We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ermida Koduah a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ermida, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Since I was young, I have always been curious about seeing the world. It could have started when I migrated from Italy to NYC, a very diverse city, when I was four years old. In 2016, I had a life-changing experience studying Arabic in Tangier, Morocco. Before I set out on my trip, I reached out to as many people as possible to understand what it would be like, but it was quite a challenge receiving good enough responses. I only knew two black women who visited, and they both had such different extreme experiences; I just worried about how my experience would be. After my trip, I thought, ‘Why is there not a website where I can hear authentic reflections on trips taken by black people?’.
It was a no-brainer to ask my cofounder, Jasmine, to participate in this because she, too, began traveling at a very young age. Even in adulthood, she dedicates time during medical school to medical mission trips. We found ways to travel for work and leisure throughout college and adulthood. But most importantly, we’ve shared our knowledge with others.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As an avid traveler who is a black woman, I know how unique our experiences are when we travel, no matter what country we call home. I thought of our brand’s name, Being Black In, in September 2017. Since I started traveling on my own in college, I noticed I always asked one question whenever I met black travelers: “What was it like being black in X country?” I heard a range of experiences on multiple topics like racism, culture shock, and much more. I felt the authentic experiences I heard about real-life situations abroad needed to be shared online. I knew people who wanted to read about these experiences, and I also had the network to share them. Knowing this, I created a platform that merged these communities.
As I was setting up the site, I would reach out to my future co-founder at the time, Jasmine, to strategize goals and help set up the site. Working with her was crucial in the early phases, and her help was so appreciated that it felt only fitting for her to serve in a Co-Founder capacity, too. It’s been six years since this all started, and we’re still making daily plans to improve our site and brand.
Now a bit more about Being Black ln. Being Black In’s primary goals are :
1. Provide authentic travel stories by black travelers.
2. Provide a safe space for black travelers to share travel experiences.
3. Serve as a resource.
We provide numerous blogs that help black travelers navigate all aspects of travel. We’ve also curated meetup events in New York, D.C., and London. Last year, we launched our newest product: Travel Guides! We’ve produced three travel guides so far. We’re currently selling guides for Accra, Lisbon, and Panama City. Our guides help our audience not only find tourist attractions but also provide access to local black-owned tourism companies.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three most essential skills have been:
1. Collaboration – Running Being Black In on my own was a challenge. I couldn’t do everything alone, and collaborating with Jasmine on ideas and visions helped this company succeed. Also, collaborating with our blog contributors, those who hosted Instagram Live sessions, speakers on our brunch panel, and event attendees has been huge to our success!
2. Strategic Thinking—Thinking of innovative ways to keep customers coming back and ways to continue to make Being Black In thrive during challenges (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) allowed us to pivot when planning the company’s goals while still making sure we had a high-level goal for our brand.
3. Discipline- Working full-time and attending school full-time while running Being Black In has had its challenging moments. However, practicing discipline reminds us to carve out 2-4 hours weekly to continue building the Being Black In brand.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
In the past 12 months, we have strategized and figured out how we want our platform to grow. Our company will be six years old in 2024, and we want to ensure it continues to strive for 10 to 20 years. One way to do this is by expanding our marketing strategies and finding ways to create revenue while keeping our products reasonably priced so our customers can afford our retail resources.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beingblackin.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beingblackin/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeingBlackIn/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/33281444/admin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/beingblackin1
