Usually, a business mogul will retire before bestowing her enterprise to her children; but the owner of SheaButter Empowerment, the Augusta-based Afro-centric brand, is already passing the business along to her kids, all as part of its original mission.
“The reason why I did SheaButter Empower, LLC was to teach them financial literacy, along with selling products that I love to sell,” said Martika Jackson who launched the brand as an online boutique about two years ago.
From the beginning, Jackson’s business venture has focused on youth outreach and building a foundation to inspire and educate her own children. In April, Jackson took the latter a step further transfering SheaButter Empowerment to her kids, and dispersing it into two brands run by them.
Jackson’s son, San’Maurii Dickerson, 10, is the CEO of Dear Black Kingz, which specializes mostly in apparel, such as hoodies, tees and backpacks. The brand also includes novelty items such as puzzles and even a Bluetooth speaker and charger.
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“We have a story to tell,” says Dickerson in the blog post that introduces his brand on the SheaButter website. “We hope that you are ready to listen!”
Jackson’s daughter, T’iana Mills, operates Black Girl Sprinkles, which sells apparel for girls, at just five years old. The highest sellers are the rainbow handbags and lip gloss.
“She’s the one who’s saying, ‘Hey, how’re you doing, look at our card!” Jackson said about how her daughter takes to running a business. “She’s passing them out, wanting them to come check out her pocketbooks and her lip gloss, and she tells them what she has on her table.”
Since the rebranding of SheaButter, the family of entrepreneurs have set up shop as vendors at several events, such as, most recently, Juneteenth events at Augusta Technical College and at W.S. Hornsby Elementary School, where Dickerson talked to students about running a business.
“He was able to talk to the kids his age group,” Jackson said about the engagement at Hornsby, where Jackson and Dickerson were able to speak to students about SMART goals, a mnemonic system—standing for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based—used to help managers and employers effectively set goals.
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On Sunday, July 3, SheaButter Empowerment—as Dear Black Kingz and Black Girl Sprinkles—will be spearheading a community event called “Let’s Spark Empowerment,” which will have school supply giveaways and will host other vendors alongside a bounce house, face painting and live entertainment.
Jackson notes that her children have always been behind the scenes of SheaButter LLC’s operations, but that effectively turning the business over to them is teaching them social skills and financial learning.
“We go over inventory, how to set up their tables, how to put their profits aside to go back into the business,” she said. “The Bible says raise up a child in the way that you want them to, so they won’t depart from it, so I just teach them and instill it into them early.”
The Let’s Spark Empowerment Event will be on Sunday, July 3 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at South Augusta Merchants Plaza at 2215 Tobacco Rd. For more information about Dear Black Kingz, Black Girl Sparkles and SheaButter Empowerment, LLC, visit www.sheabutterempowerment.com.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
