed and has watched her bakery grow to new heights. Pierre was a college student double-majoring in economics and political science on a pre-law track in Miami when she ventured into entrepreneurship. To support herself financially, she had a job working 30 hours a week at Lululemon, she shared on TikTok. Feeling stressed, she said she leaned into her passion for baking. “Baking was my way of having my own peace, my own clarity, and being as calm as I possibly can be. It helped keep me grounded. It was like my form of therapy essentially,” Pierre, 20, explained on TikTok. @therollanddough Part 2 out of 5 addressing the concerns ♬ original sound – Roll & Dough Roll and Dough With the help of her business partner, Jovan, she launched Roll and Dough. Pierre had just $100 in her bank account at the time and was waiting on her financial aid to come in to cover her rent. She went two months without being able to pay her rent, but she did...
This Black-woman-owned wine brand is expanding its reach while delivering a more personalized customer experience. IBest Wines is the brainchild of Ingrid Best, a respected leader in the wine and spirits sectors who wants to share her love of South Africa with wine enthusiasts across the globe. She got her start as a brand ambassador and remained in the industry for 20 years, building her experience in branding and marketing with Diageo, Moët Hennessy, and Bacardi (working with Jay-Z’s D’USSE), as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “I was so fortunate to be exposed to every facet of the business, which typically, in an ambassador role, you aren’t exposed to,” Best told BET.com. She now has established ownership in the industry through IBest Wines, which launched in 2023 and was inspired by her time in South Africa, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “I fell in love with South Africa quickly and, over time, discovered the infinite layers the country has to offer — from its wine to its...
Angel Mosley is equipping companies to mitigate cybersecurity risks. Mosley is a cybersecurity consultant and risk management professional who was first inspired to join the field while at Jackson State University. She scored an internship with Virgin Records and BMG Distribution and was living the dream, she told AFROTECH™. She even had a chance to be around entertainers such as Janet Jackson and Ice Cube. Ultimately, her interest in the field would be sparked after wandering into a computer room. “When you’re in college, you think you can ask anybody anything. So I was like, ‘Hey, how much money did you make when you graduated from college?’ [And they said], ‘Oh, we graduated making $60,000 a year,’ which back then was a lot of money. Right now, it’s still good money,” Mosley explained. “But I was like, $30,000, $60,000. I’ve always liked computers. I went back to school, changed my major to computer science, and never looked back.” She graduated from Jackson State University in...
Twama Nambili is raising funding for her startup, which uses AI to improve workflows for marketing and creative professionals. Aeone The former Amazon senior product manager, who has experience in consulting, integrated marketing, and strategy, is stepping into the marketing technology space, which is a $580 billion industry, per Mordor Intelligence. She is the founder of Aeone , a bootstrapped AI-powered startup that streamlines marketing and creative workflows by uniting content creation, AI-powered automation, and analytics in one platform, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. “A typical marketing team member or content creator today uses many disconnected tools, which can be frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive,” Nambili said in a press release. “Aeone is building a platform that brings everything together in one place. It’s ambitious, yes, but the value it delivers is transformative for teams of all sizes,” Nambili continued. $4M Raise Already, Aeone has a...
Like many entrepreneurs, Tracee Ellis Ross had to think creatively about how she launched her business. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, she is the proud founder of Pattern Beauty, a haircare brand that serves as a love language to the textured hair community with offerings including washes, treatments, styling tools, and more. View this post on Instagram She pitched the idea while she was acting on the TV show “Girlfriends,” and it was not initially understood, but her self-belief helped bring it to the market in 2019. “Nobody was interested. Nobody would understand why an actress would be making hair products. Nobody understood the difference between hair products that were for curly, coily, and tight-textured versus straight,” she explained during an interview with Self Magazine. “People were just like ‘I don’t get it.’ “So I heard all different kinds of nos and, from ‘Girlfriends’ into ‘Black-ish,’ not only was I gaining this larger platform, but I was learning how to express...
Scarlet by RedDrop Co-Founders Dana Roberts and Monica Williams are celebrating great success for their business, driven by a vision to support young girls navigating puberty. It all started with Robert’s time teaching fifth graders in an Atlanta classroom. She was approached by a student who had started her period and felt that she was dying, according to Yahoo! News. This would lead her to launch RedDrop, which was rebranded to Scarlet by RedDrop in 2025, alongside physician Williams, to serve tweens and teens. It offers pads, tampons, and period kits that include pads in various sizes, as well as a diary that shares helpful tips, according to its website. “RedDrop was our beginning, born from a desire to fill a gap in puberty care for school-age girls,” Williams told Inc. “But as we grew, we realized our name no longer held all that we were becoming. The rebrand reflects the company’s new educational period-care product line that supports tweens and teens at every stage of their...
