Village Spotlight: Raven Strode, Blacklanta CEO
“Consistency is the key to success.” And that’s exactly what Raven Strode, founder and CEO of Blacklanta, has been when it comes to showing up as herself and following her passions.
A Fall 2021 graduate of Village Micro Fund’s Flourish Fellowship, Raven is the complete package. Tenacious, persistent, and innovative, this Alabama native and Clark Atlanta University graduate began her entrepreneurship journey as a freshman in college. During that time, she became well acquainted with the nuances and challenges of launching a startup, like copywrite and trademark laws. From there, she pivoted to a media venture with a classmate called Who Hired These Chicks. In that time, she discovered the joys and excitement that can come from doing what you love. After exploring other life pathways, she returned to entrepreneurship with her current venture, Blacklanta — a digital platform designed to showcase Black businesses in Atlanta.
Many Black entrepreneurs speak about their challenges in gaining access to capital, opportunity, and connectivity to the more prominent small business community. Raven, however, faces these same barriers exponentially. As a Black, queer woman, she’s a triple minority, even more so in entrepreneurial spaces. But that’s not enough to stop Raven from excelling and exceeding her goals.
Visibility and representation matter; for some LGBTQ people, Raven is the only queer woman business owner they know. Her presence alone creates a safe entry point for others in the community to imagine and see themselves in the same shoes, creating a new level of aspiration that may not have existed previously. When reflecting on her role as an entrepreneur and example, she recognizes that it’s a gift she’s meant to share with the world. “This is me,” she says. “This is something that I should be talking about. To be that catalyst and the person to lead that change in entrepreneurship.”
Thoughtful care and leadership are what help create an action-oriented community. Creating such a community is one of Raven’s goals as a business owner and is what helps keep her going. “Community,” she says, “is all about helping others and having a social impact.”
As a lesbian from the Deep South, coming out was not the easiest thing to do. But it’s something that she had to do for herself and the world because she owed it to herself and her community to be authentically who she was made to be. In doing so, she became fearless. And fearlessness drove her to relentlessly strive to always be her best self. She said, “I think that coming out was kind of a stepping stone for me building my confidence in becoming an entrepreneur.”
Coming out wasn’t the only thing that helped build confidence in Raven’s life. The Village played a tremendous role as well. She said about her experience in the cohort, “I think I came out of it a better businesswoman with all of the tools, the help, with Helena [VMF’s Education Manager], and the classes we had. The topics we discussed gave my classmates and me the blueprint we need to launch and start a business. It was a really good experience for me.”
Blacklanta is constantly developing and innovating, and there are bigger things ahead. Raven has dreams of expanding the business to include a festival that showcases Black entrepreneurs in the city and celebrates culture. With her track record, we know that it's only a matter of time before we see it come to fruition.