Back in 2016, my sister Khalia and I created the first membership platform of its kind. The ‘Jamii card’ hoped to create new consumer habits by rewarding members for shopping Black-owned and pioneered loyalty-perks as a marketing strategy for Black-led brands. We wanted to make it easier and more convenient to find African and Caribbean offerings when Black-led business in industries beyond food and entertainment were virtually invisible.

At the time, the first wave of the BLM movement in the USA was sparking conversations around racial economic disempowerment, but anyone who wanted Black British-owned substitutes for their lifestyle essentials had to know exactly where to look. There could also be a negative perception around the quality and reliability of Black-owned businesses, but with the gratification of the rewards membership, high-quality hand-selected brands, and our audaciously vibrant orange branding, we wanted to make ‘buying Black’ feel relevant, elevated and fun.