Small Businesses You Need to Support
If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s to support small business owners and local artists. These people put so much hard work into their crafts. Some of these people are working other jobs or have small children at home.
It can be easy to order everything from Amazon or Target but think about how much more meaningful your purchase would mean by shopping small!
Disclaimer: Let’s be real for a moment, shopping small isn’t always more cost-effective. These things may cost more but it’s a person who is spending hours a day making your purchase, not a machine. So let’s be respectful and mindful of that while shopping small. These people go above and beyond to bring high quality to these items for you to bring home.
Here are some of my personal favorites to shop small:
Mondays - @frommondays
This is a dope plant studio to get your next plant from. The people running this shop are so authentic and believe in everything they stand for. They don’t stray away from who they are. You can find your everyday plant to exotic plants, to new and exclusive shirt releases every week.
Fort - @fortpureplay
Fort to Go is a beautiful kids’ toy store curated for open-ended free play and imagination. You can find amazing toys for your little one such as dolls, dress-up, and non-toxic play-doh to DIY sensory boxes.
Tickledmahogany Peg Dolls - @tickledmahogany
This creative mama creates beautiful peg dolls for little ones. Her peg dolls are full of diversity and beautifully crafted. It has become a tradition to buy new ones for my girls every year.
HerSpaceCo - @herspaceco
These black-owned women are the creators of the living fully planner. I have purchased this planner for 3 years in a row. It is by far my favorite planner to purchase year after year.
Dolly Whitley Art - @dollywhitley
This local artist is an amazing artist and children’s book author. My daughter loves her book and stickers. I personally love her art style. She always creates such detailed art prints as well as other amazing things.
SunShades Book Box Company - @sunshadesbox
This mama creates a limited set of diverse book boxes every month with a book and a craft for your little one. She even offers sibling boxes to prevent any fighting that may happen. I love her book choices and the easy to follow along crafts.
Kids for Culture - @kidsforculture
This company thrives on diversity and positive affirmations for our children. They recently came out with these beautiful babies with an affirmation book. They also have puzzles and affirmation cards for your little ones.
Kristen Cruz Photography - @kristencruzphotography
This is the only photographer I’ll book for family sessions. She is so patient and works around the chaos of 3 kids. She has done an amazing job taking my headshots and family photos year after year.
You can find her on Instagram or Facebook!
Goodelovee4moms - @gl4moms
This mama encourages the importance of self-care (which y’all know I fully support) and creates amazing smelling bath salts and candles.
Disclaimer: These photos are not mine but those of the artists and small business owners that I mentioned above. They are in order as mentioned.
I hope you give these small businesses some love not only this holiday season but thereafter as well. I’m sure you’ll find something for yourself, your little one, and for others.
Let’s keep the small business love going, leave your favorite small business in the comments.
love & lightt,
Jalesa