How One Black-Owned DC Service Hub Is Creating Pathways For Black Women Entrepreneurs

Recent reports indicate that 600,000 Black women have been pushed out of the workforce since the start of 2025. Amid rapid job loss, many Black women have turned side hustles into full blown businesses, with many pivoting into entrepreneurship, in what feels like an impenetrable job market. When Angel Gregorio built Black and Forth, the first Black-owned strip mall offering affordable commercial space for lease for Black business owners, she did not realize that she would be creating an offering that was desperately needed in the community, especially amid rising Black unemployment.

Gregorio explained, “I have been running the Spice Suite for about six years, and I knew that it was time for me to expand. I wasn’t exactly sure what expansion at scale would look like because I’d always just figure, I just want to do more…I wanted to support more black businesses, so I wasn’t thinking about building a strip mall. I actually didn’t realize I was building a strip mall. I just knew I was creating more space [and] I went out looking for a commercial space with my friend Tonnetta Elisma, who is a residential real estate agent. When I bought the space, it was a dilapidated old autobody shop on that block of 22nd and Channing Street in Northeast DC.”

Gregorio was uniquely aware of the issues that many Black women business owners were experiencing and wanted to create a solution that addressed their specific needs. “I immediately knew that I wanted to renovate that existing building to be the Spice Suite and that serves like the hub in the anchor. I wanted to use shipping containers and retrofit them to create salon space for Black women because I knew Black women who did my nails and my hair and they always complained about the rent and wanting space. They [had] small salon suites, and they had to share bathrooms and…hearing about all of the issues that they had, I thought I could alleviate that if I give them each their own shipping container.”

With the creative idea to use shipping containers, Gregorio was able to design different spaces for business owners. “They kind of run independently and I put four different tenants in them and decided that I would give them a flat rate so that they could hopefully grow their businesses and expand and hire people…whatever growth looked like for them over time because there would be some predictability around the expenses by knowing that they just paid me a flat fee each month for rent and I cover the utilities, the trash collection, the Wi-Fi and the internet every month.”

Jheri Taylor who owns a mobile nail servicing company, She Nail’d It, inside the strip mall shared, “Me opening my business in this Black-owned shopping center was a no brainer. Solid alignment. Angel and her brilliant design represent the kind of community I wanted to be part of. A standalone location would still be successful, however being here means being surrounded, and empowered by the other Black women business owners who are building, innovating, and reinvesting in our own community.”

Licensed esthetician Robin Kennedy, who owns a company called Skin Elite DMV that specializes in facials, microneedling, and chemical peels shared her experience as a tenant. “I chose Black and Forth for several reasons,” she explained. “Shared understanding stands out most of all. Not having to address issues like systematic bias highlights the importance of creating a space where women are valued for their professional skills and who they truly are. Building a sense of safety and belonging in a professional space really sets this business model apart…Thanks to Angel’s business model, built on specialization among independent professionals, it creates more of a collaborative ecosystem. By offering distinct expertise within a shared space, we’re able to provide clients with exceptional support and convenience without competition.”

Gregorio has developed a business model that reinforces the power and value of centering community. The women who pop up and sell their products at no charge while helping to run the Spice Suite have affectionately been dubbed as the “Spice Girls.” Samantha Simms, who co-owns a women’s and unisex clothing store, Basics & Statements, which specializes in wardrobe essentials and statement pieces, shared more about her experience being a Spice Girl. “Being a part of this collective has offered so much in terms of increasing our business acumen, networking, and exposure to a wider audience. Within the collective, we have regular conversations about marketing, branding, and using social media and technology to increase sales and exposure. We also discuss organizational systems and money management and collaborate on events and products.”

When reflecting on how people can support Gregorio and her Black business ecosystem, she shared that support must extend beyond the holidays. “Consistently buy products. I don’t want it to be this novelty thing where you just go when you buy a bunch of Black business items to put in a stocking as a stocking stuffer. I want people to think about the things that they have at home that they could really swap out right now. We have a tea and coffee shop on site. Instead of you stopping at a Starbucks on your way to work or school in the morning, consider coming over to get something sweet and making that a part of your routine in the mornings.”

“I want us to not just buy Black out of process,” Gregorio explained. “I continue to say that because I think it’s so important for us to just make this a permanent thing that we do…a lifestyle shift that we embrace and not this seemingly revolutionary act. I feel like it shouldn’t be such a big deal anymore. It should just be how we shop.” In a time when many people, especially Black workers, are struggling in the current job market, she has created an alternative pathway for Black workers who have chosen entrepreneurship. Gregorio reinforces the power of collaboration, reminding us that during times of great strife, community is what will provide us with the stability and support that we need to thrive.