STIIIZY x TAYO KUKU LIFESTYLE PHOTOSHOOT COLLABORATION
SHOOT YOUR SHOT PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS AND SUPPORTS BLACK OWNED CREATIVE BUSINESS
Investing in educational and career opportunities for the Black community is vitally important in order to secure a brighter future, but supporting Black-owned businesses provides benefits immediately for the community. Supporting Black-owned businesses is not only a means of putting an end to racial injustice, but may be one of the keys to closing the racial wealth gap. Another benefit that arises through supporting Black-owned businesses is the celebration of Black culture. A typical goal that bonds Black entrepreneurs to create their own products and open their own businesses is to provide products and services that are staples of their own cultures. Patroning Black businesses over chain stores and large corporations allows the profits to fund businesses that authentically honor and respect Black culture, rather than attempt to profit off of it.
However, Black-owned businesses face more obstacles in creating and growing their businesses due to struggling to attain loans from the bank and securing capital and investors. “Approximately 4.3% of the 22.2 million businesses in the United States are Black-owned, and less than 1% are generating a median profit margin greater than 20%.” (link) This performance disparity has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 Pandemic. To support Black businesses we began the “Shoot Your Shot” Black photographer Spotlight campaign, where we encouraged Black content creators to submit their portfolios for an opportunity to be featured on our social media platforms.
Additionally, one photographer provided a portfolio that was so inspirational that we decided to outfit their business operation with a brand new setup. Our STIIIZY team purchased a brand new Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens to help Tayo Kuku keep creating incredible content! Be sure to give his IG a follow and check out the amazing lifestyle photoshoot collaboration between TAYO x STIIIZY that we recently shot that combines his editorial style of photography with the STIIIZY lifestyle.
