INDIANAPOLIS — Katina Washington is a force helping women start and grow their businesses. Her group recently received a $25,000 grant from the Central Indiana Community Fund.
Washington is a Jefferson Award recipient and she’s been working for years, but that drive hasn’t slowed down in the pandemic. In fact, Washington has taken her initiative from in-person to online. The SheXperience marketplace launched in January and should be a game-changer for local minority business owners.
Before the pandemic, the "She Has Everything" event, better known as S.H.E., gave minority women a space to showcase their independence, their power, and their products.
In order to adjust and make sure these businesses survive, we had to create, and we had to pivot. We had to do something that would allow them to thrive during the pandemic.
2020 shifted things around and canceled events, but nothing stops the S.H.E. event founder. Katina Washington's grind so out of the pandemic the S.H.E experience marketplace was born.
“According to statistics, the Black dollar stays in the Black community six hours. So the idea of the marketplace is to have an online option where you can shop from the airport, beach the comfort of your home, you can go online at any time and support these businesses,” said Washington.
“Even though business is buzzing now and there are so many vendors signing on to showcase their products for April’s upcoming event that there’s a waitlist. S.H.E. remembers 2012 when things were just getting started and S.H.E. only could find three vendors to take part,” said Washington.
“There was a time I was begging vendors to be part of this. I was begging guests to come be part of the S.H.E. events, now there is an overflow of guests and vendors. The plan is to keep the momentum going and to keep growing the S.H.E. Experience until it reaches every inch of the Circle City and beyond.
