How This Black-Owned Business Got Its Rent Covered For A Month With The Help Of Ms. Rachel – AfroTech
Noticing a callout on Threads benefited entrepreneur Ashley La Bomme-Benson.
Bomme-Benson is the founder of The Bomme Sweets, a gourmet sweets shop in Los Angeles. Since 2015, she has created custom treats for families, beginning as a college student. After earning a bachelor’s degree, she tried her hand at the corporate world, but it didn’t pan out because she felt creatively restricted, she wrote on her website.
The Bomme Sweets carries cookies in flavors such as red velvet, strawberry crunch, and more, as well as chocolate-dipped apples, strawberries, donuts, and banana pudding cupcakes.
Ms. Rachel Effect
Her business received a significant boost after responding to a thread shared by educator Rachel Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel, who has 21.1 million subscribers on YouTube alone with content geared toward children.
On Aug. 11, Ms. Rachel shared a post on Threads to promote Black-owned businesses. She asked businesses to leave a comment and encouraged users to support them.
Bomme-Benson stumbled upon the post while taking a bath, Inc. reports. By then, there were more than 4,000 replies under the post.
“ Ms. Rachel posted about Black-owned businesses sharing their business in the comments, and I’ve never so much as had 10 views on Threads, and today I woke up to 60. Thank you Ms. Rachel for standing up for us,” Bomme-Benson wrote, according to Inc.
Ms. Rachel reposted the comment and also followed Bomme-Benson. From then on, a flood of inquiries rolled in, arriving at a time when the economy was challenging her business.
“ I got an alert from Shopify that I had a cookie order,” Bomme-Benson said, according to the outlet. “I [hadn’t] had a cookie order in over a year.”
Two weeks later, The Bomme Sweets had more than 330,000 views on Threads, and 102 cookie orders were placed. Bomme-Benson is still working to fulfill all the orders. Fifty-five were already fulfilled at the time of Inc.’s reporting.
The exposure has given Bomme-Benson a “boost of confidence.” Within 24 hours, The Bomme Sweets generated $3,650, enough to cover a month’s rent, per the outlet.
“Even though I had a dry wave, it doesn’t last forever,” Bomme-Benson told Inc.
The Bomme Sweets ships nationwide. For those looking to make a purchase, visit TheBommeSweets.com.
