Ahanotu’s database eventually grew as she continued to add businesses she tried personally or businesses found through other Black-owned marketplaces. However, Ahanotu’s process was very tedious, and she wanted to build a faster solution to minimize the number of steps to get someone to purchase a product or service from the database.

Working alongside a Black software developer company, which she ironically found after filtering through 30 pages on Google, Hiihat launched in March 2021.

Over one year later, she told us the platform is fully functioning, with nearly 500,000 links built into the search engine. For Ahanotu, the extensive search engine may come at a cost, as it is self-funded. However, the efforts are worth it to ensure Black communities can have access to great experiences on a daily basis.

“One of the main reasons I’m okay with having gone this far to do this and spend all this money, because it’s self-funded from me freelancing and, and writing, is I have found that having something Black-owned or a whole line of Black-owned products in your life is really freeing,” Ahanotu said. “I want people, especially if they’re Black to have the same experience I had because we don’t always get to have those satisfying experiences on a regular basis. That’s what Hiihat could do because it is a bridge to make all those areas of your life led by Black-owned businesses while circulating the dollar a lot faster.”

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