SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane community is celebrating Black History Month with a special event at Eastern Washington University (EWU). The Black Beauty & Fashion Expo, organized by the EWU Black Students Union, is showcasing local Black entrepreneurs and students.
Samara McElroy, President of the EWU Black Students Union, explained the goal of the event. “So today we’re having an event to highlight Black entrepreneurs, business starters,” she said. “…Students that are on campus as well for Black History Month.”
Among the entrepreneurs featured at the event were Selena Lam and Zayne Dean, both of whom have developed successful businesses while attending school.
Dean, owner of Zee Thrifts, shared his experience. “My business name is Zee Thrifts… I was a student first and I started selling clothes out of my dorm room to just my friends and then it turned into a bigger thing where I sell clothes at pop-ups, at markets all around Spokane. It means a lot. And especially with events like these where we get to showcase what we do as a community and even just give out the details about why these things matter or why clothing and like Selena, her hair styling business is important to the community. It’s super cool,” Dean said.
Lam, who runs a hair styling business called Selena Got Stylez, also shared her journey. “That’s what I do. I do all different types of designs. I do, like, cornrows. I do knotless braids, braids with curls in them, different added extensions. It feels great. Like, when I first started, I thought nobody was ever going to book with me. I was like, no one’s ever going to want to sit in my chair. And then as I started going on, I started getting more clients and people started reposting it. And then soon I was, like, booked, like, for the whole month in one day,” Lam said.
Dean noted the challenges of balancing business with school. “It’s a lot, honestly. Before, it wasn’t that hard. Last year, it was a lot easier. But now that I’m getting closer to being done with school, it’s a lot,” he said.
McElroy emphasized the importance of the event, stating, “I think it’s very important to elevate the voices of students on campus, especially black voices, because we’re less than 5% of the population. It’s important that we continue to fight for change, show that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere, and just promote and elevate ourselves in every aspect that we can.”
The Black Beauty & Fashion Expo is a significant part of Spokane’s celebration of Black History Month, providing a platform for Black entrepreneurs and students to share their stories and successes.
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