Shopping Black feels different when the experience is intentionally designed to introduce you to businesses you may not have discovered on your own.
I experienced that firsthand when Girl Com invited me to the 50 Shades of Pink DC Bus Tour, a curated tour of Black women-owned co-ops and single-member businesses throughout the DMV.
Girl Com is a platform for Black women in eCommerce and product-based businesses, providing resources, global opportunities, product placement, and supply chain readiness. The 50 Shades of Pink Bus Tour brought that mission to life by giving women the chance to discover, support, and connect with Black women-owned brands in person.
As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about Black women in business, visibility, and how we support one another, I was intrigued by the concept. This was my first time participating in a shopping tour like this, and what stood out most was the intentionality behind the experience.
Our stops included MWBC Shop Local in Bowie, Maryland; Overdue Recognition Art Gallery in Bowie; The DC Pop-Up in Washington, D.C.(Connecticut location); and Wigenton Candle Co. in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Each location offered something different, but they shared a common thread: beautiful products, thoughtfully curated spaces, and Black entrepreneurship on full display.
And yes, I would shop at every one of them again.
More Than a Shopping Trip
While shopping was obviously a major part of the day, some of my favorite moments happened in between the stores.
The women on the tour talked.
And I mean really talked.
We discussed where we currently feel stuck in our businesses, the challenges that come with entrepreneurship, and some of the strategies we’re using to move forward. We also talked about being first-generation entrepreneurs in our families and what inspired us to choose a path that may not have been modeled for us growing up.
Those conversations reminded me how valuable it is to get Black women entrepreneurs in the same space without requiring everyone to have everything figured out.
Sometimes another woman sharing what she is doing in her business is enough to make you reconsider how you’re approaching your own.
I walked away with several ideas and practices that had me thinking about strategies I could incorporate into my own work.
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An Experience Filled With Surprises
Girl Com also incorporated experiences and gifts throughout the tour.
Aloha Glamour, an African fashion and accessories boutique, treated us to a head-wrap tutorial, showing us different ways to style the accessory, and she provided prizes for attendees.
We were also gifted bags from Black Girl Vitamins, adding another Black woman-centered brand to an already full day of discovery.
Those details helped make the tour feel less like being transported from store to store and more like an experience designed around connection, discovery, and celebrating Black women-owned brands.
The attendees themselves were just as memorable as the destinations. There was laughter, openness, networking, and the kind of candid business conversation that doesn’t always happen at traditional networking events.
Taking the Tour Beyond DC
The 50 Shades of Pink experience isn’t stopping in the DMV. Girl Com is also bringing the tour to Atlanta and Houston, giving more women an opportunity to discover and support Black women-owned businesses in their cities.
For me, the DC tour accomplished something especially important: it introduced me to businesses I want to patronize again while putting me in community with women whose experiences and ideas gave me something new to think about.
That’s the kind of experience that can have an impact long after the bus ride ends.
Thank you to Girl Com for the invitation and for creating an intentional way to put Black women-owned businesses—and the women behind them—on the itinerary.
I’m already looking forward to next year.
