Lauren Harwell Godfrey, jewelry designer, entrepreneur, and founder of Harwell Godfrey, turned a hobby into a success story. Godfrey’s journey dates back to a career path where she sported several hats. She spent 15 years in the advertising space as a creative director and art director, collaborating with clients such as Adidas, Levi’s , and Ray-Ban. While speaking on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, she stated that this period in her career taught her how to communicate her visual ideas effectively. “I think that’s really served me well in the jewelry world because, again, I’m coming up with these designs. I’m not the actual bench jeweler who makes them,” she said on the podcast with host Will Lucas. Godfrey chose to walk away from the advertising space to nurture her spirit of creativity elsewhere. This led her to attend the San Francisco Cooking School and spend a year staging at Bar Tartine under Cortney Burns and Nick Balla, according to an interview with entrepreneur and...

For anyone who gets frustrated with their partner’s gaming habits, Tee Grizzley may have some news to change your mind. During an appearance on the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast , the rapper and gamer pro shared that he has “made millions” from simply playing video games. “The way to make money, you gotta know how to repurpose things,” Tee Grizzley explained, detailing how he generates income through Twitch. “Boom, you got subscribers, you got ads, you got people that can donate to you — and the sky’s the limit with all that stuff.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by VSG Entertainment (@vsgent) He continued, “With your videos saved, so you can take those videos [and] you can make content out of them on your TikTok, your Instagram, YouTube. You can [even] get a bag off Snapchat.” This isn’t the first time Grizzley has highlighted his lucrative gaming ventures. As AFROTECH™ reported, in a 2022 interview with the “Million Dollaz Worth Of Game” podcast, Grizzley shared that...

What started as a hobby during the pandemic quickly launched Lara Adekoya into entrepreneurship, selling cookies to consumers in Los Angeles, CA, including some of Hollywood’s hottest stars, including Issa Rae, Lena Waithe and others. Today, Adekoya is taking things one step further by launching her very first brick-and-mortar for Fleurs et Sel. “I’m really happy and I’m just ready,” Adekoya told AFROTECH™. “I feel like I’ve been ready to make this jump or transition for a while. As you know, it’s not something that’s happened overnight.” In a previous interview with Adekoya,  AFROTECH™ learned the backstory to how she launched her business, which has grown rapidly over roughly four years. Fast-forward to the present day, she says there wasn’t a specific incident that encouraged her to open a bakery, but it will be in a historically Black and brown neighborhood in Los Angeles. “I’m opening in West Adams, which is a historically Black and brown neighborhood in LA that has been...

Idris and Sabrina Elba are a couple that balance the power of both loving and working hard together. In 2021, the Elbas signed a deal with Crunchyroll to executive produce an Afro-futuristic sci-fi animated series, as previously reported by AfroTech. The two entrepreneurs are now back with another business venture aiming to uplift spirits within the community. According to Vogue, the Elbas announced the upcoming launch of their new brand, S’Able Labs — a genderless skincare line targeted toward people of color. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Idris Elba (@idriselba) Its name plays on the lovebirds’ surname being spelled backward as “Sable.” Although the name was thought of by Idris, the idea for the wellness brand was sparked through one of their conversations regarding self-care during the heavy impact on social life due to the pandemic. “We realized quickly that there was no one doing it in the wellness space that looked like, spoke like or felt like us—there was no...

A moment of frustration and despair led Carah Lockett to LinkedIn, where she would write a viral post garnering half a million views from job recruiters and users who shared similar sentiments. Amidst the pandemic, many reconsidered their current job positions as transitional periods trickled into the workforce economy. The same went for Lockett, who would bravely quit her most recent Navy Federal Credit Union job in August 2021. “There was a lack of growth for me. I want to know that my efforts are working towards something — that there’s an end goal in mind,” she told AfroTech. “Unfortunately working in that branch, I was not able to move up in the way that I wanted to.” Lockett joins a cohort of millennials who have tapped into “The Great Resignation.” Approximately 63 percent of millennials are on the search for new employment opportunities, according to Bankrate’s August jobseeker survey. A push for higher pay is just one factor contributing to the growing quitting spree. The...

Lizzo’s latest business venture has led her to the billion-dollar fitness industry. In a funding round said to be around $200 million for rowing startup Hydrow, the pop star is listed as an investor, CNBC reports. Singer Justin Timberlake was also included in the round. As more gyms reopen and people continue to return, Hydrow aims to remain as a top contender for at-home fitness. According to CNBC, partial funding will go toward ensuring the company can “meet the anticipated demand this holiday season.” “This puts us in the same category as the other leaders in the fitness industry,” Founder and Chief Executive Bruce Smith said. “Until now, we might have been a little bit under the radar because people thought of us as a smaller company. But we’re actually very ambitious.” Hydrow offers on-demand rowing classes and other fitness classes including pilates and yoga. As the at-home fitness rivalry rises, the startup looks to capitalize on its individuality. It also notes its user base...