Blackbox: Monthly Subscription Box For Women Of Color

Get 10% off on Blackbox’s September Box! Use Code TRYBB (valid until August 15, 2017)

Blackbox is a newly launched monthly subscription lifestyle box that provides an array of products from Black owned businesses. There’s been a shift in consciousness in how people of color shop and how the Black dollar should be spent. Many women of color spend hours upon hours visiting countless Instagram accounts and an array of websites searching for Black-owned products. Blackbox was created by two Black women, Jacque-Chief Operating Officer & Brittinee-Chief Marketing Officer, to fill this void. Last week, I had the absolute pleasure to interview these amazing ladies to get to know more about their story, their offerings, and why Blackbox is such an important concept to our community.

The Co Report: What’s Blackbox and how is it different from the other subscription boxes that are on the market?

Jacquee of Blackbox: When we first started Blackbox, we had an idea for a subscription box and wanted to showcase the many offering of Black businesses beyond beauty products.

The Co Report: When Blackbox is delivered each month, subscribers aren’t aware of the products that they will receive. Tell me more about your discovery process?

Brittinee of Blackbox: When Jacque approached me about this business, given my marketing background, I knew that the discovery element would make the process of finding Black-owned brands exciting to subscribers once they receive their monthly box. It’s a surprise, just like when you get a gift from a friend and don’t know what they’ve gotten you.

The Co Report: What was the process of convincing consumers to subscribe to your monthly box?

Brittinee of Blackbox: We had a lot of questions and hesitations, even from our friends. They didn’t know what they were getting and why it was so expensive. The products that the subscribers receive are full-sized products and not sample sizes that you would get in subscription boxes from other brands. We work directly with small business owners who put in hard work into making their products. That was the primary struggle of getting people over the cost and letting them know this isn’t an ordinary subscription box. The surprise factor was another hurdle we had to get over. People wanted to know that the products they would receive were worthwhile. This is why we’ve created the “My BOB, Black Owned Business” program on our Instagram page. This has really helped us with showcasing to both the consumer and the vendors that the products that we showcase in our monthly subscription box are of quality and are useful for their lifestyle.

The Co Report: What are the types of categories that Blackbox features?

Brittinee of Blackbox: Currently, we offer 5 categories. Our ‘Home and Office’ category is where you can get offerings such as candles, notebooks, pens, and anything else that’s home and office related. We have ‘Fashion & Accessories’ that covers the gambit of anything that you can wear and will fit inside of our box. Our third category is ‘Art and Literature’. We work with artists that have their art on some type of tangible product that you can either put in your home or on your desk. The subscriber is still able to enjoy that piece of art and will hopefully purchase additional pieces from the artist. The fourth category is ‘Bath & Body’ which is anything that you can put on and use for your body. ‘Food and Drink’ is Blackbox’s last category. We find products that are healthy and would make cute snacks. We keep in mind that the freshness of products featured in this category is paramount.

The Co Report: What has been some of the best brands and products featured in your boxes?

Brittinee of Blackbox: I’ve used many of the products featured. I use my tea wallet from Thrifty Upenyu. You can put teas in it, but I use it as my wallet for all of my ID’s and cards. Also, I’ve really enjoyed using the PM Fragrance’s Home Scent. Since I have a dog, I like to spray their fragrance throughout my apartment. These are only a few of the products that I use, but I think all of the brands that we’ve worked with have been pretty awesome so far.

Jacquee of Blackbox: Nothin’ But Foods has really delicious granola bars. During our March box, I was pregnant and it was hard for me to curate for the ‘Food & Drink’ category. There was a point in one of our weekly meetings when Brittinee asked about one of the food items and I was like, “Ohh… I ate it!” and Brittinee told me to stop eating all of our samples, (haha). We featured a hair and scalp oil from Coco Bubbly that was very popular. I enjoyed it a lot and used it on my daughter’s hair as well. Also, the candle from Southern Elegance. Their candles are phenomenal I burned that bad boy every day!

The Co Report: Blackbox only features brands from Black-owned businesses. Why is this?

Brittinee of Blackbox: For us, it was important because we’re realistic. You’re not going to replace every single thing in your home with a Black-owned business. It’s not like everything can be replaced, but we do want to sprinkle in these smaller areas with Black-owned products that you will use throughout your daily life.

Jacquee of Blackbox: Brittinee wrote a small piece about circulating the dollar in the Black community. People are constantly saying, “Black This” and “Black That”, but they don’t even buy one thing out of the month that’s Black-owned. When you subscribe to our monthly Blackbox, you are supporting up to 6 other Black-owned brands. We don’t get the products for free that we feature, we purchase all of the items that are showcased in the box each month. We’re supporting the businesses because the subscribers are supporting us.

The Co Report: When someone subscribes to Blackbox what do you want them to take away from the experience?

Brittinee of Blackbox: We want subscribers to know that Blackbox didn’t just send me some ranky-dank items. I want them to immediately go and use the product and then to check out that brand, follow them on their social media outlets, browse their website, and to purchase items directly from the brand. I would want the people who purchase Blackbox to fall in love with the brand so much that they spread the word about Blackbox so we can continue to grow.

The Co Report: Do you feel as though there has been a shift in shopping consciousness of how Black consumers choose to support brands?

Brittinee of Blackbox: Definitely! Currently, A lot of Black women are wearing natural hair and different types of protective styles with braids and twists and are really embracing their blackness. These women feel they don’t need to fit what is generally considered acceptable from non-Black people. It’s definitely something that has made Black people confident in not wanting to quiet down their blackness. Since some Black consumers are already thinking in terms of buying Black for their hair and skin, they’ll be more susceptible to implementing other categories from Black-owned brands into their lifestyle.

The Co Report: What lasting message do you want people to know about Blackbox? 

Brittinee of Blackbox: I love everything that Blackbox stands for and us being able to come up with content to communicate our message to our audience. It’s really important for me to be authentic in the way that we present ourselves. We are real people and we are experiencing our society in the United States the same as every other Black person around the world. While it can be disheartening, fearful, and sometimes scary living in this country, we want to be able to give people the opportunity to feel like they can continue to embrace their authentic selves. It has continuously been a proud experience for me, as the co-founder.

Jacquee of Blackbox: I agree. I just want us to continue to be proud of who we are and the products that we make. Ever since we were brought to this country and even in our Homeland, we were making products and artisanal goods. I want not only us, but others to remember that Black people are very creative and we can do anything that comes to mind. We just want to bring to the subscribers that Black people can make any and everything and Blackbox is showcasing it to you and is here to stay.

Get 10% off on Blackbox’s September Box! Use Code TRYBB (valid until August 15, 2017)