“Black in Business” started in Burlington with a plate of chitlins, grew into an award-winning special section of the Knoxville News Sentinel and is back in 2026 with five new profiles spotlighting local entrepreneurs and their journeys to success.
This year, our reporters spoke with people who cook for community, treat fitness like family, build sisterhood through self-defense, broaden horizons through mentorship and share culture one cup at a time.
Read their stories, hear them talk about their businesses and see how they’re supporting communities across the city with their unique products and services.
Chef Mo’s Cafe is still cooking for community in Knoxville
Chef Mo’s Cafe & Catering has enjoyed continuous growth over the past 10 years serving Knoxville, owner Maurice Ragland told Knox News, and the relationships the namesake business owner has built across East Tennessee keep him going each day.
“It feels good to give back to the community,” he said. “And it feels good to be a Black owner in this community also to show younger Black people that, ‘Man, he’s doing that − I can do this too.’”
Matcha Mama wants to share tea culture with Knoxville
Matcha is served at almost every coffee shop around the city, but Knoxville never had a cafe solely dedicated to the powdered green tea until Blake launched her Matcha Mama pop-up earlier this summer.
“East Tennessee is growing and becoming more diverse,” Blake told Knox News. “And I love being able to represent both my Black and Asian heritage as a business owner.”
New Start Fitness: a Knoxville gym that feels like family
Brooks Dean has spent the past 10 years building his Inskip gym from the ground up, earning a clientele along the way that values his leadership style and the New Start Fitness “family.”
“”This is what I was supposed to do,” he told Knox News.
Sistas of Steel trains Black women in self-reliance
Adrienne Goines launched the Sistas of Steel Gun Club in 2022 to give Black women the training and confidence needed to safely handle a firearm, all while building a “sistahood” from the ground up.
“It’s just a safe space for us,” Goines told Knox News. “We are a support group for one another.”
Southside Boarding Club opens doors to snow sports
Black and underserved youth get to experience snowboarding through the support of Southside Boarding Club, a Knoxville-based nonprofit created by banking executive Jeremy Cook.
“The best thing that ever happened to me is somebody took me somewhere,” Cook told Knox News. “Somebody exposed me to something different.”
Knoxville programs lift up Black businesses. You can too
Since taking over as president and CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League last summer, Laurie Shanderson has been determined to hear directly from the community she serves. As she listened to her community’s needs, it became clear Black-owned businesses were a priority.
Shanderson has prioritized expanding opportunities for Black entrepreneurs at all levels, with programs designed to provide support every step of the way, from helping individuals determine whether opening a business is viable to connecting entrepreneurs with one-on-one coaching from experts in the field.
Hayden Dunbar Evans, Joanna Hayes, Caitlyn Meisner, Keenan Thomas, Sophie Tiedge and Devarrick Turner conducted interviews and wrote the stories featured in this year’s “Black in Business” section for the Knox News business growth and development team, led by editor Ryan Wilusz. Send Ryan an email: ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com
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